Florida
In the wake of his accomplishments at Utah, both the University of Florida and the University of Notre Dame vied for his services. Meyer chose to become Florida's head coach for the 2005 season, signing a seven-year contract worth $14 million. He later signed a six-year contract extension with the Gators on June 7, 2007; the extended contract paid an average of $3.25 million per year. On August 3, 2009, Meyer received another contract extension that made him the SEC's highest-paid coach during the 2009 season; his 2009 extension was worth $24 million over six years. At the time of the latest contract extension, Meyer was the third highest-paid college football coach, behind only Pete Carroll and Charlie Weis.
Meyer has been criticized by some commentators because 31 of his players were arrested during his six years as the Gators' coach. The seriousness of the charges varied widely, from minor offenses such as possession of alcohol by a minor to the charges of possession of a concealed weapon, "aggravated stalking, domestic violence by strangulation, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and fraudulent use of credit cards". Many of the charges were ultimately dismissed.
In September 2010, after Gator receiver Chris Rainey was arrested for sending a threatening text message to a former girlfriend, Meyer stated that he was "real upset about that. After a while, enough's enough. If there's something that we can improve on, we're certainly looking into that. It's like if our graduation rate stinks then we gotta improve that. If there are other issues in a program, that's our job to get it better. It's people making stupid mistakes, that's something we gotta correct."
In 2005, his first season at Florida, Meyer's Gators team finished the season 9–3 (5–3 in the Southeastern Conference). The season included an undefeated record at home and a 31–24 victory against Iowa in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida. The Gators would have faced LSU in the SEC Championship Game, but they lost to South Carolina and former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier in the SEC regular-season finale.
In 2006, Meyer coached the Gators to a 13–1 (8–1 in the SEC) record, with the one loss coming to the Auburn Tigers. After clinching the SEC East, the Gators won the SEC Championship Game on December 2 over Arkansas by a score of 38–28. The Gators defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, 41–14, in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game to win the national championship. It was the first BCS bowl berth for the Gators since the Orange Bowl that capped off the 2001 campaign, and Florida's first national championship appearance and victory since winning the 1997 Sugar Bowl.
Meyer has been known for winning big games. In addition to his 5–1 record in bowl games at Florida, Meyer compiled a 16–2 record against three of the Gators' biggest opponents—Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida State.
The Gators managed a 9–3 regular season record in 2007, including blowout wins over rivals Tennessee and FSU but once again losing to Auburn. During his tenure at the University of Florida, Coach Meyer never defeated Auburn. Quarterback Tim Tebow also became Coach Meyer's first Heisman Trophy winner. The team led the conference in scoring, but struggles on defense made it difficult for the Gators to reach a BCS bowl game. The Gators lost the Capital One Bowl to Michigan 41–35 on January 1, 2008. Meyer served as a pre-game and halftime analyst for the 2008 BCS National Championship Game.
In 2008, Meyer led the Gators to a 13–1 overall record and the BCS National Championship over Oklahoma, including wins over six ranked teams. The team's lone defeat came at the hands of Ole Miss on September 27, 2008, a game in which Florida led in time of possession and passing yards, but had three turnovers. Eleven of the Gators' twelve wins in the 2008 regular season were by 20 points or more. On December 6, 2008, Meyer led the Gators to a 31–20 victory over then top-ranked Alabama in the SEC title game. Leading in time of possession, rushing yards, and passing yards, the Gators rallied from behind after a third-quarter deficit to score two touchdowns and hold Alabama scoreless in the fourth quarter. The victory would vault Florida to No. 1 in the Associated Press Poll, No. 2 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll, and No. 2 in the BCS rankings, setting up a showdown against Oklahoma in the BCS Championship Game on January 8, 2009, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida. The Gators won 24–14, securing their second national championship under Meyer.
In 2009, Meyer's Gators began the season ranked No. 1 by the largest margin in the history of the AP preseason poll. Though the team struggled on offense at times, and quarterback Tim Tebow suffered a frightening concussion in a September victory over Kentucky, Florida finished the regular season 12–0 and still ranked No. 1. The winning streak ended in the SEC Championship Game, when they lost 32–13 to Alabama.
Florida was selected to play the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats in the 2010 Sugar Bowl. The Gators won 51–24 to finish the season with a 13–1 record for the second consecutive year.
In the early morning of December 6, 2009, soon after returning home following his team's loss in the 2009 SEC Championship Game, Meyer was quietly admitted into a Gainesville hospital suffering from chest pains and dehydration. He was released later in the day, and the incident was not announced to the public at the time.
On December 26, after discussions with his family, Meyer revealed his medical scare and announced that he would resign as Florida's head coach due to health and family concerns following his team's New Year's Day Sugar Bowl appearance. Meyer stated: "I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family." He also said: "I'm proud to be a part of the Gainesville community and the Gator Nation and I plan to remain in Gainesville and involved with the University of Florida." Meyer admitted that he had suffered frequent chest pains, later discovered to be caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and occasional severe headaches due to an arachnoid cyst for years, and that they were related to stress.
On December 27, Meyer announced that he would take an indefinite leave of absence instead of resigning. He was unsure if he would return for the 2010 season but stated that "I do in my gut believe that will happen." Offensive coordinator Steve Addazio would serve as the interim coach in Meyer's absence.
On January 1, 2010, Meyer coached the Gators in their 51–24 Sugar Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats. In a post-game interview, Meyer again suggested that he would return to coach the Gators at some point by saying: "I plan on being the coach of the Gators."
Meyer took significant time off from his coaching duties after the bowl game in an attempt to improve his personal health. While he did stay in touch with potential new players during the busy recruiting season, Meyer did much less traveling to visit recruits than usual. Nevertheless, the Gators still signed the consensus No. 1 recruiting class in the nation in February.
On March 17, 2010, Meyer returned full-time to his position for the start of the Gators' spring practice and continued in that role into the 2010 season.
With his victory over Kentucky on September 25, 2010, Meyer achieved his 100th career win as a coach. With that win, his record was at 100–18 over the course of 10 seasons. He became the sixth fastest NCAA coach to reach that record, following Gil Dobie (108 games), George Woodruff (109 games), Bud Wilkinson (111 games), Fielding Yost (114 games), and Knute Rockne (117 games). He was also the second-fastest to reach 100 wins since Wilkinson in 1945.
Despite reaching this milestone, the season was a difficult one for the Gators, and their 7–5 regular-season record was the worst in Meyer's tenure at Florida. On December 8, 2010, Meyer again announced his retirement from coaching for much the same reasons he mentioned in December 2009: his family and his health.
Meyer's last game as Florida's coach was a 37–24 win in the 2011 Outback Bowl on January 1, 2011.
After a three-month investigation, the Sporting News published an exposé titled "How Urban Meyer broke Florida football", suggesting that Meyer had created a toxic culture in the locker room at Florida and departed just before implosion. The article quoted several Florida players who declared that Meyer developed a "Circle of Trust" that included only star players, and that those players received favorable treatment, including not having to complete workouts, lenient punishment, and hiding the player's positive drug tests from the public. Although Meyer stated: "I've never heard of Circle of Trust before in my life", former players contend it was the foundation of Florida's culture under Meyer.
