There needs to be an intervention here.
October 6
Meyer’s sideline demeanor has taken on a decidedly beleaguered stoop this season. The usual shouting and gesticulating, the ripping off of his headset, those are often followed by a hand moving up to the left side of his head because of severe headaches.
...
Meyer...acknowledged depression and anxiety issues late in his six-year tenure at Florida...
https://www.apnews.com/8b95c16417ab4712b8a063f7e3388843
...he revealed that he’s been dealing with an enlarged congenital arachnoid cyst on his brain. Though Meyer had surgery in spring 2014, he continues to take medicine. The cyst causes occasionally severe headaches – as in one highly visible example, the Buckeyes’ 49-26 win against Indiana, when Meyer dropped to his knees in the fourth quarter.
...
Meyer does not look well. And in his seventh year at Ohio State, there are seeming parallels to the end of his tenure at Florida. He retired from that gig after six seasons, citing stress-related health issues.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/columnist/george-schroeder/2018/11/22/ohio-state-coach-urban-meyer-clearly-pain-football-season/2085880002/
In the early morning of December 6, 2009, soon after returning home following his team's loss in the 2009 SEC Championship Game, Meyer was quietly admitted into a Gainesville hospital suffering from chest pains and dehydration. He was released later in the day, and the incident was not announced to the public at the time.[49]
On December 26, after discussions with his family, Meyer revealed his medical scare and announced that he would resign as Florida's head coach due to health and family concerns following his team's New Years Day Sugar Bowl appearance.[20] Meyer stated: "I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family."...Meyer admitted that he had suffered frequent chest pains, later discovered to be caused by Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and occasional severe headaches due to an arachnoid cyst for years, and that they were related to stress.[50]
On December 27, Meyer announced that he would take an indefinite leave of absence instead of resigning. He was unsure if he would return for the 2010 season...
On January 1, 2010, Meyer coached the Gators in their 51–24 Sugar Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats.
...
On March 17, 2010, Meyer returned full-time to his [Florida coaching] position...
...
On December 8, 2010, Meyer again announced his retirement from coaching for much the same reasons he mentioned in December 2009: his family and his health.[62][63]
Meyer's last game as Florida's coach was a 37–24 win in the 2011 Outback Bowl on January 1, 2011.
[On November 28, 2011 Meyer was named head coach at Ohio State.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Meyer#Leave_of_absence
"I thought I was dying," Meyer said. "Mentally, I was broke."
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/11558783/ohio-state-buckeyes-coach-urban-meyer-says-was-mentally-broke-florida-gators-2009
...Meyer was known to have had brain surgery in the spring of 2014, but what he explained Tuesday was an ongoing issue that has flared up the last two years, triggering frequent pain on the left side of his head and an episode that dropped him to his knees on the sideline against Indiana earlier this month.
Monday, I told Meyer in his weekly news conference about those believing him to look anguished on the sideline and asked how he was mentally and emotionally. Meyer said he was fine and told fans not to worry about him.
Unhappy with that answer, and wanting to quell speculation, Meyer, 54, sat in his office Tuesday...in an effort to speak the truth and explain the seriousness of the cyst.
...Meyer's mood darkened as he delved into the details of his physical condition, unsure of sharing too many personal details but wanting a basic understanding of his health to be known to the public.
...Ohio State also provided this statement from Dr. Andrew Thomas, Meyer's personal physician.
"The past four years, we've been working closely with Coach Meyer to monitor and manage the symptoms that have risen from his enlarged congenital arachnoid cyst. This includes aggressive headaches, which have particularly flared up the past two years."
It was difficult to pull quotes from Meyer about what has gone on, but several things became clear through the course of a conversation in which Meyer didn't want to overplay or underplay what is happening with him.
1. His condition is serious...
2. He has managed his health since the 2014 surgery, and these days that includes daily medication...
3. ...the issue with his cyst is incurable and progressive...
...
Meyer deals with regular headaches, but the symptoms worsen in singular moments of aggravation. That could be at home, in practice, or on the sideline during games. It is not the general stress of coaching college football that's the issue, but the moments of intense anxiety that have been part of Meyer's coaching style since he started.
...
"I put my life into this job...I'm 100 percent committed to Ohio State and putting our players in the best position to win games and doing right by Ohio State."
https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2018/10/urban_meyer_reveals_seriousnes.html
"I put my life into this job": Urban Meyer must not coach another game of college tackle football.
Manifestly, Meyer cannot protect himself, he cannot quit coaching of his own volition. He must be made to quit coaching, he is in too much pain physically and mentally; the risks to his physical well-being, his sanity, even his life, are palpable. Yet scandalously an intervention is not coming from the two people, Shelley Meyer, his wife and a registered nurse, and Dr. Andrew Thomas, Meyer's physician, in the best position to intervene, nor from the university which has the employer's power to intervene. None are "doing right" by Urban Meyer.
As a consequence, in under sixteen hours Urban Meyer will be standing once again on the sideline at Ohio Stadium. He will be coaching in his biggest, most stressful, game of the season against arch-rival #4 Michigan. I pray, pray, that Urban Meyer does not collapse and die on national television tomorrow or suffer a nervous breakdown and go mad. There is tragic precedent for professional and fiduciary dereliction leading to the unthinkable.
