Urban Meyer is gone but he hasn't gone far. The Ohio State head coach announced on Dec. 4 that he would retire from coaching following the Buckeyes' Rose Bowl game against Washington on Jan. 1. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day will take over as head coach on Jan. 2.

During the Dec. 4 press conference announcing Meyer's retirement and Day taking over the program, it was clear that there was a plan in place to keep Meyer around.

"I look forward to working with Urban in his new capacity," Ohio State senior vice president and athletic director Gene Smith said that day. "You'll soon get your new goals and objectives in your new capacity as together we seek to maximize the potential of our 30 head coaches and 68 assistant coaches and over 1,000 student-athletes that we're all blessed to serve."

While it was not understood what Meyer's role would be moving forward, he made it clear he wanted to remain around the program and the university when asked about not going too far.

"I hope not," Meyer said. "God has a plan. I'm not quite sure what it is. Gene and I are extremely close, and we discussed that. And I hope to stay involved."

On Thursday, some of that plan came to light. In an exclusive interview with 10TV's Dom Tiberi, it was revealed that Meyer will be co-teaching a character and leadership course at Ohio State's Fisher College of Business. Meyer also said he plans to work with Gene Smith in some capacity after the Rose Bowl.

In an interview with NBC4's Jerod Smalley that also aired on Thursday, Meyer elaborated more on his plans.

"The lieutenant colonel Charles Buchanan came to see me," Meyer said, "He teaches a leadership and character class. And he actually got my phone number through one of our players, Jordan Fuller, and he's an awesome guy. He's obviously served our country for many years and I think there's a huge leadership void across America and this guy's on a mission to teach leadership and he asked me to co-teach a class with him. I met with Gene and I met with my family because am I going to commit that much time? Because I've never done anything half speed. And I thought about it, I prayed about it, I know the relationship we have with the Fisher School of Business, the Dean and everybody and I said yes. So I look forward to it."

Meyer has been a head coach since 2001 when he took his first job at Bowling Green. He remained there for two seasons before leaving to take the head coaching position at Utah. After two successful seasons with Utes, including coaching a No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick in Alex Smith, Meyer moved on two Florida where he was the head coach for six seasons, winning two national championships with the Gators.

After leaving the Florida program due to health reasons, Meyer spent a season working with ESPN as a college football analyst. When the Ohio State job came open following the 2011 season, Meyer, an Ohio native, jumped at the opportunity to return to the sideline at his dream job, setting parameters with his family in order to keep his health in line.

Meyer has dealt with a cyst on his brain that caused him issues over his coaching career. Prior to the 2014 season, Meyer had a procedure to help alleviate headaches. Those headaches began to come back in 2017 and even more so this season, causing him to fall to one knee in pain during the win over Indiana. The health concerns, along with wanting to spend time with his growing family, were the reasons for Meyer electing to retire.

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In seven seasons with the Buckeyes, Meyer won three Big Ten titles and one national championship. He holds an 82-9 record with the Scarlet and Gray and is 186-32 overall in his coaching career.