Urban Meyer has three national titles and multiple conference crowns. He’s a legend at both Florida and Ohio State so you might think he built his career from a foundation he loved. But if you ask him, he’ll talk about a phone call and Lou Holtz, the college football giant the world is mourning right now. 

“Lou Holtz was my mentor,” Urban Meyer told The Triple Option. “He was a family friend and without Lou Holtz our career really never would have got started. But he hired me in 1996 at Notre Dame and then became a family, friend and mentor that I leaned on him for strategy, for advice.”

Lou Holtz went 249-132-7 in 33 seasons. He won a national title with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 1988, finishing undefeated in a tenure that spans one decade. He was the trusted voice, a strong influence who shaped the career of other figures like Marcus Freeman and even SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. 

“But the great story that I’ve told many times is that he pushed me very hard to be the head coach of Bowling Green at a young age. So they got me an interview. I interviewed with the athletic director. It went well. They offered me the job. I flew in the next day to take a look and it wasn’t in very good shape.”

So he turned it down and came back to Notre Dame and told Lou Holtz he wasn’t taking it. But the coach persisted saying, “You’re going to take the job.” Urban Meyer pushed back saying it wasn’t a great job. And that’s when Holtz delivered a valuable message that sent him packing to Bowling Green.

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“He said, ‘of course it’s not a great job. If it’s a great job, they wouldn’t be calling your ass,’” Meyer said. “So I hung up the phone, called Bowling Green back and took the job.”

That may be one of the best decisions he made early. At Bowling Green Falcons, Urban Meyer inherited a program that had just gone 2-8. Within a year, it went 8-3, one of the best turnarounds in the country. He finished 17-6 over two seasons, won 2001 MAC Coach of the Year, and climbed to No. 20 in the final AP poll. 

That stop launched him to Utah, then Florida, then Ohio State where he won three national titles, two in 2006 and 2008 with Florida, one in 2014 with Ohio State. If he never made that phone call back to Bowling Green, does any of that happen? And Lou Holtz’s influence didn’t stop there.

Urban Meyer lives by Lou Holtz’ advice 

It was before the 2006 BCS National Championship. Urban Meyer’s Florida just beat Arkansas in the SEC title game and had a month to prepare for Ohio State. Ahead of such a high-stake game, the first call he made was to Lou Holtz. And he received two pieces of advice.

First, Lou Holtz reminded him that the game’s not played until January 8, 7 p.m. So with about four weeks to the game, the advice is to not let his players’ excitement peak too early. Urban Meyer printed that line in bold and put it in front of his desk.

The second advice was – “Your team knows a routine. Keep them in that routine.”

“So, that’s exactly what I did for three weeks,” he said and it led to Florida beating Ohio State 41-14. “The players still tell me to this day that the reason they played so well in that national championship game is because we stayed on that routine.”

But all of these circle back to the lesson Lou Holtz taught him before his first coaching job. Last May, the National Football Foundation announced an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute for Urban Meyer at Bowling Green’s opener at Doyt Perry Stadium. He got his first salute for his first head coaching job. He called the program “an integral part” of his trajectory and said he’s proud to be a Falcon for life.

Well, that trajectory almost never starts without Lou Holtz pushing him into a job he didn’t want. Sometimes the difference between a career and a legacy is one stubborn mentor who won’t let you play it safe. And that’s why he’s made a huge impact on so many people who now honor him as he’s laid to rest at 89.