a defensive back coach at Saint Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1985 under the mentorship of legendary St. Xavier head coach Steve Rasso, where he met members of the Ohio State coaching staff. His first collegiate coaching position was a two-year stint as a graduate assistant coaching tight ends at Ohio State under head coach Earle Bruce. He spent the next thirteen years as an assistant—two at Illinois State, six at Colorado State, and five at Notre Dame. One of the talents he coached at Colorado State was WR Greg Primus (3,096 yards and 17 TD in 3 years). He put up over 1,000 yards receiving from 1990 to 1992 under Meyer's tutelage. At Notre Dame, he coached WR Bobby Brown who would finish his career with 1,521 yards and 12 TD receiving. At Notre Dame in 2000, he coached WR David Givens who would later be drafted by the New England Patriots. In 1990, while still the linebacker coach at Illinois State, he called Toledo head coach Nick Saban's home and spoke to Saban's wife to inquire if a position was available. Saban, however, never returned the call. Saban later said "I was so kind of caught up and busy with what I was doing, I never really followed up on that. Obviously, that was a huge mistake on my part because the guy's a fantastic coach." Bowling Green In 2001, Meyer took his first head coaching job at Bowling Green. In his first season there, he engineered one of the greatest turnarounds in the NCAA football history, going 8–3 and capping off the season with a 56–21 victory over Bowling Green's rival, the University of Toledo Rockets. He also earned Mid-American Conference coach of the year honors. The next year, Bowling Green finished with a 9–3 record. After a 17–6 overall record, Meyer left for the University of Utah. He helped turn around a team that had gone 2–9 in 2000 in large part due to QB Josh Harris, a player tailor-made for Meyer's scheme. In a part-time play in 2001, Harris passed for 1,022 yards with 9 touchdowns and ran for 600 yards and 8 touchdowns. The next year, he passed for 2,425 yards with 19 TD and ran for 737 yards with 20 TD. Meyer would later use such quarterbacks as Alex Smith and Tim Tebow in a fashion similar to the way Meyer