Urban Meyer says watching Florida is 'painful' as former head coach

Following Florida‘s season-opening loss to Miami the noise has dialed to 100 on Gators coach Billy Napier, who might have exacerbated things when he made a comment about fans from “rural central Florida” being critical from their basements.

Former coach Urban Meyer knows a thing or two about when that pressure gets cranked up.

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“Gainesville, it’s a tough, tough job,” Meyer said in an appearance on The Triple Option podcast. “It’s a great job. It’s one of the top five jobs in the country. You’ve got everything you need. You’ve got a recruiting base that’s second to none and you’ve got a great stadium, you’ve got a great fanbase, you’ve got a great student body. You’ve got it all. But I’ll tell you what, Gainesville is a tough town to live in when you’re the coach at Florida. It really is.”

That’s the backdrop for Napier now, staring at a huge uphill climb against the nation’s most difficult schedule. He’s in Year 3, so any sense of patience has faded and results are the only thing that will rescue him.

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That makes everyday living tough until you’re back on the right side of things, Meyer explained.

“I love Gainesville, it was great. My wife really loved it,” he 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.”

Two other things stood out to Meyer about the season-opening contest between Florida and Miami, which left Napier on the hottest of seats.

One was the difference exceptional quarterback play can make.

“I’ll tell you what, Cam Ward, that is to me recruit of the year,” Meyer said. “I think he instantly transformed. I think he’s that good. I went back and watched it, he’s that good. I saw him coming out of I think Washington State last year and he was the No. 1 transfer quarterback coming out, and teams were all over him. Mario Cristobal got the recruit of the year with Cam Ward.”

The other was a recruiting snafu that involved Miami players attempting to recruit visitors at Florida following the game, in an area where field access runs into the recruiting section.

Florida staffers had to shoo the players away, leading them to the visitor locker room.

That’s just part of recruiting in the state of Florida.

“The intensity of that recruiting, I lived it for six years,” Meyer said. “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.”