It came as no surprise on Tuesday morning when news broke that Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer announced his retirement, effective following the Rose Bowl on January 1 when the Buckeyes face the Washington Huskies.

Meyer’s health has been a major question throughout the season and the arachnoid brain cyst that has given him severe headaches on the sidelines during games proved to be too much for the 54-year-old to deal with while coaching his dream job.

While many question some of Meyer’s off-the-field actions from his time at Florida and also Ohio State which once again went into questioning with his dealing with former wide receiver coach Zach Smith’s domestic violence accusations, there’s no denying the mark he’s left on both Ohio State but all of college football.

Since being named the head coach at Ohio State in November of 2011, Meyer took the program that was down following the controversial exit of Jim Tressel and took it to even greater heights than it was with Tressel.

In seven seasons as the Buckeyes head coach, Meyer had a 82-9 record (.901) including a 54-4 record against Big Ten opponents.

The most important win-loss record to Meyer’s resume is the 7-0 record in “The Game” between Ohio State and Michigan.

Being an Ohio native a graduate of the university and a graduate assistant under Earle Bruce, he knew how important that game is to everyone involved with Ohio State and the state of Ohio and the fact that he never lost to them during his tenure is probably his greatest achievement as head coach of the Buckeyes.

He won three Big Ten Championships (2014, 2017, 2018) and also won the inaugural College Football Playoff in the 2014 season when the #4 Buckeyes upset #1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl 42-35 and then blew out #2 Oregon 42-20 to win his third national championship as a head coach.

He also led the Buckeyes to victory in the 2015 Fiesta Bowl and the 2017 Cotton Bowl.

His recruiting has also been phenomenal during his time at Ohio State. The ability by himself and his staff has brought talent from all over the country to Columbus and it’s shown not only in college but also at the next level in the NFL.

Here’s the list of the 39 players that Urban Meyer recruited and/or coached at Ohio State that went on to be drafted into the NFL

• Johnathan Hankins
• John Simon
• Reid Fragel
• Ryan Shazier
• Bradley Roby
• Carlos Hyde
• Jack Mewhort
• Corey Linsley
• Christian Bryant
• Devin Smith
• Jeff Heuerman
• Doran Grant
• Michael Bennett
• Evan Spencer
• Joey Bosa
• Ezekiel Elliott
• Eli Apple
• Taylor Decker
• Darron Lee
• Michael Thomas
• Vonn Bell
• Adolphus Washington
• Braxton Miller
• Nick Vannett
• Joshua Perry
• Cardale Jones
• Marshon Lattimore
• Malik Hooker
• Gareon Conley
• Curtis Samuel
• Raekown McMillan
• Pat Elflein
• Noah Brown
• Denzel Ward
• Billy Price
• Tyquan Lewis
• Jerome Baker
• Sam Hubbard
• Jamarco Jones

And there’s more coming down the line with Nick Bosa projected to be the #1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Dwayne Haskins a likely first-round pick if he chooses to declare and many more behind them including Parris Campbell and Johnnie Dixon among others.

There’s also the coaching tree he has laid down since coming to Ohio State. There is currently four college coaches and one NFL head coach who were assistants under Meyer for the Buckeyes

• Chris Ash (Rutgers)
• Tom Herman (Texas)
• Luke Fickell (Cincinatti)
• Mike Vrabel (Tennessee Titans)

There’s no doubt that Ryan Day has some big shoes to fill replacing one of the greatest coaches to ever grace the sidelines in college football but Meyer isn’t going anywhere as he’ll remain at Ohio State in an administration role so his presence will still be felt on campus and around that program for the immediate future.

I think I can speak for everyone when I say: Thank You Urban!