Meyer, kind of sad...
As much as anyone here I ridicule the media for obsessing with Tebow and Florida, but with Meyer's premature departure from coaching left me with a kind of sadness. The fact that he didn't leave on his own terms (I am considering his health factors as an opposing force) at someone in their coaching prime is a tragedy for the game. No one can argue his work ethic and drive to win was unmatched. If he never returns to coaching he will be immortalized like Tebow. I just feel for the guy. I hope he regains his health and is able to get back in touch with his family. I have a lot of respect for the guy. Good Luck.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:02 PM ^
Sad? I'm pretty happy for him to have those kind of options. It's not good that he has health issues, but what a life it must be that you can just quit your job and focus on non-life threatening health issues. I bet there are TONS of people who saw that story and threw up inside. It's a shame that Florida will probably go down hill now, but, the cycle has to reverse sometime.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:09 PM ^
But think about it. This is a man of great pride. Someone who has built his livelihood on the game of football. Yes he has the option to step down as well as many other multimillionaire head coaches, but just because you have the option does not mean you leave. I bet he sees this more as an obstacle than an excuse to get out of football. If, however, this decision was to truly reconnect with his family then its a different situation.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:43 PM ^
I think the poster was just trying to say the Myer is fortunate to have the financial security to take time off for his health. Many other people are forced to keep working as a result of financial hardship.
The flip-side, though, is that its quite possible that the stress of his job caused the health problem in the first place. I don't know that many people have such stress at work that it affects their health. Maybe they do. I don't know.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:49 PM ^
Correct and the second part is probably correct. Recruiting is probably the worst part of the job with all of the travel. I was sitting in the car not happy having to drive for 3 hours total on Christmas (Not that I dreaded the place, but the travel time), can't imagine what it's like for a long time, recruiting or any other "travel" job.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:39 PM ^
Have you ever worked 80-100+ hrs per week? How about doing that for 5 years straight? How do you think you'd feel at the end of it?
I spent two years at an investment bank as an analyst. After two years, I was in the worst shape of my life. Chest pains, trouble staying awake after 9 PM, losing focus, etc. I also quit my job during this recession and it's been the best thing I've ever done in my life.
December 27th, 2009 at 1:21 PM ^
...Did you also hurt your liver?
December 27th, 2009 at 1:36 PM ^
LOL, not as much as I did senior year at UofM.
Sleeping until 11 AM in college = energy for prime drinking hours.
Sleeping from 1 AM until 7 AM 5 days a week = sleep induced blackouts at 11 PM on Friday and Saturday nights.
December 27th, 2009 at 3:20 PM ^
For $5 mil a year, I'd like to try...
December 27th, 2009 at 12:33 PM ^
"Sad" is getting laid off, losing the mortgage and not having health insurance. Urban Meyer quitting a job because he finally realized that it was causing him stress and hurting his family is as far from sad as I can imagine. In fact, if it was as bad as he says, then his life will probably improve and he'll find ways to find happiness and peace without coaching football.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:39 PM ^
And I remember a basketball coach who stepped down for similar reasons, except that his stress, intensity, and hundred hour weeks almost made him bleed out through a stomach ulcer. You may remember him; his name was Dick Vitale.
Yeah, I know Vitale sucked in the NBA, but he took UD from nowhere to the NCAA before the Pistons gave him a shot. He was similar to Meyer in both his work ethic and the fact that he was the first to admit that losses "killed him." Maybe they would have if he hadn't quit.
My point here is that it worked out great for Dickie V, and he is a lot happier doing TV than he ever would have been as a coach, and that it might work out that way for Meyer, too. I would imagine that ESPN/ABC and CBS have already called his agent.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:49 PM ^
I always heard that Meyer is kind of a dickhead.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:52 PM ^
Well that's the semi-Machiavellian approach to coaching that has gotten so many to that point. You almost have to be a bit of one to get there.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:58 PM ^
Way to have compassion.
Call me nuts, but he's clearly a good enough guy to get 100+ people with big egos to follow him, and succeed.
December 27th, 2009 at 2:50 PM ^
How do you feel now that you know he is just taking off a rebuilding year to come back and coach once they won't go 6-6? Such a compassionate man is he.
December 27th, 2009 at 5:15 PM ^
Florida is not going to go 6-6 next year. Wins will include Miami (Oh), USF, Kentucky, MSU, Vanderbilt, Appalachian State, and Florida State. And winnable games against Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina. Could be a 9 win season at least.
Besides, you don't know what his reasons are.
December 27th, 2009 at 8:57 PM ^
When did I say a word about his compassion? I was talking about you.
If you think they're going 6-6, you're insane. Their "down year" will be something like 8-4, which...he's already been willing to go through there!
December 27th, 2009 at 1:16 PM ^
I've met Urban on several occasions and I would definitely disagree. He was always polite and he also had a great sense of humor.
December 27th, 2009 at 1:25 PM ^
...because Urban is suppose to go with Tim to help him lop some foreskins off in Africa.
And Ubran might respond to your allegation by saying, "This dick head has two NC rings in 3 years and recruited the best football players in the nation."
I think we'd all want that type of dickhead coaching at UM. In fact we do have a Dick but no NC's yet! :P
December 27th, 2009 at 1:04 PM ^
If he truly loves what he does and does not want to stop but is being forced to stop then, yeah, it's sad for him to have to leave when he has an opportunity to work toward being the greatest that ever performed his profession. If it's sad for Meyer, then yes, I feel badly that he can't do what he loves to do.
It's not as sad as someone having their home foreclosed on. And that's not particularly sad compared an already-impoverished person having his family wiped out in a tsunami.
Things can still be sad without meeting some threshold criteria of tragedy.
December 27th, 2009 at 1:07 PM ^
We will all know the answer to this Aflac question for years to come:
Who is the only team Meyer lost to in a bowl game throughout his head coaching career?
December 27th, 2009 at 2:19 PM ^
I feel for him a little, but given that he achieved what is a lifelong goal for most coaches twice in his short head coaching career - and that he should be financially set for life - I can't feel that bad. Calling it a tragedy is a bit much.
December 27th, 2009 at 3:01 PM ^
I'm sorry for him and feel bad that his health is forcing him to quit coaching.
At the same time, I must say that I am glad that he is leaving college football. He did virtually everything I hate to see coaches do (short of hitting players and fans). He ran up the score all the time. He did not discipline his players for on the field incidents. He was tolerant of off the field incidents. He badmouthed other programs in the media. And worst of all, he was a lead proponent of the idea that a coach should be a lobbyist for his team.
To me, Urban Meyer will always represent the type of coach that is created by the BCS. And while the reasons for his leaving were unfortunate, I'm glad he's gone and hope that the system in which he thrived will do the same.