Urban Meyer's Retirement, Part II

It's been a roller-coaster run for Florida fans over the last year. First Urban Meyer retired. Then he returned, but was taking a leave of absence. Then they won the Sugar Bowl. Then Tim Tebow graduated. Then a new season started. Then the new season went to a turd right quick. Then Urban Meyer announced he was retiring again, and this time he meant it. Then they won his final game as a Gator... maybe. It's been a confusing year.

However, I think it may have been a more confusing year for Urban Meyer. First he is geared up to play Alabama for a spot in the national title game with a team that has been unstoppable for two years. Then he loses big to said Alabama team. Then he wakes up with chest pains and an inability to breathe—making him think that he's having a heart attack. This after years of migraine headaches and other stress- and overwork-related ailments. Then he retires to take care of himself. Then he finds out that it is just an esphogeal problem, not a heart problem. Then Florida makes him an offer to just take a leave of absence, which is actually much better. Then he has to coach against and beat the holy crap out of his alma mater in their first-ever appearance in a BCS bowl.

Oh, but that's just the start. Then he has to take time away from the team, preventing him from putting in all the work he wants to put into Florida football in order to ensure that they will be ready to play. Then things start going wrong for the Florida Gators. But Urban can't allow himself to stress to much about it, lest he cause himself more health problems. And he can't allow himself to put in all the work that clearly needs to happen to get this team to start working right. Then everything gets even worse, and he still can't put in the time and energy and emotional involvment that he needs to as a head coach of a major-college football team in order to fix things.

Restatement

So let's see, what Urban Meyer needs to do to be the coach he wants to be (and everyone expects him to be) is to put in long hours and a lot of blood, sweat and tears into his team in order to get it back to the level that everyone (himself included) think it belongs at. But the long hours, effort and stress are likely to cause heart-attack symptoms... if not a heart attack itself. This is a man who loves the work and loves to win. But he can't put in the work, which he undoubtedly considers part of the reason he is not winning. And he is the head coach, which means that he is the one person who is ultimately responsible for the win-loss record that will also define him, his legacy, and his ability to keep his job.

So let's recap. Urban Meyer needs to work his rear end off to get this team back into winning shape, but he can't work that hard because he needs to take care of his health. He wants to put in a lot of time to get things righted, but can't. He hates losing, but has to try not to care about it that much, despite the fact that he needs to care about winning and losing so that he can keep the job he loves, but also requires him to do so many things he cannot do. Urban Meyer was in an impossible situation no matter how you look at it. Unless, of course, you want to imagine that Urban Meyer is somehow able to work half as hard as every other college coach in the country and still get better results than all of them.

And that isn't even taking into account a family that probably became a clear point of emphasis when he thought he was having a heart attack. Leaving may not be everyone's favorite option; I doubt it was even Urban Meyer's favorite option. But getting out now was the best thing for both Urban Meyer and Florida.

The Future

Will Urban Meyer return to coaching? I don't know. He is going to have spare time for the first time in a long time once he gets into the broadcast booth, which may or may not agree with him. His name is going to be attached to every head coaching opening starting in 2012. He is going to be a hot commodity. He didn't get to where he is by being ambivalent about coaching. But after rising to the pinnacle of the profession, it is hard to say whether he will want to start over in a new situation. He was clearly happy at Florida, since he did not pursue the Notre Dame job that was often rumored to be his dream. And Notre Dame is the only place in the country that could even be considered a step up from Florida (if you can win anywhere, you can win at Florida, and you can win just as much at Florida as you can anywhere else).

Urban Meyer was a legend in his brief, meteoric career. It may continue later. But the interruption of the flow of his career after only ten years as a head coach and six at Florida can do him no favors if he does try to return.