College football’s most iconic rivalry might be ‘The Game,’ but there are also other high-profile rivalries that attract a lot of attention. The UNLV-Nevada rivalry, dubbed the Battle for Nevada, also draws intense fan passion and player animosity. Urban Meyer was fully aware of the rivalry dynamics and still risked upsetting many people.

On July 24, Meyer was the keynote speaker at the Nevada Governor’s dinner, and the organizers wanted him to wear a Nevada football shirt. However, the former OSU head coach refused to wear it and instead wore a “Caesars” shirt to avoid angering his daughter. Meyer’s eldest daughter, Nicki Meyer, married now-UNLV offensive coordinator Corey Dennis in 2016. That’s precisely why the former OSU head coach chose to sport neutral colors.

“My son-in-law is actually the offensive coordinator at UNLV, and so they wanted me to wear a Nevada shirt tonight. I just can’t,” Meyer said to Nevada Sports Net about his decision as he wore a plain white shirt. “I’m not scared of him (the Governor) or Dan Mullen. But I’m horrified of my daughter. So I wore the Caesar shirt instead. But I got the memo: do not wear red. You’ll be shown the door here, so no red.”

Nicki Meyer got engaged to Corey Dennis back in December 2014. At the time, Nicki shared the video of the proposal on Instagram, with Urban Meyer and his wife, Shelly, standing in the background. The couple married in February 2016, at an event where college football fans saw Meyer happily dancing with his daughter.

Both Corey and Nicki met at Georgia Tech, where both were college players. While Nicki was a prolific college volleyball player, Corey was a standout WR for the Yellow Jackets. Interestingly, after finishing his playing career with Georgia Tech in 2014, he perfected his coaching craft under the three-time national champion head coach. In 2015, just a year after Meyer won his third national title, Dennis joined him as an intern.

Over the years, Meyer’s son-in-law, now the UNLV OC, rose through the OSU ranks, becoming a graduate assistant in 2016. When Ryan Day became the head coach of OSU, he retained Dennis and promoted him to the program’s QB coach in 2020. In that role, the 33-year-old was pivotal in developing QBs like C.J. Stroud and Justin Fields. Because of Dennis’ coaching prowess, Tulsa called him in 2024 to become their QBs’ coach and passing game coordinator.

Now, Dennis is at UNLV, where he joined former Urban Meyer assistant Dan Mullen’s staff on a two-year contract. Last year, he helped the team reach a 10-win season in just his first year and helped QB Anthony Colandrea notch more than 4,000 all-purpose yards. Corey and his wife, Nicky, have now become a part of UNLV’s culture, including taking the rivalry seriously. That probably also includes forcing her father to do the same. Even if he doesn’t want it.