Ohio State coach Urban Meyer to retire after Rose Bowl
Canadians Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris react after defeating Switzerland to win gold during mixed doubles curling action at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Gangneung, South Korea earlier this year. John Morris is all in on mixed doubles curling. Winning the first Olympic gold medal in it will do that to you.
He hasn’t completely shut the door on a return to a men’s team in the future, but Morris currently feels more passionate about curling’s newest discipline.
The 39-year-old from Ottawa is playing mixed doubles exclusively. Morris recruits different female partners when Olympic teammate Kaitlyn Lawes isn’t available.
Not only did he and Lawes become the first Olympic mixed doubles champs in February, they also are the first curlers in the world to win Olympic gold in both it and team curling.
Lawes plays vice on the Jennifer Jones team that won the Olympic women’s title in 2014. Morris was Kevin Martin’s third in 2010 when they claimed men’s gold.
Few national men’s championships haven’t featured Morris at skip or vice as he’s represented Ontario, Alberta and B.C. at the Brier during his career.
Now living in Canmore, Alta., Morris isn’t feeling any pangs to return to a men’s foursome.
“There’s probably only a small handful of guys I would ever consider playing with again,” Morris told The Canadian Press. “I would not be playing men’s team this year even if Brad Gushue called me.
“It’s mixed doubles now and if the right opportunity presents itself in the next year or two, it’ll
HUZHHN be something I’ll think about. I’m really enjoying playing mixed doubles and that’s what’s on my radar right now.”
Morris will represent Canada in the second leg of the World Cup of Curling starting Wednesday in Omaha, Neb., with Edmonton’s Kalynn Park as his doubles partner.
Lawes is otherwise occupied with Jones at the Canada Cup of Curling that also opens Wednesday in Estevan, Sask. Taylor McDonald was initially going to curl with Morris in Omaha, but the Canada Cup claimed her too when Allison Flaxey’s team qualified for Estevan.
In a crowded curling calendar, Morris accepts he’ll likely have a rotation of partners in mixed doubles.
SHU ZHHN Urban Meyer, the highly successful coach who won three national championships and sparked controversy this season for his handling of domestic violence allegations against a nowfired assistant at Ohio State, he will retire after the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, the school said Tuesday. The university did not say why Meyer was leaving after seven years at the Big Ten school, where he has an 82-9 record. The 54-year-old Meyer has previously cited health concerns; he has an arachnoid cyst in his brain that causes severe headaches, and had shown obvious effects of being in pain on the sideline this season.
Mack Brown, who just got back into coaching at 67 years old with North Carolina last week, said Meyer called him at 6 a.m. to tell him the news and noted health issues.
“The first thing he said is: ‘Are you crazy or what?’ And laughed. And then he said, ‘I’m stepping away,”’ said Brown, who is in New York for his College Football Hall of Fame induction. “And he explained to me that he has the health issues and that’s totally the reason he’s stepping away, and it’s time for him to do that.” A news conference was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon with Meyer, school officials and cooffensive co-ordinator Ryan Day, who will take over as the 25th head coach of the storied program where Meyer won a national title in 2014 after two at Florida (2006, 2008). It was Day who led the Buckeyes when Meyer was suspended for three games to start this season over his role in the handling of assistant coach Zach Smith, who was accused by his ex-wife of domestic abuse. Meyer said he knew about the allegations against Smith - grandson of former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce - but wasn’t sure they were true and kept Smith on staff because no criminal charges were filed. The university cited that lapse in suspending Meyer after an investigation.
A report issued by an investigative committee left a lasting stain, detailing behaviour by Meyer that could have taken down a coach of lesser stature. The investigation showed he tolerated bad behaviour for years from Smith, including domesticviolence accusations, drug addiction, lies and other acts that directly clash with the values Meyer touts publicly.
The announcement came as the Buckeyes begin preparations for the bowl game against Washington and less than three weeks before the early signing period, giving recruits time to change their minds. Former players were full of praise for Meyer. “Besides my parents, you were one of the most influential people to touch my life and I’m appreciative of that,” former Buckeyes linebacker Joshua Perry wrote on Twitter.
Brown was coach at Texas from 1998-2013 and there were times he expected to face Meyer’s Florida teams in national championship games. They became friends during that time and grew closer after Brown left Texas.
“(Meyer) told me that he couldn’t be animated at the level he needed to to energize the team and stay healthy. That’s the problem,” Brown said.
The Buckeyes’ strong finish this season belied on-the-field problems that made for a stressful season for Meyer and his staff. He lost star defensive end Nick Bosa to an early season-ending injury, and the defence never fully recovered.