URBAN MEYER TO RETURN FOR SPRING GAME

Florida head coach Urban Meyer’s leave of absence didn’t last very long.  On Saturday, Meyer announced that he was feeling good and would return to his head coaching duties in time for the annual spring game.  Meyer had previously announced his resignation due to unspecified ‘health issues’.  He quickly reversed course, and amended his plan to taking an indefinite ‘leave of absence’.  That has apparently come to an end, and he’ll be back at the helm of the Gators’ football program long before the 2010 college football betting season begins.

Meyer has reportedly changed his diet, and gained 20 pounds since the end of the season.  He’s also been working out regularly and generally taking better care of himself.  He’s reduced his workload and been traveling less on the recruiting trail.  On Saturday, he spoke publically for the first time since Florida’s blowout victory over Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl:

"I keep hearing about this time out. People I'm closest to are going to demand I take some time off, but I tried that already. I tried a day and a half, and it didn't work."

Meyer didn’t address any specific health issues, though he said that all of the tests that have been run recently have been positive:

"I'm not going to get into that publicly, but so far the tests are coming back pretty positive.”

Asked if he would take some time off between national signing day and the start of fall practice, Meyer was noncommittal:

"I've been instructed I have to. I'm just not sure what I'm going to do," he said. "I just don't know how long. I have to change some things. That's obvious."

Meyer had lost a lot of weight during the season, but said that his new workout and diet regimen were helping:

"I feel real good. I've been working out a lot. I'm over 200 pounds, so I guess that's how they gauge it a little bit because I was not good there for a while. Doing a lot better."

Asked why he lost so much weight in the season in the first place, Meyer made no excuses:

"It's called ignorance or something like that."

Shortly after his resignation/leave of absence announcement, it was revealed that Meyer had been rushed to the hospital in early December complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath.  There was some speculation that he’d suffered a heart attack, but later comments suggest that wasn’t the case.