Urban Meyer was befuddled.
It’s a rare occurrence when Ohio State’s head coach is not quite sure what to say. Meyer often speaks from a stream of consciousness, saying the first thing that comes to mind and then rolling right along from there. It comes naturally for him as he’s answered thousands of questions from the media throughout his coaching career.
But when Meyer was asked about his starting kicker Monday morning, proposed with a simple question from a reporter about how exactly senior walk-on Tyler Durbin got here, the three-time national championship winning coach was stumped.
“I have no idea,” Meyer said as he flashed a giant smile and threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know where the hell he came from.”
Before you ask, he's never seen the ending to Fight Club. Or maybe he has. After all, everybody knows what the first rule of Fight Club is. So, we'll just allow Ohio State's Tyler Durbin to introduce himself.
“Well I grew up in Burke, Virginia,” he said Monday. “I played soccer almost all my life and I never actually played football before I came to Ohio State.”
That certainly might help explain Meyer’s inability to describe exactly how Durbin got to this point, the starting kicker for the Buckeyes.
“I don’t know where the hell he came from.”– Urban Meyer
Durbin attended James Madison right out of high school to play soccer, but after two years he decided he needed a change. He realized he wanted to study civil engineering and James Madison did not offer that specific major; it only offered general engineering.
While searching for a new school to call home, one that had his major of preference, Durbin also decided to pursue something he’d long wanted to try: kicking field goals.
“I figured why not give it a shot?” Durbin said. “So, I went out to my high school and had my dad film me on field goals and kickoffs … I sent out a video to a few schools.”
Ohio State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech were the four schools to which Durbin said he sent videos. He said he was looking for a school with a strong civil engineering program in addition to a good football team.
“Obviously, I got that here,” Durbin said.
Shortly thereafter, Durbin received a call from Ohio State saying there was a walk-on spot available on the football team. He visited campus and his first day as a student was the day the Buckeyes won the national championship back in January of 2015.
He’s been with the team ever since, and when scholarship kicker Sean Nuernberger injured his groin during this fall camp it became apparent Durbin might actually have to play. Ohio State simply didn’t have another option.
The former soccer player who hadn’t played a down of organized football until he arrived in Columbus was going to start the first game of the 2016 season for the Buckeyes.
“It’s been an incredible experience just to be out on the field kicking and just hear the crowd roar,” Durbin said. “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.”
Durbin didn’t get to attempt a field goal in his first career football game, but Ohio State scored 11 touchdowns and Durbin was perfect on his extra point tries. He also was responsible for the Buckeyes’ kickoff team — a unit Meyer takes personal pride in — and with Ohio State holding a commanding 70-10 lead in the fourth quarter Durbin registered a tackle when he laid out the Falcons’ return man.
“When we watched that on film — I didn’t even know it happened until I saw it on film yesterday — but when we watched it everybody in the team room started yelling and roaring,” Buckeyes cornerback Gareon Conley said of Durbin’s hit.
It’s truly a fascinating story.
Two weeks ago, Meyer wasn’t even sure of Durbin’s name when he announced him as the starting kicker — “That’s his name, right?” he asked the team’s sports information director — and now he’s the starting kicker at Ohio State.
“I don’t really know how all that happened,” Durbin said. “It’s been an incredible ride and I’m just glad I can come in and help the team wherever I can.”
Who knows how long Durbin’s run as the Buckeyes’ kicker will last. He said he’s unsure what’s going to happen when Nuernberger returns from his injury, but he’s surely going to battle to keep his spot.
One thing is for certain now, though: Meyer definitely knows his name.
