A Franchise Reshaped: 5 Observations on the Jaguars Landing Urban Meyer
The Jacksonville Jaguars made one of the biggest hires in recent memory on Thursday, officially hiring Urban Meyer to be their next head coach.
The move to bring Meyer out of the college scene and to the NFL for the first time is unquestionably a major shift for the Jaguars. The biggest offseason in franchise history has now hit the ground with a running start, turning the fate of the franchise to one of the best college head coaches of all time.
“This is a great day for Jacksonville and Jaguars fans everywhere,” Jaguars Owner Shad Khan said.
“Urban Meyer is who we want and need, a leader, winner and champion who demands excellence and produces results. While Urban already enjoys a legacy in the game of football that few will ever match, his passion for the opportunity in front of him here in Jacksonville is powerful and unmistakable. I am proud to name Urban Meyer the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.”
With the addition of Meyer, the Jaguars are now on a new trajectory. The franchise has excitement and legitimacy around it that wasn't even present in 2017. Make no mistake about it, this is a monumental day for the Jaguars as an organization and as an overall football entity.
So, what exactly does the Meyer hire mean for the Jaguars moving forward? We give our thoughts here.
This is unquestionably the biggest hire in franchise history
Hiring Tom Coughlin as the team's first-ever head coach was obviously a major move. Hiring Jack Del Rio to take over for the wildly successful Coughlin after his firing wasn't quite as significant, but was still a consequential decision.
But neither match the enormity of the Jaguars hiring Urban Meyer. Coughlin was a successful college coach, but he wasn't Meyer. Meyer is one of the truly elite football coaches of an entire generation. He helped define success at the collegiate level for the last several decades, with only Nick Saban having a better track record in that time.
Considering Meyer's rare background and the fact that this is the most important offseason in team history, it is tough to say this isn't the biggest hire the Jaguars have ever made in terms of sheer impact. This isn't a classic coaching search that landed an upward-trending coordinator or a young offensive mind. Instead, it is a search that ends with one of the best coaches in college football history finally making a transition to the NFL.
Jacksonville has made its fair share of big moves in the past, but none come close to the significance of the one they made Thursday. As a result, the Jaguars have never been the center of the sports world like they have been for the last 14 hours. No matter the result of his tenure, adding Meyer is the biggest hire the Jaguars have made by a comfortable margin.
The Jaguars aren't hiring Meyer for his playbook; they're hiring him to reshape their entire franchise
There have been a lot of questions about Meyer's transition to the NFL, and all of these questions are fair. The NFL is a different game than college, both on and off the field. Meyer won't have a disproportionate talent advantage as he did in college, and defenses will simply play his offenses much differently than they have over the last few decades.
But the Jaguars aren't hiring Meyer for his playbook or his offensive mind. They hired him to completely reshape a franchise that has been in the cellar for almost the entirety of Khan's time as an owner.
Meyer is best known for his ability to build up a program as a CEO-type coach. He delegates his offense and his defense to his assistants, but he is perfectly attuned to every facet of his team. He dictates how they practice, how they learn, how they communicate, how they eat and train. Jacksonville didn't hire him because of any revolutionary passing concepts or blocking schemes; they hired him because he is going to step into TIAA Bank Field and remake the Jaguars into his image. This is the kind of total reset and rebuild of a culture and organization that the Jaguars have frankly needed for nearly a decade.
An example: Meyer has already reportedly already discussed facility upgrades with the Jaguars, per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. This is because Meyer knows that to get full buy-in, he has to set his players up for success in every way possible, as well as show them that he is buying into them.
For too long, the Jaguars have been a losing franchise. They have been the butt of jokes far more often than they have fielded a team that went even .500. Hiring Meyer is about changing that perception much more than it is about hiring a coach for his Sunday calls on third-and-short.
Credit to Shad Khan for getting his big fish
Credit where it is due -- Shad Khan identified his top target early on in the process and never let him get away. Khan said last week that he would be the key decision-maker in the search for his next head coach, and that is exactly what the last week has shown us.
Khan has made only a handful of big moves in past offseasons in terms of identifying and acquiring coaching and front office talent. In those moves, he has hired a first-time head coach, a first-time general manager, a retread head coach, and Coughlin as a front office executive. Hiring Coughlin was a big move for nostalgia reasons, but he certainly doesn't qualify as a top-tier coaching/front office talent.
Meyer, for all of the questions about his transition to the NFL, is that. He has been one of the most highly sought after coaches in the industry throughout his career for a reason, and the fact that the Jaguars are the team to finally lure him to the NFL says a lot.
Jacksonville's fan base has begged Khan to get involved and swing for the fences for years. Whether the Meyer hire works out or not, he can now finally say he did just that. Khan can now know he identified and acquired his top target when he needed to the most.
The most important next steps will be finding an offensive and defensive coordinator
The next several days will consist of Meyer filling out his coaching and support staff. He will make numerous hires for assistant coaches and off-field staff members as he fills out his coaching roster. But the most important next steps that Meyer will take over the course of the start of his tenure will be how he figures out his coordinator roles.
Meyer, as mentioned beforehand, has typically delegated his offense and defense to his top assistants. This shouldn't be expected to be any different at the NFL level, but Meyer will need a bit more help this time around. Considering this is his first exposure to the NFL, he would be wise to surround himself with two veteran coordinators.
On offense, Meyer needs a coordinator who will be able to create a smooth transition for the No. 1 overall pick. The coordinator will also be gifted a few impressive talents in DJ Chark, Laviska Shenault and James Robinson, so expectations will be high for the offense right away. Meyer's fingerprints will be all over the unit, but the Jaguars need the right kind of experienced coach who has a history of working with young quarterbacks.
Defensively, the Jaguars must find a scheme that fits their rising defensive talents. Josh Allen and K'Lavon Chaisson have too often been miscast in Jacksonville's 4-3 defense, while the secondary needs major retooling. Meyer's teams typically have sound defenses who excel at the little things, something he will have to identify in two coaches this year.
One player can determine if Meyer is Jimmy Johnson or Steve Spurrier in the NFL
Meyer's tenure with the Jaguars will likely not end with much middle ground. He will either have tremendous success like he has found at every other stop in his career, or he will struggle with the transition to the NFL. Essentially, he could end up as Jimmy Johnson or Pete Carroll, or he could end up as Steve Spurrier or, to a much lesser degree, Nick Saban in terms of NFL success.
But the one common trend among each of these coaches who have gone from college to the pros is one that works in the Jaguars' favor. There is typically one player who helps determine the success of a regime. For the Jaguars and Meyer, they have the No. 1 overall pick and presumptively Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Spurrier and Saban never had a franchise quarterback. Johnson and Carroll did. What that means for Meyer's own tenure is unknown at this point, but there is no denying the importance of Meyer's quarterback on his overall success. Meyer is the new most important man in Jaguars football, but his quarterback won't be far behind.
