Hear the one about Urban Meyer retiring from Florida for the second time in 12 months? Legend says it was for his family, but some say they see him walking the sidelines in a pullover from time to time.
Urban Meyer has retired from the University of Florida and college football.
Again.
Meyer resigned on Wednesday, stepping down for the second time in less than a year. His first crack at retirement, which lasted just a day, was for health reasons. This time it’s to be a better husband and father.
So he says.
If we make it to around 4:00PM today, it will be the longest of the two retirements. And he’s 46. That’s two more retirements than Joe Paterno’s ever had and he’s turning 84 in roughly two weeks. Apparently, Meyer didn’t take to shuffleboard very well after last year’s press conference.
“At the end of the day, I’m very convinced that you’re going to be judged on how you are as a husband and as a father and not on how many bowl games we won,” Meyer said at yesterday’s news conference. “I’ve not seen my two girls play high school sports. 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.
“Last year was a knee-jerk reaction,” Meyer said. “This year was just completely different.”
Wait, what? Did Pat Riley write his speech notes? How is this any different?
No, Urban you can’t get that time back. And no offense (well, perhaps a little), but should you have thought about that for say the last 15-20 years? It seems as though this is nothing more than a bad case of regret. And the thing about regret is you can’t get back the time lost.
Can he step away and become a better husband and father? Of course. It just begs the question: what the hell was the last year for? Why didn’t he just stay retired? After a 7-5 season and endless promises to recruits at Florida, they are in worse shape than when he left.
As for the family he’s leaving to get closer with, how can they trust that this time he’ll be a man of his word after the one day fiasco last year?
Meyer is doing his best impression of Robert Duvall’s character in “The Apostle.” At least, that’s my best guess. His once perfect life has been cracking recently and he’s trying to reclaim it boldly. Is it out of line to suggest that perhaps he could do both?
There is apparently an unwritten rule where coaches must work 18-20 hour days and sleep in their office to gain every edge to win games. It’s like a teenager getting busted for drinking.
Because everybody else is doing it, right?
“He’s worked his tail off,” Foley said. “You think of what he’s rebuilt. 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.”
Rarely do you here someone talk about how they don’t work hard. Everyone works hard, so they tell war stories of late nights, sleeping in their office and missing birthdays.
Parcells, Gibbs, Vermeil, Magini, Belichick. They’ve all talked about burning the candle at both ends. Jon Gruden was notorious for going on three hours sleep.
If this is Meyer leaving to recharge his batteries or secretly go after an NFL job, he’s a gutless individual, preying on the hearts and minds of his family that he says he loves. They will know where they stand if he takes another job within the next two or three years.
There’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone is entitled to live their life and pursue what makes them happy. But there is something wrong with duping your own family into believing you care more about them than yourself.
There is another side to this, of course. Meyer could leave and become what his press conference clips said – a better husband and father.
Maybe Meyer never returns to coaching, or he comes back in seven or eight years. He’d still be relatively young and could give some school or team a decade of work after having given his family a decade of repayment for all he’s missed.
The guilt would at least be gone.
Bill Cowher left coaching to be with his family and it’s stuck far longer than anyone anticipated. Dean Smith retired and that was it, he was gone. Same for athletes like Barry Sanders. Not everyone has to be Brett Favre. So maybe there is hope for Urban Meyer. Maybe this last year was just the sign he needed to know that his heart wasn’t in it any longer.
Now, a 7-5 record in the SEC, rumors about Cam Newton’s departure and no Tim Tebow might help nudge that process along, but still.
Of course, there is another option. Maybe not for Meyer, but for others.
You could take the Tony Dungy route. Dungy always walked around to all his coaches and told them when it was time to call it a day. It can wait until tomorrow. Go home to your family. Be a father and a husband. Then, come back and get to work on film and schemes tomorrow.
There is a tomorrow.
Unless you burn yourself out and retire today, get a good night’s sleep and find a new job next Tuesday.
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