It should go without saying that the news of Urban Meyer‘s stunning and unexpected resignation as Florida’s head coach is dominating headlines throughout the college football world, but we’ll go ahead and say it anyway. Because we like to be redundant. And we like to repeat ourselves.
From potential replacements to how it will affect recruiting to reactions from the coaching fraternity, you can’t swing a stick this morning -- and I’ve tried -- without hitting a Meyer-related item in every nook and cranny of the world wide web.
But first, we’ll lead off with Meyer’s interview with the New York Times in which he expounds on the health concerns cited in the statement released by the school yesterday evening.
In speaking to the Times, Meyer went into further detail about his trip to the hospital the night of the SEC Championship game and revealed it was much more serious than what was originally reported.
Meyer told the paper that he woke in the middle of the night with severe chest pains, and at one point lost consciousness. He was transported to the hospital via ambulance and underwent a battery of tests over a nine-hour period.
“There was no heart damage,” Meyer said. “But I didn’t want there to be a bad day where there were three kids sitting around wondering what to do next. It was the pattern of what I was doing and how I was doing it. It was self-destructive.”
With dehydration as the cover story, the event forced Meyer to take a hard look at himself and how he was conducting his life and the effect it was having on his health and his family. After two weeks worth of soul searching, the coach opted to take a step back and step away from the game.
“I saw it as a sign from God that this was the right thing to do,” Meyer said. “I was worried about letting people down. I was feeling so awful and concerned about my health. That was among several other signs that said it’s time to back away.”
“When your health flashes before your eyes, what’s before you means more than anything. I have a strong faith that there’s a reason for everything, and God has a plan for us. I just don’t know what it is.”
As if to put the whole situation into the proper perspective, Meyer shared with the Times his 18-year-old daughter’s reaction to the news.
“I got my daddy back.”
Gulp.
Now that is perspective.