Urban Meyer already has his eyes on a new coaching job.
Instead of marshalling college football players for a multi-million-dollar salary, he plans to coach his son’s baseball team in the spring — as an assistant.
Meyer’s decision about his future came down to family vs. football, and after choosing the latter a year ago, he changed course by stepping down as Florida’s coach on Wednesday to spend more time with his wife, Shelley, and children, Nicki, Gigi and Nate.
“At the end of the day, I’m very convinced you’re going to be judged as a husband and father, not on how many bowl games you’ve won,” Meyer said. “I’ve not seen my two girls play high school sports, and they’re both very talented, Division-I volleyball players. … I can’t get that time back.”
“I made a commitment to them recently that I’m going to get to enjoy the best years of their life, and that’s right now.”
After six seasons, 64 wins and two national championships, Meyer shouldn’t have a hard time landing that baseball gig — or any other job — in Gainesville.
But as he leaves the Gators, they face a tough road back to the national prominence he led them to. Following a regular season-ending loss to Florida State, Meyer talked about the need to rebuild the program, a process he won’t be around to handle.
“He took us to a new level — a level that will maybe be reached again but never exceeded,” UF President Bernie Machen said.
Wednesday marked the second time in a year that Meyer has resigned. Last December, he changed his mind a day later. But this time, he seemed resolute.
Meyer said he began having thoughts of retirement over the weekend, and he decided to call it quits after talks with Machen and athletics director Jeremy Foley on Tuesday.
“I don’t think (Meyer will change his mind) this time,” Foley said, adding he wasn’t surprised by Meyer’s choice. “I’m at peace with his decision because he’s at peace. Last year, that was not the case.
“My office is next to his, and I’ve seen how he’s been this year and the efforts he’s put forward, and I know this is not a knee-jerk reaction to being 7-5, trust me. He’s at peace with his life, his family and what he wants to do. I didn’t try to talk him out of it.”
His players didn’t either.
Meyer met with his team Wednesday afternoon and will coach the Gators in the Outback Bowl against Penn State on Jan. 1. Seniors Ahmad Black and Mike Pouncey, who stood beside Meyer during most of the televised press conference, both said they backed the decision.
The tougher sell will be to UF’s 77 players who are redshirt sophomores or younger.
“I think everybody is pretty much supportive of his decision,” Pouncey said. “Of course, all the young guys are going to worry about who’s coming in next, but all those guys have good relationships with their position coaches. Florida is going to be Florida, like always, and I think we’ll move forward and be a good program.”
Much of that hinges on the next coach. Meyer’s retirement sent rumors flying about who his successor would be, but Foley said he has yet to contact anyone about the vacancy.
Foley’s goal is to make a hire in the next two and a half weeks. He said he’d begin compiling a list of candidates Thursday and that no current UF assistants had expressed interest.
After heading two coaching searches that yielded drastically different results — Ron Zook in 2002 and Meyer in 2004 — he feels prepared for what’s ahead.
“The first time, and no disrespect, I didn’t know what I was doing,” Foley said. “I’m not talking about the end result, I’m talking about the interest, the scrutiny, people tracking airplanes and looking at it.
“I have a great staff, and I’m not doing this by myself. But after 35 years (at UF), I know a lot about this place. I talk about culture, this place and this community, and I think I’ll bring that more to the table than I could the first time.”
In the meantime, the focus will be on recruiting.
Meyer hauled in one of the nation’s best classes last year despite his leave of absence, and he said he’d be making phone calls right away.
He added that the program “has to be fixed,” a fact that adds some sting to his exit.
“I think Florida deserves the best, and I’m not sure we gave them our best this year,” Meyer said. “But there’s never perfect timing.”
