All Entries Tagged With: "Bob Stoops"

Urban Meyer Steadies The Dominoes, For Now

The ground beneath the college football world was quaking, the coaching dominoes teetering, athletic directors shaking, fans hyperventilating …

But wait a minute. Florida football coach Urban Meyer, well, now he’s just going to take an indefinite leave of absence. Not retiring just yet. Gator fans not sure how to handle the news, may never entirely forgive him for the uncertainty … unless he returns as a winner, of course.

Urban Meyer

A lot of people can relax, at least for a while, especially the athletic directors at Arkansas, Mississippi State and Oklahoma, the respective homes of Bobby Petrino, Dan Mullen and Bob Stoops. Their coaches may have been at the top of the list for Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley’s list if Meyer had stayed retired.

Foley’s first instinct may have been to hire a replacement with head coaching experience for Meyer. However, the pressure to hire Charlie Strong would have been huge. Immensely popular with Florida fans and recruits, he was the logical choice, having been an integral part of the program’s success the past seven seasons.

A huge reprieve for Tom Jurich at the University of Louisville. Twelve hours of uncertainty over Strong’s future. After three-nightmarish seasons during the Steve Kragthorpe era, Jurich had to be dreading still another coaching search. The latest episode, though mercifully brief, underscores the scale of Jurich’s challenges in maintaining a successful football program at Louisville.

Tomorrow’s another day, and Urban Meyer could change his mind again.

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