Uncertainty about Meyer, Florida program, is just beginning
Some unsolicited advice for Florida coach Urban Meyer: Coach, make sure you enjoy Friday night’s Sugar Bowl because as soon as the game is over you, sir, are on the clock.
I know you told everybody that you’re going to get away from the job and battle some of those inner demons that made you decide to resign for about 12 hours last weekend. In your own mind that may be exactly what you intend to do.
But fair or not, and many in the Gator Nation will say it’s not fair, life is about to get even more complicated for you.
Why? Because from this point forward there will be only one story written about football at the University of Florida: What is Urban Meyer is doing or not doing and when will he return or not return?
What about recruiting? Is he involved or not? How much is he involved? Are opposing schools hammering Florida because of the uncertainty? (Yes). Will Lane Kiffin bring it up when he’s in somebody’s living room? (A most certain yes.)
What about spring practice? Where will Urban be? Will he be in the meetings? Will he be at the beach? Will he be texting recruits while he’s at the beach? What about the spring game? Will even there be a spring game? Will Urban be at the spring game or will he be at the beach texting recruits?
You get the point. Until this issue is resolved one way or another, every story about the Florida football program will be dealing with the status of Urban Meyer. Nobody will care what kind of team the Gators will have in 2010. Nobody will care if John Brantley can take over the reins at quarterback. Nobody will care who the new defensive coordinator is and what he is doing. The players, assuming they are allowed to be interviewed by the media, will only be asked about the state of the program without Meyer or what Meyer’s involvement is or is not.
After last Sunday’s bizarre press conference in New Orleans, I’m sure Meyer and the people at Florida thought the media interest would subside after Friday’s game. In fact, the opposite will be true. Just like Florida was not prepared for the fallout of the Brandon Spikes eye-gouging incident, they are not going to be ready for what will come when Meyer returns to Gainesville after the Sugar Bowl.
It’s already started. At last Sunday’s presser Meyer said he checked himself into a Gainesville hospital for chest pains after the SEC championship game on Dec. 5. Thanks to some good reporting by ESPN, we now know that is not true. Meyer’s wife, Shelley, called 911 at 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 6. The head football coach at Florida was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
Does the man not know that 911 calls are a matter of public record? Did he think that nobody would check it out to see if he was telling the entire truth? Does he not feel obligated to tell the truth in that kind of setting?
When you hold a press conference like the one Meyer had in New Orleans, it is your best opportunity to get the entire truth out. It is your chance to get ahead of the story and control the message so that others don’t do it for you. Because if others shape the message you’re not going to like it.
But if you start leaving out details because they are uncomfortable, then the media starts digging deeper to see what else you’ve left out or potentially misled them about. And once the media catches you in a lie or a half-truth, you’re toast. The story takes on new life and will last for as long as there are new facts to find.
Earlier this season Florida and Meyer mishandled the Brandon Spikes incident and turned what should have been a one-day story into a five-day story. Spikes was caught on video intentionally sticking his hand into the facemask of a Georgia player. Meyer suspended Spikes for only one half and the national media backlash was swift and severe. Spikes then “volunteered” to extend his suspension to a full game. That story got out of control because nobody was willing to tell Urban Meyer that he was wrong and that Florida was going to get killed in the media. Meyer’s credibility took a hit that week whether he cares to acknowledge it or not.
Coach Meyer and the people who advise him would be smart to get out in front of this story when he gets back from New Orleans. If there are more details like the 911 call that leak out about his resignation/change of heart in the coming weeks, it will further undermine his credibility.
Here is the bottom line. The national media I know who have covered this story are sympathetic to Urban Meyer’s situation. The man has health issues and three children and a wife. You accept a man’s word when he’s talking about his family. But the flip flop and subsequent press conference in New Orleans, which raised more questions than it provided answers, left a lot of people skeptical that they aren’t getting the whole truth. In short, there are a lot of people who ain’t buying this story.
Trust me when I tell you that the story on the uncertain future of Florida football and Urban Meyer doesn’t end with Friday night’s Sugar Bowl. It is just beginning.
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370 comments Add your comment
gatorgirl
December 31st, 2009
1:19 pm
UGAX…great comments made. It’s nice to see at least some Georgia fans can notice a good coach when he comes along.
