Urban Meyer reminds us there are bigger things than games
Urban Meyer near the end of the SEC championship game. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
The funniest thing Vince Dooley ever said wasn’t funny at the time. It was as serious as a coronary. Because that’s what Dooley thought he was having.
Oct. 17, 1987: Georgia had contrived to fall two touchdowns behind in Nashville, and the head coach began having chest pains. And Dooley said to himself: “I’m having a heart attack, and we’re losing to Vanderbilt.”
The next day he was at Emory, where he would undergo angioplasty. He was back on the sideline the next Saturday, when the Bulldogs — who had rallied to beat the Commodores one week after losing narrowly to Tommy Hodson and LSU — would need a late touchdown to subdue Kentucky. Some life, huh?
“We won one for the ticker,” a merry Loran Smith said afterward, but it must be noted that Vincent Joseph Dooley coached his last game not 15 months later. At age 56. And he’s still alive today.
The best coach in the country is stepping aside not to coach somewhere else but simply not to coach. Urban Meyer is 45. He’s a high-energy guy. Big-name college coaches have to be. A big-name college coach gets home late and leaves early. He recruits and he coaches and he schmoozes with alums and he briefs the media and he answers the 2 a.m. calls that inform him one of his players has done something silly.
Yeah, the big-name coaches make a ton of money, but they live a life of stress beyond measure. As skilled as Urban Meyer is, would we view him quite the same today if his Gators hadn’t blocked that South Carolina field goal back in 2006? (He’d have been 0-2 against Spurrier and the 2006 Gators wouldn’t have won the BCS title and if they don’t win the first one maybe there’s not a second one.)
The point being: Big-name coaches are all control freaks, and yet they exist in a realm where so much cannot be controlled. The wonder isn’t that one of them has been suffering health problems. The wonder is that they all don’t.
Being human, Georgia fans will view Meyer’s leaving as the sound of a window opening. And it well may be. But before we get excited about what might (or might not) happen on the field, we need to pause to consider these sobering circumstances: Here’s a man at the peak of his profession, a man with two BCS titles, a man not yet 50 … and he’s walking away because he felt to keep coaching was to die young.
It was reported that Meyer had checked into a Gainesville hospital the day after Florida lost the SEC title game to Alabama for what was called “dehydration.” We now know that he’d been having chest pains. We now know those chest pains were dire enough to drive him away from the best job in the country, and that’s about as dire as it gets.
All coaches are strivers — striving for the next big win, the next big job, the next big trophy. Urban Meyer had won everything there was to win, but when the doctor shows you the cardiogram, all that striving and winning becomes a secondary concern. Job 1 is to stay alive.
Because this is a sports column, we need pay some attention to sports. Who’ll be next as the head Gator? Well, Charlie Strong just left for Louisville and Dan Mullen is coming off his first year in Starkville. Would they be interested in turning around so soon? Would Bob Stoops’ interest be piqued this time? Would Chris Petersen leave Boise for Gainesville? Is Gary Patterson of TCU an option?
I don’t know the answers. Ninety minutes ago, I didn’t know Florida would be looking for a coach. And to be honest, I’m not really thinking about the next coach just yet. I’m thinking about Urban Meyer.
We’ve had some fun with him in this space over time, but there was never a doubt he was a talent and a force. (His game-planning for Ohio State in the desert in January 2007 was coaching at its finest.) And now he’s leaving the job of jobs at age 45. If that doesn’t make you think, you don’t have a heart.
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657 comments Add your comment
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:06 am
Meyer
Spurrier
Saban
Kiffen
Miles
Johnson
Brooks
Please list 7 coaches YOU own. Hahahahaha
jawga boy
December 27th, 2009
10:08 am
OK Doan matter…. pull yorn out and lets measure:
I B Magna Cum laude 76′ Finance, BooDawg , 360K pr year , 2.5 Mill in my 201-k, houz at the beech. Cum back you wee wee?
SEC1
December 27th, 2009
10:09 am
I wish him well, but the timing, I must admit, is a bit curious. (Lord Tebow leaving and a significant changing of the guard…)
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:09 am
Am I not allowed to like more than one team?
FLORIDA
Meyer
Spurrier
ALABAMA
Saban
TENNESSEE
Kiffen
LSU
Miles
GA TECH
Johnson
KENTUCKY
Brooks
jawga boy
December 27th, 2009
10:11 am
Doan Matta….. F U had brains , u’d be dangerous.
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:12 am
I also tried out for waterboy job with my Jackets. Didn’t get it when coaches caught me peeking at the boys in the shower.
Dawg Time
December 27th, 2009
10:12 am
Mark it down—UGA will own UF for years to come. Without meyer and tebow, UF is nothing and will be back in the ron zook years of mediocrity. UGA—wins the SEC East in 2010, with a good blowout over florida!!! The Dawgs are now back!! Georgia 35, Florida 14!!!!
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:14 am
jawga boy,
LOL.
U B number one in crack sales for the Crips (East side). Who U B kiddin luzer?
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:14 am
I even picked up the soap for the boys….
Falcons are buzzards
December 27th, 2009
10:14 am
Maybe the dawgs can quit whineing now that teebo and Meyer are gone. bunch of pathedit cry babbys.Just remember who’s your daddy?
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:15 am
And you owned us during the Zook years?
