http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4774134
Florida coach Urban Meyer, who announced Saturday night that he would step down after coaching the Gators in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day, will instead take an indefinite leave of absence following the bowl game, he said on Sunday.
"I was offered and encouraged to take a leave of absence," Meyer said in a news conference on Sunday afternoon.
Meyer said he got around his players at a short practice on campus and realized he wasn't ready to call it quits. He then carefully considered the leave offer and discussed it with his coaching staff and team on Sunday.
"I've accepted this offer to improve my health," he said.
Meyer will coach in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Cincinnati, as previously announced, but then offensive coordinator Steve Adazzio will take over the Gators and will coach until Meyer is ready to return.
When asked if he believed he would be coaching next season Meyer said: "I do, in my gut, believe that will happen."
Urban Meyer: By the Numbers
Coach School Record Win pct.
Urban Meyer Florida 95-18 .841
Pete Carroll USC 96-19 .835
Bob Stoops Oklahoma 116-29 .800
Mark Richt Georgia 89-27 .767
Gary Patterson TCU 85-27 .759
Meyer led the Gators to BCS national championships in 2006 and 2008. Meyer is 56-10 with Florida, including 32-8 in the SEC and a school-record 22-game winning streak that was snapped by the Crimson Tide in the conference title game on Dec. 5.
"I want to make sure I do right by my family," Meyer said. "My second family is my players and my staff."
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow said the team was upset after Meyer announced he was stepping down.
"The last 24 hours has been a whirlwind, knowing that Coach Meyer is going through a hard time with his heath,was hard on me," Tebow said.
"A lot of the guys on the team were crying and upset [when he announced he was stepping down], but for the most part everyone wanted what's best for Coach Meyer."
After the Southeastern Conference championship game three weeks ago, Meyer spent several hours in a Gainesville, Fla., hospital because of chest pains.
Florida is one of the most desirable coaching jobs in the country and if athletic director Jeremy Foley had to go searching for a permanent replacement, he likely would have found numerous interested candidates.
Last month, Sports Illustrated chronicled Meyer's coaching career and reported that he suffered from persistent headaches caused by a cyst that becomes inflamed by stress, rage and excitement.
Meyer told the magazine that since the diagnosis in the early 2000s he has tried to stay composed during games.
A tireless recruiter and creative motivator, Meyer came to Florida from Utah in fall 2004 amid speculation he would end up at Notre Dame.
Meyer brought most of his staff with him -- some of whom worked with him at Bowling Green (2001-02) and Utah (2003-04). Together, they restored the program to national prominence two years later with the school's second national championship.
The Gators upset Ohio State 41-14 in Glendale, Ariz.; they won another one last January by beating Oklahoma 24-14 in Miami.
With just about his entire team returning this fall, Meyer spent all season coaching under intense pressure and sky-high expectations. He said he welcomed it all as the defending national champions tried to become just the second team in the last 14 years to repeat.
But the season was far from smooth. Florida dealt with distraction after distraction, prompting Meyer to call it "the year of stuff."
Meyer is married with three children -- the oldest recently started college at Georgia Tech -- and has said repeatedly he planned to leave coaching to spend more time with his family.
Information from ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach, ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen and The Associated Press was used in this report.