Why urban meyer leaving florida

This time it's to be a better husband and father. They're both very talented Division I-A volleyball players, so I missed those four years. I missed two already with one away at college. I can't get that time back," he said. Meyer will coach his last game for Florida in the Jan.

The year-old coach led the Gators to two national titles but briefly resigned last December, citing health concerns.

He had been hospitalized with chest pains after the Gators lost to Alabama in last season's Southeastern Conference championship game. Meyer called Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley on Saturday to tell him he was contemplating retirement.

They met Tuesday to finalize his intentions. He built one at Bowling Green, he built one at Utah, he built one here. It's not just sacrifices here the last six years. That's 10 years of their lives, not to mention what he did before that as an assistant coach. It's his time to step back and spend time with his family. You're not getting it back. I admire him for that. Foley said the coaching search will begin immediately and he hopes to have a new coach before Christmas. Meyer said he planned to be involved in the search, which could make Whittingham and Mullen front-runners.

Whittingham was Meyer's defensive coordinator in Utah, and Mullen served as the offensive coordinator at Florida. Petrino was Foley's second choice behind Meyer in He called assistant coaches, many of whom were on the road recruiting, earlier this week to relay the news.

Quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler told the AP he was "stunned" and that no one saw this coming. Jacksonville is only an hour-and-a-half drive from Gainesville, where Meyer coached the Gators for six seasons. If Meyer, 56, intends to retire for good after his stint with the Jaguars, it makes sense for him to choose Jacksonville as his final coaching destination if he intends to reside permanently in the state afterward.

Meyer has a long history of recruiting, evaluating and developing top-tier talent before sending them to the NFL. That includes former No. While Meyer will have to learn to navigate the draft, free agency and the trade market instead of cherry-picking the top players along the recruiting trail, he had a hand in developing those players into NFL-caliber talents. If he can have similar success with his Jaguars players already on the roster — and those he takes in the draft — there's no reason to think Jacksonville can't become a regular AFC South contender in the coming seasons.

Of paramount importance will be his success in developing that all-important position: quarterback. Jacksonville's quarterback situation was less than ideal in with Gardner Minshew II, rookie Jake Luton and Mike Glennon all struggling: They combined to complete of passes for 3, yards and 25 touchdowns to 16 interceptions.

Luton and Glennon were winless as starters, and Minshew wasn't much better, going in eight starts. Meyer will be asked to upgrade that position immediately, which he will be in prime position to do with the No. He has a moderate history of success with that position, helping Smith to become the No. There are more than a few people who watched the Sugar Bowl matchup between Ohio State's Justin Fields and Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and wondered if the Buckeye quarterback's performance in that game should vault him to the No.

Fields was clearly the better of the two in their second all-time meeting; despite taking a nasty shot to the ribs , he completed 22 of 28 passes for yards and six touchdowns to one interception. He also ran eight times for 42 yards.

Compare that to Lawrence, who completed 33 of 48 passes for yards but only two touchdowns and an interception. I support. Support the independent voice of Miami and help keep the future of New Times free. Support Us. Keep New Times Free. Since we started Miami New Times , it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Miami, and we'd like to keep it that way.

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It begins and ends with Urban Meyer, the controversial coaching hire that set all this in motion. The decision by Jacksonville to hire Urban Meyer came quickly, and before the Jaguars had finalized the hiring of Trent Baalke as general manager — who was still operating in an interim status. Concerns over Meyer extended far beyond his football acumen, and into his departure from Ohio State. Prior to the start of the season Meyer was placed on administrative leave following reports that the coach was aware of spousal abuse allegations against assistant coach Zach Smith, and chose to ignore them until it became clear the allegations would become public, at which point Smith was fired.

Following the season Meyer said he was retiring from coaching due to health concerns. Despite these concerns, the Jaguars pressed forward, touting his success in college and branding Meyer as the right man to lead their young team. Billed as a tight end, the decision is almost universally panned.

At this point Tebow had not played in the NFL in six years, and had no experience playing tight end. The move came despite many capable tight ends being on the market, many of whom were younger and more skilled that the highest ceiling for Tebow at the position.