News and Notes from The SEC Spring Meeting in Sandestin

Urban Meyer brought the college football world to a screeching halt in late December 2009 when he announced that he was stepping down from his post as the University of Florida's football coach. At the time, no one knew or understood the exact reason why he was leaving but today we found out. Meyer disclosed that his heart is fine and the chest pains he experienced were due to espophageal spasms—a treatable condition. He has the situation under control for the time being and doesn't expect it to cause any problems going forward.

Coach Mark Richt addressed the 'hot seat' talk. He joked that he had no idea his name was even being mentioned as a candidate for the list. Somehow I'm pretty sure he knew all about it, but his focus is on making this team better. Said Richt: "My mindset has always been, let’s do what I think we need to do to succeed and try not to be influenced by anything other than the people who are closest to the program." Richt also reiterated the point that Aaron Murray was always going to be the starter for 2010—Mettenberger was, at best, going to be the No. 2 guy at quarterback. Furthermore. Logan Gray will remain the No. 2 QB until Hutson Mason proves himself.

All the "Nick Saban will jump ship again soon" talk can be halted for the time being since the coach has pledged his eternal allegiance to the Crimson Tide, saying "I am where I am. If they get a football team at Lake Burton, I might go there. Otherwise, I am where I am."

Commissioner Mike Slive continues to sidestep any talk of SEC expansion. His goal is to help the SEC maintain the dominance it has over the last four-years—he's not concerned with pulling out the ruler and standing next to the Big Ten. Said Slive, "Our goal is to maintain our position as one of the most successful conferences in the country. People have been drawing inferences from that and continue to draw inferences from that, but really that’s about all we’re going to say about it this week."