Urban Meyer: ‘I was addicted to winning at Florida’

By Vinnie Criscenzo | Jan 12, 2015

Jan 10, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer answers questions during Media day at Dallas Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /

Urban Meyer told HBO Real Sports that he had an unhealthy obsession with winning while the head coach of the Florida Gators.

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

That’s exactly what Urban Meyer did when he stepped down as head coach of the Florida Gators after the 2010 season. Meyer had been dealing with several different health issues as the results of his obsession to winning and the stress that it brought upon him. He finally realized that he needed to do right by himself, and his family, and make his health a top priority.

It seems like it was the right decision because it looks like Meyer is in good health now as he gets ready to lead the Ohio State Buckeyes to their first National Championship game since January, 2008. The Buckeyes lost that game to the LSU Tigers, as well as the previous year to Meyer’s Florida Gators in the National Championship.

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After Urban Meyer won that National Championship, you would think he’d be celebrating with the team and his coaching staff. Instead, he was in his office calling recruits.

When asked in the HBO exclusive interview if he was addicted to football, he answered, “I was addicted to winning.”

“If a case study was ever done on those years it wasn’t pretty,” he said. “The toll on my body, the toll on my mind. I would just get sick, I mean like physically ill –what could I have done better, it’s my fault we lost this game.”

Meyer also noted that he would take two Ambiens a night and drink a beer on top of that just to get some sleep. From the combination of stress and self-medicating, Meyer went from weighing 217 pounds to about 180 pounds. That’s a weight loss of 37 pounds just over the course of a few months.

This was when his team was undefeated.

You may think “how could the man be so stressed when his team is doing so well?” Well, big expectations come when your team in undefeated. Basically, anything less than a National Championship would be a failure at that point, and that’s how Urban Meyer viewed it.

Since signing on with Ohio State in 2012, it seems that Meyer had developed a way to manage his obsession with winning, putting his health before football this time.

It doesn’t seem to be effecting his coaching ability at all, as he has a 37-3 record has head coach of the Buckeyes and is getting ready to play for his third National Championship.

I think we’re all glad to see Urban Meyer enjoying his work now and, most importantly, making sure he’s healthy.

You can watch the short clip from the HBO Real Sports interview here.

H/T USA Today Sports, HBO Real Sports

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