Urban Meyer makes tough admission about state of Florida Gators

Feb 2, 2020; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Former football head coach Urban Meyer on the sidelines of Super Bowl LIV between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Urban Meyer helped the Florida Gators achieve excellence during his time as the school’s head football coach. So seeing the program get ripped by rival Miami was not easy for him.

Meyer spoke on an episode of “The Triple Option” podcast that was published on Wednesday. The former Florida coach admitted on the show that seeing the Gators lose to Miami 41-17 was “painful” because of how much it hurts the program’s recruiting efforts in Florida.

“The intensity of that recruiting, I lived it for six years,” Meyer said, via On3. “Every player you get on the phone with, every player you go see it comes down to you and the ‘U.’ And Florida State, obviously. But that’s the way it should be. I mean I have a vested interest in Florida, that’s painful to watch that.”

Meyer coached the Gators from 2005-2010. He went 65–15 over his Gators tenure and won two national championships. He can only imagine how rough things are for Billy Napier, who is starting his third season and now 11–15 as Florida’s head coach.

“I love Gainesville, it was great. My wife really loved it,” Meyer said. “But I just never really left the house because I just, it feels like it’s caving in on you. It’s a small town and there’s very strong opinions there. It’s a great place, but it’s a very tough place to be when you don’t end up on the right side of the win column.”

Napier certainly did himself no favors with the comments he made about Florida fans on Monday. If he doesn’t turn things around quickly, he will likely follow the fate of Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen.