Urban Meyer Leaving or Staying? John Chavis Leaving?

COACHING CHANGES

The big news in college football over the weekend was that Florida head coach Urban Meyer announced that he was resigning due to health reasons.  I had previously heard that Meyer was struggling with some potentially major health problems and figured that Meyer wouldn't be at Florida forever as a result.   But like everyone else, I was shocked to see the news that he was ;eaving.   But then on Sunday, Meyer holds a press conference stating that he is NOT going to resign but simply take an indefinite leave of absence from the Gator program.  So as of now, Meyer will still be the Gators' head coach in 2010. 

Needless to say, it's a very bizarre situation.  Many theories have been thrown out there to explain the unusual turn of events.  Some say it was a publicity stunt.   I don't buy that because the whole episode won't give many a sense of security regarding Meyer's long term future as the Gators' head coach.  That will obviously damage their recruiting efforts.   It's also a distraction for Florida's team as they prepare for the Sugar Bowl. 

I think one of two things is happening here. 

First is that Meyer is still planning on stepping down as head coach at some point.  The press conference on Sunday was to prevent any kind of bleeding in the current recruiting class and to prevent any underclassmen from leaving early to the NFL.  Perhaps Meyer and Florida developed a better "exit strategy" for him, though it's tough to imagine what it could be. 

The other scenario is that Meyer legitimately changed his mind after the news went public.  It's certainly possible, and it's not always necessary that a conspiracy of some sort exists. 

If Meyer does end up departing, look for Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen and Utah's Kyle Whittingham to be the top candidates.  Both guys were assistants under Meyer at one point. 

A ton of rumors are out there right now about LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis being a serious candidate to become the defensive coordinator at Georgia.  There's a lot of smoke on this one, so we'll ahve to see if anything develops.  Hopefully, these are just rumors because LSU's program needs some stability right now. 

RECRUITING

There's also a bit of smoke that new LSU assistants Frank Wilson and Billy Gonzales are recruiting Thibodaux wide receiver Trovon Reed very hard and that Reed may be re-considering his commitment to Auburn.