Urban Meyer, who in five years as head coach took the University of Florida’s football program to unprecedented heights, will be stepping down following the Gators’ New Year’s Day game with his alma mater, the University of Cincinnati.
The stunning announcement came via an e-mail release at 6:43 p.m. Saturday evening, about the time the 45-year-old Meyer was telling his players, in an emotional meeting, that the game with the 12-0 Bearcats would be his final one as their head coach.
Meyer cited health issues as the reason for his resignation following his fifth season as the Gators’ head coach and his ninth overall as a head coach that included two-year stints at Bowling Green and Utah. He leaves Florida with a 56-10 record that includes SEC and BCS national championships in both 2006 and ’08. Overall, his teams at Florida, Bowling Green and Utah are 95-18 (.841). That currently makes him the winningest active coach.
But as impressive as his teams were on the field, so were they in the classroom and the community. Meyer made sure he and his staff stayed on their players to do their academic work and also do charitable work.
“I have given my heart and soul to coaching college football and mentoring young men for the last 24-plus years and I have dedicated most of my waking moments the last five years to the Gator football program,” Meyer said in the release from the university. “I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family.”
The health issues recently came to the front burner following Florida’s 32-13 loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 5 in Atlanta that ended a 22-game winning streak by the Gators. Shortly following the team’s arrival back in Gainesville, Meyer checked himself into Shands Hospital to check out symptoms of chest pains that the school later described resulted from dehydration.
Meyer was released later on Dec. 6, participated in a press conference for the team’s acceptance of a Sugar Bowl berth and then left for the West Coast to recruit during a down period when the Gators took their final exams. He has been involved with his players’ preparation for their game with the Bearcats before giving them time off for the holidays.
According to ESPN college football studio analyst Lou Holtz, who hired Meyer as his receivers coach at Notre Dame, the coach told his wife Shelley (who like her husband is a University of Cincinnati graduate) and their three children – daughters Nicole and Gigi and son Nathan – of his decision to resign on Christmas Eve.
“After consulting with my family, Dr. (Bernard) Machen (the university president), Jeremy Foley (Florida’s athletics director) and my doctors, I believe it is in my best interest to step aside and focus on my health and family,” Meyer continued. “I’m proud to be a part of the Gainesville community and the Gator Nation and I plan to remain in Gainesville and involved with the University of Florida.”
Meyer also thanked his bosses, his assistant coaches and his players for what they helped him to achieve.
“I’m very appreciative for the opportunity I’ve had to be a part of a tremendous institution – from Dr. Machen to Jeremy Foley and the entire administrative staff at Florida,” he said. “I’m also very thankful for the chance to work with some of the best assistants in college football and coach some of the best college football players and watch them grow both on and off the field as people. I will cherish the relationships with them the most.”
Meyer’s announcement surprised his coaching mentors, including former Colorado State head coach Sonny Lubick.
“The average person doesn’t have a clue how much stress there is at a job like at the University of Florida,” Lubick told Gator Country.com. “I am just happy he had a chance to make this decision before it was too late. Some people don’t do that until it’s too late. For the last five years, he’s given all he’s had to the Gator Nation.”
Foley said he realized how tough it was for Meyer to make his decision.
“Coach Meyer and I have talked this through and I realize how hard this was for him to reach this decision,” Foley said in a statement. “But, the bottom line is that Coach Meyer needed to make a choice that is in the best interest of his well being and his family. I certainly appreciate what he has meant to the University of Florida, our football program and the Gator Nation. I have never seen anyone more committed to his players, his family and his program. Above all, I appreciate our friendship.”
Machen hired Meyer twice—once at Utah and then at Florida—and said it was more than wins and losses for Meyer.
“Urban Meyer’s integrity, work ethic and commitment to his players are some of the reasons we asked him to become head football coach at the University of Florida,” Machen said in the release. “As a Gator, Urban has done everything we asked of him and more. He leaves a lasting legacy on the field, in the classroom and in the Gainesville community. I am saddened that Urban is stepping down but I have deep respect for his decision.”
In addition to the two SEC and BCS national championships, Meyer won three SEC East crowns and led Florida to five January bowl games. Recently, both The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated named him “Coach of the Decade.” He is the only coach to have won two BCS titles and the only coach in the history of the SEC to win two outright national championships. His .848 winning percentage at UF is the best in school history. The 22 straight victories, the fourth longest ever by an SEC team, was the longest in the league in the last 15 years. Meyer’s teams were 15-1 against Florida’s traditional rivals—Tennessee, Georgia, Florida State and Miami.
No coach in the SEC history ever reached 50 victories as an SEC head coach quicker than Meyer, who did it in 59 games just as Alabama’s Frank Thomas did. Florida was 32-2 (.941) in The Swamp. Meyer’s teams were 11-3 against Top 10 teams while at Florida.
Seventeen Gators were drafted by NFL teams during Meyer’s tenure, including four in the first round. Seventy four of his players have their Florida degrees, including Florida’s Outstanding Senior Leaders on campus (Chris Leak in 2006 and Tim Tebow in 2009). The SEC Academic Honor Roll has been represented 107 times by his student-athletes, including a league-record 37 in 2008. Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and finalist for the award in 2008 and ‘09, recently received the William V. Campbell Trophy, the academic Heisman, from the National Football Foundation.
Meyer also connected with the fans, student body and the Gator Nation. He initiated the Gator Walk, a pre-game tradition that had the players enter the stadium through a tunnel of enthusiastic and vibrant fans two hours before kick off. He began the tradition of players singing the school fight song to the student section at the conclusion of home games. Meyer also reconnected with former Gator players.
In addition to his on the field accomplishments, Meyer has also championed efforts in community service in Gainesville. A new initiative beginning in 2009, UF football players performed more than 400 hours of community service each year, as each student-athlete attended at least two Goodwill Gator events per semester.
In the spring of 2009, the “Swamp Field Trip” was available to local middle schools as a reward for their students who achieved good grades, were involved in community service, had major improvements, etc. The students had the opportunity to speak with a group of players and had a special tour of the football facility given by the players. The UF football team held the inaugural Gator Charity Challenge in August of 2008 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in front of approximately 1,800 people. The fundraiser featured the 2008 Gators challenging each other in a series of strength competitions to raise funds and awareness for six charities that were selected by the football program and are affiliated with Shands, a University partner. The charities were the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, Children’s Miracle Network, March of Dimes and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Gator Charity Challenge was held in association with Uplifting Athletes.
In the spring of 2008, Meyer initiated a mentor program for young at-risk males. Working with the African-American Accountability Alliance of Alachua County task force, the program BLAQUE (Bold Leaders, Achieving Quality, Unity and Excellence) was developed. The program partnered 15 area middle school children with a Gator football player and a community leader. The goal is to affect change in the lives of at-risk black youth.
Following his graduation from Cincinnati, Meyer was a graduate assistant at Ohio State (1986-87) under head coach Earle Bruce. He coached at Illinois State (1988-89), Colorado State (1990-95) and Notre Dame (1996-2000) before becoming head coach at Bowling Green. Lubick, Holtz, Bruce and Bob Davie (Notre Dame) influenced his coaching philosophy.
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