While his coaching successes mounted and his tough-as-nails reputation grew, Urban Meyer admits there was one thing he didn't pay much attention to _ his health.

That hit home when chest pains sent him to the hospital after Alabama beat his Florida Gators in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 5.

And so on Saturday, exactly three weeks later, the 45-year-old Meyer shook all of college football by saying he was stepping down. He resigned after five seasons and two national titles. In so many words, he said he needed to get his priorities straight.

He will coach his final game at the Sugar Bowl against Cincinnati on New Year's Day.

He leaves No. 5 Florida with a 56-10 record that includes a 32-8 mark in league play and a school-record 22-game winning streak that was snapped by the Crimson Tide in that SEC title game.

"I have given my heart and soul to coaching college football and mentoring young men for the last 24-plus years and I have dedicated most of my waking moments the last five years to the Gator football program," Meyer said in a statement. "I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family."

By leaving, Meyer walks away from a program that has become one of the jewels of college football and at a time when he is considered at the top of his game, with the best winning percentage of any active coach.

In a story on its Web site, The New York Times said Meyer's decision was prompted by the hospital trip after the SEC game.

"There was no heart damage," Meyer was quoted as saying. "But I didn't want there to be a bad day where there were three kids sitting around wondering what to do next. It was the pattern of what I was doing and how I was doing it. It was self-destructive."

Meyer told the paper he hadn't thought about returning to coaching someday; he said he broke the news to his players Saturday.

"When your health flashes before your eyes, what's before you means more than anything," he told the Times. "I have a strong faith that there's a reason for everything, and God has a plan for us. I just don't know what it is."

Athletic director Jeremy Foley surely will move quickly to find a replacement, and the list of candidates could be long.

Among those sure to receive consideration: Mississippi State's Dan Mullen, Houston's Kevin Sumlin, Utah's Kyle Whittingham, Boise State's Chris Peterson and TCU's Gary Patterson. Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, Stanford's Jim Harbaugh and Arkansas' Bobby Petrino could get calls, too.