Urban Meyer is a Man. He's... uh, 45.
by vineyarddawg on Mar 25, 2010 12:06 AM EDT
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PrintOk, well, forgive the obvious (and poorly executed) comparison, but Urban Meyer sure did seem to be channeling Mike Gundy today after a Florida Gators' spring practice.
Photographic evidence of Meyer's confrontation with a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel has been produced, and it sure does seem to support the story that has been leaked so far.
Meyer's beef appears to have originated in a quote the reporter, Jeremy Fowler, published in what does appear to be an out-of-context manner. You can read the linked article above for yourself, but ultimately, all the reporter did was publish a poorly-written, bad-journalistic-form report taking a player's quote (apparently) clearly out of context. In doing so, he implied that the player was saying John Brantley was a "real quarterback," and Tim Tebow was not. The report was then picked up and run by some national media outlets. So, instead of allowing Deonte Thompson to clarify his position the next day (or, at worst, standing with Deonte in front of the media to "help" him clarify his position)... well, let's just say he didn't take 'em to People's Court.
As practice wound down and players slowly exited the field, Meyer approached a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel in front of about two dozen media members and had a heated exchange over an article the reporter had written about receiver Deonte Thompson.
"You’re a bad guy, man. You’re a bad guy," Meyer told Sentinel reporter Jeremy Fowler. "If that was my son we’d be going at it right now."
Now that line by itself does kind of sound like that Seinfeld episode where Babu calls Jerry a, "very very bad man."
When you factor in that this was also said:
"I told you this five years ago – don’t mess with our players. Don’t do it – you did it," Meyer said. "You do it one more time and the Orlando Sentinel’s not welcome here ever again. Is that clear? It’s yes or no."
And it was said at a time that this was happening:
Let's just put it this way... I see the strong possibility for an apology coming from the Gator athletic department in the near future.
From a broader standpoint, though, this just confirms to me that Urban Meyer has a) no perspective tempered with wisdom, and b) apparently no self control. Don't you think that Mark Richt gets upset when one of his athletes is arrested by the Keystone Kops for frickin' exiting an alley? Or when a reporter runs a story saying that the defensive players aren't putting in time in the weight room and the offensive players are grumbling about it? Or when his hardworking, best team-leader senior QB gets raked over the coals so many times he looks himself like a smoldering ember? You have never, however, seen Mark Richt get all up in somebody's junk and give them the business like this.
Urban Meyer has no class and 2 conference and 2 national championships. Mark Richt is the epitome of class and has 2 conference and 0 national championships. Give me Mark Richt every day of the week, and twice on Saturday.
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Thanks for stating that the original article was in fact out of context.
This post was pretty good until I got to the bottom of course. Yes UM lost his cool, and should have gone a different route. He did apologise like you suggested, which I also suggested at TSK. I doubt this will change your opinion of the man though.
I don’t want to sound like a prick, but I am glad you hate us. Our rivalry is still a pretty good one, but UGA is usually the last thing we talk about at Alligator Army. Should’nt take much to read into why.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
Yeah, we get a lot of that around here
Rival fans evidently feel the need to come around here and tell us how much more our rivalry means to us than to them. Funny how that keeps happening.
Just imagine how much less y’all would talk about the Cocktail Party if y’all didn’t have a losing record against us or if y’all had won as many SEC championships as we have. . . .
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Mar 28, 2010 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions
No offense
Just saying it like it is. I could of gone on and on about why I disagree with UM having no class and what not, but it probably would of been a waste of my time.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
As opposed to your current endeavor?
by first and thom on Mar 29, 2010 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions
Do you not believe me that we rarely talk about insult Georgia Dawgs at AA…
Or are you saying you ignored anything I had to say, so it was a waste of my time?
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
I was just pointing out the irony
Coming to a rival’s blog is one thing. But coming here and then talking about how futile it would be for you to make your full point is another. There is irony saying that you won’t make you’re full argument because it would be a waste of time. That’s all.
by first and thom on Apr 1, 2010 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions
I can see where that would make sense
But there are some things I know I cant persuade others into thinking, such as liking a rivals coach. It would be like Bama trying to talk me into liking Saban.
I was just pointing out somethingI have noticed and how it makes me feel.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
Wrong blog Hook
I too am a trespasser here from time to time and it ain’t hard to get on the wrong side of a bunch of Dawg fans. If Mark Richt had fired off on some reporter after practice, the locals would have shouted that “it’s about time that boy showed some fire”. Don’t place more value on the criticism than it warrants. If Urban Meyer ever needs a fair and impartial jury in the State of Georgia, he’s f..ked. That’s part of what college ball is all about. Yeah, Urban’s a bad guy and yes, Mark Richt is perfect in every way. We’re guilty of the same homey feelings. Which car gets more rocks thrown at it, a Cadillac or a Rambler? Just ride the Cadillac while it lasts.
Oh, please!
Jim Donnan was a jerk, and, while I defended him while he was our head coach, I never pretended he wasn’t a jerk. Jim Harrick was dirty and I said so from day one.
Mark Richt isn’t perfect, but he’s as fine a man as you will find in his profession. The guy adopts Ukrainian orphans, for crying out loud. Urban Meyer sends text-messages during church, makes ludicrous and arrogant pronouncements with regularity, and recants within hours of declaring his faith, his family, and his health more important than football.
I’ve never thrown a rock at a car, so I don’t understand your analogy, but don’t pretend you don’t know Mark Richt is a better man than Urban Meyer.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Mar 30, 2010 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Fundamental difference here
T Kyle is that we actually think good moral character means something. I watched We Are Marshall the other day and the thing that struck me most was Bobby Bowden’s behavior after the tragedy. Bowden displayed great class and character.
Coaching legend Bobby Bowden of Florida State University was the head coach at West Virginia University at the time. Bowden asked NCAA permission to wear Marshall jerseys and play Marshall’s final game of the 1970 season against Ohio, but was denied. In memory of the victims of the crash, Mountaineers players put green crosses and the initials “MU” on their helmets. Bowden allowed Lengyel and his assistants access to game film and playbooks to acquaint themselves with the veer offense, a variation of the option offense which aids teams with weak offensive lines after Lengyel discovers that the team is unable to run the Power I formation he favored. Lengyel credits Bowden with helping the Young Thundering Herd recover.
The same class and character is displayed by our own beloved CMR. These values aren’t held in the same regard by all college football fans, some are merely concerned with winning, regardless of anything else.
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
Mark Richt
On the subject of CMR, there has never been a time when I considered him anything less than an exemplary human being. I have never spoken or written a word of criticism toward the man. I have tremendous respect for him as a man and a coach. The biggest difference between Coach Meyer and CMR is that UM is a hardass. I mean a deep down, to the bone hardass. What were the characteristics that made you give up valuable time to support Erk Russel for the Hall of Fame? It’s a matter of perspective, are we talking about your hardass or mine? A vision filtered through the red and black veil of UGA can take on a heavenly glow for the Georgia faithful. The same thing takes place down in the land of orange and blue. We are never going to agree on some things. It’s as simple as that. If you could buy just a half pint of Urban Meyer intensity and pour it down Coacht Richt on game days, I dare say you’d do it. Don’t pretend you wouldn’t. Oh, to the analogy, you don’t throw rocks at Spurrier any more, do you?
