Urban Meyer spent part of Monday revisiting the BYU-Utah rivalry, and he used the moment to tell a story that says plenty about how deeply the game runs through the state.
On his podcast, “The Triple Option,” the former University of Utah coach told BYU coach Kalani Sitake that the rivalry “goes deep” in Utah. Then he shifted to a memory about his late friend Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a longtime Utah fan and former tailback for the Utes.
“I became very good friends with Elder Wirthlin, (who) played tailback at Utah,” Meyer said.
Meyer said that during his two-year stint at Utah, Elder Wirthlin invited him to his office at church headquarters. What Meyer saw there stuck with him.
“This is unbelievable. I’m walking down, and you have 12 apostles. There’s red, blue, red, blue as you walk down - they’re Utah and BYU grads,” Meyer said.
He also noticed that Wirthlin’s office, despite his Utah ties, didn’t show much Utah pride.
Meyer said, “So I came back a week later with a carload full of Utah stuff, and I made sure his office had more than anyone else,” he said.
Meyer’s connection with Wirthlin began after he was hired at Utah, when the two met over lunch. According to Wirthlin’s daughter, Madeline Wirthlin Stover, in a 2008 Meridian Magazine story, the apostle taught Meyer about missionary work and why players stepped away from football to serve missions. That conversation led Meyer to ask Wirthlin to speak to the team at the start of the season.
“They had a perfect season that year, and my father became the team mascot. My parents went down to the bowl game with them,” Stover said.
Meyer later said the two “hit it off instantly,” and their friendship grew from there. The Meyers and Wirthlins dined together at each other’s homes.
The Wirthlins traveled with the team on road trips and sat behind Shelley Meyer at home games. Meyer also attended general conference.
“We have become very good friends,” Elder Wirthlin told the Deseret News in 2004. “I admire him as a coach, but most of all for qualities of character, leadership and example.”
After Wirthlin died in 2008, Meyer released a statement through the University of Florida’s sports information office.
“Elder Wirthlin was a great Ute and a true friend to the University of Utah football program, coaches, players and staff,” he said. “We sorely miss his presence and mourn his passing.”
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