Urban Meyer’s brief but transformative tenure at the U is helping earn him college football’s highest honor. The former Utah head coach, who guided the Utes to an undefeated season and historic Fiesta Bowl victory in 2004, has been selected for the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class.
Meyer arrived in Salt Lake City as a relatively unknown 38-year-old coach in 2002. But in just two seasons, he transformed Utah football into a national powerhouse, compiling a remarkable 22-2 record and becoming the first non-power conference team to crash the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).
His 2004 squad was particularly special. The Utes dominated their schedule, including wins over Texas A&M, Arizona, and BYU, before capping their perfect season with a commanding 35-7 victory over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. That team, which featured future No. 1 NFL draft pick Alex Smith BS’04 at quarterback, finished with a ranking of No. 4 in the nation.
“This is the best group of young men I’ve ever been around,” Meyer said after the Fiesta Bowl. “It’s going to be hard to say goodbye, but we’re saying goodbye 12-0.”
Meyer went on to win three national championships—two at Florida and one at Ohio State—and finished his college coaching career with a .854 winning percentage, third-best all-time. He joins former Utah coach Ike Armstrong (inducted 1957) and Smith (class of 2024) as the only Utes in the College Football Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will be held later this year on Dec. 9 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
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