Urban Meyer Abruptly Announces Retirement

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer abruptly announced his retirement Tuesday, citing health reasons and a difficult year that included a three-game suspension over his handling of domestic violence allegations against a now-fired assistant coach. He will step down after the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, the AP reports. Meyer is leaving at the top of his career after three national championships and seven years at the Big Ten school, where he has an 82-9 record. The 54-year-old Meyer has an arachnoid cyst in his brain that causes severe headaches, and had shown obvious effects of being in pain on the sideline this season. At a packed news conference, Meyer explained that the headaches became severe last season during Ohio State's game at Penn State and have become a persistent problem this season. But he didn't blame only his health for stepping away.

Meyer said he believed he could no longer coach the way he has always coached, from the early days at Bowling Green to Utah, Florida, and finally with the Buckeyes. "The style of coaching I've done for 33 years is very intense, very demanding. I tried to delegate more and CEO more and the product started to feel...," he said, not finishing his thought. "I didn't feel I was doing right by our players and by Gene (Smith, the athletic director)." Meyer said leaving would have been more difficult if the program wasn't healthy. The Buckeyes are 12-1 after winning the Big Ten, and Meyer said he felt good that assistant coach Ryan Day will take over as the 25th coach of the storied program where Meyer won a national title in 2014 after two at Florida. It was Day who led the Buckeyes when Meyer was suspended for three games to start this season; Meyer acknowledged the investigation leading to his suspension as being among the reasons for his decision.

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