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Penn State Football: Urban Meyer Denies Rumor He Will Succeed Paterno

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Mike Poorman

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Ron Musselman, the veteran Penn State beat reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was meeting up with some old friends at a tailgate outside of Beaver Stadium a few hours before Saturday’s game.

A car drove up and a fit, well-dressed man in his late 40’s, got out.

‘Hi, Ron,’ said Urban Meyer.

Musselman has known Meyer for a decade, dating back to when he was a columnist for the Toledo Blade and Meyer was the head football coach at Bowling Green in Ohio.

Meyer coached BG in 2001-02, leading the Falcons to 8-3 and 9-3 seasons. From there, he coached two years at Utah, then led Florida to two national titles (2006, 2008) at Florida from 2005-2010.

The two reunited in a Beaver Stadium west-side parking lot, about 40 yards from the entrance to the Penn State press box.

Meyer is in town as part of ABC-TV’s coverage of the Penn State-Iowa game. Meyer retired from coaching after the 2010 season. His last game at Florida was the 2011 Outback Bowl, where the Gators beat Penn State 37-24.

On Saturday, Meyer told Musselman ‘there’s no truth to the rumor’ about Meyer being interested in succeeding Joe Paterno when — or if — the 84-year-old Nittany Lion coach retires.

To read Musselman’s full report, click here.

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