Gators fans need a little Urban renewal
Time for them to lose disdain for former coach
After Urban Meyer coached and won his final game at Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, he and wife, Shelley, walked down a stadium corridor when a Florida Gators fan from above yelled something complimentary about Meyer and the championships he won at UF.
Urban and Shelley both smiled and spontaneously began doing the “Gator Chomp” — a celebratory gesture Meyer did dozens of times when he was a coaching comet streaking across the southern skies and leading UF to two national championships in six sensational seasons as head coach.
I might be the wrong guy to be writing this, but —
cringe! — isn’t it time for Gator Nation to welcome the secondgreatest coach in school history back into its good graces? Isn’t it time to put the Urbanator into the school’s Ring of Honor for what he accomplished as a head coach?
I know, I know, you think I’ve lost my mind. You think I’ve fallen
victim to the Meyer mind meld that somehow, someway has convinced the saintly Tim Tebow that Urban is actually a man of class and character. But you have to admit that if Tebow loves him, can Meyer really be all bad?
No, I have not personally or professionally changed my stance on Meyer’s unique interpretation of the truth. If you’ve read my columns enough, you know my feelings on Meyer, who is, without question, the most duplicitous, disingenuous coach I’ve ever covered.
I still think he bailed on UF when his program started coming apart, even though he laughably claimed he was quitting to spend more time with his family. Florida’s administration even gave him a $1 million bonus upon his departure. Meyer then kicked Gator Nation in the gut when he resurfaced at Ohio State months later.
I’ve written many critical columns on “Urban Liar” over the years, including last season when he blatantly lied about his knowledge of domestic violence accusations against his former assistant coach Zach Smith. Personally, I think Ohio State should have fired Meyer instead of just suspending him for three games.
But this column isn’t about my personal opinion of Urban Meyer; it’s about the fact that he is one of the most iconic coaches in college football history, who enjoyed his greatest success at the University of Florida. History is history and you can’t rewrite it. Eventually, Gators fans are going to have to forgive him for the way he left, welcome him back and put him in the Ring of Honor.
And now seems to be as good a time as any. Meyer is not working (yet), claims he is retired (if you believe him) and one of his top disciples — Dan Mullen — is coaching the Gators.
Mullen is the perfect coach to welcome back Urban. It certainly couldn’t have been Will Muschamp, Meyer’s successor at UF and a coach who did not hide his contempt for Meyer’s disingenuous actions. And it wouldn’t have felt right to bring Meyer back when he was still coaching at Ohio State and going head-to-head against the Gators on the recruiting trail.
But eight years and three Gators head coaches later, isn’t it time for UF to end this bizarre, dysfunctional relationship with one of its greatest coaches? Think about it: In the history of college football, can you recall a situation in which a coach won two national championships at a school and then became hated among that same school’s fan base?
Steve Spurrier, the greatest coach in school history, left UF too and even resurfaced at a rival school in the SEC East, but Gators fans never stopped loving him. He is currently an ambassador and consultant in the school’s athletic department and still draws a paycheck from the Gators.
Granted, Spurrier was one of UF’s greatest players and the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner, and he coached at Florida twice as long as Meyer did. Then, of course, there’s this: Spurrier left Florida to try his hand as an NFL coach and didn’t resurface at another college program months after resigning at UF.
Moreover, when Spurrier was dominating the SEC in Gainesville, Florida fans genuinely loved him not only because he was a great coach but because he was one of them — a Gator through and through. The Spur-Dog was an endearing figure with a candid, colorful personality.
In contrast, the Urbanator, was aloof and distant and seemed more like a coaching mercenary. Gators fans loved Meyer for his championships, but they didn’t love Meyer the man.
As a sports columnist who covered both coaches, I have a million amusing stories about Spurrier. I don’t have a single one about Meyer.
Then again Meyer never really seemed to care what anybody thought of him. In fact, I think he’s been in denial about just how unpopular he is among Gators fans. A few years ago when he was at Ohio State and the Buckeyes were preparing for a game against UCF, I asked Meyer if it bothered him that many Gators fans I knew would be rooting for UCF.
Meyer’s response was odd, almost as if he was oblivious to the PR problem he had in Gainesville.
“I’m always going to be Gator,” he said then. “I have great friends and a great relationship with people there [at UF.] I’m not going to let a few people down there hurt that. I love Florida and always will love Florida.”
Maybe it’s time for Florida to finally love Urban Meyer back.
Mullen, an Urban protége, is well on his way to fixing a UF program that has been broken ever since Meyer left. Now is also the time for Gator Nation to fix its relationship with one of the greatest coaches in college football history.
But eight years and three Gators head coaches later, isn’t it time for UF to end this bizarre, dysfunctional relationship with one of its greatest coaches?