DALLAS — Less than 12 hours after winning the National Championship, Urban Meyer was asked the following questions:
How will Ohio State's unusual quarterback quandary play out?
Will Cardale Jones, its former third-stringer-turned-unlikely hero, jump to the NFL after three-career starts?
How do the Buckeyes create the same magic all over again?
How's that for a Tuesday morning after one the biggest days of your professional career.
"These are tough questions, man," Meyer said, smiling. "We just won a championship."
He added: “The word repeat? We'll have that conversation."
But it won't happen today. Ohio State, he said, is in "celebration phase."
And it would seem all of Ohio is, too.
Notes:
- With Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones all expected to return to Ohio State next season, Meyer was asked about the team’s unusual quarterback quandary: "At some point, I'll be ready to comment on that conversation."
- After winning his third national championship, Meyer enters an ever high stratosphere that few coaches ever achieve at the college level. As such, he was asked if he’d ever consider coaching in the NFL: “Not right now.”
- Up 35-20 late in the fourth quarter, Ohio State opted to punch another touchdown in rather than knee the ball and end the game. Asked about the call, Meyer said: “I didn't even think about taking a knee." He added, “We play to win, we play aggressive ... I certainly didn't think about it at that time.”
- Meyer said he has not had a conversation with Cardale Jones about his future, though he joked the word NFL next to Jones’ name was a pleasant surprise.
- As for Jones, who has now started three-career games for the Buckeyes, he said playing professional football might be too big of a challenge at the moment: "I'm not ready for that level yet."
- With Ohio State now atop the college football world amidst a strong showing for the Big Ten, Meyer, who dominated the SEC at Florida, was adamant that there's no difference in quality of player in Big Ten region. Issue is quantity.
- Meyer said: “Football is cyclical ... I still think top to bottom, we have some work to do, but it's moving."
- He also added that he “was cheering like mad for Wisconsin because it just legitimizes everything these guys did” in the Badgers’ Outback Bowl appearance.
- Meyer on how a national title affects recruiting: “The doors open, you move to the front of the line.” The product, he said, “it’s not theory, it's testimony."
