Urban Meyer’s chest pains apparently started well before Florida’s loss to Alabama in the SEC title game.

From SI.com:

Meyer’s wife told an Alachua County dispatcher that her 45-year-old husband had a pulse but wasn’t talking when she contacted emergency officials at 4:27 a.m. on Dec. 6, hours after the Gators returned home from their 32-13 loss to Alabama.

“My husband’s having chest pains,” Shelley Meyer said. “He’s having chest pains, he just woke up in the middle of the night and said he’s having chest pains.”

Shelley Meyer said her husband had taken a sleeping pill that night and had suffered chest pains before. She repeatedly tried to rouse Meyer, who was lying on his stomach on the floor.

“Urban, Urban, talk to me,” she says.

Initial reports indicated that the Florida coach checked into a Gainesville hospital, where he was treated for dehydration and released. Shelley Meyer told dispatchers that her husband was breathing and appeared to be grunting.

“He almost sounds like he’s kind of trying to cry,” she said.

It’s no wonder Meyer wants to take some time off. These college coaches work non-stop year round and I’m surprised we don’t hear about more of them having health issues. I’m sure Meyer is getting a ton of pressure on the home front to hang it up for a while, which is why he first stated that he was leaving the program.

We may never know the impact, but it’ll be interesting to see how Meyer’s health situation affects recruiting. Florida will recruit well no matter what, but will some prospects go elsewhere if there’s no guarantee Meyer will coach them in the fall?

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/12/31/911-call-reveals-meyer-suffered-severe-chest-pains/feed/ 1 http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/12/27/urban-meyer-flip-flop/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/12/27/urban-meyer-flip-flop/#comments Sun, 27 Dec 2009 21:45:32 +0000 Gerardo Orlando http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=31833 So much for faith and family.

Less than 24 hours after announcing that he was stepping down has the head coach of the Florida Gators, Urban Meyer has now decided that he will not be resigning but instead will begin an indefinite leave of absence. The ESPN gang is speculating that he’ll be back by the beginning of next season, though nobody knows how long this will take.

What changed his mind? Earlier today his wife stated that Urban Meyer would NOT change his mind.

So what happened? A news conference will be starting shortly, so we’ll learn more soon. But I suspect the alumni went crazy, and I suspect that recruits were upset as well. The option of taking a leave of absence was always on the table, so he obviously had a change of heart after the reactions started coming through.

Needless to say, this is a fluid situation. Will Meyer be able to deal with his health issues while he stays involved? The guy is a control freak, and anything less than a clean break would seem to be difficult.

I guess anything is possible, but this story will be front and center for some time as Meyer, his family and the Florida athletic department work through these issues.

UPDATE: Urban Meyer is now speaking to the media. It sounds like he just couldn’t go through with his resignation after speaking to his players. He’s a hyper-competitive guy, so this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

Meyer also said he expects to be on the field as head coach for the 2010 opener. Frankly, he looks and sounds a little like a boxer who doesn’t know when to hang things up.

Surprising news out of Florida, as Urban Meyer announced that he will step down as Florida’s head coach after the Orange Bowl.

Florida coach Urban Meyer, who was admitted to a hospital because of chest pains following the Southeastern Conference championship game, is stepping down because of health concerns.

Meyer resigned Saturday, calling it quits after five seasons in Gainesville and two national titles. He goes into the bowl game with a 56-10 record at Florida that includes a 32-8 mark in league play and a school-record 22-game winning streak ended early this month against Alabama.

Meyer, 45, says he consulted with his family, his doctors, school president Bernie Machen and athletic director Jeremy Foley before deciding it is in his best interest to focus on his health and family.

Meyer has been to the hospital multiple times since suffering chest pains after the SEC title game, a Florida source told ESPN. He has been diagnosed with a heart valve muscle defect, the source said.

The problem is not life threatening, a Florida source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. The same source said Meyer will remain in Gainesville in a non-coaching role to be defined later.

This is a huge blow to the Florida football program, as Meyer had established himself as one of the best coaches of his generation.

Here are six quick-hit observations for Alabama’s 32-13 shellacking of Florida in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game.

1. Maybe Lane Kiffin had it right after all.
Maybe that brash Lane Kiffin had it right when he said earlier this week that, “Florida has better players, and Alabama has better coaches.” And actually, Kiffin only had it half right. Nick Saban outschemed, outcoached and outsmarted Urban Meyer for four quarters and not only did ‘Bama have the better coaches, but they proved to have the better players as well. Meyer simply didn’t have his team prepared to play today – period.

2. This was total domination at its best.
The game wasn’t even as close as the final score wound indicate. Alabama’s backfield trio of quarterback Greg McElroy (12-of-18 passing, 239 yards, 1 TD) and running backs Mark Ingram (113 yards, 3 TDs) and Trent Richardson (80 yards on 11 carries, 7.3 YPC average) played near-flawless games. The Tide dominated the Gators in every phase of the contest and never let up after smacking Florida in the mouth from the very first drive.

3. So much for Florida’s game plan.
Coming into the game, pundits figured that if Florida stopped Ingram that the Gators come out victorious. But instead, Alabama’s game plan to stay balanced was executed to perfection because not only were the Gators unable to stop Ingram, but they were unable to stop McElroy too. Florida tried a variety of different looks and in the end they just had no answer for what the Tide was doing offensively. And it really didn’t even matter that defensive end Carlos Dunlap (who was suspended after arrested for DUI earlier in the week) didn’t play because Florida just had the wrong scheme.

