Florida head coach Urban Meyer announced today that he will step down as the Gators' coach after the Outback Bowl against Penn St. Meyer, who resigned a year ago, only to come back with a leave of absence, and eventually be back full time by the time spring practice rolled around, stated his reason as being a desire to spend time with family.
While this will have an immediate impact in the opposite corner of the country, there could be considerable ripples even out here.
Who will take one of the high profile jobs in the country, and not just college football, will be interesting, and a few people familiar to Pac-10 fans will get a phone call. Or at least their agents will. (Paging Chip Kelly, call on line 2...)
Be sure former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, who is now a college football analyst for ESPN, will notice an incoming call on his cell phone too.
Even former USC coach Pete Carroll, now in Seattle with the Seahawks, will probably be sounded out.
Whether anyone ever hears about those calls being made probably depends on what is said during those calls, but one can be assured there will be some conversations.
Whether a call to Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, who said just this week that he will accept a new offer from the Cardinal, will receive a call soon, or after someone is named to lead the Gators, and the second wave starts, one can rest assured that his phone will ring too.
The same is true for Chris Peterson over in Boise.
Kyle Whittingham, coach of the soon to be Pac-12 member Utah Utes, has ties to Meyer dating to when Urban coached the Utes, and a resume that has a perfect season, and a BCS bowl in the middle of a long list of bowls, will hear his phone ring at some point too, especially considering that Miami in also in the market for a coach. (Despite that job being a downgrade for everyone mentioned above, given the combination/conflict of their facilities and the expectations of the alumni of "The U".
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com