DESTIN, Fla. -- Urban Meyer was asked about the state of his health. Mark Richt was asked about the heat of his seat.
So it went on Day 1 of the SEC spring meetings here Tuesday.
Meyer, Florida's football coach, revealed for the first time that the chest pain that almost drove him from the job in December was traced by medical tests in January to his esophagus -- not his heart.
"The biggest thing is I wanted to find out what those darn chest pains were, and I did," Meyer said. "It's esophageal spasms, and they've got me on some medications. I've just got to be smarter in the future, and I'm going to be."
According to the Mayo Clinic's Web site, esophageal spasms prevent food from traveling properly to the stomach and often cause chest pain but can be managed with medication. Meyer described the pain as "a toothache in your chest." He said he hasn't had the pain since late January and now feels "fantastic."
He resigned Dec. 26, citing health concerns, but changed his mind the next day and instead has taken some time off this year.
As Meyer was answering reporters' questions about his health, Richt was being asked how he feels when his name appears on media lists of coaches supposedly on the hot seat.
"I didn't know it had," the Georgia football coach replied. "Is that true?"
Although UGA athletics director Damon Evans has expressed strong confidence in Richt, last season's 8-5 record has fueled speculation about whether another subpar year might signal job insecurity.
Richt said the important thing, whether in Year 1 on the job or in Year 10 coming off a five-loss season, is to stay focused.
"It's just like a good quarterback," he said. "A good quarterback can't be worried about what's going on around him. You got to focus on your job. If you worry about things you can't control or won't help you succeed, then really it's counterproductive."
Basketball seeds
In men's basketball, the SEC is considering whether to drop divisional play or, at least, seed the league tournament without regard to division. The tournament currently is seeded by division, creating a situation this past season where two 9-7 teams from the West got higher seeds than an 11-5 team from the East.
"I really want to wait until it's all presented to me before I make a final judgment," Georgia coach Mark Fox said, "but I do think that especially with the conference tournament, seeding it 1 through 12 may be a healthy thing to do. ... It'd be a little more balanced and fair for those teams that had great regular seasons."
Recruit not admitted
Dalton defensive end Jalen Fields, a member of Georgia's 2010 signing class, apparently won't qualify academically. Richt said Fields hasn't been admitted to UGA yet and added that he doesn't expect him to enroll this year. Richt said he doesn't know whether Fields will attend Georgia Military College or somewhere else this fall. All other UGA signees except wide receiver Lonnie Outlaw, who was known to be GMC-bound, have qualified, Richt said.
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