Urban Meyer's family: All you need to know about the Gators HC's personal life

Urban Meyer is known for his winning brilliance on the gridiron and his controversial episodes off the ground.

During his time as a student in Cincinnati from 1982 to 1986, Meyer met Shelley Mather, a nursing student, and they started dating before getting married in 1986.

The couple has three kids: two daughters, Nicole and Gisela, both of whom played college volleyball, and a son, Nathan, who played wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Meyer also has two grandchildren, Troy and Gray.

During his stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Shelley taught at the University of North Florida nursing school. After his coaching days, Meyer and his wife started a fund named 'the Urban and Shelley Meyer Fund for Cancer Research.'

Urban Meyer's controversies

Urban Meyer has never been far from controversy. In 2021 as coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, he was accused of kicking Josh Lambo during training. He was fired later that day.

An air of controversy surrounded Meyer once more in December 2021 when a video of him dancing with a young woman surfaced online.

Meyer had a ready explanation for the video.

“I just apologized to the team and the staff for being a distraction,” he said, “It was stupid. So I explained everything that happened. And I owned it. And, you know, just stupid. I should not have myself in that kind of position.”

His wife's reaction was short:“#BuddyDeservedANightOut. We all make mistakes - we are all sinners. If you think you aren’t? Then cast the first stone,” she said in a tweet.

Urban Meyer's Swamp Kings

After airing the highly popular documentary on Johnny Manziel, Netflix next researched the often controversial yet all-conquering Florida Gators team under the guidance of coach Urban Meyer.

The show examines Meyer, Tim Tebow, and various dressing room scuffles as they dominated college football. The Swamp Kings won two BCS national championships during their heyday.

Not everyone received the documentary well, with some fans complaining that it left out the most controversial characters of the then-Gators team.

SaturdayDownSouth.Com writer Matt Hayes summarized the documentary,

“The Saudis could take lessons from Netflix with the Swamp Kings sportswashing documentary.”

Meyer's time at Florida was characterized by indiscipline among his players.

'The Sporting News' released an expose into the toxic culture in Florida apparently created by Meyer. In it, he was accused of favoring certain star players and even hiding their positive drug tests from the authorities.

Meyer confessed in the Netflix documentary to being responsible for the dressing room split caused by infighting between Brandon Spikes and star quarterback Tim Tebow.

According to 'The Sporting News' expose, during his six years as coach, 31 of Meyer's players were arrested for various crimes, including burglary, domestic violence and assault.

Meyer has never been far from controversy and it seems to be following him even after his life in the maelstrom that is college football.