Hahahahaha
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:15 am
Picking up the soap for boys usually works for me….
jawga boy
December 27th, 2009
10:16 am
Doan…. I figured dat wd. shut you up. Now go git back under de’ powch. Ain’t nuttin but FAX to back up my claims. U B wishin’.
frank james
December 27th, 2009
10:17 am
Coach Mark Richt has taken alot of heat, but when you see that he is the fourth winningest coach in the last five years that says something. Alot of people have taken shots at him for having his wife a water girl, his faith, and his family. And alot of people are now saying that this is a great break for him with Florida. You have to admire him for being able to balance everything. Something that Coach Meyer couldn’t do. There is so much pressure to win. Our society is so spoiled that it seems that is all that counts. All coaches are under so much pressure. Some can handle it and some can’t.
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:17 am
Dawg Time
“Mark it down”-Zook had a winning record against georgia (2–1). Why don’t you guys just make it up as you go? Hahahahahahahaha
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:19 am
WHOMEVER we hire will continue the tradition of TOTAL DOMINANCE over georgia (17 of 20)(3 different coaches)!
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:20 am
Hey dawgs,
Make no mistake, we would much rather play YOU than Ga Tech.
Richt's Elephant
December 27th, 2009
10:21 am
Richt is celebrating big time since hearing the news, doing cartwheels all over his house, thinking now he can finally beat florida if they hire a bad coach!!!!!! It’s celebration time at the richt household! champagne toasts, party all night long.
Spike
December 27th, 2009
10:22 am
How about Chan Gailey (UF 73) for the head ball corch? Yuo all remeber him, right? You heard it here first.
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:24 am
We broke Hershel’s record this year. If there are any more that we don’t know about, let us know so we can break them next year with our new coaches.
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:26 am
Which ONE of our last TWO national chamionships over the last THREE years would you like to have jawga boy?
frank james
December 27th, 2009
10:26 am
I hope Spikes is happy with his eye gouging and I hope DUI Dunlap is happy. They helped contribute to this. Hell Spikes should have been suspended for at least two or three games for sure and Dunlap should be gone for the year. Man these coaches have to deal with so much.
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:28 am
Frank, do you want me to list the georgia players that have exhibited less than perfect behavior the past few years? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
Vince Dooley
December 27th, 2009
10:29 am
Family is more important
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:30 am
Hey who’s porch did jawga boy and dawgtime run off to?
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:31 am
41-17
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:31 am
and the year before that?
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:31 am
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Dawgs2009
December 27th, 2009
10:33 am
GOOD RIDDANCE! I AM GALD I DON’T HAVE TO LOOK AT HIS AND TEBOW’S UGLY FACES ANY LONGER!
haywood...
December 27th, 2009
10:33 am
i’m wondering if it is okay for me to be happy that
meyer is no longer coach and feel bad for him at
the same time?
one may outweigh the other though.
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:33 am
Georgia can’t talk down to anyone in the SEC OR ACC. Only Tennessee Tech (Division 3)
frank james
December 27th, 2009
10:34 am
Go ahead Don’t Matter – If we would go back to the old School ( Bear Bryant, Erk Russell philosophy) no coach would put up with this. But know all we want to do is win at whatever cost. By the way I have never seen a player at Georgia do something so sneaking and chicken crap as to what Spikes did and man did Dunlap let his teammates down. Oh yea that’s right if they do it at another school it is okay we can do it and it is justified. Name a player that has done what Spikes did, you know so much. Oh yea you DON’T MATTER!
Dawgs2009
December 27th, 2009
10:35 am
OH WHAT IS CBS GOING TO TALK ABOUT NEXT YEAR WITHOUT THOSE TWO. MAYBE THEY CAN DIG OUT OLD FOOTAGE OF THE DAVIDS.
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:36 am
Dawgs2009,
That’s the only way you could get rid of Urban. You certainly are not man enough to do it on the football field! Hahahahaha. Steve S or Zook either. We absoluetly OWN your university. With a capital O!
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:37 am
OWNED WITH A CAPITAL O!
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:37 am
SEVENTEEN OUT OF 20!
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:38 am
17 OUT OF TWENTY!
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:38 am
((((( 17 OUT OF 20 )))))
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:39 am
Sugar vs. Shreveport
Dawgs2009
December 27th, 2009
10:40 am
Don’t matter,
Go ahead and laugh it up now. There is NO way UF can sustain their success now after the changes that are coming. This levels the playing field for the entire SEC East. You a-holes better watch out for Tennessee and Georgia. We are coming and it is going to get NASTY.
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:40 am
Walk the walk vs just talk the talk!
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:42 am
Dawgs2009, you have been saing that since your dad, Dawgs1989
GSU Eagle 91
December 27th, 2009
10:43 am
How about Bobby Cox? He’ll be available next fall….
And Greg Norton as Offensive Coordinator…
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:43 am
One thing is for certain, you won’t be doing anymore team celebrations in OUR end zone. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:45 am
Dawgs2009,
“Go ahead and laugh it up now”. Heck dude, I have been doing it for SEVENTEEN OF THE LAST TWENTY YEARS. My side hurts.
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:45 am
Hahahaha. Where did all the dawgs go?
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:46 am
Dawgs,
Hahaha. “There is NO way UF can sustain their success now after the changes that are coming”. You said the same thing when Steve AND Zook left. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:47 am
Dawg2009,
“This levels the playing field for the entire SEC East”.
Ditto
Don't matter
December 27th, 2009
10:50 am
Dawg2009,
“You a-holes better watch out for Tennessee and Georgia. We are coming and it is going to get NASTY”.
DITTO.
Maybe YOU should watch out for Georgia Tech, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma State and some of the other teams that have kicked your a’s lately.
Dawg Nation
December 27th, 2009
10:50 am
Without tebow and all those stars, meyer knew the losses were going to start coming next year and wanted nothing to do with beatdowns by UGA and Tennessee. He’s got millions in the bank and quit when the gettin’ was good!