Meyer’s first position in collegiate coaching was as a graduate assistant for Earle Bruce’s Buckeyes squad, where he worked as Bruce’s mentor and head coach at the time. Bruce, Zach Smith’s grandfather, passed away in April 2018.
Meyer would later become an assistant coach at Notre Dame, Colorado State, and Illinois State during the course of the following 13 years. In 2001, he spent his first season in charge at Bowling Green University. Later, in 2003, he accepted the position of head coach at the University of Utah.
He was voted the Mountain West Conference’s Coach of the Year in his first season at Utah. He received the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award and the Home Depot Coach of the Year Award in 2004.
Under his direction, the teams at Bowling Green and Utah saw great success. Other colleges who wanted him as head coach noticed him because of it.
Meyer accepted the job as head coach of the Gators at the University of Florida in 2005 after much speculation.
