Texas Avoided An Urban Meyer Nightmare
Urban Meyer might still be coaching entering January. He wouldn't be losing in December, but piling up wins prior to bowl season.
Heck, maybe he's preparing for a New Year's Six Bowl and fans in Austin are wondering how they lucked into grabbing a three-time national champion.
That's what Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte envisioned last year when Meyer said he was "available" to coach again. Let's just say he listened to Del Conte, signed on as the highest-paid coach in college football and took over the Longhorns in 2021.
It would cost a pretty penny, but would the Longhorns care if they were winning? Certainly, Texas wouldn't be talking about an overtime loss to Kansas. They might have won the Big 12 and hauled in even a better recruiting class than this past week.
What could have been. What was once almost reality. Funny how reality sometimes can punch harder than any nightmare.
Meyer was fired 13 games into his first season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. A laundry list of inappropriate behavior, childish antics with his staff and the kick heard round the world did him in before January.
At least Bobby Petrino left the Atlanta Falcons a note saying he wasn't cut out for the NFL. What's Meyer's excuse?
Meyer's method isn't uncommon in college football. A coach often has more power than any other employee hired by the school due to his salary and revenue generated by football.
Programs lined up for Meyer because of the results. In two years with Bowling Green, Meyer lost just six games. He lost two total from 2003-05 with Utah. At Florida, he won a pair of national titles and lost 15 games in six years.
And before retiring in 2018 with Ohio State, he won another championship and lost a grand total of nine games since 2012. Meanwhile, the NCAA had investigations into Florida and Ohio State due to multiple issues.
No one cared. Meyer won. That was the first, second and final thing on boosters minds.
Meyer's inability to translate his college philosophy to the NFL, where 30-year-old pros won't take kindly to name-calling and belittling, was his downfall. Former Pro Bowl kicker Josh Lambo was the first to admit he wasn't addressed by his name and physically provoked by the coach.
He likely won't be the last to step forward in the coming months.
Maybe if Meyer hadn't lost more games in one season than he did at three programs of the course of his tenures, no one speaks out. After all, the Jaguars were the laughing stock of the NFL before Meyer.
Since founded in 1995, Jacksonville has 15 seasons of double-digit losses. Since a 10-6 AFC Championship appearance in 2017, the Jags have a combined 14 wins.
Unlike Petrino, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, and a handful of college greats who didn't last long in the pros, Meyer had control. He was able to build the staff, draft players and have a say in free agency.
Oh, he also was gifted Trevor Lawrence, the can't-miss quarterback from Clemson destined to save the franchise. After 13 games with Meyer at the helm, the No. 1 pick is tied for the league-lead for interceptions with 14.
Hiring an alleged racist strength and conditioning coach didn't help. Trying to add a 34-year-old Tim Tebow as a tight end who had played that position was bad. Leaving the team after a loss to get recorded in a bar with another woman ultimately lost him the locker room.
But hey, winning, right?
The world of college football is changing. Recently, Clemson's Dabo Swinney went on a tangent about how the sport is "not in a good place." Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin talked how NIL has created a similar feel to NFL free agency in terms of the transfer portal.
Would Meyer be deal with all that in today's college environment? Would his act have worked at Texas, as player empowerment isn't slowing down?
Second-year coach Steve Sarkisian has much to fix this offseason following a 5-7 season. A six-game losing streak can't happen again. Neither can dropping a game to Kansas at home.
Sarkisian does seem to have a vision in place that others are buying into. He just signed the No. 5 recruiting class after a losing season.
That says something. Then again, so do wins. Sarkisian can sell program in terms of recruiting, but so did Tom Herman and Charlie Strong.
Both predecessors had top 10 recruiting classes. Strong lasted three seasons. Herman lasted four.
Meyer's background as a proven winner would have sold the boosters over in 2020. He likely would have won at least six games in 2021, if not more. There's no denying as of now he would be back in 2022.
In the long run? The college football landscape is changing. How soon before Meyer's "health concerns" pushed him out of Austin and had the NCAA investigating the program once more?
Meyer's biggest selling point for years was winning. He's not that guy anymore, and Texas doesn't need that headache. The long-term fallout after Meyer might have pushed the program back further than a loss to Kansas ever could.
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