It's a classic case of One day after Urban Meyer announced he would resign as head coach of Florida's football program at the end of this season, the two-time BCS Champion coach has changed his plea. His new plan: to return for the 2010 season after an indefinite leave of absence in the offseason. Perhaps the magnitude of his decision -- halting the sports world for 24 hours -- hit Meyer. Or perhaps the finality of resigning didn't sit well with him.
Most likely, the stresses of hitting the recruiting trail immediately after coaching in the Sugar Bowl weighed on his mind as he decided to resign, but his love of actual coaching, being on the field with his players and preparing for an upcoming game, proved to be the Siren Song that has lured back so many coaches.
It's why College Football is so tough. Consider Meyer's responsibilities -- as with any college football coach -- that require year-round attention:
Meyer just finished coaching against a competitive SEC schedule that saw his Gators one win away from playing for their third BCS Championship in five years. As if that isn't enough, at the conclusion of next week's Sugar Bowl, he will join dozens of other coaches traveling all across the nation to win February's championship: attracting a top recruiting class to continue his success in Gainesville. A daunting task, for sure.
But perhaps shirking his recruiting responsibilities and taking some down time will be a good thing for him for either personal reasons, health reasons, or because he wants to spend some quality time with Tim Tebow before the senior leaves for good. Perhaps Meyer's decision will spark a trend of college coaches to leave a chunk of the grueling recruiting work -- and much of the off-season work -- to assistant coaches. Many coaches won't want to risk letting anyone other than themselves convince prized high-school talents to attend their school, but let's see if Meyer's time off does give other coaches who feel equally as stressed something to think about.
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