The reality for Urban Meyer: “You're playing Alabamas every week”

What if this guy becomes the next Ryan Leaf?

… Tebow experiment caused some to scratch their heads

The reality is that few successful college coaches manage to achieve that same level of greatness in the 

NFL. Only one in the past 50 years has done so. 

Yet, Urban Meyer, the former Florida and Ohio State coach who left both programs under a cloud after experiencing success, believes that he can turn Jacksonville into a winner and became another Jimmy Johnson. 

The challenge

The owner of the Jags opened his checkbook for Meyer, but he had little else to offer the former college coach,

Meyer came to Jacksonville because of the duality of the recruiting pitch from billionaire owner Shahid Khan and the promise of [Trevor] Lawrence, the former Clemson star who is regarded in scouting circles as a potential generational quarterback. Khan wanted a culture changer and Lawrence’s presence was a franchise changer. And now the world waits and wonders how Meyer will change to turn around a franchise regarded as one of the worst in the league.

Pete Thamel, “Urban Meyer is rewriting himself to survive and thrive,” 

Yahoo Sports, September 10, 2021

The major difference 

At Florida and Ohio State, he stepped into established, winning programs. Even at Utah, things were not that bad since they played in the WAC.

However, here he knows that he may lose more games this year than he did in seven years at Ohio State,

“This is a 1-15 team. They didn’t play very good offensively, defensively or in the kicking game last year. I didn’t say the players were bad, but we didn’t play well. So, it’s a reality, and I’ll be honest with you, a little refreshing” …

The fundamental tension Meyer confronts in the early years of his rebuild will be how to endure and evolve from losing without overtly accepting it. No one is expecting the Jaguars to make the playoffs in 2021, but there needs to be hope and evolution.

Pete Thamel, Yahoo Sports, September 20, 2021

Few have made that transition

Meyer knows enough about history to understand the challenge he faces. The names of those who have succeeded are from long ago;

Paul Brown, Chuck Fairbanks, John McKay, John Robinson, Hank Stram. 

The only one who has won the top prize in both college and the NFL is Jimmy Johnson, and he goes back to the 1990s, almost three decades ago. Some have achieved success like Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh. But, few have won a Super Bowl.

And Meyer knows it. 

What if the number 1 pick is a flop and becomes the next Ryan Leaf? What if he cannot put together good draft classes? What if his offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator fall flat?

In college, he had control of the recruiting and did much of the coaching himself. 

Today, that is not the case, and playing an Alabama every week, like he said in an interview, will be a monumental task.