He hasn't spoken publicly on the topic, at least not directly, but Urban Meyer has passed on the Texas job. If he hadn't, he'd be the head coach at Texas right this very moment.
So, what would it take to bring Meyer out of his semi-/temporary-retirement? Or is he really done for good?
Try your best to parse this answer, because even Urban doesn't seem to know.
"You can't do something as long as I've done it (and not) just feel a little bit empty. I have a great spot on Fox, and I love Reggie, Matt, Brady and Rob Stone," he said. "We have a great group. I really have absorbed that and embraced it. But, to say I don't think about it... it's every day. But it'd have to be the perfect, perfect situation. It'd have to be something that I was confident that the health issues I could overcome, and at least prevent. So, I don't know. At this point, I think I'm done, but I learned a long time ago...you know, I left a job once where I really planned on being there, then you get a phone call from a better opportunity. So, you know, I think I'm done, but I would never say I'm never done."
Reading between the lines here, Urban's return is contingent upon two conditions being met, neither of which he can control.
1. His health. "It'd have to be something that I was confident that the health issues I could overcome, and at least prevent," he said.
An arachnoid cyst forced Meyer to leave Ohio State in 2018, but he was first diagnosed back in 1998. Arachnoid cysts are not uncommon (a reported 1 percent of people have them), and most that are discovered are benign. Meyer underwent a craniotomy to relieve pressure on his brain, but that procedure cannot prevent further buildups, nor can it be done regularly.
Until science produces a proactive treatment to prevent the build up of fluid and the painful headaches they create, prevention is Urban's best medicine -- and that means managing how much stress he introduces to his body.
2. "(T)he perfect, perfect situation." What Urban means here is not only a job like Texas that offers national championship potential, but the right pieces in place around him. As we reported previously, that means bringing in his "core four", strength coach Mickey Marotti; recruiting czar Mark Pantoni; development director Ryan Stamper; and operations director Brian Voltolini.
All four remained at Ohio State, and all four are happy there.
Urban has stated previously how important those four positions are -- as or more important than any assistant coaches, up to and including coordinators. Only Meyer can know precisely how crucial each of those four are to a potential comeback, but it's clear he's not at a stage of his life where can start from scratch in those spots.