New Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer is quickly learning that NFL free agency is a whole other animal. The former star college recruiter is not a fan.
Urban Meyer is adjusting to life as the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Though Meyer had been an incredible college coach, this is the NFL. The former national championship-winning head coach at Florida and Ohio State won everywhere he went through recruitment. However, recruiting top high school players and convincing full-grown men to come play for your team in NFL free agency are completely separate entities. Meyer is not a fan of this.
“Yeah, that was awful,” said Meyer on Friday morning to ESPN’s Michael DiRocco. “I don’t agree with it, but no one asked my opinion. I guess in the old days you could bring them in and meet them, have dinner with them, you find out the football intellect, find out their character.”
“The thing you don’t [do], I found out, is call someone who has skin in the game because they’re going to not quite — I don’t see honest as a very appropriate [word]. So we did a deep dive. Every guy that we signed, we did. …”
“To answer your question, that was awful, and I don’t believe it should be that way. Not when you’re making organizational decisions. I’m not sure how that rule came about, but to me that’s not good business.”
Urban Meyer must continue to adapt to have success coaching in the NFL
There are several advantages Meyer has coaching a franchise like the Jaguars. He is coaching in a college town where he is largely beloved from his days in Gainesville. Jacksonville has a likable owner in Shahid Khan, usually has ample salary cap space to work with, no state income tax and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft to take Trevor Lawrence out of Clemson.
Even with relatively low expectations, Meyer can’t do whatever he wants like he did at Ohio State and Florida. This was proven out when he tried to hire disgraced Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle in February. He has ownership, the fan base and the NFL shield to answer to. He may not love the free agency process, but he has to figure it out quickly.
The quicker Meyer gets acclimated to the NFL game, the better the Jaguars’ 2021 season will be.