Urban Meyer knows what he’s getting into in Jacksonville

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I think Urban Meyer, who makes a deal with the Jaguars, knows what he’s getting into.

I think he understands he won’t get the equivalent of 15 first-round picks every four years or so like he did in Florida and Ohio state, which has allowed to stack the game and make that impossible for 90% of its competitors. run with him. I think he understands that losing five games in a year is a good season in the NFL, coming from an environment where a single loss can essentially end the season (see: 2009 Florida, ’15 and ’18 Ohio State ).

I think about all of that, by the way, because I know how much he’s studied the NFL and how his opinion on it is colored with a realistic view of the team-to-team gap among the pros. And it all happened when he and I spoke last spring about his research on the NFL.

Kelvin Kuo / USA TODAY Sports

“The best thing I did, I called a bunch of our former athletes,” he said. “I just asked them, ‘Tell me about the culture, tell me about the team meetings, tell me about the expectations, the work ethic, the responsibility. I had an idea, but what’s amazing for me is to hear the media and the fans and even others say that the reason they lose is that they have bad players. This is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard in my life. I mean, they’re NFL players.

“There isn’t a bad player in the NFL. Now you’ve got superstars, some might not be suitable, they might have character flaws, there might be things going on. But to use the term “bad player”? And I mean that as an excuse. “Hey, he’s a bad quarterback. What are you talking about? Because I heard that, and I used to be angry when they said that about our players. I would hear someone say, “Alex Smith is a bad player.”

“It was the best thing I knew when he got out of Utah. Then I do the homework and find out what it is. They are certainly not bad players. There are some organizations that win every year. There are some organizations that can’t win, but they have better players on paper than other organizations because they write in front of them every year. Every year. So I would challenge everyone, “When you say they’re a bad player, what, are you out of your mind?” They are not bad players.

Meyer was just beginning to explain what he was seeing, he East.

“Culture and criteria,” he continued. “There are two things you need to do. First, develop and implement a culture in your organization. And it must be a culture: It’s like that, non-negotiable. And then the other thing is talent acquisition. How do you acquire talent? What are your criteria? Is everyone on the same page? And what I discovered, who wins, that’s it. Those who fail to win, that’s all.

“It’s not whether they’re running the zone or the stretching game, or the three-level passes versus the crossover routes. I know people think that’s it. Yeah, it’s fun. It’s intriguing. But that’s not the reason some teams win. You walk into the locker room and you know why they are winning. And you talk to your players who are part of these organizations and you know exactly why they are winning. Because the head coach and GM, and everyone else, is aligned with culture and talent acquisition. “

See? Everything is here. A very clear perspective on the disparity in talent in the NFL from team to team and player to player. Recognition of the league’s competitiveness. And a well-developed opinion on what separates great coaches and team-builders from the peloton in a league where victory comes to those who have the margins.

Meyer is up to the challenge of the NFL because he knows what the challenge is.

So you can keep the questions open as to whether he understands that he won’t make Percy Harvin covered by a future insurance salesman or Joey Bosa blocked by a guy with a professional future in finance. He does. And the sentiment above about what it takes to win in the NFL can fully illustrate for you why the process of accepting the job was a process for Meyer – out of respect for what he thought he would need. win, based on all this research He did.

This is why he has not only reached via his Rolodex to line up a coaching staff, but also to support staff in areas such as strength and conditioning and player development, to build a holistic program, and goes well beyond running cover-3 against humans. . It’s also almost certainly why his facility upgrade requests were vital – he knows how much he will ask players to invest and wants to make sure he can show the same investment there.

And frankly, that’s exactly what the Jaguars need. Jacksonville is no far from winning offensive guru. The organization needs a clean-up from the ground up, as Buffalo did when Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane arrived in 2017. It means eradicating what a longtime employee of the team called a ” 9 to 5 ”culture in the building and, really, that can only be done by bringing it back to the posts, like McDermott and Beane did.

It takes more than a coach; it requires an agent of change. That’s exactly what Meyer has been wherever he has gone, even shaking up the identity of Bluebloods like Florida and Ohio State, where some have argued that adjustments to total revenue would have been enough. As a result, Meyer took both programs to another level.

But does that mean it will work 100%? It is not. Because while some of Meyer’s NFL Viability FAQs are easier to answer than you might think, others aren’t – and, no, it won’t be as straightforward as Meyer rolling out his old program to extend a winning record that is nothing short of bonkers (187–32, and two or less losses in 12 of his last 15 training seasons).

It starts with the difficulty of his schedule, which is demanding in the manner of Nick Saban (who was not a smash hit in the NFL) and Bill Belichick (who was). The key? The key will be how quickly it can deliver results to older players. Saban’s manners grated Dolphins players after Miami chose Daunte Culpepper over Drew Brees and losses escalated. Belichick, on the other hand, won a Super Bowl in his sophomore year in New England, which allowed him to point out the trophy case if anyone complained.

It comes down to a saying that Meyer continually insisted on his coaches in Columbus: theory rather than testimony. At the university level, Meyer had a testimony. In the NFL, he doesn’t yet. He’s only got theory, and he’ll have to sell it and then earn the testimonial before his post goes stale, which is a fight any tough old school coach has to face in the NFL.

Then there will be the composition and membership of its staff. I doubt he’s the one calling the game, and he’s a lot more a creator of culture than a creator of ploys at this point in his life. But he’s got principles in what he wants to do and how to get there, and he would have oversight on offense even if he wasn’t in the weeds. He would want to know why a play is being played, just as he would want to know why an exercise was on the workout script – and the answer could never be just because that’s how a trainer always did.

That’s why it makes sense to see names like former Texas coach Charlie Strong, former Rutgers coach Chris Ash, Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley, and Colorado State coach Steve. Addazio (and names of support staff like Ryan Stamper from Ohio State) in the pipeline for jobs with Meyer. They are steeped in his ways and would know what to expect. But a number of guys who know Meyer well are warning that he’ll absolutely need experienced NFL coaches to make this work, and how those people fit into the program will be key.

Then there is Meyer himself. He is 57 years old. His health problems are real. They originally appeared for a 13-1 year in Florida and resurfaced in a 13-1 campaign in Ohio state, which begs the question of how he would handle, say, a freshman 6-10 at Jacksonville – which would mark a five-year improvement in play from year to year.

“Fourth and one with the game on the line, that’s how he lives his life,” said one of his former assistants.

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This brings us back to the truth – that way, he’s 100% what Jacksonville needs, someone to shake up a building where a punch-the-clock philosophy has weighed down football forever. By buying Meyer they get a guy who won’t put up with that, and it’s good for the Jaguars to see they need him.

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