Citing health reasons and a difficult year that included a three-game suspension, Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer announced his retirement this afternoon at a press conference that included the school naming his successor, Ryan Day.
The 54-year-old Meyer explained a congenital cyst on his brain that causes severe headaches had flared up in recent years, but he also acknowledged the suspension factored in as well.
The players and building a team are among the things Meyer will miss most. He explained that retiring would have been much more difficult without having the program in a good place and in the hands of Ohio State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day, who will become Ohio State's 25th football coach.
Day served as head coach for the first three games this season and now begins an intense recruiting period. The school says the 39-year-old Day will be paid 4.5 million dollars annually over five years. The Rose Bowl will mark Meyer's final game at the helm, and Meyer said he's certain he will not coach again beyond that. Meyer said he will continue living in central Ohio and expressed interest in staying involved with Ohio State in some way. While Day and OSU athletic director Gene Smith also welcomed that idea, no formal position has been outlined yet. During his seven-year tenure at Ohio State, Meyer's squads won 82 of 91 games and all seven against Michigan.
