what did urban meyer say about pat mcafee

Urban Meyer never directly named Pat McAfee, but in late 2019 he made a pointed comment about ESPN’s College GameDay that was widely seen as a jab at McAfee’s energetic, stunt-filled style on the show.

The original comment

While working as a college football analyst for Fox Sports, Meyer was asked about the popularity of ESPN’s College GameDay and why fans love it so much. In an interview around December 2019, he said something along the lines of:

“Turns out folks wanna talk about football, they don’t want to see jumpin’ in lakes or goin’ on rollercoasters.”

He didn’t mention McAfee by name, but the context made it clear he was criticizing the more entertainment-driven, personality-heavy approach that McAfee brought to the show — especially McAfee’s famous belly flop into a river during a GameDay segment.

Why it was aimed at McAfee

Pat McAfee had recently joined ESPN’s College GameDay as a full‑time analyst, bringing his high‑energy, viral‑stunt style from “The Pat McAfee Show” to the mainstream college football pregame show. His river jump and other antics stood in stark contrast to the traditional, more serious coaching‑style analysts like Meyer.

So when Meyer dismissed the “jumpin’ in lakes” and “rollercoasters” as distractions from real football talk, fans and media interpreted it as a subtle dig at McAfee’s brand of sports media.

McAfee’s response

McAfee didn’t let it slide. On his show and later on ESPN’s “Get Up,” he clapped back, saying:

• Urban Meyer “took a shot at me out of nowhere” in that interview.

• Because of that, he thinks Meyer is a “bum” strictly for going after him like that.

• He also pointed out that Meyer’s comment was factually wrong: “It was a river, not a lake”.

McAfee used the moment to contrast old‑school coaching culture (discipline, hierarchy) with his own new‑media style (authenticity, fan connection), turning the exchange into a mini‑debate about the future of sports media.

Later context

The feud simmered in the background for a while, especially when Meyer later became head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL. McAfee continued to reference Meyer on his show, often criticizing his coaching decisions and the Jaguars’ struggles, keeping the rivalry alive in a more indirect way.

So, to sum it up: Urban Meyer didn’t say anything personal or direct about Pat McAfee by name, but his 2019 comment about fans not wanting to see “jumpin’ in lakes or goin’ on rollercoasters” was widely understood as a critique of McAfee’s style on College GameDay, which sparked a very public back‑and‑forth between the two.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.