Urban Meyer on USC suspending Marc Tyler: Why are we making such a big deal out of this?

Former University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer, biding his time these days as an analyst for ESPN, was asked on today's "College Football Live" show about the difficulty in keeping high-profile athletes from putting their cleats in their mouth with all the social media out there these days -- in light of USC's Marc Tyler getting suspended for things he said in an apparent inebriated state to a TMZ "reporter" and video-camera holder.

Meyer's response might be along the lines of what you'd expect from a former SEC coach.

"I think back to when I was 20 years, and I'd like to meet the first person that's ever made a mistake," said Meyer. "(This) was a stupid mistake and I think USC handled it correctly.

"What we actually did at Florida the last couple of years is have a player-relations guy on your staff who educates your players. And then simply put: You make a rule. Don't embarrass the university or the football team, or there will be a price to pay.

"I just think we gotta move on. It's over. It was a 20-year-old's mistake that didn't hurt anybody. He said some stupid things. His father came out and agreed with USC did. But I think part of the problem is we're making such a big deal out of this. It's not a big deal. It's a mistake. Move on."

Asked if he thought the players fail to understand how damaging social media can be if not handled properly, Meyer added: "Once again, what makes it damaging is the non-stop ... we're sitting here talking about it now and it happened a day or two ago? I have a problem with people who keep reporting and reporting on it. It's not that big a deal. The kid made a mistake. Plenty of people make mistakes. Don't do it again or you'll miss a game. He's going to sit a game. Move on."

For the record, this is Tyler's third alcohol-related incident, with the previous two involving him either hitting or spitting on a woman. Tyler was supposedly in an alcohol education program when this latest TMZ event happened.

Eventually, ESPN brought on Chris Spielman, the former Ohio State All-American linebacker and network game analyst, to talk about the problems college teams face with today's social media always in their faces: "I wouldn't be surprised if you see teams hire a Twitter coach, or a Facebook coach, a social network coach hired on a staff to monitor what these guys do and help and educate them. Another way would get a giant slide show at a team meeting, and show the dumbest tweets and Facebook posts, whatever, show them how foolish certain people look."

Spielman also said he thought if today's college athletes don't understand their actions have repercussions on the Internet, "then their parents are doing a poor job of educating them. We've raised a narcissistic generation -- it's all about me, they're the news and they want to let everyone know they're the news. Educate your kids on the dangers and pitfalls that can come and understand what you put out there is a reputation of yourself, your faith, your family ..."