Reality
December 31st, 2009
1:22 pm
gatorgirl, I will check my facts in February after signing day. Until then, nobody knows what a bunch of overhyped teenagers is going to do (not even UGA). You say 3 or 4 have started looking at other schools. How many others are looking that you don’t know about. Maybe there are none. But 3 or 4 is more than would be looking if not for coaching uncertainty.
gatorgirl
December 31st, 2009
1:27 pm
Okay, check them in February then, and don’t act like you are behind the scenes with Florida recruiting. I am by no means saying it will not hurt us at all. But you are acting as if we will fall from a top 5 recruiting class to out of the rankings. And that, I just don’t see happening.
Alphare
December 31st, 2009
1:32 pm
Recruiting is not an issue here. That’s something UGA fans can totally ignore. According to CUM, he recruited most/all UGA players, who ignored him and went to UGA instead. So, UGA already got all the players FL wanted. What else does UGA want? FL coaches?
Reality
December 31st, 2009
1:32 pm
gatorgirl, I think you are over-reacting to my post.
Reality
December 31st, 2009
1:34 pm
Alphare, UT got the player CUM wanted. I think he’s in jail now along with some of his friends.
Starring Kam Fong as Chin Ho
December 31st, 2009
1:34 pm
Alphare, Got any coaches left to want?
SC Boy
December 31st, 2009
1:35 pm
No one seems to get it. UM is a micro-manager who cannot delegate. He was able to keep his staff together for a while when they were winning MNC’s but now they are leaving. They have to be tired of the constant texts and meddling he does. When he says its his responsibility when a kid doesn’t go to class, it tells you all you need to know about him. He does not understand the basic tenets of management-hire good people; give them complete authority and responsibility; inspect what you suspect. That’s his problem. He’s downright meddlesome and it has driven him nuts.
G8TR
December 31st, 2009
1:36 pm
Tony, trust me when I tell you that your interest in this story relates solely to your pro-UGA and anti-UF bias. If you spent a fraction of the time on this piece, which has to do with an individual’s health and family matters, that you ever did in looking closely at Coach Bowden’s look-the-other-way career at FSU or Richt’s comparable look-the-other way attributes at UGA, you’d shelve the glowing pieces you’ve done over the years on these two guys and get real, like you’re claiming to do in this column. I’ll trust what you have to say the day you do a piece on a UGA or UGA-related program that doesn’t just defend or rationalize their actions. Evidence 1: Re-read your drooling, over-the-top coverage of this season’s bogus LSU-UGA penalty “controversy.” That turned out to the biggest non-story of the 2009 season — except in your eyes. Looking forward to more pro-Coach Bowden coverage to come.
Paul's Johnson
December 31st, 2009
1:36 pm
Mutt fans are HOPING……maybe PRAYING that this changes the dynamic of their “rivalry” with Florida. Fret not, Mutts. This Meyer business will die down, and normal service will be resumed long before ya’ll piddle the bed next year in JAX, per usual.
gatorgirl
December 31st, 2009
1:38 pm
Reality I’m really not over reacting at all. You have your opinions and I have mine. All I am saying is I feel like it will not have an affect as great as everyone is saying. I am sure we will lose a few commits, but we will rebound with others.
four national championships
December 31st, 2009
1:45 pm
30-24 Dawgs – WE RUN THIS STATE
- – - – -
…all the way to Shreveport.
GT = BCS bowl
UGA = crap bowl
GT, winners of just about as many games as UGA has played this season.
King Donko of Punchstania
December 31st, 2009
1:46 pm
Ignorance is bliss when you’re a fan of a school like Florida. I’m sure it’s easy to forget that football did exist prior to 1991. It’s easy to turn a blind eye to the legal troubles facing many of your favorite players. It’s easy to ignore the fact that your program is built with players that are gang-banging turds who will almost certainly spend time in jail for stealing, rape, drugs, or murder. Championships or not, the quality of young men exiting the UF football program is second to none. What a proud legacy you’ve built in Gainesville.
Alphare
December 31st, 2009
1:47 pm
Chin Ho,
You can take a smart student as your defensive coach, who will do better than what you have. I have a strong belief most college coaches are dumb. They are mostly former players who are no good academically. These people are the least creative of all people. They cannot think straight, but full of tricks in their challenged brains.
Da Dawg Pound
December 31st, 2009
1:54 pm
TJB said it best in an earlier post. You really have to wonder how much of this Urban health issue is real and how much is psychological. The health issues are just panic attacks it would seem and not heart problems at all. The cyst on his brain causes headaches when he is stressed but is not life threatening.
