Mr2Bits
Gator Fan
Florida Gator football head coach Urban Meyer shocked the world Saturday night when he told the Gator Nation he was resigning as head football coach due to medical issues. Less than 24 hours later he had a change of heart and decided to instead take a leave of absence from football - giving him the opportunity to return to head coach should his medical conditions get better... whew!
Urban Meyer would not elaborate on his medical conditions, but did say that he had not had a heart attack at any point. You might remember that following the loss to Alabama, Urban was taken to an area hospital. Rival fans were joking about it like he couldn't handle the loss. Little did they - or anyone - know that Meyer suffers from a severe heart condition. The doctors advised him about how serious it was.
"So when we had the issue, when I had to go to the hospital, and a couple issues after that was when I came to the conclusion that I had to re-prioritize everything. So that's exactly what it is. I was advised that I have to get this right or it could lead to damage. That's what made that decision."
If we paid close attention during the season, the writing was on the wall. You could tell Urban wasn't as firery this year. He wasn't yelling as much on the sidelines, wasn't in the ref's faces, etc. He still had the passion but it's like he couldn't act on it because of the pain.
Urban wants to put his family and faith first... that's the right thing to do. The time off will give him a chance to relax and get healthy. During his leave of absence, offensive coordinator Steve Addazio will act as interim head coach and run football operations. Not having the weight of the team on Meyer's shoulders will do him some good.
When asked if Meyer expects to be coaching the team in 2010, he said "I do in my gut believe that will happen."
Urban Meyer would not elaborate on his medical conditions, but did say that he had not had a heart attack at any point. You might remember that following the loss to Alabama, Urban was taken to an area hospital. Rival fans were joking about it like he couldn't handle the loss. Little did they - or anyone - know that Meyer suffers from a severe heart condition. The doctors advised him about how serious it was.
"So when we had the issue, when I had to go to the hospital, and a couple issues after that was when I came to the conclusion that I had to re-prioritize everything. So that's exactly what it is. I was advised that I have to get this right or it could lead to damage. That's what made that decision."
If we paid close attention during the season, the writing was on the wall. You could tell Urban wasn't as firery this year. He wasn't yelling as much on the sidelines, wasn't in the ref's faces, etc. He still had the passion but it's like he couldn't act on it because of the pain.
Urban wants to put his family and faith first... that's the right thing to do. The time off will give him a chance to relax and get healthy. During his leave of absence, offensive coordinator Steve Addazio will act as interim head coach and run football operations. Not having the weight of the team on Meyer's shoulders will do him some good.
When asked if Meyer expects to be coaching the team in 2010, he said "I do in my gut believe that will happen."
