Beavis

December 27th, 2009 at 2:05 PM ^

Makes sense.

The guy was suffering from what we call "burn out". Typically you feel like crap (non serious health issues seem serious) and want to completely change your life on a short term basis.

He'll likely be gone for the 2010 season and come back in 2011. So much for "snake oiling" any of those recruits...

Brodie

December 27th, 2009 at 2:05 PM ^

I assumed it was supposed to be something like this from the beginning. Dude is not going to walk away from his career forever because of a non-life threatening condition.

Hoken's Heroes

December 27th, 2009 at 2:14 PM ^

...which means you should give the story 24-48 hours to see if it's even true to begin with. Meyers stated he gave this much thought and put his family and his health above everything else. How stupid does he look if in 24 hours he turns around and says, "nevermind what I said about retiring. My family and health really don't matter now that I think about it. Just ignore my earlier comments."

gobluesasquatch

December 27th, 2009 at 5:11 PM ^

There are a number of scenario's that could have occurred between yesterday and today. Perhaps further discussions with doctors, second opinions, and additional options provided by the Florida athletic department. Letting Meyer take a year off with the chance of returning in twelve months is a no lose situation for Florida. If things don't go well, Meyer has the chance to step back in. If the interim coach performs well, they don't need to bring Meyer back at all perhaps. Or if, he can't come back, then you can see whether your interim coach/OC can handle the job, or go get whoever you want.

If it is non-life threatening, maybe an extended time off would be sufficient, instead of the end of his career. Also potential, his wife or kids or both urged him to keep his options open with Florida.

I'm not a Urban Cryer fan, but let's lay off and wait and see how this develops in the next few days/weeks/season.

Sgt. Wolverine

December 27th, 2009 at 5:16 PM ^

It's remarkably optimistic to describe this as a no-lose situation for the Florida football program. This introduces a huge amount of uncertainty into the program -- Will he come back? If so, how long will it take? If not, will the OC take over, or will it be somebody else? -- and uncertainty isn't a good thing. Recruits don't want to see shrugs and hear maybes and possiblies.

Sgt. Wolverine

December 27th, 2009 at 2:42 PM ^

CBS reported it during their NFL halftime show. If true...wow. I feel bad for the poor guy who has to take over and try to recruit without knowing how long he'll be in charge or if/when Meyer will decide to come back. This can't be good for Florida football.

mgoblue121434

December 27th, 2009 at 2:45 PM ^

i'm tired of espn's shitty ass reporting of breaking news. it seems if anybody were to call any of their analysts with a tip espn trys to make the story as dramatic as possible, this has happened at least three times of which i can remember.

1)les miles to michigan with tenuta as d.c.
2)urban meyer is resigning and his coaching career is over
3)probably less known by most because it happened at about 11 pm but they reported a couple years back that manny ramirez had signed with the yankees, to only take the story back about a hour later saying manny has showed interest in joining the yankees.

why can't espn just wait for a damn press conference and air the news live, it is not like their are any sports networks that are going to run them out of business

Scott Dreisbach

December 27th, 2009 at 2:52 PM ^

I have a lot of respect for this Florida football program. What they have done in the time that Tim Tebow has been there has been amazing; however, I have no respect for Urban Meyer. The guy is a low life. Whether its calling timeouts in a blow out win to Georgia or publicly crying in the media that his team won the SEC and they should play for the national championship, the man has a lack of class that is unrivaled by any other coach in college football. Being that this is Urban Meyer, I am convinced that this is a way for some other coach to take the fall for him. This Florida football team loses their best offensive player and a lot of some quality defensive guys. Florida is going to struggle next year. Urban Meyer will leave this year so some other person takes the fall while this team develops and struggles to 6-8 wins. Once the team is more experienced, his health problems are miraculously gone, and he will come back to lead this team back to a BCS game. The guy is a snake and a low life.

Scott Dreisbach

December 27th, 2009 at 3:10 PM ^

He is one heck of a football coach, and he is probably a good family man off the field. Some of the things he does just lacks class and is inexcusable. The Brandon Spikes eye gouge half game suspension was a joke. Had they played another SEC power instead of Vanderbilt, I don't think Spikes even gets suspended. He ran up the score on Miami. He called timeouts in the waning seconds of a blowout win. He says the reason why Florida didn't do well against Tennessee at home was because his team had the flu. The guy does a lot of things on the field that I think exhibits a lack of class.

m83econ

December 27th, 2009 at 4:32 PM ^

Obviously, the pay is better for Meyer with the former, but really, what about his health would have changed overnight? Sounds like someone was reaching the point of giving up control and just couldn't cut the cord. The change in course, if true, seems very sad.

FrankieMachine

December 27th, 2009 at 4:44 PM ^

I would be shocked if anyone but Meyer is coaching the Gators for their season opener next year. I also agree with the sentiment expressed earlier about Meyer being a dick on the field and with the media. Florida coaches are the new Brett Favre. I'm leaving the university... for a day.

Also, some of the quotes his daughters gave the media were beyond depressing. Would be interesting to get quotes from them today. I'm torn as to whether this is sad or frustrating.

BOX House

December 27th, 2009 at 4:53 PM ^

Honestly, wouldn't you want to make sure you're 100% positive about such a decision before announcing it to the public? Changing your mind within 24 hours doesn't seem to imply he was ready to make any announcement, at all. Doesn't seem too professional.

There are a lot of hungover mornings I wake up and wish I could change some of my decisions from the night before, and have no repercussions. Wouldn't that be a luxury?

KBLOW

December 27th, 2009 at 7:02 PM ^

Sounds more and more like Coach K a few years back when he took a medical leave (some sort of back issue?) just when he was facing one of his worst teams and a tough rebuilding year. None of the losses that year went on his record.