Urban Meyer just flat out admitted he totally fabricated media quotes “all the time” to fire up his Florida Gators teams between 2006 and 2008. Seriously, this guy was making up fake criticism from ABC and ESPN’s own Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler, all to get his players riled up. He spilled the beans about this wild tactic around the 51:30 mark on the AMP Original The Triple Option podcast, and honestly, you’ve gotta hear this.
The ’06 Game of the Century and the Fake Fuel
Talk about a mastermind move. Meyer explained the ’06 motivation perfectly. He said after Ohio State knocked off the Wolverines in what everyone called “the game of the century,” the whole football world was buzzing that those two should run it back. But then, USC lost, Florida slipped in, and suddenly, ESPN and everyone else was screaming, “They don’t belong. They don’t belong. They’re not very good.” And what did Meyer do with that? He used it. He absolutely weaponized that negativity, even if he had to invent some of it. He’d meet with his “ops guy” every single day, telling him, “Okay, make up some good quotes.” He’d then slap Herbstreit’s name on it, or Fowler’s, or just “someone from ESPN.” Meyer even said sometimes he’d be eating, see one of these made-up quotes, and think, “That’s not true,” but then turn to his ops guy and say, “That’s awesome!” You can’t make this stuff up, except Meyer did.
Herbstreit Confirms the Wild Tactic and the Gators’ Unstoppable Run
Here’s the kicker: Herbstreit himself actually told a similar story back in 2020, leading up to the College Football Playoff, as reported by 247Sports’ Brad Crawford. Herbstreit said that “every coach in the country looks for an angle” and that he and Chris Fowler “used to laugh” about how Urban Meyer in ’06 would just make stuff up. He’d “just throw it out on their hotel meeting rooms” and tell someone to “Just put it on Herbstreit or ESPN or whatever.” It was all a fake quote, purely to get his team fired up. And fire them up it did. That 2006 Gators squad, led by quarterback Chris Leak and backup Tim Tebow, started the season hot at 6-0 before hitting a snag with a loss at Auburn. But whatever crazy motivational tactics Meyer was using, they clearly worked like a charm after that. The Gators went on a 7-0 tear down the stretch, steamrolling their way to winning the SEC Championship Game over Arkansas and then taking down Ohio State in the BCS Championship. Meyer kept that winning going, leading Florida to another BCS title in 2008 and later snagging the CFP national championship with Ohio State in 2014 before retiring from coaching in 2019. He was even inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame just last December. Talk about a legacy, fake quotes and all.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
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