Could the chaos around Urban Meyer lead to his return to college? | College Football Enquirer
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel, and Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde discuss Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer’s latest mess after the Jaguars fell to 0-4 and Meyer was caught with a women other than his wife at a bar in Ohio. They also debate whether the chaos could lead Meyer back to college football.
Video Transcript
DAN WETZEL: Our favorite NFL coach is back in the news, and it's a testament to Urban Meyer's long career that the moment video emerges of him, shall we say, trying out for the all-hands team over the weekend, that half the fan bases in America assume he's coming into their school, and this is all, he's just rigging it so that he can get fired from the Jaguars.
Pat, your thoughts on Urban Meyer? Is this the beginning of the end? Is he going to get fired in Jacksonville? Is he going to spend a couple months as a church man, good church man, spend time with the family, and then reemerge at Thanksgiving to take over at LSU or USC or Miami, or whatever job the message boards are excited about?
PAT FORDE: First of all, you put yourself in a bad position. Secondly, you just totally ditched your team for the weekend when you're 0-4. This is a guy that, it seems to me, has yet to like humble himself to an NFL standard. Like, that hey, I have proven nothing in the National Football League. I've got to shut up, put my head down, grind like an NFL guy, not like a college-- you know, he was grinding, he was grinding.
But you know, I mean, you're 0-4 in the National Football League. It doesn't matter how many games you won at Ohio State. It doesn't matter how many you won at Florida or Utah or whatever. You're winless in the NFL. You tried to bring in a college hardass strength coach, that didn't go very well. You tried to bring in the old college hero QB as a tight end, that didn't go very well. You blew the OTA requirements, that didn't go too well. I think you just retreat back into the bunker and try to fix that so you win the next game. And this obviously didn't broadcast to his team that that was foremost on his mind.
PETE THAMEL: Yeah, I think Urban Meyer summed this up the best when he just called it stupid. I mean, there was a flurry of bad decisions, and it will be really interesting to see how the franchise pivots from here. Mike Silver quoted a fairly salty player today.
And an NFL locker room is completely different than a college locker room, and that is going to be an interesting minefield for Urban Meyer to navigate. These are guys who've lived some life and they're all in this, and it's a business, and they know there's a finite time span for them to earn money in the National Football League. And I don't know what the dynamic was before this, and it was probably still a feeling-out period. But it will be really interesting to see where it goes after this.
DAN WETZEL: Look, it wasn't what happened. That's between him and his family. And I think any player or anyone would agree with that. Who cares? I mean, this is the NFL. And this is just life. Sometimes you work with people or bosses or whatever-- I mean, things happen in people's lives. I mean, it's all of the, "oh, I care more and I work harder," and it's like, no, you don't. And these guys are 25, 28, 30 years old, going, give me a break. I don't know how he builds that back. So regardless, that's Jacksonville's problem.
But college football will not care. He'll go back, someone will offer him a full tenure to coach leadership and character. So could this be the end of Urban Meyer, NFL coach? Could you see him back in college football even as soon as next year, Pat?
PAT FORDE: I mean, I don't think it's out of the question. You know, we've seen several great college coaches flame out spectacularly in the NFL. Maybe not quite this fast, it can happen for sure. And the fact that he has multiple championship rings that he can wave in the direction of desperate ADs out there would certainly be a factor.
And that's one thing to Pete's point, the Shad Khan statement was perfect because what it said is, we're not firing and don't ask. We're done with this, but we're pissed, and he better win. That was what I took from it, which is basically what I think an owner should say in this situation. Personal issue with him and his family, we didn't like it, but it's done with. We're not firing him, let's go. And if he's good enough, he'll still be the coach. And if he won't be, see you.
PETE THAMEL: Who knows how long this lasts for Urban Meyer in Jacksonville. It could be weeks, could be months, could be years. I don't foresee him trying to microwave another college situation. Again, not based on any recent conversations within the last weeks, but that's just been the general feel from him. I'd be stunned if he was a college football coach next year. I mean, just stunned.
DAN WETZEL: I agree with that. He would have had to get fired today. And I mean, there's a lot of things that would have to happen family-wise and things like that. Look, to me, when I look at that video, I see a guy who wants to hang out at his bar as the old coach in town and enjoy himself. And there's nothing wrong with that. He's got tons of money, he's got tons of titles. And being the old coach in Columbus would be pretty fun. Play some golf and hang out and do that. That's what I saw. I didn't see any burning desire to win in the NFL, and that's, I think, where his issue is.