Half pint?
Sure, I’d go half a pint, but I wouldn’t go a full pint . . . and I’d never deny what I was doing.
Erk Russell was a daily fixture at Snooky’s, where he held court and chatted with the people of Statesboro. He was honored by local civic clubs for his community involvement. Maybe Urban Meyer does these things, and they’re just not publicized, but Erk’s kids never had to exclaim, “I’ve got my daddy back!” . . . and he certainly never told them, in essence, “Oh, no you haven’t!” if they did.
Orson Swindle admitted the truth: Urban Meyer is your paid assassin, with whom you do not exchange Christmas cards; you essentially admit as much by describing him as you do. Coach Meyer’s passing will never be greeted with the outpouring of emotion in Gainesville that Coach Russell’s passing occasioned in Statesboro. Don’t mistake the Gators’ concubine for Florida’s wife. We both know what he is.
Go 'Dawgs!
Of Snooky's, Swindle's truth,assassins, concubines and Faust.
If UF fans and UGA fans ever agree on much of anything it will be a sign of the end of days. We all have unique perspectives and I know that if I had sat in Statesboro and spent time with Erk, I’d love him as much as you do. If you had sat in the Swamp and watched UM and Tebow hoist the crystal footballs, you would love them too. But alas, we are on opposite poles and never the twain shall meet. The bottom line is, I enjoy the exchange with spirited folk and I would be lying if I if I did not admit that there is some truth in all of your observations. This blog has some thoughtful people and decent writers but it is much simpler to just say, I hate you f…ers.
I think we have reached consensus, renegator
We love Erk for who he was. Y’all love Urban for what he does.
Put another way, we love Erk Russell and Mark Richt for the means, and y’all love Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer for the ends.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Mar 31, 2010 11:13 PM EDT up reply actions
While UGA fans hate Meyer and Spurrier equally, they are very different guys
Spurrier was a media darling because he was always quick with a zinger that they could run with (not so much at USC because his team can’t cash those kinds of checks). Also, if you are looking for a straight shooter, Spurrier is the guy. You never have to worry about SOS talking behind your back, he’ll tell you what he’s thinkinh right to your face 100% of the time.
Urban is more the quiet guy who doesn’t want to talk to the media. He doesn’t seem to enjoy interviews and just wants to get back to work. I’ve noticed that the hate for Spurrier has been turned down 8 notches even though he coaches another SEC rival.
Hatred for Spurrier
Yeah, we still hate him. But his teams aren’t beating us with any consistency any more, and he’s not insulting us at all. When his all-time record as player and coach against UGA falls back down to .500, I’ll be done. Hang in there, Stevie!
Why we love our coaches
Actually, I still love Spurrier a lot because he is one audacious, ballsy SOB. He brought UF out of mediocrity, won SEC titles, one NC and destroyed our rivals. He would tell you what he was going to do and then do it, ala Ali. When his Gamecocks took UF to the limit in ‘06 and lost by one point due to a blocked field goal by Jarvis Moss, it had to be a bitter loss for him. When the clock showed goose eggs, he walked across the field and acknowledged the Gator crowd. Darth Visor is a brilliant coach, leader and genuine stud of a man. Urban Meyer is a brilliant coach that cares deeply about his players and contrary to popular Dawg reports, is an extremely decent family. He is active in civic programs and has the respect of all who know him well. His greatest weakness may be his hatred of losing. Mark Richt is a winning coach with a sterling character but he is not the equal of Spurrier or Meyer as a coach. His qualities are far more desirable in Dawgland than Spurrier’s or Meyer’s so we all have exactly what we want. Let’s toast to it!
Mark Richt isn't the equal of Steve Spurrier?
The Evil Genius’s 2-4 record against Coach Richt suggests otherwise.
Go 'Dawgs!
FYI:
In his first nine years as a college head coach from 2001 to 2009, Mark Richt led his teams to a 90-27 record. That averages out to 10-3 per year, although his teams went 17-19 against opponents ranked in the final AP top 25 and suffered eight losses to teams that were not ranked in the final sportswriters’ poll.
In his first nine years as a college head coach from 1987 to 1995, Steve Spurrier led his teams to an 81-26-2 record. That averages out to 9-3 per year, although his teams lost eight times to teams that were not ranked in the AP postseason poll and went 16-18-1 against teams that were ranked in the final AP top 25.
Go 'Dawgs!
Nice little package Kyle
Mark Richt absolutely sucked up the lines on the field as a quarterback at Uof M. Spurrier won a Heisman. Spurrier began his head coaching career at Duke. He resurrected their program from anonymity before moving on to Florida where you know what he did. Using your brand of selective logic, I can prove that you are a moose. Mark Richt was coddled under Bobby Bowden in Tallahassee within the confines of the State of Florida. Meyer has put every team he has coached at the top of their conference. Draw comfort from whatever source you can conjure but the record speaks for itself. I know, I’m banned but two screwdrivers and blogging don’t mix.
Nah, you're not banned, or anywhere close to it
I am, however, not understanding you.
What does “two screwdrivers and blogging don’t mix” mean? Who or what are the two screwdrivers to whom or to which you are referring?
What do Mark Richt’s and Steve Spurrier’s playing careers have to do with anything?
Using my “brand of selective logic” (also known as “counting” and “adding”), please prove I’m a moose.
Go 'Dawgs!
Comparing Spurrier at USC against Richt at UGA
Is like giving Spurrier a Prius and Richt a Corvette for a drag race!
Numbers can always be cooked to accomplish our goals. In their first 9 seasons as head coach, Spurrier won 5 conference championships (plus what would have been a 6th his first year at UF which was disallowed because of UF’s probabtion status). In his first 9 years as head coach, Richt has won 2 conference championships.
Spurrier’s 10th year netted another conference championship plus a national championship. Now, does that mean I think Spurrier is 3 times better than Richt? Of course not. I think Richt has done a tremendous job at UGA, but I also think he needs to secure some more conference titles and maybe a national title before completing his legacy.
We agree upon that last point . . .
. . . although I’m not sure how I’m cooking number to accomplish my goals by comparing apples to apples and doing simple math. If it’s unfair to count Steve Spurrier’s inheritance of a 7-5 South Carolina program equally with Mark Richt’s inheritance of an 8-4 Georgia program, is it fair to credit Urban Meyer for winning with Ron Zook’s recruits? Guys win with what they have, and a win is a win is a win. “Yes, but . . .” is where the “cooking” comes into play; the numbers are what they are and they say what they say.
By the way, I love how y’all keep trying to count 1990, a season in which the Gators finished first in the conference but were on probation. In 1993, Auburn went undefeated and beat both SEC championship game participants head-to-head, but was disqualified because the Plainsmen were on probation. If Florida gets to claim 1990, Auburn gets to claim 1993. Winning five championships is impressive; quit trying to have it both ways by counting 1990 and 1993 both.
Go 'Dawgs!
I didn't exactly count 1990
Just mentioned that another would be title was not attained because of the actions of predecessor coaches and players. But your point on the ’93 title is accurate and well taken. The reason UF fans (and Spurrier) hold the ’90 team in such high regard is it would have been our first official SEC title, after the ’84 title was stripped for cheating. I agree with you that Auburn can make the same argument about ’93, as they surely “won it on the field.”
