One of the significant shifts of the NIL and transfer portal era, some college football programs have turned to general manager roles to help lead the way in roster management.
Programs have hired from within the assistant ranks while others have plucked former head coaches and NFL executives.
Most recently, Ron Rivera, a two-time NFL Head Coach of the Year, is back at his alma mater Cal as general manager. And Oklahoma hired former NFL executive Jim Nagy to the same position.
Three-time national champion head coach Urban Meyer, now with Fox Sports as an analyst, admitted he was approached by a college program for their general manager role. The former Utah, Florida, Ohio State and Jacksonville Jaguars head coach even met with leadership to hear the program's pitch.
"I had a school come see me this year and ask if I wanted to be the GM,” Meyer said on "The Triple Option." “And a couple other phone calls. And you start to think, ‘OK, they actually came to see me,’ so I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll meet and I’ll sit down with you guys.'”
Despite Meyer's early interest, he wasn't inclined to take the offer after learning about the job description. In fact, Meyer would rather "step on a rusty nail" than dealing with players' agents.
“I said, ‘OK, what is the job description?.' "They said, ‘Well, basically you meet with all the agents of the 17-, 18-year-olds,'” Meyer said. “And I thought, ‘I’d rather step on a rusty nail and pull it out myself.'”
Meyer's name is regularly mentioned when major head coaching roles open, and it wouldn't be a big shock to see the 60-year-old return to college football at some point. As a general manager, though, it's safe to say Meyer won't be taking up that title.
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