Urban Meyer Knows What He’s Getting Into in Jacksonville - Sports Illustrated

I think Urban Meyer, the new Jaguars head coach, knows what he’s getting himself into.

I think he understands he won’t get the equivalent of 15 first-round picks every four years or so, the way he did at Florida and Ohio State, which allowed him to stack the deck and make it impossible for 90% of his competition to run with him.

I think he gets that losing five games in a year is a good season in the NFL, coming from an environment where a single loss can essentially be season-ending (see: 2009 Florida, ’15 and ’18 Ohio State).

I think all this, by the way, because I know how deeply he’s studied the NFL, and how his opinion of it is colored with a realistic view of the gap from team to team in the pros.

There are certain organizations that win every year.

There are certain organizations that can’t win, yet they have better players on paper than the other organizations, because they draft before them every year.

I know people think that’s it.

But that’s not why certain teams win?

And you talk to your players who are in those organizations and you know exactly why they win.

It’s why he hasn’t just reached through his Rolodex to line up a coaching staff, but also support staff in areas like strength and conditioning and player development, to build a program that’s holistic, and goes far beyond running cover-3 vs.

That requires more than a coach; it requires a change agent.

That’s exactly what Meyer has been wherever he’s gone, even shaking up the identity of bluebloods like Florida and Ohio State, where some argued tweaks over total turnover would’ve been sufficient.

Because while some of the FAQs on Meyer’s NFL viability are easier to answer than you might think, others are not—and, no, it won’t be as simple as Meyer rolling out his old program to extend a record of winning that’s nothing short of bonkers (187–32, and two or fewer losses in 12 of his last 15 seasons coaching).

He’d want to know why a play was being run, just like he’d want to know why a drill was on the practice script—and the answer couldn’t ever be simply because that’s how a coach has always done it.

That’s why it makes sense to see names like ex–Texas coach Charlie Strong, ex–Rutgers coach Chris Ash, Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley and Colorado State coach Steve Addazio (and support-staff names like Ohio State’s Ryan Stamper) in the pipeline for jobs with Meyer.

But a number of guys who know Meyer well caution he’ll absolutely need NFL-experienced coaches on staff to make it work, and how those people adapt to the program will be key.

They originally surfaced during a 13–1 year at Florida and resurfaced during a 13–1 campaign at Ohio State, which raises the question of how he’d handle, say, a 6–10 first year in Jacksonville—which would mark a five-game year-over-year improvement