My point on the cookbooking is that I don’t consider Duke and South Carolina’s football programs to be on the same level as UGAs. That’s all I meant.
All right, that's fair
I’m not trying to misrepresent Steve Spurrier’s record; there’s no denying the man’s achievements at Florida, and the lasting change they had, both on the Gator program and on the conference generally.
Go 'Dawgs!
it's funny, but
at the end of the day, winning the ACC at Duke in the late 80s might be even more impressive!! I also think the SEC has long since caught on to Spurrier’s offense and can stop it now.
Understanding
Screwdriver- Smirnoff vodka poured over crushed ice in a tall glass topped off with fresh Florida O.J. Twice. (equals slightly s… faced)
Saddling Spurrier with his old Duke record ain’t playing fair. Start them at game one at UF and UGA respectively and you will have a lot more accurate record of head to head competition. For the sake of our argument anyway. Georgia math… cook the numbers and then play deliberately obtuse…MOOSE! MOOSE!
Oh, you were drinking screwdrivers . . .
. . . I thought you meant the tools. (Sorry; you were commenting, not blogging, so I didn’t know you meant you. My bad.)
While I agree that there is an argument to be made for comparing their numbers as SEC head coaches, the idea that I’m “cook[ing] the numbers and then play[ing] deliberately obtuse” when I’m simply using the most straightforward one-to-one comparison seems a bit extreme. This is a case of reasonable people disagreeing, not one person being unreasonable.
Go 'Dawgs!
Fair enough T. Kyle
Our disagreements will never turn into a nuclear Meyer rant.
That's all I ask
In all seriousness, renegator, I appreciate the quality of the comments we get from Florida fans like skigator93 and you, and I wish all y’all—-yes, the Meyers, too—-a healthy and happy Easter.
Go 'Dawgs!
Orson Swindle
He is funny and very creative, but I dont go to his site for serious debates. So no offense to him but I wouldnt read too much into what he says.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
"If you could buy just half a pint of Urban Meyer..."
I’m glad you finally came out and acknowledged the Faustian Bargain. How’d that work out for good doctor?
Sure, everybody wishes that their coach could be a great man and a great coach. It is clear that both Meyer and Richt are among the best at what they do, and Meyer has the objective edge. But Meyer’s personality raises red flags in a way (and with a regulatiry) that Richt’s does not.
And, if you view this difference as “to-may-to, to-mah-to” stuff, I would lay off the Nietzsche and take off the ring of power for a little while.
by first and thom on Mar 31, 2010 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm not sure about the red flags
and I’m trying to be as objective as possible about it. Take Nick Saban. I really don’t care for the guy. But objectively, he hasn’t really done anything shady to this point, other than the “I’m not leaving Miami” thing, but that was a lose-lose no matter how he responded.
His personality is a lot closer to Meyer’s than it is to Richt’s. But in the end, I have concluded that I don’t like him because he is at least as good, or possibly better than my team’s coach. He will cause my team to lose some recruits and to not win some championships as long as he is coach at Alabama.
Thanks for the reply
Here’s the thing about Meyer: what’s up with this whole episode with his health? Had he thought it through before retiring? If so, what did he miss that made him change his mind so fast? Or did he retire without thinking it through? What does that say about about how he made the decision? And what about getting himself in such bad shape in the first place? Every coach works a ton, but you don’t see Saban going to the hospital.
The medical leave incident is just a lens, though. There’s the reporter incident, too. The timing of the D-Coordinator hire. The list goes on.
I will freely grant that Meyer is a great coach (and that I despise him for it, just like we both can despise Saban), but do you not see the “something else” that’s lurking there? I don’t mean to cast aspersion on a man I don’t know, and I am not accusing Meyer of being a bad man. But the longer we see him, the more cracks we see. Do you see them, too?
by first and thom on Mar 31, 2010 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Well put
Those are the sorts of things that distinguish Urban Meyer from Nick Saban. Coach Saban is just as intense, if not more so, but his perfectionism makes him brusque (“I don’t have time for this shit”), which is a far cry from Coach Meyer going out of his way to be a jackass (the 2008 time outs, the “Seat 37F” comments, the confrontation with the reporter) and his morally dubious decisionmaking (allowing his wife to say there was no chance he’d change his mind the day before he announced he had changed his mind, going back on his decision after his daughter “got [her] daddy back,” keeping quiet on the defensive coordinator change until after signing day). Coach Saban simply hasn’t done anything comparable to these things, as Orson Swindle expressed in handy chart form.
Go 'Dawgs!
Its fine if you dont like Urban Meyer
But dont go all high and mighty and act like the reason you dont like him is because hes a supposed “jack ass”. If thats the case this blog site would welcome Tim Tebow with open arms. He is the poster boy for morals and unselfishness.
But we all know the same thing you take pride in about Coach Richt you georgia fans mock and redicule Tebow for.
Which I can understand some what on a competitive level. Which is why I understand why your fan base is the first to cast stone at Urban Meyer. But dont act like it has nothing to do with you being a biased Georgia fan.
To go even further, is everyone here all Mark Richts and Tim Tebows 24/7 all day every day, or are some of you Urban Meyer and Nick Sabans every now and then. God forbid if you ever do something wrong or with selfish intentions. But its ok we can bash other people for making mistakes as if we never make them ourselves. The accusations you hold Urban Meyer too for being a “jack ass” or “class less” is extremely pretentious.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
hold on just a second
Tebow may prove to be a great man. Right now he shows the potentional. Comparing Tebow to Richt is absolutely ridiculous. I think TT maybe a fine young man – but we still have a few decades to define that.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
It wasnt meant to be a competition
between the two.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
Hook85, have you ever read anything I've written around here?
I defended Tim Tebow’s decision to appear in the Super Bowl ad. When asked by Peter Bean on EDSBS Live how much I hated Tim Tebow, I didn’t rise to the bait; instead, I said he was, by all accounts, a fine young man. I’ve made it abundantly clear that the problem is the media idolatry toward Tebow, not Tebow himself.
The fact that Urban Meyer is the head coach of the Florida Gators is reason enough for me to dislike him, as I have stated explicitly. But, yes, I feel free to get all high and mighty. I’ve never made my wife appear to be either a liar or a fool in public; he has. I’ve never given my children reason to feel that I was not a part of their lives for two years; according to Urban Meyer’s daughter, he has. (Mark Richt, by the way, has team dinners to which the coaches bring their wives and children, in order to model family behavior for his players.) Mark Richt delayed his departure from Tallahassee to Athens to bid a proper farewell to his church home; Urban Meyer sends text-messages during church and set aside his faith-based resignation after watching one day of practice, which says quite a lot about where his faith stands in relation to football.
Sometimes I act from mixed motives, but let’s not kid ourselves: Urban Meyer is a much better football coach than I will ever be, I am a much better man than Urban Meyer will ever be, and we both know that’s true. Who’s the one practicing cognitive dissonance here?
Go 'Dawgs!
The only thing this means to me
is that Richt would make a better minister than Meyer. I completely agree with you there. But alas, they are not ministers. They are football coaches.
However, I would be careful judging a man’s character by what you read in the media. Remember that the “I get my daddy” quote was printed by the same reporter who truncated Deonte Thompson’s statement last week to get the “biggest bang for the buck.” That also means this single reporter is at the root of at least 2 episodes for which you discount Meyer’s character.
