Changes Abound

Urban Meyer is leaving Florida for health reasons. Obviously everyone hopes he gets better and agrees that there are plenty of things more important than football. These guys make a lot of money but there is no doubt the job is extremely stressful. I watched Pat Dye's health decline at Auburn. He aged about 50 years in a decade. I have seen many SEC coaches worn down by the job. Not much else to say there so I will focus on the future as it will effect Auburn and the SEC.

Who will Florida replace Meyer with? In my opinion (and I hope I am wrong) there is one and only choice and that is Utah's Kyle Whittingham. The guy has proven to be as good or better than Meyer at Utah. He manhandled Bama last year and had another great season with a freshman QB this year. I watched some of their bowl game the other night and one thought kept coming back... this is a well-coached team. His offensive philosophy mirrors Meyer and fits Florida. He appears to be the whole package and is a proven big-time head coach.

I just do not see another coach that jumps out to me like Whittingham. Again, I hope I am wrong because I think the Florida juggernaut will keep rolling along with him. Meanwhile I am sure the Bama faithful are rejoicing as they think this gives them sole control of the conference. However they are missing the point here. This once again proves that eras of dominance and great coaches do not last long too long. Since the SEC went to divisions we have seen several programs rise and fall and rise again and changes will continue to abound.