Urban Meyer: Leaving UF

snoscythe wrote:
I've been predicting for a while now that Tebow and Meyer end up in Jacksonville next August.

I'm not familiar with the Jaguars' personnel. Are they short on TE's and/or LB's?

byutx wrote:

I've been predicting for a while now that Tebow and Meyer end up in Jacksonville next August.

I'm not familiar with the Jaguars' personnel. Are they short on TE's and/or LB's?

The Jags most immediate need is butts in seats, which Tebow could provide, and Meyer hasn't exactly been shy about his disdain for the lack of innovation in NFL offenses. I think that must be a syndrome acquired by all successful Florida coaches.



I don't get why people knock Tebow as a quarterback for the next level. After his junior year, both National Football Scouting and Blesto Scouting, the two services used by NFL teams in the preseason to rank prospects, graded Tebow as the nation's top senior quarterback prospect for the 2009 season. That was before he emphasized working on drop-back passing and footwork this season.



Tebow will stick in the NFL. He probably won't be the next Peyton Manning or Drew Brees, but he will be a Donovan McNabb type franchise quarterback.

I think Meyer is stepping down due to his health but it isn't because he has some heart problem or anything. I think it is a simple problem of anxiety due to the nature of his job. He has worked too hard for too long under stressful conditions. He will probably take a year off and then end up somewhere else.

I don't get the subterfuge of stepping down from college coaching for health reasons only to turn around and take an NFL HC job. The pressure at the NFL level is far worse than at the collegiate level. In college, the coaches run the show, period and are the rock stars. In the NFL, the coaches are managed by the GM, the owner, and the franchise players. Meyer may not have to win every game as an NFL coach, but he has to get to the playoffs and be successful there or he's out of a job like so many othe college coaches who thought they could do it in the NFL.

According to ESPN Urban might be rethinking his decision to retire, and will supposedly have some sort of press conference at 4:30 in New Orleans today... That's pretty weird... If he does decide to stay I think he should of made that decision well before he ever opened his mouth in the first place, but I guess whatever he does probably think he's a saint or something and can do whatever he pleases.



http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4774134

jmvcougar wrote:
According to ESPN Urban might be rethinking his decision to retire, and will supposedly have some sort of press conference at 4:30 in New Orleans today... That's pretty weird... If he does decide to stay I think he should of made that decision well before he ever opened his mouth in the first place, but I guess whatever he does probably think he's a saint or something and can do whatever he pleases.



http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4774134

This type of announcement (if he did indeed return) would preclude a serious medical issue and put it directly in the "burnout" category.



If you remember, Danny Ainge left Phoenix after what he called burnout so it's not like it means that Urban is done with football, far from it.



I just question the "medical" slant that this has received thus far. I have yet to hear anything "medical" about it (and certainly a cardiac issue has not been successfully diagnosed that I would believe that this is indeed the reason; he's simply too high profile for a diagnosis not to pop up by someone in the media - heck within days the media had a list of a dozen women Tiger Woods had been with; yet we can't get one medical term?). Maybe this press conference will clear that up.

CougarPeasant wrote:
Apparently he has a heart condition, which is non threatening, fortunately. The guy is a brilliant coach, although I don't agree with his methods of motivation.



Here's to a full life for his and his family's sake.

http://espn.go.com/blog/SEC/post/_/id/7603/can-it-get-any-more-bizarre-for-the-gators



Ironically it seems he's having a change of "heart"... (and we're not talking a transplant)



http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4774134



This would suggest burnout and not as some thought an actual serious medical condition... like I said, I questioned Urban when this 1st came out as to what his motivations were and what the actual spin was.



That does not mean that anxiety and burnout can't affect someones health adversely; it can indeed cause chest pain, debilitate, and even lead to death... especially if you haven't been eating, sleeping or drinking water.... or self medicating to deal with the stress and anxiety.



However there are also cardiac conditions that are not reversible that would preclude going back into that type of stressful environment (a chronic arrythmia, a valvular issue, heavy chronic smoking, drug or alcohol use that causes an irreversible myopathy for example - these would be issues that would mean he couldn't go back)



In this case the "health issues" he discusses are self infllicted because there's nothing to suggest he has active cardiac pathology. He just knows only one way to coach a football team, and that has led to burnout which has affected him physically; but this is self inflicted... and that should be differentiated from the very ambigous comments about a "heart condition" ... trust me if there were a true medical diagnostic cardiac pathology, we'd know, because it would only engender more sympathy for this man.

I've never liked Meyer, his arrogance, his disrespect for BYU, and his whining about not being in every NC game.



I think Meyer is an opportunist. I think he looked at Utah, saw lots of talent, an easy schedule, an easy conference, and that he could win there. Then he looked at Florida, saw all that talent, all that money, and he went for it. And I think now, he is afraid he can't win with a freshman QB, and maybe other talent shortages. I think his ego was really bruised by the beating Alabama put on his sacred honor--so he is stepping down, so he doesn't have to experience a losing season, or not playing for the SEC or national championship.



Conclusion? I still don't like they guy, and I think he is manipulating his world, once again. Maybe he has real health issues, I just doubt it. He'll not coach next year, and if Florida looks really good again, he'll come back, I guess. It's kind of a goofy way to run a football program, but Meyer is god at Florida, so they'll probably let him do whatever he wants. But I think his wife is not going to be happy about his waffling.

I figured this was a case of urban decline...

ltpwfdcm wrote:
I figured this was a case of urban decline...

And when he feels better and returns, that would be urban renewal, right?

Mars wrote:

Maybe he has real health issues, I just doubt it.

He was hospitalized for heart problems after the loss to Alabama. He has also dealt with recurring brain tumors. There were rumors that those had turned cancerous, but I believe those are just rumors.

I thought the hospitalization after the Alabama game was for dehydration?



http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/gators/os-urban-meyer-hospitalized-2-20091206,0,4056307.story

CFN lists Kyle Whittingham as #3 on its list of favorites to be the next coach at Florida (albeit with 20-1 odds):



The Next Florida Head Coach Will Be...?





CFN's odds-on favorite to be the next coach at the Swamp...



















Urban Meyer!