Also, FWIW, Thursday is family night at UF – the Meyer family eats dinner with the players before his radio show.
I apologise for lumping you in with most Georgia fans who hate Tebow
When I said that I was mostly saying it to everyone in this thread, even though it was a reply to your comment.
I would agree that you are probably a better family man than Urban Meyer, and since spending time with my family is a big deal to me as well, I wont argue that you are a better man. I am just trying to argue that doesnt make him a terrible person or class less. Maybe selfish is the better word to describe him.
Maybe I am way off with this assumption but Mark Richt has been a pretty damn good coach, so would it be wrong to assume he isnt working 9-5 either? Maybe he isnt the work aholic to the extent of Urban Meyer but if I had to bet I would say his family probably feels very similiar to Urban Meyers or any family of a man who works his life away to become successful.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
That's a reasonable point, Hook85 . . .
. . . and my reasons for thinking Urban Meyer is classless (the 2008 time outs, the “Seat 37F” comments) are separate from my reasons for thinking he’s a terrible person (the attack on the reporter, the concealment of the departure of his defensive coordinator until after signing day, the recanting of his decision after clearly stating he was choosing faith, family, and health over football), which are separate from my reasons for thinking he’s a bad family man (making his wife publicly appear dishonest or silly, taking his daughter’s daddy away again).
While I believe Mark Richt does a better job of balancing that out and finds ways to include his family (I doubt seriously that it is coincidental that virtually his entire extended family has moved to Athens), I am sure you are correct that he is working longer hours than most of us. It is clear, however, that Urban Meyer is among the worst at balancing his work and home lives (text-messaging during church, jeopardizing his health through his workaholism, never really taking a leave of absence). We aren’t hearing about other coaches’ wives calling 911 in the middle of the night.
Go 'Dawgs!
He's had health problems...so what?
Does the fact that Nick Saban’s body can handle his stress level better than Urban’s make Saban a better person?
On the brief retirement, it sounds like Meyer made a hasty decision to leave football and then after returning for Sugar Bowl practice with his team, felt like he made a mistake. Our AD made him understand that he didn’t have to fully walk away from the sport to “get himself right.” Give Foley credit, he’s now pulled off the same feat twice to preserve his 2 most high profile coaches. Although heavily biased, I think he’s the best AD in the country by a large margin.
I am confident that Mrs. Meyer has forgiven her husband for any uncomfortable position he put her into in front of the media.
I am not sure that what we see in Meyer are “cracks,” as much as human imperfections. All coaches have faults – including Richt.
Great question.
The “so what” is precisely what I want to get to. Coach Meyer coaches past the limit his body can endure. That says something about his style – it say that he’s intense. But it also says something about how he values coaching in proportion to the other things in life.
I do not fault the man for his health. But I can fault him if he continues on the path he’s on without regard for his health. I hope that he can do what he loves, but only if it leaves him alive. That’s the “so what.”
It is surely true that we are all broken. I hope you didn’t take me to say otherwise.
And, as to your “minister” comment, I think we disagree. Richt, Meyer, Tebow, Saban – all are men first. What they do is secondary, and the kind of men they are shows through in their actions. All of these men have great traits. All have flaws. Meyer’s flaws seem to show more often. It may be that his flaws are deeper or it may be that they just run closer to the surface, but they show more. Doing what’s right ain’t for preachers.
by first and thom on Apr 1, 2010 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions
It'll be a little while before we know for sure
But last year was off the charts as far as pressure is concerned. Very few coaches enter a season where anything short of an undefeated national championship is considered complete failure. UF was a “failure” last year at 13-1. You could feel it all season. Very few of the wins were enjoyable. There was always something that seemed to sour them. We didn’t win by enough, we looked weak on offense, etc. Those are tough expectations, but fortunately they don’t arise too often.
Ironically, Alabama and Saban will pretty much have the same pressure this coming season. I think the Bama faithful, with most of their offense, including their QB and Heisman winner, and 2 years of top recruits coming in, will sort of EXPECT to win a national title. I’ll be interested to see how Saban handles that pressure…
Stay tuned.
They may not arise often . . .
. . . but they arose for Mark Richt in 2008.
Change “UF” to “UGA” and “13-1” to “10-3,” and that first paragraph is every bit as true.
Go 'Dawgs!
Off the charts
What was the last year that UGA was expected to repeat as NC? We’re talking apples and kumquats. No reasonable comparison can be drawn…….I surrender, quit, and collapse under the ponderous load of deliberate obtuseness. No offense to anyone but there comes a time when it’s best wander on back home and embrace one’s own truth. Adios
I would say 1981
Would be more similar (and answers renegator’s question above)…..Herschel was returning after that ridiculous freshman year and while the defense lost some players – UGA was still expected to contend for the title. Of course there was no SECCG back then, but then again, there was also less room for error, as a single defeat pretty much meant you were out of the national title hunt back then. The 1981 suspense lasted only 3 weeks, as UGA lost to (eventually champ) Clemson in week 3 on the road in a though 13-3 game.
I’m not sure I agree with the 2008 comparison. UGA was coming off a great 11-2 campaign, and yes, many picked them preseason #1, but they weren’t the defending national champs and they weren’t returning all 11 starters on defense and a Tebow on offense. UGA didn’t handle the pressure well in 2008 either, struggling at USC in week 3 before running into the Bama buzzsaw in Blackout III (in 3-D!) in week 5. The pressure mounts with each win, so imagine what it feels like in week 13….
On top of the ridiculous pressure UF had last season in expectations from the start, tack on the Swine Flu Epidemic the first couple weeks of the season, the Kiffin garbage which put pressure on UF to “hang a 100 on the Vols” and resulted in UT’s “moral victory” 3-13, our “franchise QB” getting knocked all concussy in week 4 leading to accusations against Meyer that he doesn’t care about his players’ health the entire BYE week before LSU, the “ref’gate” accusations after narrow wins against Arkansas and Miss St., the Brandon Spikes Center of Opthalmology incident against UGA, the SWI (sleeping {at the wheel} while intoxicated) by Dunlap the week of the SECCG, etc. I would venture to say that UF’s 2009 campaign was likely the biggest pressure cooker in NCAA history.
The distractions last season were never ending for the Gators. Pat Dooley called it, The Season of the Weird and that was even before the UGA and SECCG incidents. It was indeed the most anticipated season in UF football history, and that is saying alot coming off a 13-1 national championship season.
It will be tought to find a comparison, but Bama is in position….all it needs now is about a half dozen additional random events to raise the bar,
I see your point . . .
. . . but I don’t think the “defending national champs” bit has much to do with it; if you’re the preseason No. 1 team in the country and you’re expected to win it all, it doesn’t much matter what you did the year before. (For the record, Georgia finished the 1981 regular season ranked No. 2 in the country and went into the Sugar Bowl with Pitt having a shot at the No. 1 ranking, if Georgia won in New Orleans and Clemson lost in Miami, so it isn’t as though the season was over after week three in 1981 . . . and what about 1982, when Georgia opened with defending national champion Clemson in a nationally-televised Labor Day night extravaganza, went undefeated, and went into the Sugar Bowl ranked No. 1 to face No. 2 Penn State? Was that not pressure?)
