Recording of 911 call reveals new details about Florida coach Urban Meyer’s hospitalization

911 call: Meyer fell to floor after chest pains

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Urban Meyer complained of chest pain and said his side was tingling before he was hospitalized after the SEC championship game earlier this month, according to a 911 recording.

Meyer’s wife told an Alachua County dispatcher that her 45-year-old husband had a pulse but wasn’t talking when she contacted emergency officials at 4:27 a.m. on Dec. 6, hours after the Gators returned home from their 32-13 loss to Alabama.

“My husband’s having chest pains,” Shelley Meyer said. “He’s having chest pains, he just woke up in the middle of the night and said he’s having chest pains.”

Shelley Meyer said her husband had taken a sleeping pill that night and had suffered chest pains before. She repeatedly tried to rouse Meyer, who was lying on his stomach on the floor.

“Urban, Urban, talk to me,” she says.

The 911 recording first was obtained by ESPN.

Initial reports indicated the Florida coach checked into a Gainesville hospital, where he was treated for dehydration and released. Shelley Meyer told dispatchers that her husband was breathing and appeared to be grunting.

“He almost sounds like he’s kind of trying to cry,” she said.

Meyer abruptly resigned last Saturday citing health problems, then decided he would instead take an indefinite leave of absence. He plans to coach the fifth-ranked Gators in the Sugar Bowl against No. 4 Cincinnati on Friday.