Urban Meyer Recalls Depressed, ‘Mentally Broke’ Days at Florida

Urban Meyer was hugely successful as the head football coach at the University of Florida, but, as he reportedly reveals in an upcoming episode of HBO's Real Sports, he was battling so many internal demons, he wasn't even able to enjoy that time in his life.

"I thought I was dying," Meyer said, according to ESPN. "Mentally, I was broke."

During the 2009 season alone - when the Gators went undefeated in the regular season before losing to Alabama in the SEC title game, and then made a trip to the Sugar Bowl - Meyer lost 37 pounds and, at one point, thought he was having a heart attack.

Meyer experienced chest pains immediately following the loss to the Crimson Tide and was admitted to the hospital.

"They said, 'We don't believe it was a heart attack.'" Meyer said. "So, OK, 'Well, what is it?' 'We don't know.'

"And then you start thinking, 'There's something wrong with me mentally, you know? What is going on here?'"

What was going on was that Meyer was depressed and never took any time to recover from the emotional highs and lows of the 2008 season, when his Florida team won the national title with a 24-14 win over Oklahoma in Miami.

"I was in a panic situation," Meyer said. "We just won it. We got to do it again. I close the door. And I started just recruiting. One of my friends came and said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'Enjoy, what's wrong with you, man? Enjoy this.' I tried."

Meyer ultimate resigned from Florida following the 2010 season and spent two years away from the sidelines, instead working as an analyst for ESPN. In 2012 he took over as the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, and he's been there - and seemingly happy - ever since.