Even if the Gators were operating in “the biggest pressure cooker in NCAA history” (which I think is an Urban Meyer-esque “top one per cent of the top one per cent” exaggeration, but which I concede is not entirely implausible), it wasn’t by much. Mark Richt was doing preseason interviews in the ESPN studios in 2008, the pressure was on, and the pressure mounted as the preseason and early-season injuries did.
The “struggle” with South Carolina is meaningless; Florida struggled at least as mightily with the Gamecocks in 2006, as did the ‘Dawgs in 1980. South Carolina has historically played Georgia tough, in good years as well as bad. Even after the Alabama debacle, Georgia wasn’t out of it: SEC champions had gotten into the national title game in each of the previous two years, in spite of losses, so the game in Jacksonville effectively was an SEC East title bout, with the winner getting the shot at Alabama and perhaps a whole lot more.
I’ll grant that Florida was under more pressure in 2009 than Georgia was in 2008, but the differences are marginal. The Bulldogs didn’t handle the pressure well, but the pressure was there. You’re seeing all the distractions for your team because you’re more attentive to your team, which makes you no different from any other fan, but every No. 1 team has more than its fair share of struggles, and none of their coaches snap with anything like the regularity of Urban Meyer . . . or was he under some unprecedented pressure on an ordinary spring practice afternoon after a supposed leave of absence because one of his receivers praised the talents of his new starting quarterback?
Go 'Dawgs!
I think being the defending national champs does make a difference
Everyone knows that you play with a huge target on your backs when you are the best in the land, and there is a big difference between being the actual defending national champion and the paper champion.
I think this year will be a much more relaxed year for Meyer and all Gator fans because while the normal pressures to win are still there, the expectations of perfection and being touted as the “best team in the history of college football” will surely not be there.
Perhaps
As I say, I don’t deny that the Gators faced more pressure in 2009 than the Bulldogs did in 2008; I just don’t think the difference was that great.
If you want to look for a fair comparison, Southern California in 2005 certainly qualifies: defending champs, consensus No. 1, touted as potentially the greatest team in history. While the ’05 Trojans and the ’09 Gators finished with the same number of losses, USC seemed to, and Pete Carroll certainly did, handle the pressure better than their Sunshine State counterparts.
Go 'Dawgs!
Now that's a good call
I agree the USC comparison is much better. Carroll doesn’t seem to ever get stressed out though. Must be the So Cal beaches and lovely coeds. Oh the Song Girls! Somebody start a Song Girl program at UF, quick!
Y'all have two recent national titles, . . .
. . . a recent Heisman Trophy winner, and Erin Andrews. We’ve had two years of total disaster. Come on, man, let us have the Southeastern Song Girls!
Go 'Dawgs!
Glad you mentioned EA
Dancing with the Stars notwithstanding (I heard she did the chomp on this week’s show after learning she advanced), too many Gator fans fail to give her the love she deserves. I think she is good at what she does and am proud that she she’s a fellow J-school grad!
Well, you've got the market cornered on eye candy...
It’s just embarrassing when, to find a famous (and young, and attractive) alumna, you have to resort to someone enjoying the 45th minute of their 15 minutes of fame:
+100 anti-Survivor mortars, skigator93.
I wouldn’t have known, either, if I hadn’t found her in “List of University of Georgia people” on Wikipedia. Her name is Parvati Shallow, and apparently she’s currently on her third different season of “Survivor” (hence the “45th minute of her 15 minutes” thing).
I think she won one of them, but who knows. I actually watched season 1 of Survivor (you know, when it was new and different), but never even watched season 2, let alone season 4,572 (or whatever they’re on now).
I watched a couple seasons
I missed the first 1, but saw about 3 of them. I definitely saw the one with Elisabeth Hasselback,
I watched the first episode of the current heroes versus villians, but it wasn’t too interesting. That show jumped the shark long ago!
i dont know what to say to this one - but damn, I want to say something witty
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Having read the Fowler article in question...
I have to say I’m not sure what Meyer is on about.
I’m not even sure there’s a way to take what Fowler said as negative towards Thompson. If anything the tone was that Thompson was a better receiver than he’s been given credit for and is looking forward to the opportunity to show that with Brantley (a pursuit in which I wish him little to no success).
Worst case scenario is a kid said something stupid and a reporter printed and commented on it. This happens every day, with every sportswriter, at every major university. This isn’t even really comparable to Mike “I’m 40” Gundy because in that case the reporter was actually making some derogatory statements about the kid.
Florida is making headlines with it because they have won 2 out of the last 4 MNC’s and the quote is about the Lord and Savior of college football, Lil’ Timmy Tebow. Urbie has no problem with the increased media coverage when its glorifying his program and legacy.
I’m no friend of the media, but in this case Urban is coming off like a spoiled baby. He needs to mellow out before his heart explodes.
Following an altercation with Orlando Sentinel reporter Jeremy Fowler on April 4, 2010, the college football world finally found out what gave Meyer his supernatural coaching prowess….. his heart was three sizes too ALIEN!
"We have a lot of passionate fans at Georgia and we look forward to giving them something to be positive about."
-Todd Grantham.
Agreed, but . . .
. . . in Meyer’s defense, he was doing (or, at least, viewed himself as doing) what Mike Gundy was doing; namely, defending his player from what he saw as an unfounded attack. I may find fault with the way he did it, but I respect what he did.
Beyond that, this is just proof that the Greeks were onto something with that whole “tragic flaw” concept. What made Lawrence Taylor a force of nature on the football field also made him an accident waiting to happen off the football field. Likewise, the intensity that makes Urban Meyer a first-class football coach also makes him a first-class SOB.
This is of a piece with his “Seat 37F” comments; yes, they were out of line, but they arose from intensity and a devotion to his program which we now know exceeds even his devotion to his family, his faith, and his physical well-being. As a husband, a father, a man, and a man of faith, I find that pathetic and more than a little sad, but, as a football fan, I can’t help but respect the shark-like singlemindedness of it. In “Any Given Sunday,” Al Pacino asked if his players were willing to die for that crucial extra inch. Urban Meyer is, which is why we get incidents like this one, but also why he’s at the pinnacle of his profession.
Go 'Dawgs!
"out of context"
I don’t think the quote was taken out of context at all. I think we’re all assuming that Thompson didn’t mean to insult Tebow but was expressing his pleasure of working with a different kind of quarterback. We think he likely meant “more traditional” quarterback instead of “real”. Or maybe he even meant real as opposed to surreal, which is what he thinks of Tebow.
I don’t think it’s the reporter’s job to guess at what the player meant, even if it would be a very good guess, although it wouldn’t have been out of line. On the other hand, these are kids, not public speakers, and we probably shouldn’t hold their words to a standard as high as we do for others whose job includes being spokesmen for their organizations. I also think it’s possible that the reporter knew that the statement was open to interpretation as negative, and that’s what sells.
At worst, the reporter ran with a quote without asking a follow-up question to let the kid off the hook. That doesn’t warrant the Anger Boy reaction.
Even assuming it was taken out of context....
To me the conversation he needs to be having is with Thompson….even if it’s just a “hey, you need to be careful how you phrase things but the media is evil.”
"We have a lot of passionate fans at Georgia and we look forward to giving them something to be positive about."
