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It’s one of the plum jobs in all of college football.

And after the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, it’s going to be open.

Urban Meyer’s stunning resignation for health reasons means somebody has some awfully big shoes to fill at Florida, and it also means that Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley will be conducting his third football head coaching search of the last decade.

Who’s on his short list?

All athletic directors keep a short list of coaching candidates in their top drawer. If not literally, at least figuratively.

You can bet Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops is somewhere on that list, probably near the top. Stoops, the Gators’ defensive coordinator for three seasons under Steve Spurrier, was the top target in 2001 when Spurrier resigned. But he’d only been at Oklahoma for three seasons and felt like he needed to stay put.

After more than a decade at Oklahoma, Stoops may be ready for a new challenge.

Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino is another name to keep in mind. He was on the list when Meyer was hired in 2004.

Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen, who served as Meyer's offensive coordinator at Florida until this season, also makes a lot of sense. He knows that program, knows Meyer’s system and is somebody Foley is very familiar with. Mullen also did a good job in Starkville this season, his first as a head coach.

At some point, somebody’s going to pry away Chris Petersen from Boise State. Maybe this is that time. Petersen has had an unbelievable run at Boise State.

Former Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan was a candidate in 2001, when Spurrier left, and has a good relationship with Foley. Shanahan coached at Florida in the 1980s as an offensive coordinator, but his next move is probably back to the NFL, possibly the Washington Redskins.

I knew this had been a trying season for Urban Meyer.

He admitted as much several times as the season wore on. You could also see it in his face and see it in how much weight he’d lost.

But I was like everybody else in college football when I heard the news Saturday evening, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Urban Meyer stepping down at Florida?

When you start talking about the pre-eminent coaches in college football right now, if Meyer's name isn’t the first one out of your mouth, it’s certainly one of the next two.

In five seasons, he took the Florida program to heights that not even Steve Spurrier reached.

Two national championships, two SEC championships, a Heisman Trophy winner and a 22-game winning streak speak for themselves.

But it’s refreshing to see that even a coach as young as Meyer (he’s only 45) and a coach at the top of his profession like Meyer doesn’t tempt fate.

Anybody who’s spent any amount of time around Meyer knows what his family means to him. And right now, his health and his family are the only things that matter.

There were warning signs right after the SEC championship game when he checked himself into the hospital early that next morning for what Florida officials said were dehydration issues. But Meyer had also experienced chest pains.

And now this.

First and foremost, here’s hoping that Meyer is going to be OK whether he ever returns to coaching again or not.

The SEC won’t be the same without him. That’s for sure.

Always a step ahead on the football field, let’s hope that Meyer is also a step ahead in getting out in time to live a long and healthy life and do what's really important -- enjoy his family.

Florida's Urban Meyer, who led the Gators to two national titles during his five seasons with the school, will step down as the Gators coach because of health reasons.

"I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to reevaluate my priorities of faith and family," said Meyer in a statement.

Meyer said he plans to stay involved at the University of Florida. His final game will be the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.

For more on this developing story, click here.