Would he have retired had Florida won the seccg? I think the beatdown that Bama gave the gators was a total shock to both Meyer and the idea that Florida, Tebow, meyer, an entire returning defense from last year, etc. were all but invincible. The Bammers straight ahead punch you in the mouth physicality was shocking to Meyer and that all of a sudden meyer’s confidence is shaken. I looked it up and it seems the bammuhs have now beaten UF 4 of the last 6 including 3 blowouts. Most of us saw the prothro game in 05 and the beating bama gave them then with that shuler guy.
Everybody has someone’s number and Florida has got our number 17 out of last 20. But if they’ve got our number its good to know somebody like Bama has their number and that Meyer is clearly intimidated by Saban and Bama. My prediction is that when Florida goes to Tuscaloosa next year they get hammered again. And if they still win the east I think they get pounded yet again by the bammers in the seccg next year. Saban got your number and when you rag on us I’ll be happy to know someone gonna be ragging on you too.
gatorman770
December 31st, 2009
1:56 pm
Sounds like we need to check Tony’s local and offshore bank accounts for major new deposits!
BIGHOGFAN
December 31st, 2009
1:59 pm
I think the boy is on dopemyself.
gatorgirl
December 31st, 2009
2:00 pm
King Donko of Punchstania..you sound pretty ignorant yourself.
how2fish
December 31st, 2009
2:03 pm
wow. this is serious!How long did it take FL State to fall into the middle of the pack..or Bama when Stallings was run off and more important how long to recover..you are correct this shouldn’t be more than a blimp on the radar for UF..but if don’t think it couldn’t get ugly think again.But that was a pretty funny post all in all.
Dawgrulz
December 31st, 2009
2:04 pm
Good Luck to Coach UM with his health and family. He runs a great program and overall attention is good from SEC with more great teams. Teams like UGA, UT, etc. will gain credibility when/if they manage to beat UF in a good year. As a UGA supporter I do not wish any ill health on anyone no matter what school they play or coach for.
4 national titles- GET OVER IT. UGA outplayed GT and won head to head, 8 out of nine years. Deal with it. You would have won 6 or 7 games total in the SEC.
how2fish
December 31st, 2009
2:05 pm
four national championships… and yet we stomped a mudhole in your asses at Grant Field…but good luck with Iowa.
King Donko of Punchstania
December 31st, 2009
2:08 pm
Gatorgirl, don’t you have some jorts to iron before you head back out to your 2nd shift at Waffle House? Oh yeah, and don’t forget the Valtrex on the way home. It’s terrible what Jason Respert did to you on that recruiting trip, but I’d hate for you to bring anything else home to your baby’s daddy. He has an important job since being promoted to the cash register at Quick Trip, and a “cold sore” wouldn’t be a good career move for him.
ButlerDawg
December 31st, 2009
2:13 pm
Nice post, Gator Mike (@ 9:43 am). Good to see there are actually some classy Gator fans out there!
Monticello Dawg
December 31st, 2009
2:13 pm
What’s up with all this “conspiracy” talk about Tony and the media out to get the Gators? Hunker down, Gators, the Dawgs are coming for you in 2010!
Byron Mathison Kerr
December 31st, 2009
2:13 pm
I’m an Alabama fan, and I had really looked forward to a spirited SEC Championship game against Florida — great schools, great teams, good sportsmanship, good football, and all that. And of course I wanted Alabama to win.
But the game was so unexpectedly anticlimactic that I was downright disappointed — even though my team won. It was very surreal to watch Alabama play what more closely resembled a second-tier team. Somehow, some way, we didn’t play the REAL Florida Gators that evening.
Between the time the game was over and news reports of Urban Meyer being admitted to the hospital due to dehydration, I had already expressed to several people that something was obviously wrong somewhere within the Florida Gators.
What is playing out now, and what is yet to be played out, started before that game! I’m convinced of it.
I hate to see people struggle with difficult personal problems, and I hate see other people callously exploit those problems. Looking forward, I hope Urban Meyer, his family, the Gators, and the University of Florida can resolve these issues as smoothly as possible.
StraightJacket
December 31st, 2009
2:13 pm
I understand that 911 calls are public record, but why? Seems like all of the privacy laws governing medical information (this isn’t a HIPPA issue, but there are other laws protecting personal medical information) just fly out the window when you have this.