-Todd Grantham.
Good point RedCrake,
Thompson is on video as saying it. It’s not up to Fowler to figure out what he meant. And let’s be honest here, if one of the writers had followed up with “what do you mean ‘real quarterback?’” Urbs likely would not have been terribly pleased with that line of questioning either, no matter what Thompson’s answer had been.
OK - here's what angers me about this whole episode...
First, here’s how the quote was taken out of context:
I hope this link works and takes you down to my comment
It’s probably more reading on a now deceased issue than you care to invest, but basically, Fowler left off the entire lead in to the quote – which, when read in its entirety, would have been lost in a sea of newslessness. That is how it was reported in other print media. Fowler however, ran with the inflammatory portion of the quote and tweeted it to Sentinel followers. That is what boiled Meyer’s pot. You will find it interesting that Fowler quickly erased the tweet from the Sentinel twitter page when Meyer confronted him.
Now, the reason Meyer blew up on Fowler is that it really affected Thompson’s psyche. He was feeling bad about what he said and was afraid of what his teammates would think about him, etc. Thompson doesn’t have the highest level of confidence to begin with, and dropped a few would-be TDs last season. He is expected to be our #1 WR this season, so Meyer knows that he has to keep Thompson focused on doing his job and performing. That is the main reason Meyer blew up on Fowler.
The other reason is perhaps more personal. Fowler is the one who kept calling Meyer’s 18 year old daughter for comment when he momentarily resigned in December. Remember? “I’ve got my daddy back.” Who knows what the rest of her quote might have been?? After the recent incident, Meyer walked off with his arm around said daughter (who happened to be at practice) and then pointed out Fowler to her. Lord knows what he said to her when he was pointing…..
Now, all that being said, y’all know that while I bleed orange and blue, and am no less of a homer than my bretheren at AA or any of you, I try to be as subjective as I can (especially while visiting your fine site). I think Meyer should have handled it differently by getting in Fowler’s face in private – where there were no cameras, witnesses, or other reporters. He could have made the same point, yet I guess it wouldn’t have shown Thompson that he was standing up for him,
I also hold Coach Richt in the highest regard. I agree that he is probably the classiest coach in the SEC, which is tremendously hard for me to admit about a guy who graduated from Miami and came over from FSU. But I do not agree that Coach Meyer is classless. He has a much different personality and doesn’t like talking to the media, which causes many people to think he is an ass. But he cares about his players, he doesn’t lie to recruits by promising all of them starting positions, and he emphasizes academic success with his players.
Sometimes personalities shape perceptions unfairly. Take Coach Bobby Bowden for instance. Aww shucks. He’s just the greatest, most classy guy there is, right? (See Podunk’s reference above) I guess he’s the classiest guy to ever have to forfeit 14 victories becase his players were involved in an academic cheating scandal. Not without a fight though, as the University appealed the ruling before it was ultimately upheld.
I also think it is unfair to compare Meyer (indirectly, at least) to Jim Harrick. Harrick was nothing more than a cheater who didn’t care about the University in the least. Comparing Meyer to him? Just because he’s standoffish and doesn’t have a warm personality? Hollow and inaccurate accusations are the work of Lane Kiffin.
Erk Russell was a daily fixture at Snooky’s, where he held court and chatted with the people of Statesboro. He was honored by local civic clubs for his community involvement. Maybe Urban Meyer does these things, and they’re just not publicized, but Erk’s kids never had to exclaim, "I’ve got my daddy back!" . . . and he certainly never told them, in essence, "Oh, no you haven’t!" if they did.
Corch Meyers does do a lot for the community – one program he co-chairs with Coach Billy Donovan is the Florida Opportunity Scholars Program which provides scholarships to low income students whose parents do not hold college degrees. The recipients and their stories are outlined in the alumni magazine, and it is quite an impressive program. It doesn’t get as much press has regularly hanging out smoking cigars with the locals at the negihborhood pub, but it is a nice program. (For the record, I am also a huge Erk fan – my sister started as a freshman at Georgia Southern the same year Erk started the football program there and we were fortunate enough to meet him just walking around campus before freshman orientation.)
Meyer also started a program last year where the team logs over 400 annual hours of community service and each player must participate in at least 2 events per semester.
I would venture to say that all coaches at large D-I institutions are required by the university (but probably do it on their own) to participate in community outreach. Meyer is no different.
Thanks, skigator93
The substantive response is much appreciated.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Mar 31, 2010 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree. He may not be the most charismatic coach, and has cleary made some mistakes. (1 day retirement, rant on reporter) But as I commented above, they were mistakes with no cruel intentions, yet he is constantly insulted here. As if nobody has ever reacted without thinking clearly and you come to realize later on “maybe I should of thought that through a little more before I made an ass of myself.” We just dont have the luxory of the media watching our every move, waiting for us to make a mistake.
On a competitive note, being a huge rival I can sort of understand the insult. But if you are claiming it has nothing to do with the rivalry then the insults are just over board.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
That's some pretty selective memory there, Hook85
Even assuming the attack on the reporter wasn’t premeditated (which is, to put it mildly, generous), there is the “Seat 37F” tirade and the deliberate concealment of the departure of the defensive coordinator until after signing day.
Even if you assume (probably incorrectly) that a control freak like Urban Meyer ever lets his guard down in public, you certainly can’t describe most of his actions as accidental rather than purposeful.
Y’all can’t have it both ways. He can’t be intense and detail-oriented when it goes your way yet sloppy and off-the-cuff when it doesn’t. Nick Saban is just as intense as Urban Meyer; how come these “slips” never occur with him?
Go 'Dawgs!
On 37F and the Great Concealment
The “37F tirade” wasn’t really a tirade at all, or much of anything for that matter. For those unfamiliar, Meyer was peeved (allegedly) at former Gator QB Shane Matthews for criticizing offensive calls on his radio show in Mississippi following the Gators loss to Ole Miss in 2008 (the one that prompted the Tebow speech).
Meyer responded by saying: “If you want to be critical of a player on our team or a coach on our team you can buy a ticket for seat 37F, you’re not welcome back in the football office,” Meyer said, according to the report. “You’re either a Gator or you’re not a Gator.”
The source of the (non) story to prompt Meyer’s “tirade?” Once again……the Orlando Sentinel. See a trend here?
As far as the concealment of the DC departure, I agree that Meyer likely waited until after signing day to make the announcement (assuming he knew beforehand). I would also venture to guess that no NCAA D-1 coach (including Richt) would have called a press conference the eve of signing day to make an announcement that their newly hired DC just left for the NFL. That would be ridiculous.
Maybe it was Edwards who waited until after NSD so as not to put the university in that position? It’s not like he was the key to the Gators pledge class. He didn’t recruit a single player and had barely met the existing players in the 30 days he was in the position.
If/when Meyer actually does somethiing that is slimy or truly unethical, I will be the first to berate him for it. But I’m not jumping aboard the Orlando Sentitnel sleaze train anytime soon, so it better come from a more reputable source than one that has a history of constructing a front page story evertime Meyer has a pimple.
Thank you for saying exactly what I feel
Too much speculation going on.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
"Too much speculation going on"?
Yeah, I heard a lot of that when I drew logical inferences about the timing of George Edwards’s departure.
