While Meyer and Rodriguez would eventually become confidants, Meyer’s most direct inspiration for his ground game came from Kansas State, where coach Bill Snyder had made a direct-snap running back out of quarterback Michael Bishop and contended for the 1998 national title. “I went out to visit Kansas State and saw what they were doing with the quarterback, and I came away from there amazed,” says Meyer. “That stuff really impacted me.”

Meyer would take ideas from Snyder and morph them into his own implementation of the spread option, at Bowling Green, then Utah, and finally Florida. If studying offenses were offered as degree, Urban Meyer would have graduated with distinction from Snyder’s Coaching U.

See: http://www.fannation.com/blogs/post/318657-a-look-at-bill-snyders-impact-on-bob-stoops-and-urban-meyer