The time is right; the place is Jacksonville
So Meyer returns to coaching with Jaguars
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Urban Meyer has won everywhere he’s coached. Small colleges. Big-time programs. He’s been a difference maker at each stop during his storied career.
He’s ready to try something new: the NFL.
Meyer agreed to become head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday, leaving the broadcast booth and returning to the sidelines
after a two-year absence that followed another health scare.
The 56-year-old Meyer was team owner Shad Khan’s top target for weeks, maybe even months, and the deal was signed shortly after their third and final meeting in seven days. They met last Friday on Khan’s yacht in Miami, again Wednesday and once more at the facility Thursday.
Hiring the longtime college coach with three national championships signifies a new direction for a franchise that has lost 105 of 144 games since Khan took over in 2012.
“This is a great day for Jacksonville and Jaguars fans everywhere,” Khan said in a statement. “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.”
Meyer went 187-32 — a staggering winning percentage of 85.3 — in stops at Bowling Green (2001-02), Utah (200304), Florida (2005-10) and Ohio State (2012-18). He ranks seventh all time in collegiate winning percentage, trailing only Notre Dame legends Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy among coaches at major programs.
But some doubts remain about Meyer’s ability to make a smooth transition to the NFL, where motivational tactics tend to be moot and losing multiple games every year is a given. Meyer never lost more than five times in any season as a college head coach; he went 83-9 at Ohio State.
Still, Meyer has been eyeing an NFL move for months. He researched the league with help from former players and friends, started assembling a potential staff and learned how the front office works. Meyer and Khan have been friends for years, building a relationship while both were living in Big Ten country.
“I’ve analyzed this decision from every angle — the time is right in Jacksonville,” Meyer said in a statement. “And the time is right for me to return to coaching. I’m excited about the future of this organization and our long-term prospect for success.”
Jacksonville was the most attractive opening. The Jaguars have 11 picks in the 2021 draft, including five in the top 65, and are nearly $100 million under the projected salary cap.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is a lock to land in Jacksonville with the top pick and will be the centerpiece of the team’s latest rebuild.
Meyer replaces Doug Marrone, who was fired after losing the final 15 games in 2020.
Khan also interviewed Kansas City offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Atlanta defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Tennessee offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
Meyer will have the leeway to put
his touch on every aspect of the organization, the kind of overhaul Jacksonville hasn’t seen in nearly three decades of existence.
His health remains a concern, though. He stepped down at Ohio State in 2018 mostly because of a congenital arachnoid cyst in his brain, which required surgery in 2014 and bothered him throughout his final season with the Buckeyes. He also resigned at Florida for health reasons in December 2009 only to change his mind the following day and instead take a leave of absence.
He returned to coach in 2010 and then walked away again at the end of the season, a move that eventually angered many Florida faithful because he took the job at Ohio State less than a year later.
Meyer spent the last two years in an analyst role for Fox Sports.
JETS: New York was searching for a leader, someone who could bring a frustrated, playoff-starved franchise back to respectability.
The team thinks it found its guy in Robert Saleh.
The Jets reached an agreement in principle with the San Francisco defensive coordinator Thursday night to hire him as their head coach. Saleh replaces Adam Gase, who was fired
Jan. 3 after going 9-23 in two seasons.
The 41-year-old Saleh emerged as a favorite for the Jets job when he was brought in for a second — and this time, in-person — interview Tuesday night, and those discussions extended into Wednesday. He was the first of the nine known candidates New York interviewed remotely to meet with chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson, team president Hymie Elhai and general manager Joe Douglas.
RAMS: QB Jared Goff will start Saturday’s playoff game at Green Bay, while John Wolford will be inactive a week after incurring a neck injury, coach Sean McVay said Thursday.
STEELERS: The team announced Thursday it would not renew the contracts of offensive coordinator Randt Fichtner, offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett, and secondary coach Tom Bradley following a 48-37 playoff loss to Cleveland on Sunday night. The club also said tight ends coach James Daniels is retiring after 17 seasons in that position.
PANTHERS: Carolina hired Seattle Seahawks vice president of football operations Scott Fitterer to become its new general manager.
The team said Fitterer agreed to a five-year contract late Thursday night after being offered earlier in the day.