Grading Jacksonville’s head coach hire: Can Urban Meyer make the Jaguars relevant?

01/15/2021

ESPN staff writer
Previously a college football reporter for CBSSports.com
University of Florida graduate

Joined ESPN in 2011
New Jersey native and author of two published novels

Seven NFL teams fired their head coaches in this cycle — three during the 2020 season and four after the regular season — and now the first hiring of 2021 has been confirmed. The Jacksonville Jaguars zeroed in on former college coach Urban Meyer, who was announced as the new coach Thursday. Meyer won three national championships and compiled a 187-32 record during stints at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State.

How did the Jaguars fare with their hire? We asked ESPN national NFL writers Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler to discuss the move and give their grades. They’ll grade more hires as they happen over the next few weeks.

Jacksonville Jaguars hire Urban Meyer

Meyer’s background: Former head coach at Ohio State (2012-18), Florida (2005-2010), Utah (2003-04) and Bowling Green (2001-02)

Graziano: This one was percolating for a couple of weeks, it seems, and now it’s happening. I don’t know. On one hand, the college guys without prior NFL experience haven’t been very good at this transition. On the other, there haven’t been many (some, yes, but not many) who have arrived with Meyer’s track record of success — especially at multiple previous stops. I think this comes down to whether you think Meyer is effective enough as a program builder for the skills to translate. Carolina (and others) felt that way about Matt Rhule last year, but even that one’s a tough comparison. Rhule didn’t have college success on the level that Meyer did, but he had at least some prior NFL experience.

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