Jeff Meyer retired in November, 2020 after 41 seasons as a college coach. He served his final three seasons as an assistant under head coach LaVall Jordan. In all, six seasons of Meyer's impressive career were on the bench at Butler.
Meyer, Jordan and Butler University all reunited when Meyer returned to the coaching staff as an assistant coach in June of 2017. The 2017-18 season at Butler saw the Bulldogs post a 20-win campaign and earn a berth in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Butler followed that with a 2019 NIT appearance.
The 2019-20 Bulldogs finished the season 22-9 and ranked in the Top 25 of both national polls. The Bulldogs were included in every 2020 NCAA Tournament projection before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the remainder of the season.
Butler climbed to No. 5 in both national polls earlier in the season, the highest in-season ranking in program history. Kamar Baldwin earned All-BIG EAST honors and was a finalist for the 2020 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award, finishing his career fourth on Butler's all-time scoring list with just under 2,000 career points.
In 2017-18, Kelan Martin registered one of the most incredible seasons in Butler history. Martin went over 2,000 career points with 743 points during his senior campaign, the second-most in a Butler single season. Martin was a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team and was a finalist for the Julius Erving Award, presented annually to the nation's top small forward. Martin's average of 23.6 points per game in BIG EAST play led the conference.
Meyer has been heavily involved in securing the highest-rated recruiting class in program history, featuring five standouts who will arrive on campus in the summer of 2020.
Throughout his career, Meyer has amassed 794 wins with 16 trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Meyer and Jordan worked together as assistant coaches on John Beilein’s staff at Michigan for six seasons after previously serving together on Todd Lickliter’s Butler staff during the 2003-04 season. In total, Meyer was a member of the Butler staff for three seasons (2001-04). Meyer was on the Michigan staff for a total of nine seasons.
In the six seasons that Meyer and Jordan were together at Michigan (prior to Jordan leaving to take the head coaching position at Milwaukee), the Wolverines posted a record of 143-70 and made the NCAA Tournament in five of those six seasons, including a run to the 2013 NCAA national championship game.
Meyer spent three seasons at Butler (2001-04), where he helped guide the Bulldogs to back-to-back Horizon League Championships (2002, 2003), advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2003. He spearheaded the recruiting efforts and played a vital role in the Bulldogs' player-skill development program, game preparation and strategy. Butler registered a 69-26 mark during his three seasons.
Michigan averaged more than 20 wins per season during his time in Ann Arbor, reaching the NCAA Tournament in seven of those nine seasons. Following the 2013 national championship game appearance, the Wolverines made it back-to-back Elite Eight appearances as U-M returned in 2014.
Michigan claimed a share of the 2012 Big Ten regular-season title with a 13-5 record -- the first for the program since 1986. The Wolverines just missed claiming a share of the 2013 conference title after a last second loss in the regular season finale, but won their first outright Big Ten title in 28 years in 2014 with a 15-3 record, winning the league by three games.
The Wolverines won the 2017 Big Ten Tournament championship, the program’s first since 1998. The title completed a memorable five-day stretch that began Wednesday, March 8 with the team's plane sliding off the runway following an aborted takeoff attempt. After landing in Washington, D.C., Thursday morning and arriving at the arena less than two hours before tipoff, the No. 8-seeded Wolverines proceeded to become the lowest-seeded team to win the Big Ten Tournament and the second to claim the title by winning four games in four days. Michigan would also advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2017.
Meyer assisted 10 Wolverines to All-Big Ten honors -- Manny Harris (2009, 2010), DeShawn Sims (2009, 2010), Darius Morris (2011), Trey Burke (2012, 2013), Tim Hardaway Jr. (2012, 2013), Nik Stauskas (2014), Caris LeVert (2014), Derrick Walton Jr. (2016, 2017), Zak Irvin (2016, 2017), and Moritz Wagner (2017).
The Wolverines also had back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Years with Burke in 2013 and Stauskas in 2014. In addition, Burke went on to earn consensus National Player of the Year and All-America honors in 2013.
With over a dozen professional players to his credit during his coaching career, Meyer has helped seven Wolverines reach the next level including two lottery picks -- Burke in 2013 (Utah Jazz, No. 9) and Stauskas in 2014 (Sacramento Kings, No. 8).
In addition to those two selections, Meyer has helped an additional five Wolverines get drafted by the NBA: Morris (2011, No. 41 by Los Angeles Lakers), Hardaway Jr. (2013, No. 24 by New York Knicks), Mitch McGary (2014, No. 21 by Oklahoma City Thunder), Glenn Robinson III (2014, No. 40 by Minnesota Timberwolves), and LeVert (2016, No. 20 Brooklyn Nets).
Prior to joining the Wolverine staff, Meyer spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Indiana University (2006-08), helping the Hoosiers to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (2007, 2008). Before his time in Bloomington, Meyer spent two seasons as an assistant at the University of Missouri (2004-06), where the Tigers made an NIT appearance in 2005.
Before his time at Butler, Meyer was the associate head coach at Winthrop University (1998-2001), helping the Eagles win three straight Big South Tournament titles and secure three straight NCAA Tournament berths (1999, 2000, 2001).
Prior to his assistant coaching career, Meyer spent 16 years as the head coach at Liberty University (1981-97), registering a 259-206 overall record becoming the Flames' all-time winningest coach -- a mark he still holds today. He led Liberty to the 1994 Big South Tournament championship and a bid to the NCAA Tournament. He was instrumental in helping Liberty make the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division I. In addition to his outstanding efforts as a head coach, Meyer's program also produced successful individuals in the classroom, earning a 90-percent graduation rate (45 of 50 student-athletes) from 1981 to 1997.
Meyer began his coaching career as an assistant to Lee Rose at Purdue University (1978-80), where he earned his master's degree. He was part of a Boilermakers squad that reached the 1980 NCAA Final Four, following a Big Ten regular-season co-championship and earn a 1979 NIT final appearance. Meyer spent an additional season with Rose at the University of South Florida (1980-81), helping the Bulls to an appearance in the NIT, before becoming the head coach at Liberty.
Meyer, a native of Reynolds, Ind., is a 1976 graduate of Taylor University where he was inducted into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. He and his wife, Karen, are the parents of two daughters, Holli and Sarah, and a son, Josh. They have six grandchildren.
Meyer's Coaching Career
| Seasons |
|
Position |
| 2017-present |
Butler |
Assistant Coach |
| 2010-17 |
Michigan |
Assistant Coach |
| 2008-10 |
Michigan |
Administrative Specialist |
| 2006-08 |
Indiana |
Assistant Coach |
| 2004-06 |
Missouri |
Assistant Coach |
| 2001-04 |
Butler |
Assistant Coach |
| 1998-2001 |
Winthrop |
Associate Head Coach |
| 1981-97 |
Liberty |
Head Coach |
| 1980-81 |
South Florida |
Assistant Coach |
| 1978-80 |
Purdue |
Assistant Coach |