Nevertheless, Tony is right in that Urban needs some PR assistance now that this private medical information has been made public by the laws governing 911 recordings. As Jack Ryan once said, “There’s no sense in trying to defuse a bomb that has already gone off”.
I’m a huge Urban fan because he’s about the only thing keeping dawg fans from the pinnacle of delusion, obnoxiousness, and their typical rabies-ridden, caustic behavior.
More important, I wish he and his family the best for renewed health and God’s blessings in 2010!
…-StraightJacket
GatorG
December 31st, 2009
2:14 pm
how2fish,
Bobby Bowden ran that program into the ground by staying too long. Bama had a hard time finding another decent coach after Stallings because they still to this day worship a dead guy.
Don’t compare those situations to us – Florida has neither problem. Yes, we had to hire Zook after Spurrier because every decent coach was intimidated, but now Urban has proven that someone else can come into Gainesville and win National Championships, and be held in as high (or higher) regard as Steve Spurrier.
It’s a national consensus that the Florida job is one of the best, of not the best, jobs in the country. Lots of money, great support, top facilities, and surrounded by an ocean of awesome recruits.
Do your fishing elsewhere.
GatorG
December 31st, 2009
2:18 pm
King Donko,
You are quite the classy fan.
Jonathan Dowling
December 31st, 2009
2:18 pm
Is the guy that says ESPN stole UGA’s National Championship in 07 in the house today?
Time for Some Honesty
December 31st, 2009
2:24 pm
For all Gator fans who said this would not affect recruiting. You just lost who is arguably your top recruit; Elam to FSU of all people. You will probably lose about another 2-3 guys. But you may pick up some good replacements for those openings. By the way, has anybody noticed that FSU is on a tear and stand pretty good to pick up another 3 excellent recruits.
GatorG
December 31st, 2009
2:25 pm
I’m getting a kick out of these fans that are saying that assistant coaches are bailing from Meyer’s staff because they don’t want to work for him.
They’re getting head coaching jobs!! Would you rather work for a guy that helps you get a job as a head coach, or for a guy that helps you get fired?!
ugagugga
December 31st, 2009
2:27 pm
GatorG,
You sir, are an idiot. Bama fans “worship a dead guy”? Assuming that is a reference to Coach Bryant, you should realize that most Bama fans these days never even watched him coach a game.
Florida has had a good little run, but this carnival (started and kept going entirely because of Urban Meyer’s own bizarre behavior) does not bode well for Florida football’s future. Florida fans are the nouveau riche of the SEC. They are almost as obnoxious as are Georgia Tech fans.
Guess it’s hard to “act like you’ve been there before” when, in reality, you haven’t.
Sanford Drive
December 31st, 2009
2:29 pm
Am I the only one who isn’t interested in Urban’s alleged health problems? Who freaking cares? God I’m so sick of hearing about it. Write about something else.
Starring Robert Stack as Rex Kramer
December 31st, 2009
2:30 pm
To: how2fish, RedneckinLex, & all the other inbred Bulldogs that are taking shots at Ga. Tech, this is a blog about URBAN MEYER & FLORIDA. Get It? I hope you do, 17 out of 20, so STFU.
When UGA wins a NC in recent times you can talk, but since you losers won 1, the GATORS have won THREE.
how2fish
December 31st, 2009
2:31 pm
GatorG really it will be easier to replace Meyer than the Visor..did the Visor win NC 2 out of 3 years and go 12-1 two years in a row…if every decent coach was intimidated to follow the Visor WTF do you think they’ll feel following CUM? honestly..and brother I will fish where ever there is water.
how2fish
December 31st, 2009
2:36 pm
And GatorG your right about the assistant coaches not “bailing” on CUM..well except for the guy going to LSU they are upgrading their positions. But they are just as gone as if they were bailing.Never heard a rumor that CUM wasn’t a good guy to work for. UF is still a few cards shy of a full deck as far as the coaching staff goes.
GatorG
December 31st, 2009
2:37 pm
ugagugga
Let’s dispense with the childish name calling.
Yes, I was referring to Bear Bryant. It was enlightening to see how many people at the SEC Championship game were dressed in houndstouth. And, no, it wasn’t just the ones old enough to have watched Bryant coach.
I love your comment:
“Florida has had a good little run, but this carnival (started and kept going entirely because of Urban Meyer’s own bizarre behavior) does not bode well for Florida football’s future. Florida fans are the nouveau riche of the SEC. They are almost as obnoxious as are Georgia Tech fans. Guess it’s hard to “act like you’ve been there before” when, in reality, you haven’t.”
