By 2018, Urban Meyer had turned Ohio State into a college football powerhouse, with championship expectations and double-digit-win seasons becoming the norm. His decision to retire, therefore, came as a shock: the Buckeyes were still rolling, so why step away? The truth was more personal than the scoreboard suggested.
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While having a conversation with News Nation’s Biff Poggi on October 22, Urban Meyer revealed the actual reason why he left his college football head-coaching career, and it all started way back.
“In 2000, well, really when I was an assistant at Notre Dame, I got all intense during a game one time, and I kind of blacked out on the sideline. And they took me in after the game, and I had just, like, a—I thought people thought I was having a migraine. They took me to get a CAT scan, and they saw that there was an arachnoid cyst, a cyst in the middle of my brain the size of my fist,” said Meyer.
Doctors informed him that the arachnoid cyst, first diagnosed in 1998 while he was serving as an assistant coach at Notre Dame, had gradually grown larger over the years.
An arachnoid cyst is a fluid-filled sac containing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that forms within or near the arachnoid membrane, one of the protective layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Cerebrospinal fluid acts as a natural cushion, absorbing shocks and helping protect the brain and spinal cord from injury.
The former Ohio State head coach explained that his brain’s membrane had thinned with age. Since his job required him to shout and constantly ensure everything was running smoothly, the condition gradually worsened over time.
“So it happened at Notre Dame. They monitored it every year. I’d get checked out, checked out. It was fine. And then at Utah, it happened again after we ironically beat Oregon on the last play of the game, and I had to get rushed to the hospital and all that. And they said, you know, it’s just something you got to really watch,” he added.
Initially, Meyer relied on medication to manage his persistent headaches. However, in 2014, while coaching at Ohio State, he experienced another frightening episode during spring practice. His left eye suddenly began to black out, followed by excruciating pain. Those around him rushed him back to the locker room before he was taken to the hospital.
After monitoring his condition, doctors determined that surgery was necessary. In the spring of 2014, Meyer underwent brain surgery after suffering from persistent headaches for nearly a month. According to Dr. Thomas, the procedure involved draining a subdural fluid collection caused by a cyst to relieve the pressure building inside his skull.
Following his 2014 surgery, Meyer made it clear that he had no plans to step down as Ohio State’s head coach. However, his health struggles intensified in 2015 and 2016, with the coach later describing the pain he endured during those years as “severe.”
Although medication and regular medical monitoring have helped him manage the condition, Meyer has admitted that the recurring pain has sometimes forced him to tone down his intensity during practices and games.
On October 6, 2018, during a clash against the Indiana Hoosiers, Meyer dropped to one knee and was attended to by a team athletic trainer and a doctor after experiencing a cyst-related headache. The incident was another reminder of the health issues that would eventually contribute to his retirement.
“At that point, I kind of knew I’m winding down, and pretty much that was my last year in ’18,” said Meyer.