USC football: Urban Meyer sure sounds like he’d love to coach Kedon Slovis

Urban Meyer is a big fan of USC quarterback Kedon Slovis.

Time to spark up the Urban Meyer to USC rumors again. The former Ohio State head coach was linked to the USC football job for much of last year when he worked as a FOX broadcaster in his first year of retirement from the Buckeyes job.

Of course, Clay Helton retained his job and there wasn’t a coaching vacancy. Should the job open up later this year and the Trojans approach Meyer about his interest in the job, he’d definitely endorse Kedon Slovis after his comments on Big Noon Kickoff’s digital show on Wednesday evening.

Meyer, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Joel Klatt went around to offer up their top five quarterbacks in college football. Meyer had Slovis at No. 4 behind Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Texas’ Sam Ehlinger.

But he raved about Slovis who is on the shortlist of Heisman candidates.

“The guy that I love, I love Slovis,” Meyer said. “I think the fact that there’s a returning offensive coordinator [Graham Harrell] and they throw the ball everywhere.

What dictates the best quarterback in the land is whether you can win the championship. That remains to be seen at USC. However, statistically, you’re probably looking at the guy that will have the best stats for the season because of the style of offense.”

Urban Meyer raves about USC football quarterback Kedon Slovis

That’s very high praise from Meyer for the rising sophomore who completed 71.9 percent of his passes for 3,502 yards, 34 touchdowns to nine interceptions. He took over for the injured JT Daniels who was injured in the season opener vs. Fresno State. With Daniels transferring to Georgia, Slovis is the unquestioned starter as he looks to build on his freshman campaign.

As Meyer referenced, the return of Harrell is huge for the development of Slovis. There was some question whether Harrell would be hired away or get a head coaching job of his own after his first season at USC, but his return is why many are so high on Slovis this year.

Count Meyer in the camp that believes Slovis is one of the best quarterbacks in college football and don’t be surprised if he leads the nation in yards and touchdowns because of the style of offense they play.

And if things go south for Helton out west and USC football needs a new head coach, they’ll go to Meyer first to see if he’ll resurrect their program.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.