First of all, our “little run” against Georgia has lasted 20 years so far! Not bad for a “little run.”
And what’s with this talk of “nouveau riche?” Again, we’ve been winning championships for 20 years. That’s longer than most students at UGA have been alive! When was your last National Championship?
As I’ve said already, the national consensus is that the HC job at Florida is one of the best in the nation, if not the best. So don’t worry about us – we’ll be fine for a long, long time.
how2fish
December 31st, 2009
2:39 pm
Starring Robert Stack as Rex Kramer …another tough guy blogger..on what planet will I STFU because you say so..and little guy I remember football before 1991…even with 20 years going perrty much your way we still own the series record because you sucxed for decades..what goes around tough guy comes around..we take shots a the Bugs because we were BORN to to it.
GatorG
December 31st, 2009
2:40 pm
how2fish,
Time will tell. There were certainly a lot of great names floating around during that 12 hours, though.
gatorgirl
December 31st, 2009
2:40 pm
King Donko of Punchstania..What class act. I’ll enjoy my education at the best University an America…while you will obviously be at home arguing with college students. Get a life.
TampaGator
December 31st, 2009
2:41 pm
Maybe this story on Meyer from the Sugar Bowl will answer your conspiracy crap:
Meyer, when asked why his medical emergency in early December was at first misrepresented as “dehydration,” said it was an effort to protect his family, especially his three children. His comments were: “I didn’t want it to get out at all,” he said. “And then we were very careful,” he said at a press conference Thursday morning. “I didn’t want anybody alarmed.” Meyer stressed his wish to protect his family. “If that means not coming clean with full details about something very personal, if you can’t understand that, then, first of all, I think you’ve got to recheck yourself. And then, second of all, I think at some point you certainly will understand that.” Besides that answer, Meyer said he wanted to defer commenting about his health situation because the focus should be on Friday’s Sugar Bowl game against Cincinnati. “I think there’ll be an appropriate time to address some of those situations. Today would not be the day,” he said. “The focus is on doing the best job we possibly can do to win that game.” Later during the press conference, Meyer underlined the game’s importance to him.”I love my players. I’m not ashamed to say that. I love Florida,” he said. “And I want to win this game in the worst possible way.”
UrbanLegend
December 31st, 2009
2:41 pm
Urban has been officially diagnosed with “LackaTebowitis”
GatorG
December 31st, 2009
2:42 pm
how2fish,
It was also interesting in that 12 hours that I never heard any commentator say, “It’s going to be hard to find a coach who will want to follow Urban Meyer and his success at Florida.”
I say that because commentators (and, as it turns out, coaches) did say that after Spurrier resigned.
Dick Nixon
December 31st, 2009
2:44 pm
The media will kill you man I’m not kidding. You Florida people need to be real real careful this thing is out of hand and the people hired to contol it are not doing their job. I know, I am not a liar.
Simply the Truth
December 31st, 2009
2:44 pm
Tony Barnhart, since you have been seen on national television more than ever before, I’ve noticed that your EGO and penchant for giving unsolicited advice has increased,also. You’ve lost your bearings and your objectivity as a journalist, you’ve become a cheap fortune teller.
how2fish
December 31st, 2009
2:48 pm
GatorG good point but for the life of me I can’t see anyone have a harder time wanting to follow the Visor, than Meyer..he has done so much more so much faster..not saying your wrong just having a hard time understanding it.I mean I have a hard even thinking of a guy that is equal to him other than Carrol and he’d never come South from La la land..Saban??
Breaking News!
December 31st, 2009
2:50 pm
5 star recruit Matt Elam has switched his commit from UF to FSU. This is just the tip of the iceberg folks! There will be more. Word id Mack Brown is next!
Breaking News!
December 31st, 2009
2:51 pm
* is
ugagugga
December 31st, 2009
2:51 pm
Don’t cry gatorG. It’ll be okay. Everybody wants to coach at Florida — they’ve been relevant for almost twenty years.
H1022
December 31st, 2009
2:57 pm
The person who needs to step-up in this situation is Foley the AD. He needs to explain to UM that he needs to fish or cut bait. I don’t know how a team can function with a “shadow coach” “sometimes coach” “game day coach” or what ever. If Norm Carlson were still SID none of this PR garbage would have happened. Bring back Steve or hire Mike Shanahan!!!