Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer most-recently served as head coach of the University of Florida college football, holding that position from 2005 to 2010. On December 8, 2010, Meyer announced his intentions to step down as head coach at Florida citing that it was "time to put my focus on my family and life away from the field."http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/40571605/ns/sports-college_football/ While some speculated that he may have left to fill the head coaching vacancy with the Denver Broncos in the National Football League to work with former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, those reports were later shot down.http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/12/08/mort-urban-meyer-wont-be-coaching-tim-tebow-in-2011/

Before coaching at Florida, Meyer had worked in a variety of coaching positions at both high school and college levels since 1985. This experience netted Meyer a $14 million, seven-year contract with University of Florida. With a contract extension on August 9, 2009, for $24 million over six years, Meyer became the highest paid coach in the Southeastern Conference. http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/2106/new-deal-in-hand-meyer-is-staying-put-at-florida Meyer led the Florida Gators football team to national championships in both 2006 and 2008.http://www.bcsfootball.org/news/story?id=4809942

After talk of resignation due to health problems on December 26, 2009, Meyer reconsidered, and on December 27, 2009, announced that he would instead be taking a leave of absence. On January 23, 2010, after less than a month away, Meyer stated that he was feeling better and would be returning for the spring season, with full intentions of being the Gators head coach. He returned to coaching on March 17, 2010. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4852624

On March 24, 2010, Meyer made news after an outburst following a spring practice which was caught on film. Orlando Sentinel reporter Jeremy Fowler had interviewed Gators reciever Deonte Thompson, taking several quotes. Meyer accused Fowler of using these quotes in a bias and unfair way. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/gators/os-uf-urban-meyer-0326-20100325,0,5994746.story After the accusation, Fowler claimed he was only quoting Thompson as many other reporters had done. Video shows Meyer swearing at Fowler and storming away angrily, before defending Thompson's credibility and stating "If (Thomson) was my son, we'd be going at it right now" and telling Fowler to "be very careful." This argument was not only caught on video, but also on camera, and witnessed by more than a dozen fans.http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5027317