When it became obvious that Charlie Weis was only days away from dismissal, the message boards heated up with Urban Meyer to Notre Dame banter and even some of the more prominent columnists in the nation kept mentioning it as a possibility. Privately, Urban and Shelley Meyer laughed about it. They knew where their hearts were and they knew they were at home in Gainesville, Florida.
When one columnist, who has constantly maintained that Meyer to Notre Dame is only a question of when, not if, wrote of the possibility that Meyer could be bolting Florida any day for South Bend, a Gator Country regular sent him a quote from one of my columns in which I stated Urban was staying and you could trust my source. The email that came back claimed that while I might have a good source, his were infinitely better.
I shared this with Shelley Meyer, who laughed hard and then retorted, “Well, you can tell him that unless his source fixes Urban Meyer breakfast every morning, you’ve got better sources!”
In the days and weeks since then, I’ve had several conversations with Shelley Meyer, who has always been a candid, honest friend. While I consider both Shelley and Urban friends, I have always made it a point to give them their space. I never have and never will intrude on their privacy, but given the nature of some of the rumors that have been circulating the last couple of weeks and seeing the hurt that has been inflicted, I took a chance and asked Shelley Meyer to address the rumors and innuendo on this forum.
She graciously agreed to answer my questions. Yesterday, in Part I, we talked about Urban’s health and the events that led to the resignation and subsequent change of heart. Those were necessary to set the stage for Part II, in which we deal with all the junk making the internet rounds.
Additionally, Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley was gracious enough to candidly answer a question that further supports Shelley’s contentions.
BIG RUMOR #1: This one had its origins with Paul Finebaum, who compared Meyer to Tiger Woods on ESPN’s Outside the Lines a day or two following the change of heart. Since then, that rumor has added more legs than a centipede and has traveled in several different directions, none of which are anything close to the truth according to Shelley.
“There hasn’t been anything like a Tiger Woods meltdown, and that’s whether in his professional or private life,” Shelley said. “I don’t know why people can’t understand that this is about Urban and his health. That’s it. There is nothing else to it.
“Urban had the chest pains after the Alabama game and he really started thinking about Randy Walker (Northwestern football coach) and Skip Prosser (Wake Forest basketball coach), who both of them died of a heart attack and they were still young men in their 50s. Urban is 45 with three kids that he loves and he doesn’t want to wind up like those two guys. Randy Walker was one of his friends so when he had the chest pains, this really hit home to him and it made him realize he had to make some changes. I think the suddenness of it all has made people think there had to be something more to it than just health problems, but that’s all there was to it.”
She went on to add that the relationship with Urban is a real partnership with no secrets, now or ever.
“Since we first met, the relationship has been based on trust. We don’t have secrets. None. We talk about everything and that’s the way we’ve always done it. This is all about health issues and he has leveled with me about his health and we’re in the process of doing something about it. I know people are out there trying to make something more of this, but I know in my heart that this is 100 percent about health issues and when his health is good, he will come back to coach the University of Florida football team once again.”
BIG RUMOR #2: Urban Meyer had a heart attack the Sunday morning after Florida lost to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game in Atlanta.
“There’s nothing to that one,” Shelley said. “I’m not going into any detail but it wasn’t a heart attack but it was something that if we don’t take care of it now, could be a real problem later on. So the time to take care of it is now although we’ll start dealing with it more specifically after National Signing Day. We’re actually already dealing with them in some respects and he’s already getting better, but after we get through recruiting, he’s going to recharge, take some time away, spend time with the family — how’s that for a concept? — and figure out what he needs to do to make all this work. He’s just got to take care of himself and that’s something we’re already working on.”
BIG RUMORS #3 and #4: These two are making the rounds and both of them claim that they are the final word on the matter. They’re quite similar but deserve separate headings. In addition to Shelley Meyer, I consulted Jeremy Foley on this one. I’ve gotten these two rumors from a collection of emails and phone calls, both from at least seven different sources and I’ve read so many similar accounts on the message boards of rivals, all of them quite similar in their content. Rivals seem to believe them, but the people who should know think there isn’t anything truthful to them.