I didn’t hear so much about that when the Miami Herald confirmed that I was right.
You’ll excuse me if I’m not holding my breath waiting for y’all to berate Urban Meyer for doing something slimy or unethical.
Go 'Dawgs!
Hold on now
This is the quote in the above confirmation link:
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin was a Steve Addazio hire. The two worked together at Syracuse, and Austin said Addazio called him a few days before National Signing Day to gauge his interest in the job in case it came open. This means Meyer and Addazio knew George Edwards might be planning to skip town before signing day.
So if they knew that “he might be planning to skip town before signing day,” what would the proper course of action have been? Call a press conference to abbounce that their newly hired DC might be leaving for Buffalo???
Really? Seriously?
That’s how you think it went down? Really?
Be honest now, skigator93 . . . if not with me, at least with yourself. I mean, come on, now. You’re much smarter and more savvy than you’re pretending to be.
Go 'Dawgs!
I've already stated
That assuming he already told Meyer he was stepping down the day before NSD, that no major D-1 coach would call a press conference to announce it at that time.
Regardless, Edwards didn’t recruit a single player in our 2010 class. So what would be the point to announce to everyone that a guy who was brought in after all the work was done was leaving the team right before signing day?
Thanks for conceding that point
I think you’re asking the wrong question, though. If, as you and all other Gator fans say, George Edwards had no effect on the recruiting class, why not be up front about the fact of his departure? Isn’t honesty the best policy, particularly when telling the truth doesn’t hurt you?
I think (and I think more Gator fans than are willing to admit it also think) Florida had been through a tumultuous offseason, with the loss of Charlie Strong and the uncertain status of Urban Meyer, and the departure of the defensive coordinator shortly before national signing day would have created the perception of a program in upheaval, and perhaps in outright turmoil. Might that have changed a few minds? It might have . . . and, whether it would have or it wouldn’t have, Urban Meyer certainly appears to have made the conscious decision to conceal the truth from players he was recruiting until the hay was in the barn.
That, at a minimum, is disingenuous; arguably, it is something akin to a deceptive trade practice (morally, if not legally), and it very much undermines the claim that Urban Meyer cares about his players as human beings rather than as a means to an end.
By itself, it may be a minor misstep, but, taken along with every other discrete element of what we know about Urban Meyer, it is very much of a piece with his daughter saying she felt like she hadn’t seen him in two years and was glad she had her daddy back. All these details combine to paint a portrait of a man with a win-at-all-costs mentality who cares little for other human beings, or even for himself.
It’s wrong when anyone does it, mind you; it was wrong of Jim Donnan to trot out Kevin Ramsay to recruits as “Georgia’s defensive coordinator,” fire Coach Ramsay the next day, and then defend himself by saying, in essence, “I didn’t lie; when I introduced him that way, he was Georgia’s defensive coordinator.”
Please bear in mind, as well, that, while Urban Meyer is a rival coach, I do not share this view of other rival coaches. I never saw any evidence of such behavior from Steve Spurrier, either while he was at Florida or now that he is at South Carolina. I consider Auburn to be Georgia’s biggest rival, but I have been given no indication that Tommy Tuberville engaged, or that Gene Chizik engages, in this sort of behavior. Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson appears every bit as intense as Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, and that intensity makes him prickly, but he isn’t prone to these sorts of actions; when he decided to change defensive coordinators, he wasted no time in announcing the change.
In short, it ain’t just rivalry. Urban Meyer is a great, great coach, but he’s a bad, bad man . . . and these facts, Heaven help us, are not unrelated. Therein lies an unfortunate lesson that ought to alarm us all, Bulldog and Gator alike.
Go 'Dawgs!
Again, the same question
What should Meyer have done to be “upfront about Edwards departure?” If the answer is calling a press conference on the eve of NSD to make such an announcement, then so be it. I would call any coach or person who claims he would have done such a liar.
Also, you are assuming theory as fact. Nobody really does know when Edwards made his decision. Sorry, but I can’t condone calling someone a bad person based on something you believe might have happened.
A question, not a challenge:
What do you think happened?
I understand that neither of us was in the room and that you think I’m drawing conclusions based upon too little evidence. I’m just asking you . . . do you think events played out differently from the way I’ve argued that they did?
Go 'Dawgs!
I'm not sure
I don’t know a thing about Edwards as he wasn’t with us long enough for anyone to learn anything about him. It could very easily have been a decision Edwards made, but waited himself to tell Meyer until NSD so that Meyer would not have to face any sort of dilemma and could focus his attention on where it needed to be – signing recruits and keeping Kiffin away from the verbals until they send their faxes.
Y’all can’t have it both ways. He can’t be intense and detail-oriented when it goes your way yet sloppy and off-the-cuff when it doesn’t. Nick Saban is just as intense as Urban Meyer; how come these "slips" never occur with him?
I guess that sums it up. I give him the benefit of doubt, and you dont. Yes he is detail oriented and intense. Thats how we describe him as a Football Caoch.
As a person he seems more like a introvert and feels out of place when he is put in the spot light. His ability to be intense as a coach, is probably the same thing that hurts him with the media. He may not think clearly when he feels his team is called out by the media. Which results in his “rants”, if you believe me that he is a introverted person than you can see why when he does speak to the media, especially when being called out, it doesnt turn out as well as someone else who loves the spot light.
Nick Saban does seem similiar. Why doesnt he slip up? Forgive me, I am not a big Saban fan…Has he never slipped up with saying something to the media that others may have judged as wrong or whatever? I cant explain why, I dont really know much about him.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
Once again, that's a reasonable reply, Hook85
I’ll agree that Urban Meyer’s words to the reporter were intended as a defense of his player. I respect him for that, and I believe I said as much in one of my earliest comments upon the subject; the problem isn’t what he did, it’s how he did it.
I am curious, though . . . why the “scare quotes” around the word “rants”? Do you believe “rant” is an inaccurate characterization? If so, what quality of a “rant” do you believe Coach Meyer’s words to the reporter lacked? What word would you deem suitable?
Nick Saban certainly has said things the media didn’t like, but they have been more of the brusque “I don’t have time for this shit” variety than threats. (Surely Coach Meyer’s statement that he would ban the Orlando Sentinel and his subsequent statement that, had the quoted player been Coach Meyer’s son, he’d have physically assaulted the reporter qualify as threats.) Maybe Coach Saban is just better suited to the intensity of being a big-time coach, but it says something to me that Coach Meyer’s anger-management skills and self-control techniques are so much more ineffectual than those of his coevals.
Go 'Dawgs!
I would honestly call them small temper tantrums
Although “rants” is also a valid term in my opinion.
I wish he would consider the consequences of how he handles things more often than he does, but that is a fault I am willing to accept, so long as the reasoning for the actions are justified, which in this case, I think they are. I call them small temper tantrums, because while he berated Fowler publicly and pointed his finger at him, he wasn’t on a tirade like Mike Gundy. He seemed under control.
I do applaud Kyle for accurately portraying the incident because I have read too many times on other blogs about his “physical threat of Fowler.” Unless Meyer goes and adopts Thompson as his son, I can’t imagine Fowler feels any anxiety over his physical well being. Although I agree that taking away his mdeia privileges to cover UF sports is a threat.
