The future of Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has been a hot topic ever since the press conference held on Aug. 22 when he clearly wasn’t thrilled about the three-game suspension levied on him by Ohio State’s administration. It cranked up even further earlier this month when severe headaches forced him to his knees on the sidelines on Oct. 6 against Indiana.

The headaches are something that Meyer has been dealing with since 1998 when doctors discovered an arachnoid cyst in the left side of his brain. He had a surgical procedure in March 2014 to drain fluid in the cyst in an attempt to relieve headaches. For the first time since that incident, Meyer went into more detail about his health in conversations this week with multiple outlets, including Yahoo Sports.

“Over the last few years, I’ve felt better and, with the help of my doctors, learned to manage it and monitor it with medication,” Meyer said. “I’m optimistic that this time won’t be any different.”

Meyer’s personal physician, Dr. Andrew Thomas, provided his insight into Meyer’s condition in a statement to Cleveland.com.

“The past four years, we’ve been working closely with Coach Meyer to monitor and manage the symptoms that have risen from his enlarged congenital arachnoid cyst,” Thomas said. “This includes aggressive headaches, which have particularly flared up the past two years.”

Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com spoke to Meyer at length, and reports that Meyer’s condition is serious yet manageable and one Meyer plans to coach through. 

This comes just one day after Meyer was asked about his future at Ohio State during his regularly scheduled Monday press conference. Speculation about Meyer’s future has surfaced throughout the season due to his three-game suspension for his handling of domestic violence allegations made against former wide receivers coach Zach Smith, his visible frustration with the decision during the press conference, appearance on the sideline during and after the Oct. 3 game vs. Indiana, and Monday’s decision by the Browns to fire Jackson.

His response at the time was short and to the point.

“I plan on coaching,” he said.

When pressed on if that meant that he would coach for Ohio State next season in the wake of his recent sideline demeanor — and Hue Jackson’s dismissal from the Cleveland Browns — he replied, “Yes.”

When he had the 2014 procedure, Meyer detailed the frequency of his headaches related to the condition. 

“Not great, I feel good,” he said, according to ESPN. “I’ve had it for several years. It’s a cyst, an arachnoid cyst. It surfaced a couple of times, once in ’98 and once in ’04 and a couple of other times. It’s just something you’ve got to manage.”

Ohio State hosts Nebraska Saturday at noon ET.

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