BIG RUMOR #3: The moment he heard the news that Urban had turned in his resignation, Bobby Stoops (Oklahoma) called Jeremy Foley and told him he wanted the job. Furthermore, Urban wanted Charlie Strong to succeed him and wanted to be somewhat of an overseer to the football program when his health returned. When it became apparent that Foley was going to go outside the program, Urban decided to take the leave of absence that had been offered when he first turned in his resignation.
BIG RUMOR #4: In this one, Foley is the one who called Stoops to offer him the job the night of Meyer’s resignation. According to this rumor, Stoops said he would take the Florida job but Foley had to call him back the next day to tell him that Meyer had changed his mind. This rumor alleges that Foley told Meyer that Stoops made the initial contact and that Foley lives in fear that Meyer will discover the actual truth.
Shelley’s reaction was, “I have no idea who called or who didn’t call Jeremy. Jeremy has been so completely supportive of us throughout this whole thing. We think of him as our friend but he has a job to do, too, and he’s going to do whatever is best for the University of Florida. The only thing I can tell you is that Urban thought the best thing to do was resign because of his health and that Jeremy Foley was as caring a friend as you could have during this whole process.
“What changed his [Urban’s] mind wasn’t anything that Jeremy was going to do — we don’t even have any idea what that could be … remember this happened in a very short period of time — but it was the way the players let Urban know how much they loved him. When Urban went to practice he knew the option to return was open and it was his choice. We [family] were fine with it and we knew he might take the leave of absence, which is what we really wanted him to do anyway. The players made it easy for him and it was the right decision to make.”
Foley reacted by saying, “That [Big Rumor #3 and Big Rumor #4] is absolutely 100 percent false. This came on so suddenly that I was still dealing with Urban Meyer and I had no time nor at any point did I phone any other coach. There was too much going on with Urban and with an interim coach. So, false … there is no truth to it.”
Asked if Bobby Stoops had called him about the job, Foley replied, “The last time I talked to Bob Stoops was at the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Dinner and I think that was something like December 8. I haven’t had any contact with him since then. He was busy getting his team read for a bowl game and then we had to get ready for the Sugar Bowl.”
BIG RUMOR #5: This is another good one and it’s come from several different sources and I’ve read it on a couple of rivals’ message boards. This one states that Shelley Meyer posts on internet message boards under the moniker G8rGirl (including Gator Country) and that she’s extremely outspoken. It goes on to say that Foley knows that it’s Shelley hiding behind the pseudonym and he’s furious that she quite often vents on the message boards.
I know Shelley Meyer’s Gator Country moniker, and G8rGirl isn’t it.
“I don’t post on the internet,” Shelley said. “There have been times when I wanted to because some of the things that were said, but I don’t post.
“G8RGirl is NOT me and I resent anyone saying it is but posters should know that I read the message boards so I know who’s lying and who’s telling the truth. What I’ve found from five years reading the message boards is that pretty much any poster who uses the line ‘I am close to the situation’ usually isn’t close at all and probably is making it all up.”
BIG RUMOR #6: This one started out as “Urban Meyer is simply lying to recruits that he’s coming back but as soon as National Signing Day is over, he will announce he is officially retiring as Florida’s football coach.” That one was designed to get into the heads of recruits and turn them from their Florida commitments and prevent other undecideds from choosing Florida. Now that the Gators have come through big in San Antonio (U.S. Army All-American) following the big weekend in St. Petersburg (Under Armour All-American), it’s obvious Big Rumor #6 didn’t work, but Shelley still reacted.
“Obviously, he won’t retire after National Signing Day,” Shelley said. “Once February starts he will take time off. Meanwhile, he’s still working just not the way he used to. He’s on the the phones, he’s got dinners in town and recruits that he visits with when they’re here but he’s scaled everything back considerably.
“Once we get through National Signing Day, a lot of things change. We will be doing everything once that day comes to get him healthy and to get his mind and body rested. What this leave of absence is all about is getting Urban so he can coach years into the future. Without this leave of absence, I know he couldn’t have done that. He couldn’t have kept up the pace he was on but now he’s going to figure out a way to still be the same Coach Meyer but at the same time do things differently so he doesn’t wind up like Randy Walker or Skip Prosser. This is about doing what it takes to coach for the long haul, but more importantly, it’s about being here for the long haul for the people who love him.”