Ohio State coach Urban Meyer clarifies NFL contact, interest in coaching pros

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer would not say if it was the Cleveland Browns, but he did confirm an NFL team at least tried to gauge his interest in making the leap to the pros earlier this year.

"I was reached out to, asked if I would be interested, and I'm not," Meyer said during Fiesta Bowl media day on Wednesday.

Asked specifically if it was the Browns, he replied, "I'm not going there. I'll just say I was reached out (to)."

Rumors about Meyer leaving Ohio State for anther job are nothing new, but he spoke in some detail about how he feels about being in Columbus and coaching at the college level.

"I really enjoy where I'm coaching and who I'm coaching," said Meyer, who has two daughters who have finished college and a son in high school. "At this point, my son's in high school. We're where we need to be. I really love my athletic director. I think the future's bright. We're recruiting well. I'm very happy with where we're at."

The conversation came up less than 24 hours after Chip Kelly, who made his name as the head coach at Oregon, was fired from his first NFL job by the Eagles.

After calling Kelly and Greg Schiano, the newly hired Ohio State defensive coordinator who was fired two years ago by the Buccaneers, two of his closest friends, Meyer suggested it is not only former college coaches who have trouble succeeding at the highest level of the sport.

"A lot of times they say college coaches don't make it very well -- I don't know who makes it well," Meyer said. "People are getting fired left and right. Pete Carroll has done very well.

"So I don't know. I do get those questions sometimes. I don't study it enough. I know that it's not just college coaches that are struggling in the NFL."