Is Urban Meyer really this driven or really this dumb?
The news that Urban Meyer will coach Florida during spring practice is not really surprising.
Urban Meyer has met the enemy and it is him.
Since saying his health dictated taking time away from the Gators football program, Meyer has barely scaled back his schedule.
“I keep hearing about this time out,” Meyer said. “People I’m closest to are going to demand I take some time off, but I tried that already. I tried a day and a half, and it didn’t work.”
Let us be honest about this. When Meyer suffered chest pains, that wasn’t a reminder from his wife Shelley or athletic Jeremy Foley, that was somebody above both of them.
Does the death of Gaines Adams not serve as a wake-up call for anyone?
Life is precious. Spring practice happens every year.
Meyer told reporters over the weekend that his workload hasn’t changed much since his announcement although he’s put on 20 pounds and isn’t traveling as much. (Photo by Patrick Semansky, AP)
Meyer will undergo stress and heart tests in the next month but is still up in the air about taking time off.
“I’ve been instructed I have to. I’m just not sure what I’m going to do,” he said. “I just don’t know how long.”
Meyer owes Florida zero. Florida owes Meyer a lot. One of those things is to make sure he doesn’t damage himself.
If that takes suspending him or forbidding him from working under the threat of being fired then they should do so.
Meyer is a really smart man doing something really stupid. Just as he would not allow his players to put themselves in harm’s way, the Gator Nation needs to save its coach from himself.
USAToday.com
1/25/10
