Will Urban Meyer Succeed in the NFL?
Urban Meyer has a Hall of Fame resume as a college coach. He has nothing left to prove and he's left an indelible mark on the game. When he stepped away from coaching the Ohio State Buckeyes after the 2018 season, Meyer said he believed he was doing coaching, but he has since gone on the record saying he would never say never.
With Thursday's news that Meyer and the Jacksonville Jaguars are closing in on a deal, it appears that several things have come to be: Meyer must feel that his health is no longer the jeopardizing factor that it was when he left the Buckeyes in 2018 and he must feel that the circumstances around this particular job in Jacksonville will give him the chance to succeed.
The lingering question in most fans' minds ... will it work? There have been so many examples of fantastic college coaches that crashed and burned in the NFL. Can Meyer buck the trend and turn around a franchise that has had very little success to speak of?
Here's why I think its possible, if he's given ample time to do it.
First of all, Urban Meyer holds all of the cards here. Jacksonville came knocking on his door, not the other way around. This isn't about money or fame. It's about the challenge and opportunity to build something from the ground up, at the highest level the sport has to offer.
When Meyer took the job at Ohio State, he wanted two things above all else: he wanted to know that he would never be told no when trying to do something that would enhance the experience of his players, giving them access to the best resources in the country, and he wanted Mickey Marotti brought on as the head strength and conditioning coach.
Those were non-negotiables for Meyer in Columbus and they were the foundation of his success leading the Buckeyes. While he boasts a record of 187-32 over 17 seasons as a college head coach, he lost only nine games in seven years at Ohio State.
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I would have to think that Meyer was given similar assurances for commitments to facilities and staffing in Jacksonville if this deal is going to get done. But for a coach that's never had a losing record taking over the worst franchise in the NFL, there is a long road ahead of him.
That said, he's walking into an ideal situation. After the team let go of Dave Caldwell, there is no current General Manager in Jacksonville and I'm certain Meyer will have a major voice in who fills that job. The Jags have nearly $100 million in cap space and 11 picks in the upcoming NFL Draft, including the No. 1 overall pick (which is presumed to be Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence).
So while he very likely will have everything he needs to do his job well, he'll need the time associated with turning the franchise around. Meyer's love for Ohio State is very real and he admires athletic director Gene Smith deeply. He told BuckeyesNow on Monday night (video above) that Ohio State's leadership is the biggest reason for its success. The NFL has a short shelf-life for coaches who don't achieve success quickly enough (or who crash and burn quickly, i.e. Doug Pederson and the Eagles). The Jaguars and owner Shahid Khan will need to be patient in giving Meyer the chance to mold things the way he wants them done.
I actually think the Cleveland Browns are a good comparison here. Much like the Jaguars this year, the Browns had back-to-back awful seasons of 1-31 football, but drafted the quarterback they wanted, with a boat load of salary cap space available to sign players and they finally got the coach they wanted to lead them. In his first year, Kevin Stefanski took a franchise to the playoffs that was previously synonymous with losing. Jacksonville has the same expectations of Meyer, and I'm sure Meyer has the same expectations of this opportunity.
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How many Ohio State staffers Meyer plucks away will be something to keep an eye on. Kirk Barton of Buckeye Scoop says Marotti isn't leaving Columbus, which is great news for Ohio State fans. But will guys like Mark Pantoni and Ryan Stamper, who are so critical to Ryan Day's recruiting efforts, leave for the NFL? Their ties to Meyer are quite close. Not many of the Ohio State coaches have NFL experience, but it's possible that others could also join him.
The reality is that Jacksonville may lose more games in Meyer's first year as head coach than Meyer lost games in seven years at Ohio State. The Jags have a long way to go before they're competitive again. I think it will help his case that the expectations at first will be very low. Meyer has reportedly been talking with people he's close to about the differences in coaching in the NFL vs. the college game. There's a much different dynamic coaching professional players in some cases making more money than you are as a coach than there is coaching 18-21 year old young men.
Will his style work in the NFL? That's the biggest question and it will take a collective effort from the new leadership in that locker room to make it all work. But admittedly, if I'm a Jaguars fan, I do like the idea of Meyer and Trevor Lawrence teaming up together and building something special.
This will be one of the most fascinating NFL coaching experiments in a long time. Meyer certainly knows how to win, and he certainly isn't taking this job if he doesn't think he can succeed. It's certainly possible that this is a miserable failure, but I think if he's given ample time to do the job the way he wants to do it, he can turn Jacksonville into a much more well-respected franchise.
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