Real World 2010: Gainesville, FL?

Posted by Seigle Seigle (Follow Me)- Seigle Seigle is a married man and former Louisiana resident. His little man is 6. His little chica is 15 mos. And he is 26, unreal! - To see more posts by this author click here

DEC 6, 2009: Urban Meyer is rushed to hotel for claims of chest pains and side tingling. (ESPN)

DEC 6, 2009: Florida spokesperson says Urban Meyer was treated and released from hospital for dehydration. (ESPN)

DEC 26, 2009: Urban Meyer is resigning due to health concerns. (ESPN)

DEC 27, 2009: Meyer speaks about his health, his family and the decision to leave Florida.

DEC 27/28, 2009: Meyer accepts Florida’s offer to take a leave of absence from the school and get his health right. (ESPN)

Don’t want to spend a ton of time on this, but take a couple of quotes from Meyer’s resignation story:

“”I saw it as a sign from God that this was the right thing to do,” Meyer told The Times of his daughter’s reaction. “I was worried about letting people down. I was feeling so awful and concerned about my health. That was among several other signs that said it’s time to back away.” (ESPN)

“He told The Times his daughter Nicki, 18, hugged him and said, “I get my daddy back.” (ESPN)

Now read a couple of quotes from his whoops, I want to come back story:

“I want to make sure I do right by my family,” said Meyer, who is married with three children. “My second family is my players and my staff.” (ESPN)

“And then I’m a person of faith, and I just wanted to make sure I had my priorities straight. A lot of times coaches do not have their priorities straight. You put business before God and family, you have a problem.” (ESPN)

People make bad decisions all the time. I am not second-guessing Meyer’s decision to return, but I am second-guessing the words he uses versus the actions he takes. Here part of the take from Paul Daughtery (Blog) who is a columnist from the Cincinnati Enquirer and a superb sportswriter:

“The answer to every problem in college football is Work Harder. One more drill, one more practice, one more hour watching video. One more day taken off your life.”

The next day, Daughtery’s blog (Here):

“And as M. Lewis has said once or twice, I see better than I hear. Meyer spoke at length about how close he is to his family, and yet his family was not the first to know about his decision to un-retire. And if a health issue is serious enough to make a football-obsessive like Meyer decide (briefly) to quit at age 45, at the top of his game, where does his family rank when he changes his mind?

Look, good luck to him. He’s good for the game. I hope he figures a way to stay great without working himself into deep trouble. It’s just that this whole process has been less than righteous. It doesn’t exactly pass the smell test…”

So what is the solution FFT followers? I agree with Daughtery on a couple of points – 1) So Meyer’s family was the reason you resigned, where do they stand now? and 2) FOOTBALL ISN’T ATOM SPLITTING! Neither is basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, water polo, cricket (well, maybe cricket). The “stress” I felt as a basketball coach never matches up to the stress I feel as a parent. But, that’s because I didn’t care about basketball as much as I cared about my kids. Did I ever make it to the top? No. So, with every situation you have to take into account the things that are most important. You have to determine what those things are, not ESPN, not your boss, not your friends, YOU!

This is what I say: Urban Meyer places more importance on his football program than on his health or his family. Actions, not words. It’s not a condemnation, it’s just what I SEE. Most Florida fans are not looking to Urban for a guide to how to run their families, they’re looking for a program that competes for national championships. For the 98% of us whose decisions about career/family will never be publicized like Meyer’s, what say you?

udothedishes…