Will Urban Meyers' NFL Decision Affect His Opportunity in the College Football Arena?
It's been reported by multiple outlets that former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer could be a potential candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars next year. While there has been ongoing talks about salary requests from Meyer and speculation if he would actually leave his gig at Fox Sports, the negotiations between Meyer and the Jaguars franchise appear to be real and happening on some level.
Sports Illustrated writer Albert Breer confirms, "there’s been some level of communication between Meyer and the Jaguars, through intermediaries and directly, for close to a month, if not longer. And I believe the job is Meyer’s if he wants it, and I think getting him would be a steal."
The question remains would the former college head coach make the move to Florida and come out of retirement?
Albert Breer writes, "the consideration of his health is real. I’ve heard he loves his job at Fox and has found competition in it. But I do think it’d be hard for him to say no to a chance to coach Trevor Lawrence in a place with all those picks (multiple in the first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh rounds) and cap space (most in the NFL for 2021), and where, as a bonus, he can restore his legacy after his departure from Florida rubbed people there the wrong way."
Meyer's health definitely remains a real concern and led to him step down at Ohio State back in 2018. The Buckeyes head coach told Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel, "that [he had] a congenital arachnoid cyst in his brain, which required surgery in 2014. [This] has been the source of severe headaches at various points in his career."
Meyer, who is 56-years old, doesn't lack career stability. He remains on the board at Ohio State as an assistant athletic director while simultaneously appearing on Fox Sports Big Noon Kickoff show. So why jump back into the fire in a higher stress position amid health concerns and solid job stability?
According to Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel, Meyer is intrigued by the pro level of football and is willing to take on a rebuilding project. Thamel also cited, "Meyer certainly isn’t headed back to college, as college coaching is amid a sea change that could lead to an influx of coaches in college football exploring the NFL."
So what does this mean for the fate of college football amid Urban Meyer? Well, never say never but if an NFL franchise can't land Meyer with a decent sized contract, his fate in the coaching arena may be sealed. Although college football fans all around the country would love Meyer to re-build their program into something great, his decision at Jacksonville could be an indicator on where he stands with his coaching career.
The clock is ticking and football fans all around the country are curious to see who will be the next leader of the Jacksonville Jaguars football team. "If you’re Jacksonville, you want an answer by this weekend, I’d say. Teams in the wild-card round have to make their assistants available for interviews after their games" said Breer.
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