Last week, Urban Meyer said he had “unfinished business” to take care of as a coach. Most people in northwest Ohio thought he meant at Bowling Green, and at that point, he probably did.

But early yesterday, his unfinished business took a 1,500-mile detour westward to Salt Lake City, where he accepted an offer to become the head football coach at the University of Utah. The sudden departure and reversal of sentiment by Meyer was formally addressed yesterday by Bowling Green Director of Athletics Paul Krebs.

“I believed him,” Krebs said of Meyer’s comments last week. “I took his comments at face value.”

Krebs said he was shocked less by Meyer’s move than the timing of his move.

“I’m not surprised that Coach Meyer is leaving,” he said. “He is an outstanding coach, I knew at some point he would leave. I did not think it would be this soon.”

Krebs didn’t delve much into his own personal feelings or the University’s feelings on Meyer’s departure. He wanted mainly to take stock of the team. He said the state of the program is the same, with or without Meyer.

“The guys that won the games, our football team, is still here,” he said. “We are a work in progress. We are not done, we are not finished. We were 8-3 and 9-3 [under Meyer], but we have won no championships, we have hung no banners. We have not reached our goal.”

Krebs said he was in the locker room yesterday morning when Meyer told the team of his decision. He said after the initial shock, leaders began to emerge. After a players-only meeting following Meyer’s statements, the players decided to move ahead with the scheduled team banquet Sunday.

“The players I spoke to are feeling pain and hurt and disappointment,” he said. “But they also made it very clear to me what they think this program needs. They were very clear in the direction they want to see us go, and they also were very emphatic about the football banquet Sunday.”

Quarterback Josh Harris said among those to stand up and speak were Cole Magner, Greg Kupke and Jovon Burkes.

“Jovon definitely had a very powerful piece to say,” Harris said.

While the players try to maintain the status quo without a figurehead in place, Krebs and his staff have begun in earnest to search for a new coach. It is something Krebs has become well-versed in. In the past 24 months, he has lost or dismissed two football coaches, a hockey coach and two basketball coaches, though Dan Dakich came back several days after his resignation.

Krebs expressed a desire to keep continuity in the program, to find a coach who brings much the same energy and coaching philosophies Meyer did.

“Our phones have been busy,” he said. “There is a lot of interest in this job. Time is of the essence right now. We are in the middle of our biggest recruiting weekend of the year.”

Krebs said there has been internal interest in the job. Both defensive coordinator Tim Beckman and offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon expressed interest to Krebs about the job.

He said he was unsure how many members of Meyer’s staff would follow him to Utah.

“We are going to lose some valubale coaches,” he said. “I met with the staff, and there’s still some question as to who will stay.”

Krebs said he extended an offer to an unidentified asssitant coach to stay on, with a guaratee of a spot on the new coaching staff.

Krebs has not identified any outside interest in the job as of yet. He said he was going to make calls to potential recruits yesterday evening to assure them that the program is still stable.

“We are leaderless right now, but our heart and soul is our players,” he said.

Meyer will be introduced today as Utah’s head coach.