Urban Meyer is the former head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars and had previously hopped around the college football scene, working at highly esteemed colleges such as Ohio State, Notre Dame, Colorado State, Bowling Green, the University of Florida, and the University of Utah.
Despite having coached since the late 1980s, Meyer was fired from the Jaguars and the National Football League in 2021.
Although Urban Meyer was once an award-winning coach, his glory days in the professional football scene are over.
How Tall Is Urban Meyer?
Urban Meyer is 6’3” and previously played football for the University of Cincinnati as a defensive back before graduating and working as an assistant coach for Ohio State University in 1986.
During this time, Meyer was able to work with his mentor Earl Bruce.
After working alongside Bruce at Ohio State for two years, Meyer was hired by Illinois State University as an assistant coach.
Bruce and Meyer would work together again in 1990 when Meyer was hired as the wide receivers coach.
Impressed by his work at Illinois State, coach Lou Holtz hired Meyer to work as the wide receiver coach at the University of Notre Dame.
Urban Meyer wouldn’t find himself in the head coach position until 2001 when he was hired by Bowling Green State University following a disastrous season where the Falcons only won two games.
In his first season with the Bowling Green Falcons, Meyer led the team to win eight games and was named the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year.
This turnaround for the Falcons was the biggest turnaround that the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I football had ever seen.
Following another successful season with Bowling Green, Urban Meyer was hired as the head coach for the University of Utah on December 12th of 2002.
With Meyer behind the wheel, the University of Utah finished 10-2 and earned its first Mountain West Conference title since 1957.
The University of Utah was undefeated during the 2004 season, something that the team hadn’t achieved since 1930.
Meyer’s time in Utah would end on December 6th of 2004 when he was named the new head coach of the Florida Gators.
The famed coach would remain with the University of Florida until 2011 and wouldn’t make the leap to the National Football League until 2020.
Does Urban Meyer Have A Heart Condition?
Yes, Urban Meyer has publicly opened up about having a heart condition while he was the head coach at the University of Florida.
Meyer didn’t originally want to say anything about his health, fearing that it could put him or his loved ones at risk.
The former Florida Gators’ head coach felt forced to speak out about his health following a health crisis that occurred on December 6th of 2009.
The night after the Gators had lost to the University of Alabama, Meyer was taken by ambulance to a Gainesville hospital.
When the news first broke out, the University of Florida claimed that Urban Meyer was being treated for dehydration.
According to a transcript of Shelley Meyer’s 911 call, Meyer had woken up with chest pains and tingling in his left side.
Since Meyer had taken a sleeping pill, it was hard to wake him up fully and he ended up falling onto the floor while trying to get out of bed.
Meyer has denied claims that the medical emergency was a heart attack and explained that he had “a couple of issues after that” in connection to a heart condition.
Before Meyer’s emergency hospital visit, he had suffered from a heart condition since about 2005 and the condition had worsened by 2007.
Urban Meyer publicly announced that he would resign from coaching following the incident, but he reversed his decision less than 15 hours later.
Following his announcement, Meyer was asked if his doctors were recommending that he step away from coaching to deal with the heart condition.
However, Meyer refused to answer any questions about his capability to coach.
Urban Meyer would remain with the University of Florida until 2011 when he would take a break from coaching to become a college football analyst.
Did Urban Meyer Have Brain Surgery?
Yes, Urban Meyer had brain surgery to help with the severe chronic headaches caused by an arachnoid cyst in his brain.
The cyst caused frequent pain on the left side of Meyer’s head that was so intense that it forced the veteran head coach to collapse to his knees on the sidelines during his time at Ohio State University.
Meyer was first diagnosed with the arachnoid cyst in 1998, but he wouldn’t have surgery until the spring of 2014.
Although even the fans who were viewing the games from home could tell that Meyer was in intense pain, he dismissed the idea and instead said that he felt fine.
Eventually, Meyer’s personal physician Dr. Andrew Thomas came forward to speak about the severity of Meyer’s cyst.
Dr. Thomas had been working with Meyer for four years, focusing on ways to shrink his enlarged congenital arachnoid cyst.
Urban Meyer was placed on daily medication to slow the growth rate of the cyst, but the cyst was still considered incurable and progressive.
In 2014, Meyer had two holes drilled into his skull to remove fluid from the cyst and reduce the pressure on his brain.
Only 10 months after his first surgery, the Ohio State Buckeyes won a national title and continued to thrive for five seasons.
The team was able to go 56-7 during that time, proving Urban Meyer’s dedication to his work.
Meyer didn’t want to say anything about his medical condition because he felt that people would begin to doubt his coaching capabilities or doubt how much he could truly dedicate himself to the team with such a serious condition.
What Is Urban Meyer Doing Now?
Urban Meyer now works as a college football analyst for FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff, following his release from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
This is the first time Meyer has trained in his work as a coach for work as a college football analyst, having first changed careers following his time at the University of Florida.
With Meyer back on Big Noon Kickoff, the original cast will be together for the first time since 2020.
Alongside Meyer, this college football show will feature Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Rob Stone.
Urban Meyer was first on Big Noon Kickoff before taking the job as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
When Meyer isn’t working on his FOX Sports show, he’s working as a board member of Ohio State University’s THE Foundation.
This foundation focuses on ensuring that the Buckeyes’ Name, Image, and Likeness are preserved properly.
According to the organization’s co-founder Brian Schottenstein, “There isn’t a better person to have on the board of THE Foundation.”
Schottenstein believes that few people are better at finding talent among potential students than Meyer.
To help student athletes find profitable ventures using their own name, image, and likeness, THE Foundation strives to fund the students through donations from Ohio State fans.
Why Do People Believe Urban Meyer Cheated On His Wife?
People began to believe that Urban Meyer cheated on his wife after a video of him at an Ohio bar dancing with a random young woman went viral.
This viral video and the public uproar it caused hit in 2021, while Meyer was heavily struggling to maintain a positive relationship with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
When the former coach’s wife Shelley Meyer saw the public reaction, she was quick to defend her husband from critics by stating, “We all make mistakes—we are all sinners.
If you think you aren’t, then cast the first stone.”
Moments after sharing her opinion of the situation on Twitter, Meyer chose to delete her account on the platform following “the hate, vitriol, slander, trash” she and her husband were receiving.
While Shelley Meyer may have been able to get over her husband’s scandal, the Jacksonville Jaguars felt that the situation was another example of Meyer’s lack of responsibility.
According to an anonymous player from the Jaguars, Urban Meyer “has zero credibility.”
To deal with the scandal, Meyer had to cancel the team’s Monday meeting.
His former players felt that he was “too scared” to face them following the negative public response he had already received from strangers, furthering the team’s poor opinion of their coach.
When Meyer finally spoke with his team about the situation, he claimed that the woman from the video was just a random person who was already there to dance.
Meyer left the room shortly after explaining his side of the story, which was quickly followed by the team laughing in disbelief together.
The Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan condemned Meyer for his actions, but Khan felt that the coach was sincere in his remorse and was willing to give him a chance to redeem himself before disaster hit.
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