GENEVA, Ohio — When Urban Meyer saw the ball trickle through the net, he felt his eyes began to water. His connection to Northeast Ohio means that much to him.
"When Kyrie (Irving) hit that shot, a 51-year-old man in Columbus began to tear up," Meyer said Wednesday at the fourth annual youth camp he and "great friend" Dean Hood host at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva.
Meyer turns 52 next week, already with three national championships in his trophy case first at Florida and now as head football coach at Ohio State. He is among the elite coaches in all college sports but took time out of a busy summer to reconnect with Hood and work with today's youth in the community that made him.
"I'm very proud of where I came from," Meyer told media and high school coaches from the area following the camp. "I get to go into many high schools across this country and I had it really good. I had a great group of coaches, great teachers, great high school. Great friends here that I'm still very close with, I just wish I could come back more."
Donning a fierce salt-and-pepper colored goatee — "She's not a fan; it's coming off soon," Meyer said of his wife, Shelley — Meyer stressed the importance of performing in the classroom, possessing good character and work ethic to boys in grades 1-8. He gives the speech often to young people but told the group Wednesday to do its best to enjoy growing up in Northeast Ohio. Especially now, considering all the winning going on in that area of the state.
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers completed an improbable comeback on Father's Day in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, surging back from a 3-1 series deficit to win the city its first championship since 1964. The Cleveland Indians are winners of 16 of their last 18 and lead the American League Central by 7.5 games heading into play Wednesday. The Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League won the Calder Cup in mid-June.
Wins are everywhere this summer by Lake Erie.
"Very proud of the Cavs, very proud of the Tribe," Meyer said. "I teared up when (Irving) hit that shot, man. I'm very proud of my friend LeBron. That poor guy would have been — if he didn't win that thing ... unfairly (treated) because we all think he is a warrior and the way he plays. I'm very happy for him and that team."
Meyer rode in the Cavaliers' victory parade June 22 with Ohio State men's basketball coach Thad Matta and the school's Vice President and Director of Athletics, Gene Smith.
So right in middle of a "critical" summer full of satellite camps — which Meyer said he worries about for fear they could burn out his coaching staff — and not long removed from saying goodbye to a historic 2016 NFL Draft class Ohio State's head football coach made sure to take time out of his busy schedule to get together with Hood.
"Four years ago Urban was talking to me at the Ohio State clinic, 'Hey let's do something for Ashtabula. What do you want to do?' Well, we're ball coaches so let's do a football camp and let's make it about more than just learning about how to backpedal and learning to throw a ball," said Hood, now tight ends coach at Charlotte after eight years as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky. "Let's make sure we talk to them about character, work ethic, being a good teammate and things that are going to help at home, be a good student and be successful in life."
"This is just kids," Meyer said. "And that's where I think Dean has done such a great job not just the camp but you teach them how to grow. We always try to give them a message about character and being a good teammate, doing the right things and so on.
"It's great to come back home."