4. There’s no way Tebow should win the Heisman…
Not to pile it on, but Tim Tebow was brutal today. His final numbers (20-of-35 passing, 246 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 10 carries, 63 rushing yards) would indicate that he played well, but those that watched the game know that he did very little. Meyer didn’t have his team ready to play and the Gators’ defensive effort was poor to say the least. But outside of one drive in the first half, Tebow did nothing to will his team to victory. How anyone could watch him play today and say that he’s an NFL-caliber quarterback is behind me. He’s a terrific athlete and an even better kid, but pro scouts must laugh whenever any idiot pundit claims that Tebow is a first rounder.

5. …but maybe Ingram should.
Fair or unfair, Ingram might have edged out Stanford’s Toby Gerhart for the Heisman with his performance today. Ingram took over this game from start to finish and Florida had no clue on how to defense him. He’s been the backbone of the Tide’s offense all season and without him, they don’t go undefeated this season. Gerhart has been an absolute beast and has been a consistent performer all season. But Ingram produced in the biggest regular season game of the year and that’s going to stick with voters.

6. Good to see some fresh blood.
As a neutral college football fan, I’m glad to see that Alabama will have a chance to win a national championship and if Texas loses tonight in the Big 12 Championship, let’s hope voters have the marbles to put TCU in the title game. Either matchup would be fun to watch.

Lane Kiffin just loves jabbing Urban Meyer.

Tennessee coach didn’t mind distinguishing between the two coaches, though he hesitated to predict a winner.

“It’s kind of hard to call,” Kiffin said Tuesday in an interview on WNML-AM in Knoxville. “There’s a bunch of great players on both teams. Florida has so much speed. I think you’ll see Alabama will outscheme Florida, and Florida has given up 28 sacks this year when a bunch of guys come free. But the problem is Superman (quarterback Tim Tebow) is back there. It comes down to can you tackle him.

“It will be a real interesting matchup. Florida has better players, and Alabama has better coaches, so we’ll see.”

The message her is clear. Kiffin thinks Urban Meyer is lucky to have Tim Tebow, and that without Tebow Meye and Florida football will come back down to Earth. You know he’s just waiting for the rematch where he gets to play Florida without Tim Tebow. Next year should be fun.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/12/02/lane-kiffin-calls-out-urban-meyer-again/feed/ 4 http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/10/23/could-florida-be-in-trouble-on-saturday/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/10/23/could-florida-be-in-trouble-on-saturday/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:00:47 +0000 Anthony Stalter http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=27367

Considering No. 1 Florida opened as a 24-point favorite, one would assume that they won’t face much of a challenge this Saturday night. Mississippi State is just 3-4 on the year and has lost three of their last four games. Their most significant win came on the road against a Vanderbilt team that is just 2-5 on the year.

But there are several factors that should concern the Gators as they get ready to do battle with the Bulldogs on Saturday night:

- The Gators haven’t won in Starkville since 1985. They were defeated on Mississippi State’s home turf in 1992, 2000 and most recently in 2004.

- Florida could be down three defensive starters, including linebacker Brandon Spikes, and defensive tackles Jaye Howard and Lawrence Marsh. Spikes re-injured his left groin last week and missed most of Florida’s win over Arkansas. With him on the sidelines, the Razorbacks rushed for 133 yards and finished with 357 yards of total offense.

- Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen severed as Florida’s quarterback coach and offensive coordinator from 2005 to 2008. If anyone knows how to exploit Tim Tebow and the rest of the Gators’ offense, it would be Mullen.

- Despite their losing record, the Bulldogs have the 13th best rushing offense in the nation and are averaging 219 yards per game on the ground this season. Senior Anthony Dixon has rushed for over 100 yards in each of his last five games, including a 138 and a 139-yard effort in his last two outings.

At the end of the day, Florida will have the better team on Saturday night. Even without Spikes, Howard and Marsh, they have enough depth defensively to limit how effective Mississippi State’s offense can be. But there are more than enough factors that should have Urban Meyer concerned about a potential upset, none bigger than the Gators’ poor showings in previous trips to Starkville.

Will Mississippi State shock the college football word this weekend and knock off the No. 1 team in the nation?

With all due respect to Tim Tebow and the No. 1 defense in the nation, Alabama is the best team in college football right now – not Florida. Yet when the BCS recently released its standings for the first time in 2009, the Gators were ranked No. 1 and the Crimson Tide were No. 2.

I realize at this point in the season we might be splitting hairs when it comes to which team should be first in the standings. After all, both Florida and Alabama are undefeated and the Gators were the preseason favorites so it makes sense that Urban Meyer’s squad would hold onto the top spot.

That said, who is the BCS fooling? The Crimson Tide has beaten two ranked opponents the past two weeks and also beat a ranked Virginia Tech team in their opener. Alabama has also gone eight straight quarters without allowing a touchdown and Mark Ingram is running like a man possessed. (He rushed for 246 yards in Saturday’s win over South Carolina.)

Florida, meanwhile, did beat LSU in Baton Rouge two weeks ago, but barely survived a potential scare against unranked Arkansas in The Swamp on Saturday. The Gators were also the beneficiaries of a couple questionable calls in the fourth quarter that probably saved them from their first defeat.

‘Bama has been far from perfect this year, but the Tide are the most complete team in college football right now. The Gators may be undefeated, but their offense hasn’t been as explosive this year as it has the past two seasons and the offensive line is having issues keeping Tebow’s uniform clean. (The Razorbacks sacked Tebow six times on Saturday.)

I’m not surprised that Florida is No. 1 in the standings, but it would be nice if the BCS grew a pair for once and recognized which team actually deserves to have the top spot in the standings. I’m fully aware that Nick Saban’s bunch had the opportunity to beat Florida in the SEC title game last year and failed to do so, but that was last year.

This is this year and Alabama deserves to be in that top spot right now.