COLUMBUS, Ohio — The question seemed out of place, as if the reporter knew something the rest of the room didn't.
The noncommittal nature of Urban Meyer's answer only lent credence to that theory.
Meyer was no fewer than 10 hours removed from having led Ohio State to the College Football Playoff championship and was dutifully participating in a follow-up press conference the morning after. Following questions pertaining to Cardale Jones' NFL future and the game from the night before, Meyer received a question that seemingly came from out of left field.
"You've mentioned your players' potential for the NFL," the reporter prefaced. "Is there a time in the future potentially down the road where you think that's a challenge you might want to take on? What would that take, and what would you think about it?"
Meyer sought clarification as to whether the question was pertaining to him or his players before responding.
"Not right now. Not right now," Meyer said. "I've got a commitment to Ohio State and these players. I love what I'm doing and—not right now."
For the most part, Meyer's answer was a non-answer. In fact, it was exactly the type of "never say never" response that you'd expect from a veteran coach who's learned not to make a sound bite that could one day come back to bite him or cause a distraction.
But Meyer's answer/non-answer was notable in that it was a departure from a more cement response that he gave to a similar question a year prior. Asked about his prospects of heading to the NFL as the Buckeyes prepared for the Orange Bowl at the end of the 2013 season, Meyer claimed that door was shut.
"I'm a college coach. I like being around college players," Meyer said. "I have a lot of respect for the NFL, but it just never seemed to work out."
Meyer revealed that he had been approached for NFL openings as an up-and-coming coach in the mid-2000s, but his wife Shelley "vetoed" the idea. In the aftermath of an HBO Real Sports piece on Meyer that aired last September, reporter Andrea Kremer said that Meyer had previously been vetted by the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys, and that his name has also previously been linked to the Miami Dolphins.
Nothing ever came to fruition between Meyer and the NFL, and as far as the immediate future goes, it appears nothing will. Still, that hasn't stopped websites like ProFootballTalk.com from promoting the three-time national champion as a premier professional candidate in the wake of his recent success in Columbus.
Should Meyer ever decide to make that jump—with Shelley's permission, of course—there's no guaranteeing his success at the college level would translate to the NFL. But it'd certainly make for an interesting "case study," as Meyer likes to say, with the college-to-NFL coaching pipeline seeing an uptick in success in recent years.
Take for example this year's Super Bowl, which will see Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks attempt to win their second consecutive Lombardi Trophy. Carroll cut his teeth in the college coaching ranks in the late 70s and early 80s before less successful NFL stints with the New York Jets and New England Patriots led to his starting a mini-dynasty of sorts at USC. Since taking over the Seahawks in 2010, Seattle has made the playoffs in four of the past five seasons.
And then there's former Oregon coach Chip Kelly, Meyer's friend who has been at the helm of the Philadelphia Eagles for the past two years. Kelly might be the best coach to compare Meyer's pro prospects with given that each run similar spread offenses, departures from the traditional pro-style systems.
Thus far, Kelly's style has found success in the NFL, with the Eagles accumulating a 10-6 record in each of the past two seasons. Philadelphia ranked second in yards per game in 2013 (417.3) before dipping to fifth (396.8) this past year.
But perhaps more relevant than anything else pertaining to Meyer is the seamless transition Kelly has enjoyed while transferring his culture from Eugene to the City of Brotherly Love. Meyer has raved of Kelly's emphasis on program alignment, going as far as to set Ohio State's sights on becoming the "Philadelphia Eagles of college football," according to Sports Illustrated (h/t The Philadelphia Inquirer).
That strategy worked well for the Buckeyes this past season, who bounced back from the loss of two Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterbacks and an early-season defeat to Virginia Tech to beat Alabama and then Oregon in the College Football Playoff. For 13 seasons, Meyer has proven to be a master motivator of college kids, and as Kelly has proven, those tactics can work in the NFL as well.
That's not to say that hiring Meyer would be a slam dunk in the NFL.
After all, Alabama's Nick Saban has won one more national title in the college ranks and possesses an NFL background as a coordinator. But Saban went just 15-17 in his two years as the Miami Dolphins' head coach from 2002-03, missing the playoffs in each of his two seasons.
Steve Spurrier didn't seem to be a fit in the NFL either, going 12-20 with the Washington Redskins from 2002-03. Dennis Erickson, Butch Davis and even Meyer's mentor, Lou Holtz, are all examples of successful college coaches who appeared to stray too far from their lanes in the NFL, whose stories could give Meyer pause when it comes to a potential jump to the pros.
But given Meyer's ability to adapt to his personnel and the lessons he's learned from Kelly, it's hard to imagine that he wouldn't find some level of success in the NFL, just as he has at every stop he's made in his coaching career. Whether he'd ever want to do so is a different story, but as he stated at his post-championship press conference, don't expect such a move to be made anytime soon.
With the three remaining years of star quarterback J.T. Barrett's eligibility coinciding with his son Nate's final three years of high school, it's a pretty safe bet Meyer will be in Columbus through the 2017 season. After that, Meyer will be 54 years old and could be looking for the next challenge in his coaching career, depending on how the next three seasons play out.
"Not right now," Meyer repeated no fewer than three times throughout his answer.
With what he's built at Ohio State, there's good reason behind that answer. But unlike a year ago, Meyer certainly seems to be open to the idea—just not at the moment.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Ohio State Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com, and recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.
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