A native of Ellinger, Texas, Meyer prepped at Waco High School under coach Paul Tyson. He went on to play football, baseball and basketball at TCU, earning 11 varsity letters overall. Upon graduation in 1922 with a degree in geology, Meyer played one summer in the minor leagues for the Cleveland Indians organization. That fall, he coached at Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth, Texas before becoming the freshman coach at TCU in 1923. He was promoted to head coach in 1934. Sammy Baugh told The Washington Post: