Urban Meyer, Next Penn State Coach? Interest Reportedly Mutual

Rumors of Urban Meyer taking over as the coach of a major Big Ten program stirred up almost as soon as he left the Florida Gators. His personal ties to both the Ohio St. Buckeyes (he grew up in Ohio, plus his first gig was as a Buckeyes coach) and Penn St. Nittany Lions (he's a longtime Joe Paterno friend and admirer) made for the clearest storylines.

When Jim Tressel left Columbus, that made for UrbanWatch, Round 2. 

Now a report by former Buckeyes beat writer Jeff Rapp, one of the more respected Ohio State media members according to Buckeyes fans, lists Penn State, Ohio State and Texas as potential destinations for Meyer. According to Rapp, the former two both share mutual interest. Though the Nittany Lions look like the front-runner at the moment:

Meyer was in State College to conduct a preseason interview with Penn State linebacker Mike Mauti, now out for the year with a torn ACL, and reportedly met with school president Graham Spanier and athletic director Tim Curley while on campus. Those talks apparently were productive.

"Urban would love to have that job," the source said. "Keep in mind, though, that he doesn't want to be known as the guy who forced out Joe Paterno. It would have to be done in the right way. I think they could appeal to Joe Pa's best interests and allow him to be the king-maker."    

All three programs have coaches, technically speaking, though one has to doubt Luke Fickell will be given much of a chance to remove the interim from his title. But Mack Brown and Paterno are getting up there in years (you might've heard?). Texas had its successor in place until Will Muschamp left to take over for Meyer in Florida, and we've gone full circle before we've ever actually gone anywhere.

For more on these schools, visit Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries, Ohio State blog Along The Olentangy and Texas blog Burnt Orange Nation.