Column: Urban Meyer Belongs in Florida's Ring of Honor
Two National Championships. Two SEC Championships. One Heisman winner. 65 wins.
All in just six seasons as head coach.
Those are just the most notable accolades for Urban Meyer at his time at Florida.
In 2005, Urban Meyer took the Florida job to win national championships. Before his time was finished, Meyer led the Florida Gators to the most glorious days in the program's existence.
Over his six-year span as Florida’s head coach, Meyer went 16-2 against the likes of Georgia, Tennessee, and FSU, the Gators' three most hated rivals. Meyer won the SEC East division three times in his first five seasons. Off the field, Meyer was an ace recruiter, filling his roster with some of the most talented (and fast) football players from across the country, with a focus recruiting the absolute best from the state of Florida.
Meyer came to Gainesville and instantly made the Gators a contender, ultimately winning his first national championship in only his second year at Florida. Although 22 of the 24 seniors on that team were recruited by former coach and elite recruiter Ron Zook, Meyer was able to take the team to the National Championship, obliterating the Ohio State Buckeyes 41-14.
In 2007, the Gators went 9-4 with sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow winning the Heisman Trophy, despite struggling to replace the other playmakers from the 2006 championship team.
Fast forward to 2008 and the Florida Gators were right back to the National Championship, this time one-upping Heisman Winner Sam Bradford and the Oklahoma Sooners, 24-14. Florida bounced back from a devasting mid-season loss to Ole Miss by rolling through the rest of the SEC schedule, party in thanks to Tim Tebow's leadership.
Following his second national championship, the Gators once again ran through their regular season, finishing 12-0 before suffering a loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship, leaving the Gators on the outside looking in, as Alabama would go on to win the 2009-2010 National Championship. This would go down as the Gators' third 13-1 season under Meyer.
After the SEC Championship loss, it was later revealed that head coach Urban Meyer had chest pains which resulted in his hospitalization on December 6th.
Still, Meyer was back to coach Tim Tebow's final game, the 2010 Sugar Bowl which included the Gators molly whopping the Cincinnati Bearcats, 51-24.
Despite the chest pains, Meyer was back as head coach for the 2010 season after taking a long leave of absence in the spring. Meyer's final season was a rough one, going 7-5 following the departure of many members of the 2008 team, including Tim Tebow.
After the 2010 season ended, Meyer decided to hang it up after a rough final season as the Gators head coach. Meyer insisted that he left the game to take care of his health, but also to get away from the stress and immense pressure he had at Florida after an awful season.
I can't blame Meyer for wanting to take care of his health and get out to try to rebuild another program, which is what he was tasked with doing just 10 months after he stepped down at Florida. Meyer was known for building teams up and taking them to their highest level, just to then do it again at another school. It is what he did during his entire coaching career, first at Bowling Green, then Utah, Florida, and finally at Ohio State.
Some Florida fans will be forever irritated at Meyer for the way he left, but it is impossible not to look at the situation to expect him to take any other route. The Florida program he built up was ripping apart at the seams, and he left to avoid the worst of it, which was ultimately reflecting on his own personal health.
Forgiving Meyer would be the best option for all Gator fans out there, especially now that Meyer is "officially retired" after his OSU stint. Besides, you aren't supposed to remember a relationship for the way it ended, but for the good times, which both parties had throughout.
Furthermore, it would be asinine to not recognize the accomplishment of Meyer and what he built at Florida, regardless of the way it ended.
Without Meyer, Florida could have very well fallen into mediocrity if they hire another coach in 2005. Besides, it's not like Meyer left Florida in an awful position, as the 2012 team was in a position to make another National Championship run if it weren't for a loss in Jacksonville.
Meyer qualifies as a member of Ring of Honor as he has won a championship at the school, joining Steve Spurrier as the only two to ever do so.
In many ways, Urban Meyer set the tone for the current day "Gator Standard", that current head coach Dan Mullen has built back the program on. Granted, Mullen runs a much cleaner program than Meyer did when he was here.
It's no question that Meyer wants in the Ring of Honor, as he has been pro-UF since he left Ohio State in 2018.
Former players and coaches have rallied behind Meyer's push for the Ring of Honor, including Mullen and Gator Great Emmitt Smith.
At last year's Pro Bowl, Smith was adamant that Meyer should be inducted into the UF Ring of Honor, telling media members
"He [Meyer] won us two national championships; Billy Donovan did the same thing. So why not honor these guys for what they contributed during the time they were there?"
Last year, during Mullen's spring media trips throughout the state, the question was asked and Mullen gave an obvious yes to his former boss, saying that Meyer should be in the Ring of Honor as long as he meets the criteria.
So when the time does indeed come, and it very well could be soon, Meyer undoubtedly deserves to have a spot in the Ring of Honor. It is the least Florida could do for a coach that brought them two national championships and the best days in the history of the program.
