Any Florida fans still bitter with Urban Meyer for agreeing to coach Ohio State after leaving Florida will get a kick out of this new story. It's involves Meyer, Tim Tebow and a silly NCAA secondary violation.

On March 9, 2013, Meyer was on vacation and having lunch with family, friends and Tebow when the Ohio State coach got a call from coveted recruit Clifton Garrett. Via the Cleveland Plain Dealer, here's Ohio State's account of what happened next:

"Upon receiving the call, Coach Meyer informed Garrett that he was on vacation and having lunch with friends and family, including Tim Tebow. Garrett asked Coach Meyer if he could wish Tebow good luck on the upcoming season. Coach Meyer handed the phone to Tebow and Garrett conversed with Tebow for approximately eight seconds. Coach Meyer stated that no recruiting conversation occurred, there was no intent to have Tebow recruit on behalf of Ohio State and he, in fact, did not recruit on behalf of Ohio State.

"Çoach Meyer reported that Garrett was not instructed to call by anyone from the Ohio State football staff and that neither he nor Tebow had any other communication with any other prospects during the lunch. Coach Meyer further indicated that Tebow has never spoken with any other prospective Ohio State student-athletes. Coach Meyer understands that the communication between Garrett and Tebow was an error on his part. However, he was adamant that it was a reflexive, courteous action rather than an intentional attempt to involve Tim Tebow in the recruiting process."



At the time, Meyer probably did not realize that it was a violation for a former player who is not employed by a certain school to be involved in recruiting. Even though Tebow's conversation was short, it still broke the rules.

The violation was uncovered in this tweet from Garrett:


Speaking with Tebow apparently didn't sway the balance for Garrett, however, and he ended up signing with LSU.

The Plain Dealer also reported that the phone call involving Tebow was one of "42 NCAA secondary violations involving all sports during 2013," which is considered a "typical number under Ohio State's plan to report every possible minor violation."

The Ohio State campus newspaper, The Lantern, reported there was no serious penalty for violations this small:

In each case, the school proposed its own corrective action to either the Big Ten or NCAA, who accepted the proposals but at times, offered further recommendations to each sport. Common resolutions include issuing a letter of education to the respective coaching staff and restraining them from contacting the prospective student-athletes for a period of time, usually two weeks. The football program, however, was only restricted to one week of no contact for impermissible phone calls.