October 6
November 17
...
Meyer...acknowledged depression and anxiety issues late in his six-year tenure at Florida...
https://www.apnews.com/8b95c16417ab4712b8a063f7e3388843
...he revealed that he’s been dealing with an enlarged congenital arachnoid cyst on his brain. Though Meyer had surgery in spring 2014, he continues to take medicine. The cyst causes occasionally severe headaches – as in one highly visible example, the Buckeyes’ 49-26 win against Indiana, when Meyer dropped to his knees in the fourth quarter.
...
Meyer does not look well. And in his seventh year at Ohio State, there are seeming parallels to the end of his tenure at Florida. He retired from that gig after six seasons, citing stress-related health issues.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/columnist/george-schroeder/2018/11/22/ohio-state-coach-urban-meyer-clearly-pain-football-season/2085880002/
In the early morning of December 6, 2009, soon after returning home following his team's loss in the 2009 SEC Championship Game, Meyer was quietly admitted into a Gainesville hospital suffering from chest pains and dehydration. He was released later in the day, and the incident was not announced to the public at the time.[49]
On December 26, after discussions with his family, Meyer revealed his medical scare and announced that he would resign as Florida's head coach due to health and family concerns following his team's New Years Day Sugar Bowl appearance.[20] Meyer stated: "I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family."...Meyer admitted that he had suffered frequent chest pains, later discovered to be caused by Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and occasional severe headaches due to an arachnoid cyst for years, and that they were related to stress.[50]
On December 27, Meyer announced that he would take an indefinite leave of absence instead of resigning. He was unsure if he would return for the 2010 season...
On January 1, 2010, Meyer coached the Gators in their 51–24 Sugar Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats.
...
On March 17, 2010, Meyer returned full-time to his [Florida coaching] position...
...
On December 8, 2010, Meyer again announced his retirement from coaching for much the same reasons he mentioned in December 2009: his family and his health.[62][63]
Meyer's last game as Florida's coach was a 37–24 win in the 2011 Outback Bowl on January 1, 2011.
[On November 28, 2011 Meyer was named head coach at Ohio State.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Meyer#Leave_of_absence
"I thought I was dying," Meyer said. "Mentally, I was broke."
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/11558783/ohio-state-buckeyes-coach-urban-meyer-says-was-mentally-broke-florida-gators-2009
...Meyer was known to have had brain surgery in the spring of 2014, but what he explained Tuesday was an ongoing issue that has flared up the last two years, triggering frequent pain on the left side of his head and an episode that dropped him to his knees on the sideline against Indiana earlier this month.
Monday, I told Meyer in his weekly news conference about those believing him to look anguished on the sideline and asked how he was mentally and emotionally. Meyer said he was fine and told fans not to worry about him.
Unhappy with that answer, and wanting to quell speculation, Meyer, 54, sat in his office Tuesday...in an effort to speak the truth and explain the seriousness of the cyst.
...Meyer's mood darkened as he delved into the details of his physical condition, unsure of sharing too many personal details but wanting a basic understanding of his health to be known to the public.
...Ohio State also provided this statement from Dr. Andrew Thomas, Meyer's personal physician.
"The past four years, we've been working closely with Coach Meyer to monitor and manage the symptoms that have risen from his enlarged congenital arachnoid cyst. This includes aggressive headaches, which have particularly flared up the past two years."
It was difficult to pull quotes from Meyer about what has gone on, but several things became clear through the course of a conversation in which Meyer didn't want to overplay or underplay what is happening with him.
1. His condition is serious...
2. He has managed his health since the 2014 surgery, and these days that includes daily medication...
3. ...the issue with his cyst is incurable and progressive...
...
Meyer deals with regular headaches, but the symptoms worsen in singular moments of aggravation. That could be at home, in practice, or on the sideline during games. It is not the general stress of coaching college football that's the issue, but the moments of intense anxiety that have been part of Meyer's coaching style since he started.
...
"I put my life into this job...I'm 100 percent committed to Ohio State and putting our players in the best position to win games and doing right by Ohio State."
https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2018/10/urban_meyer_reveals_seriousnes.html
Manifestly, Meyer cannot protect himself, he cannot quit coaching of his own volition. He must be made to quit coaching, he is in too much pain physically and mentally; the risks to his physical well-being, his sanity, even his life, are palpable. Yet scandalously an intervention is not coming from the two people, Shelley Meyer, his wife and a registered nurse, and Dr. Andrew Thomas, Meyer's physician, in the best position to intervene, nor from the university which has the employer's power to intervene. None are "doing right" by Urban Meyer.
As a consequence, in under sixteen hours Urban Meyer will be standing once again on the sideline at Ohio Stadium. He will be coaching in his biggest, most stressful, game of the season against arch-rival #4 Michigan. I pray, pray, that Urban Meyer does not collapse and die on national television tomorrow or suffer a nervous breakdown and go mad. There is tragic precedent for professional and fiduciary dereliction leading to the unthinkable.
All eyes will be on Urban Meyer tomorrow and if the unthinkable occurs all eyes will instantly shift to Shelley Meyer, RN, Andrew Thomas, MD, and Ohio State University.
