Urban's Way: Urban Meyer, the Florida Gators, and His Plan to Win

by Buddy Martin

“Members of the ‘Gator Nation’ are going to burn the midnight oil turning these pages because Buddy Martin will be boldly taking them where no Florida fan has gone before.”
---Tony Barnhart, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/CBS

To write the Urban Meyer story, Buddy Martin enjoyed a vantage point rarely afforded authors in constructing the authorized biography of the University of Florida’s high-profile coach. Martin takes the reader where no other journalist has gone before as he reports the most intimate details about one of the nation’s top college football programs and its coach.

During the show-and-tell story of the 2007 Gator season, Martin listened on the headsets in the coaching booth, monitored Meyer’s locker room speeches, conducted in-depth interviews with assistant coaches and support personnel, ran on Florida Field with the team prior to the Gators game against Tennessee, and gave Tim Tebow his first Heisman Trophy quiz while having dinner together just weeks before he was named as the winner.

Urban’s Way, however, is much more than a look at the 2007 season. Martin dug deep into Meyer’s background, from his growing-up days in Ashtabula, Ohio, under the strict guidance of his father; to his tumultuous days as a young assistant when he almost quit the profession; to the dynamics of his close relationship with mentors Earle Bruce and Lou Holtz; to the ultimate prize as coach of the 2006 national champion Florida Gators. Readers learn how Meyer was encouraged by his father and his wife, Shelley, to keep going; how his career took off at Notre Dame and then as a head coach at Bowling Green and Utah; how the Falcons came together after their historic “Black Wednesday”; and the impressive manner in which he championed diversity among players in Salt Lake City. Florida fans will be surprised to discover how close Meyer came to choosing the Notre Dame job over the one in Gainesville, despite his yearnings as a small boy to someday coach the Fighting Irish. Through his intense research---and talks with Urban himself---Buddy Martin provides an amazingly detailed look into how a football coach is made.

This is not simply the authorized biography of one of college football’s top coaches; Buddy Martin also gives fans the inside scoop on the 2006 National Championship. In the chapter “The Joy of Winning It All,” players and coaches share their stories of that championship season that produced the middle leg of the “Gator Slam,” leading to the good life on the so-called Cul de Sac of Champions, which Urban shares with Gators basketball coach Billy Donovan.

It is rare that fans get inside the head of a top coach, but here full disclosure is offered about Urban’s personal faith, his Plan to Win, and the inner workings of the Spread offense. Readers are also treated to Meyer’s own breakdown of the national championship tape, including his Six Key Plays of the game.

Buddy Martin shines a bright light on Urban Meyer, the Florida Gators, and one of the top programs in the country. This is a must-have for Florida Gator football fans and one of the most insightful books ever written on college football.

Genres: Football, Sports, Nonfiction

348 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

Buddy Martin's latest book, Urban's Way (St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books), was released in September. This authorized biography of Florida football coach Urban Meyer was Martin's seventh book. Buddy is veteran journalist, author and broadcaster who is a former Emmy winner and now serves as executive editor/executive producer of Gator Country Magazine and GatorCountry.com. His e-mail address is buddy@gatorcountry.com."

Reviews

[Reca]

As a Gator my review probably has some bias, but I found this Urban Meyer bio fascinating. I have heard Meyer speak before and talk about his way to motivate and make the team win, but I didn't know the specifics on how he accomplishes this goal and this book told that. After reading this, I'm more impressed with him as a coach since not only does he want his teams to win, but he wants his players to be good people and succeed in life and that is a good thing.

[Adam]

A true 3.5 star read for me. There are a hand full of chapters that provide tremendous insight into Urban's process, lists, guiding principles, rules of engagement, etc. If only there were more of that. Too much of the book was spent recapping games and documenting minutia that only the greatest of gator fans could really appreciate. This caused an overall disruptive format for me personally, as I read for insight on leadership, football, and Urban personally. The Tim Tebow stories were fascinating given the icon he became and public figure he still is. This book could rank 1-5 stars but the rank will largely be driven by the reader's expectation and/or bias, and not the work of the writing itself.

[Kevin]

Let me say that my 3 star rating for this book may be a bit misleading and has a lot more to do with the format than content. From a content perspective I learned a lot about how Urban Meyer runs a program and I fully intend to use a lot of his methods in my high school job. I will probably be following Urban and Ohio State a whole lot closer in the future just out of sheer admiration. The reason for my 3 star rating is how the author formatted his information. There was far too much game play-by-play in the book. I can find play-by-play anywhere and I can probably find footage of the games if I really want to. When I read a book I want information that I'm not privy to just from watching the game on tv. That was my biggest gripe. However, if you are a coach/sponsor/teacher I still highly recommend this book. It is very clear after reading, why Meyer's programs are so consistently successful.

[Joe]

Let's put it this way, the subject of this book could not be any more in my wheelhouse, and I'm generously giving it one star. This book makes me think that the author dropped out of school before finishing junior high or let a 12 year old ghost-write it. It is mostly an Urban Meyer love-fest, but sprinkled throughout the incoherence and non-sequiturs are some interesting vignettes about my beloved Gators, and their 2007 season.

There is no hard-hitting journalism or criticism in this book, but it describes Urban Meyer's "Plan to Win," which helped me understand some of the decisions made during games.

If you aren't a Gator fan, don't waste your time. Even if you are, think twice before reading.

[Justin]

Yes, I am a huge Florida Gator fan. As a result, I did not mind that this book was pretty much a love letter to Urban Meyer. But I also learned a lot about the man from this book, not only about his personality and his life, but also about his philosophy to approaching the game of football, which to me is the most invaluable information contained in Urban's Way. To say that the man is a football genius is a gross understatement, and reading this book gave me a better understanding of the coaching philosophy of one of the greatest minds in college football.

[Michael Heldreth]

Great book, it will make you a better person.

[Chris]

Urban Meyer is a genius.