"I couldn’t get out of bed, no energy, no desire" - Urban Meyer opens up on briefly quitting the Florida HC job in 2009
Former Florida Gators coach Urban Meyer was falling deep into a sinkhole in 2009. This stemmed from a loss at the hands of Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide during the 2009 SEC Championship game. It was also the reason why Meyer decided to step from his position in Florida.
The Gators had defeated Alamaba the year before the loss to clinch the SEC championship game. Not only this, they fought hard to win the coveted national championship as well, while preparing to defend their title in 2009.
But things do not always work out the way we want them to. Urban Meyer and his team managed to put up an impressive undefeated regular season record at 12-0. But the SEC championship rematch loss against Alabama led to the former coach falling into the depths of depression and sadness. They lost 32-13 to Nick Saban and his team, a huge margin of loss that crushed their hopes of defending the national title. And it took a toll on Meyer's mental health.
He describes how the loss spiraled him into a deep dark place, and he found himself stuck deep in the pit of melancholy in the Netflix documentary "UNTOLD: Swamp Kings."
"I couldn't get out of bed, no energy, no desire..I thought I was going to die", Urban Meyer said.
And the pain of the loss was too much for him to bear. After the SEC Championship loss, Urban Meyer found himself admitted to the hospital because he was complaining about continuous chest pains. He resigned after five seasons with the Gators and two national titles under his belt.
But after announcing his decision on December 26, 2009, it took just one day for him to reconsider what he wants to do. On December 27, he turned the resignation into a leave of absence before returning for one more season with the Florida Gators in 2010.
What is Urban Meyer doing today?
After resigning as a coach in the world of college football in 2019, he was hired as the coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in his first NFL gig. But it was a very short-lived career, as his 2-11 dismal debut led to the team firing him just after 13 games.
Today, he works as a TV commentator and analyst for the Fox Sports Network. He first joined the network in 2019 after leaving the world of college football, before accepting the offer from the Jaguars. Now, fans can catch a glimpse of the former college football coach at the weekly "Big Noon Kickoff" show on the channel.