Urban Meyer has coached and faced some of the greatest quarterbacks college football has ever seen. The former Florida head coach was posed a tough question by the co-host of his podcast. Who’d he recruit to build his program around among five college QBs in Tim Tebow, Cam Newton, Joe Burrow, Baker Mayfield, and Vince Young? And he went for the guy who led his Florida team to two national championships.

“So that’s a tough go, but I think you know which direction I’m gonna go. There is a Heisman and two national championships with that first name there, so I’d take Tebow,” Meyer said on the May 27 episode of his Triple Option Podcast.

Interestingly, Tebow wasn’t the only QB whom Meyer had recruited. Even Cam Newton was part of his Florida team. Then, he recruited Joe Burrow to Ohio State before he transferred to LSU and became a national champion. But why did he go for Tebow?

“He’s got, I mean, he’s still doing it. You know, I’m on his foundation board for anti-human trafficking and all the things he does. He’s an incredible leader. He’s a magnet, and he leads by example. As tough a guy as I’ve ever been around. A lot of people don’t give him credit for the toughness piece because they know he’s such a great kid, but he is one of the toughest cats,” Meyers continued his statement on the podcast.

“And, when people saw him, you go watch a fourth quarter against Oklahoma in a 2008 national title, and his will to win and his toughness just elevated the entire team to go in that game,” said Meyer.

The Meyer-Tebow relationship began in 2006, and although Tebow wasn’t a starter that season, the Gators still won a national championship. The following year, Tebow produced a historic season for the Gators on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy. And the story wasn’t done yet.

The duo had another act in the 2008 season. After a tough home loss to unranked Ole Miss, the Gators dismantled every opponent they faced. It culminated in a national championship game against Oklahoma. In that game, Tebow proved why he belongs in the Mt. Rushmore of college QBs. With the game tied 14-14 entering the 4th quarter, the Gators’ defense held firm. The offense did its part to run the clock down with a 76-yard touchdown drive, and Florida won 24-14.

After college, the two met again in 2021, when Meyer brought Tebow to the NFL as a tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars. But it wasn’t the same for Tebow to adapt as a TE, and that relationship ended in 3 months when the Jaguars let him go in the mandatory roster cuts.

The duo is still in touch after all these years and shares a rather close bond.

The consolation prize holders, according to Urban Meyer

Cam Newton started as a backup quarterback under Urban Meyer, but the relationship between the two was rocky almost from the beginning. At one point, communication between them completely faded, leading to radio silence. Recently, however, the two finally reconnected, and Meyer made sure to mention Newton and reminisce about the day he signed Gator on the podcast.

“Cam Newton was an incredible story. We had another quarterback committed, and Cam Newton came down to Friday Night Lights with Dan Mullen and me. And after about six minutes running through the cones and watching him throw, a lot of people thought in the recruiting circles he was gonna be a tight end. He was a giant and a really good athlete. And after about six minutes, I grabbed him and said, “Hey. Let’s go up to my office and talk a little, and about an hour later, he shook our hand and said, I’m a Gator,” said Meyer.

On the other hand, Joe Burrow was a different story altogether. Meyer saw the potential, but Burrow never got his chance at the Buckeyes. When he was about to get his opportunity, an injury forced him out of the team.

“We recruited Joe Burrow with the idea that it’s gonna be a developmental player, and he was. Did I know that he’d become one of the best players in the NFL currently? No. Did I know he’d have one of the greatest seasons in college football history? No. Did we start to see it when he broke his right hand, his throwing hand, as I believe in his junior year? We started to see it. So love him,” said the former Ohio State coach.