Urban Meyer Not Satisfied With Current State of Ohio State Football Tradition, Calls for Major Change

College football programs usually honor legends with bronze statues that live forever outside. And according to Urban Meyer, Ohio State isn’t doing enough of that. And if he were in AD Ross Bjork’s shoes, one of his projects might involve a lot more bronze around Columbus.

“You know, if you ever made me an AD, I would have so many statues and so many plaques,” Urban Meyer said on The Triple Option. “Some places do it. I know Alabama’s got stuff all over the place.”

Then he doubled down on why Ohio State should build more statues to honor their legends. And it’s hard to argue with the emotional side of it. College football is built on stories and generations pass those stories down. Statues simply give those stories an address.

“I love Ohio State, I’m a Buckeye,” he added. “Where’s the statues? The fans eat that up and more importantly, there’s players that are deserving of bringing your kid to a game someday and say, look, that’s your father right there.”

What statue should Ohio State erect next? pic.twitter.com/ytdO90sm9j

— The Triple Option (@3xOptionShow) June 2, 2026

Well, Ohio State isn’t exactly statue-free. Archie Griffin already has one of the most recognizable monuments on campus. The two-time Heisman Trophy winner has a massive 5,000-pound bronze statue standing proudly outside Ohio Stadium. Legend Woody Hayes also has multiple tributes, including a larger-than-life statue outside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Jesse Owens is honored with a monument just north of the stadium as well.

Urban Meyer isn’t saying Ohio State has no statues. His point is that for a program with six Heisman winners, dozens of All-Americans, countless Big Ten titles and multiple national championships, the Buckeyes don’t celebrate enough of their football glory in permanent form. This isn’t even the first time he’s calling for statues to be built. Whenever he starts talking about underappreciated Buckeye legends, Cardale Jones, a former third-string QB, somehow enters the chat.

Back in 2023 during an appearance on All Things Covered with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden, Urban Meyer made one of his most memorable declarations.

“To me, they ought to build a statue of Cardale Jones,” he said. “Beat Wisconsin 59-0 [Big Ten Championship], beat Alabama [CFP semifinal], and then goes on to beat Oregon [National Championship]. And that’s one of the greatest runs of certainly Ohio State history.”

And to think Jones wasn’t even supposed to start or play. Yet that’s what happened. And what makes Urban Meyer’s recent comments stand out is that other blue-blood programs have fully embraced the statue game.

Urban Meyer wants Ohio State among these statue-building programs 

If you’re comparing statue honors, there’s few that beat Oklahoma. The Sooners have gone all in one celebrating its football history. Around the stadium, fans can find statues of legendary coaches like Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer, and Bob Stoops. The school also has a Heisman Park, where seven former OU Heisman winners have been honoured with bronze statues. 

Miami has taken a similar approach. Known as the Cradle of Coaches, the school features a plaza outside Yager Stadium filled with life-sized statues of coaching greats, including Paul Brown, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, John Harbaugh, and Sean McVay.

And then there’s Alabama, the one Urban Meyer specifically pointed to. The Tide’s famous Walk of Champions features large bronze statues of every coach who won a national championship at the school including Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings and Nick Saban. That’s how legends live forever. 

Well, Urban Meyer already knows what it’s like to become a statue after Ohio State won the 2014 CFP national championship. At the Ohio State Fair, artists carved 2,000 pounds of butter into a life-sized sculpture of him. The butter sculpture eventually melted. Bronze lasts a little longer, you know. And preservation is what he’s making a case for. 

Because one day, a father might walk his child through Ohio Stadium and point toward a statue. Maybe it’s Archie Griffin or Urban Meyer or even Cardale Jones. And if that conversation keeps Buckeye history alive for another generation, he would probably say the statue already did its job.

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