AM850.com

A couple of years ago, then Gator men's basketball coach Billy Donovan made the announcement that he was leaving Gainesville to become the head coach of the NBA's Orlando Magic.

But as we all know, after sleeping on his decision, he had a change of heart and returned to coach the Gators.

Just one day after announcing that he was resigning as head coach of the Gator football team because of health concerns, Urban Meyer a day later also has a change of heart and says he will return to coach the Gators after he first takes an indefinite leave of absence to get his health in order.

Urban and Billy are very close friends; so there is some irony in Urban pulling "a Billy" to come back and coach again at Florida.

There are certainly questions yet to be answered; how long will the leave of absence be, what specifically will Meyer do to get his health back, and what will he do differently to make him better in health while yet maintaining the 24/7 approach that has made him so successful. Offensive coordinator Steve Addazio will serve as interim head coach as well and no one knows how long he will serve in that capacity. How much will Meyer be out on the road recruiting?

But why did Meyer change his mind? Simply put, it was because of his players. He said he saw his team practice on Sunday and saw how spirited the practice was despite the emotional news given to his team that he was leaving the night before.

The spirited practice apparently struck a nerve with Meyer; he spoke of keeping his priorities of father, husband and coach in the right order at a press conference Sunday but he also felt how close he was to his players, his second family, and it was those players who changed his mind and allowed him to take this leave to get well and return as their coach.

Meyer would not go into detail about exactly what physically is wrong with him or what steps will be taken to get him better. It was obvious he feels that is a private matter and he kept it that way although he did acknowledge he has not had a heart attack. No one, not even Meyer, knows what lies ahead or what he will specifically do to get himself in better physical and mental health.

But Gator Nation can breathe a sign of relief now after a very tumultuous 24 hours or so; its head football coach is back, and now what has been a very weird December can be changed into a good start for 2010 with a January 1 bowl win.

Urban Meyer indeed pulled a "Billy" and a lot of Gator fans today are glad he did.