Urban Meyer has lifted three national championship trophies in his illustrious college football coaching career: two at Florida and one at Ohio State. But as every champion knows, the first one always hits differently.
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And in Meyer’s case, it wasn’t just the players, the playbook, or the preparation that helped him win his first with the Gators. It was also thanks to his tryst with a different sport altogether: basketball.
In a story Meyer recently recounted on The Triple Option, the Hall of Fame coach revealed how a visit to see Billy Donovan’s 2006 Florida Gators men’s basketball team opened his eyes to something deeper. It didn’t just leave an impression, it sparked a philosophy.
At the time, Donovan was Meyer’s neighbour in Gainesville and was busy cementing his own dynasty with the Gators on the hardwood. So naturally, Meyer had a front-row seat, quite literally. “He won two national championships,” the 2x Woody Hayes Trophy winner recalled. “And I remember he invited me to Indianapolis to watch them beat UCLA.”
But Meyer wasn’t just there as a fan. During a timeout in that Final Four matchup, he received an unexpected text from Donovan’s operations staff: “Hey, coach wants you in the locker room.” And that moment stuck with him forever.
“I walk in the locker room and I watch, you know, it’s Al Horford and Brewer and Joakim Noah… three, two, one, boom, confetti goes, and I started bawling,” Meyer said. “That’s my boys… I used to go watch them practice.”
It wasn’t just emotion that flooded the ex-Buckeyes Head Coach; there was an epiphany, too.
“I looked at those players and I thought if there’s any way I can get my football team in here to experience this moment… they’ll stop all that nonsense,” he explained. “They’ll start getting real serious about their trade.”
I won 3 National Championships, but it was @GatorsMBK coach Billy Donovan who set me up for my first! @Wendys #WendysPartner pic.twitter.com/NPoTMclbvV
— Urban Meyer (@CoachUrbanMeyer) June 30, 2025
This experience led to the birth of something called “Champions Day” in Meyer’s program, a tradition designed to inject a championship mindset into his players before they ever played for a title.
Donovan, naturally, spoke at the first one. And it was Billy’s own mantra that Meyer made gospel in his football building: “Just give me four months,” Donovan used to say. “Put all the nonsense away… just give me four months.”
And the result? Nine months after that visit to Donovan’s locker room, Urban Meyer’s Gators were crowned national champions, having toppled Ohio State in the BCS title game.
Looking back, Meyer credits Donovan and the 2006 Florida basketball team for showing his team what winning truly looks like. “That was a result of the relationship with the basketball team,” Meyer added. “How about that?”
So, call it destiny, inspiration, or a cross-sport culture shift, whatever it was, it worked. And for a man who’s built his career on demanding excellence, Meyer knows exactly where his first championship run really began.
