"I thought I was going to die" - When Urban Meyer revealed battling addiction in the Florida Gators' Netflix Documentary

Urban Meyer's tenure at Florida was characterized by on-field success and off-field controversy. A lot of this was detailed in the 2023 Netflix documentary series “Untold: Swamp Kings.”

Meyer led the Gators to their first national championship since 1997 in his second season at the program in 2006. They defeated Ohio State 41-14 in Glendale, Arizona, to claim the BCS title.

He shared on Netflix that, following a significant victory, he believed he would have fun coaching for the rest of his career. However, the 2009 season didn't go as expected for him despite the surprise return of quarterback Tim Tebow. The Gators went through the regular season undefeated, but Meyer dealt with panic attacks all season. They went on to lose the SEC championship game to Alabama.

“I felt like a failure. I was in a deep depression,” Meyer said. “I couldn’t get out of bed. I had no energy, no desire. I thought I was going to die.”

For most of the season, Meyer was in a bad place health-wise. He was losing sleep after games, and he started to use Zolpidem, which is also sold under the brand name Ambien, to treat his sleeping problems, leading him to get addicted.

“I started to lose weight, and I became addicted to Ambien,” Meyer said. “I couldn’t sleep, so I’d take an Ambien and then that was not working. So it got to the point where I’d drink two Ambiens and drink a beer on top of it just to get four hours of sleep.

“I’d have those moments where I would just sit there and I’d start sweating, shaking, like having a panic attack. Like, ‘Something’s going on here. We’re not ready, we’re not ready.’”

Urban Meyer’s early success ignited the expectations

The Florida job is one of the toughest and most demanding in college football. However, Urban Meyer's early success with the Gators further ignited the expectations in Gainesville. This played a major role in the panic attack he felt after their victory over Oklahoma in January 2009.

“We go in the locker room and I remember grabbing my phone, locking the door," Meyer said. "I can hear them celebrating and I’m texting recruits, worried about the next class.”

“You won two national championships out of the three years. This was an expectation now — an expectation we have to win it next year, and then we have to win it the year after. Anything less than winning a national title and you’re a failure.”

Following this event, Urban Meyer was quietly admitted to a hospital in Gainesville. He would announce his decision to resign from the job later that month. However, that was converted into a leave of absence, and he returned to his full-time duties in March 2010. Nonetheless, the 2010 season was his last in Gainesville.