There is something about Saban’s personality that makes him better suited to handle the pressures of big time football. I am sure Saban has feelings, but he never appears to show them. He seems like a cold, calculated coaching machine out there. I don’t mean to insult him by saying that, as I am sure pretty much the entire Bama Nation is thrilled to death with their coaching machine and how he has returned their program to glory.
I have minor quibbles with that . . .
. . . but they are just that: minor.
If those were “small” temper tantrums, I’d hate to see what a large temper tantrum looks like, but, even if they are small, they are too large for a man of Urban Meyer’s age and position to consider appropriate behavior. Maybe he truly regrets it in retrospect, although he kept coming back for more (turning away, then turning back; walking away, then turning and pointing) and he did not apologize publicly for a public outburst.
Go 'Dawgs!
I think Meyer and Gundy are both okay with what they did
Maybe they could have (and wished they had) handled their situations more tactfully, but they honestly felt they were defending their players against cheap pot shots taken by reporters. I’m cool with a coach standing up for a player who hasn’t done anything wrong….regardless of the method he takes to do it.
I agree with every part of that statement . . .
. . . except the part after the ellipses. (I’m pretty sure you don’t mean that last part, either; if read literally, the last nine words of your comment could be taken to mean that, if Urban Meyer had pulled out a gun and shot the reporter, you’d have been all right with that. I’m pretty sure that’s not the case.)
In any case, I don’t question his motives in that instance, just his judgment and the maturity of his behavior. In the context of his history, such loose cannon moments suggest strongly that the Woody Hayes portrait in his rec room is a foreboding harbinger of a denouement that almost certainly will be unpleasant, and very well could be tragic.
Go 'Dawgs!
You are right
I would not support criminal activity to show a coach’s distaste for an article written about one of his players. But if the coach wants to rant and rave, throw a hissy in public, or do it quietly in private then I’m cool with either.
Perspective
The only thing that will quell the fury of Georgia’s hatred for Meyer is for Meyer to
1 die
2 retire
3 lose repeatedly to UGA
I remember a semi-sweet eulogy for Meyer during the 24 hour period when the red and black faithful thought Meyer was out of the picture. I will hold that sentiment as the Dawgs true feeling for Corch until 1, 2, or 3 happens. As long as Corch maintains his dominance over UGA, I will expect the same slanted rhetoric over and over.
Naturally . . .
. . . and we will expect the same genuflecting defenses of the man from Gator fans who deliberately ignore the mounting evidence of his deficiencies as a human being and the increasing likelihood that he will ruin his physical health, his spiritual welfare, and his personal relationships so that you may enjoy winning games that ought to matter far less than a man’s physical health, his spiritual welfare, and his personal relationships.
As Michael Corleone said to Pat Geary, “We’re both part of the same hypocrisy.” Have a happy Easter! :)
Go 'Dawgs!
Oh yeah, you'd do the full pint.
Happy Easter to all and God bless you and your families. The weather should be beautiful for all activities so don’t grumble when you have to hide the eggs again.
Finally
Something we can all agree on – everyone have a great Easter and give your kids some extra hugs and kisses this weekend.
Large temper tantrums
Kyle, I don’t know how much football you played but it is a sport that is played on the ragged edge of emotion and at the limits of physical ability. When a man spends his life steeped in that environment, his responses to percieved threats to his program may be little on the macho side. Who would have had the balls to take Bear Bryant to task over such an episode? Meyer is a throw-back to a different time. Coach Richt is a lot more like Alan Alda than John Wayne and bless his little pea picking heart for that. If CMR ever slashed a dirt bag, snake licking newspaper hack I would send him a 12 pack of Red Dog. Tomato, Tamahto, let’s let the whole thing rest. Urban’s probably not a member of Peta either, do I care? Nooooope. If it were not for all the sensitive souls in Georgia these days, Uga VII would not have commited suicide. The poor dawg drank anti-freeze rather than watch another season peter out with Cox throwing the ball at the cheerleaders and CMR looking like he was having an enchanted moment on the sidelines. I know all about it because I read the Globe and the Orlando Sentinel, the two finest publications a man ever wiped his hind parts with. I have read these dip wad’s articles for years and believe me, if UM had eaten their heads off on the fifty yard line he would have gotten a stern warning from the judge.
Alan Alda? Mascots committing suicide?
You’re having another one of your two-screwdriver nights, aren’t you, renegator?
Don’t drink and blog, my friend; don’t drink and blog.
Go 'Dawgs!
he's right about Joe Cox though
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Nothing to do with the rivalry?
On a competitive note, being a huge rival I can sort of understand the insult. But if you are claiming it has nothing to do with the rivalry then the insults are just over board.
I may have missed something, but I don’t think anyone claimed it has nothing to do with the rivalry. First, if this were Dan Hawkins and not Urban Meyer, it probably wouldn’t have been mentioned here at all. Second, I recall Kyle has gone out of his way to admit his bias (which I’d think would be implicit, anyway).
At most, however, I would submit that the existence of the rivalry as context of the discussion goes to the weight of the facts sited by Kyle but not to their admissibility.
Exactly
Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean that everybody isn’t out to get you.
Of course we’re biased. But biased doesn’t equal wrong.
by first and thom on Apr 1, 2010 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions
I would classify this as a strategic miscalculation
on Meyer’s part. Like Kyle, I understand what he was doing. As the head coach he must prevent dissension in his ranks and Jeremy Fowler took the brunt of that. Especially in the above picture, in which you can imagine that if the two men were labrador retrievers Fowler would have his head down and his body turned slightly so as not to further antagonize the alpha dog.
The thing is, if Urbs gets in the face of every reporter who tries to squeeze a Tebow/Brantley comparison quote out of the Gators this season, he won’t actually get around to coaching any football. And if John Brantley struggles, he won’t be able to cut off access to every reporter who points it out. Because every news outlet in the state of Florida will. Top flight college football coaches are, by nature, control freaks. They want everything to be the way it is supposed to be.
And everything was pretty good for Urban Meyer over the past few years. However, if this is how he’s going to react on an ongoing basis to the possibility that Tim Tebow was not perfect, or John Brantley’s not perfect, all he’s doing is giving the reporters something to write about that has nothing to do with his football team. Oh, and looking like a horse’s ass, though I doubt seriously that he’s concerned with that as long as the wins keep coming.
*
“because the media is evil”
"We have a lot of passionate fans at Georgia and we look forward to giving them something to be positive about."
-Todd Grantham.
And that's why I teach science...
"We have a lot of passionate fans at Georgia and we look forward to giving them something to be positive about."
-Todd Grantham.
meh
“Media” may not have gone the way of “agenda” yet, but it’s getting there. In fact, I’d put it somewhere between “agenda” and “data”.
I think we should bring back the plural for our teams
I am perfectly happy about how the American Revolution ended up, mind you, but I think that the British use of the plural when referring to teams is worthy of adoption. As often as I remember, I will start saying “UGA are” instead of “UGA is”. For example “UGA are hopelessly outclassed in baseball” and “UGA are hopefully going to lose less than than all of their football games.”
by first and thom on Mar 26, 2010 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions
All I know is this...
Deonte Thompson better not drop any passes this year.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Anybody else notice
Corch has a really flat head. His momma (assuming he had one and she loved him) must have let him sleep on his back as an infant.
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