Utah begins search for Meyer's successor
SALT LAKE CITY -- Now that the Urban Meyer era at Utah is officially coming to an end, the Utes are looking for a new coach.
Meyer told his team Saturday that he's leaving for Florida, sparking Utah athletic director Chris Hill's second coaching search in two years.
"As you know, I won't be sharing much about the search, but I can tell you that we will take a strong look internally," Hill said Saturday.
Defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Mike Sanford are the most experienced candidates on staff to take over for Meyer. The Utes said they would be pleased if either one was promoted.
Utah is not the only school that has interest in the two. UNLV has spoken with Sanford about its job and BYU has contacted Whittingham, a former Cougar player and graduate assistant, about replacing Gary Crowton, who stepped down this week.
Hill said he met with team leaders, who asked that Meyer be allowed to coach the Utes in whatever Bowl Championship Series game they're selected to Sunday and Hill approved.
"The farewell is going to come later. He's still coaching one more game with us," safety Morgan Scalley said.
Meyer's announcement wasn't a surprise and didn't trigger the emotions of Ron McBride's firing two years ago. It was apparent that bigger schools were going to target Meyer, who is 21-2 in his two seasons with the Utes, and his players accepted that.
The Utes and their soon-to-be former coach were in good spirits after Saturday's practice.
Utah is hoping to send Meyer off with a 12-0 season.
Meyer kept himself unavailable Friday after making his decision to go to Florida, one day after meeting with Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White in Salt Lake City.
Meyer said the seven-year, $14 million deal was already in place with Florida, but he wanted to listen to what the Fighting Irish had to stay. He was an assistant at Notre Dame for five years and the school is listed in his Utah contract as a place he could go to without a buyout penalty.
Even though Meyer wasn't talking about the decision, plenty of other family members let it slip to the media. His father and older sister said they had spoken with him and that he was going to be coaching the Gators.
Meyer said his family got another round of calls Saturday.
"We rehearsed it together: 'NO COMMENT,'" he joked.
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