Florida coach Urban Meyer, right, celebrates with players Ryan Stamper, left, and Tim Tebow, center, after a 51-24 win over Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football game in New Orleans, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010.
Urban Meyer, shown here as Florida’s coach in 2010, said Wednesday he has no interest in returning to the Gators as head coach if Billy Napier is fired.
It seems like only a matter of time before Florida fires Billy Napier, but it appears one man who won’t be replacing him as Gators football coach is Urban Meyer.
The former Florida and Ohio State coach addressed rumors about his potential candidacy during Wednesday’s Triple Option podcast with Fox Sports colleagues Rob Stone and Mark Ingram. Meyer — the Gators’ coach from 2005-10 — said flatly it’s not going to happen.
That ship has sailed,” Meyer said, via On3. “I want that program to do well, so bad. I know so many people there and we gave a big part of our life to that program. But that ship has sailed.”
The 60-year-old Meyer has been out of coaching since his failed 2021 stint with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, when he went 2-11 and was fired before the season even ended. He was much more successful as a college coach, going 187-32 overall with a pair of national championships at Florida (2006 and 2008) and another at Ohio State (2014).