Repost: Is Urban Meyer’s inexplicable, head-scratching signing of 33-year-old Tim Tebow an indication that his NFL gig may be short?


Hate to say that I predicted this, but I did


… will he be Jimmy Johnson or Lou Holtz?


The reality is that most football coaches who have made the jump from college to the NFL have not been overwhelming successes. 


Urban Meyer wants to change that, using his record of three national titles and a 80 percent winning record to convince the people of Jacksonville that he is the man to lead the worst team in the NFL in 2020 to the promised land. 


And then he makes one of the strangest moves in recent history when he brings back his former college QB, now at the age of 33, as a tight end. 


That angered many of the coaches whom he has selected to work with him in Jacksonville. And it has people wondering if maybe this time, Urban is in over his head. He has always moved into winning programs — but now, he is at the bottom, albeit with the number 1 pick in the draft. 


But still …


The backstory 


Just the fact that Urban Meyer, who retired twice in this century only to change his mind and return to coaching, chose to go to Jacksonville to try and resurrect the Jaguars was an interesting dramatic achievement. Why would one of the most successful coaches in college football history take a job with a decrepit franchise?


Looking at his travels in the 21st Century, they included Bowling Green for two years, Utah for two years, then Florida and Ohio State. He has never been in a situation like that of Jacksonville, so he should be commended for not just trying to make it at a higher level, but for starting at the bottom. 


So, what happened over the past ten days that has people scratching their heads about Meyer?


The Jaguars have made headlines recently when news broke they were trying to add one of the best quarterbacks in college football history to their roster. And it's not Trevor Lawrence.


News broke on Monday that the Jaguars were expected to sign 33-year-old, former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow as a tight end — nine years after he played his last regular-season snap as a quarterback. Jacksonville's coach, Urban Meyer, was Tebow's coach at Florida, so the two have a long-term connection.


Regardless, the roster move was generally perceived as odd. After all, Tebow spent the last five years of his life playing minor league baseball with MLB's New York Mets, has only one career NFL target and has no experience as a tight end. 


Why take a chance on him at this point?


Jacob Camenker, “Urban Meyer, Jaguars coaches, have ‘serious disagreement’ about 

signing Tim Tebow, per report,” The Sporting News, 2021


Again, why do this? 


Can he become a 21st Century Jimmy Johnson?


Sports Illustrated ran a story after he was hired as the Jaguars head coach earlier this year. While the story noted that not many college coaches have been able to successfully make that transition, Meyer is not just another coach, and perhaps he has a much better chance of succeeding than Jimmy Johnson did when he took over a woeful Dallas Cowboys team 22 years ago,


For the time being, Urban Meyer’s new title comes with an asterisk.


Urban Meyer, Head Coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars; first time NFL head coach.


Meyer has risen to the top and dominated in the college coaching ranks, to the tune of three national championships and a 187-32 record all-time record. He’s spent the past two seasons in retirement, vowing he was done with coaching…or at least college coaching. But the Jaguars—with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, 10 draft picks and ample cap space—offered what Meyer called a “perfect” situation


How long will it remain perfect? That largely depends on how Meyer is able to adapt to what is essentially a new game. Adapt is actually the name of the game according to the 56-year old coach.


“The days of coaching the way you did back when I was at Bowling Green or when I was an assistant coach—I mean, the whole country has changed, everything’s changed. And so you have to adapt, and those who adapt have success, those who don’t, fail,” opined Meyer last Friday.


“I certainly have my failures along the journey, but for the most part, I can’t wait. That’s the part of the game that I love, is to be able to adapt to the NFL player and we’ve had no shortage of them the last 12 years, or whatever it’s been, but it is. 


Kassidy Hill, “What the History Of College Coaches Jumping To the NFL Says About Urban Meyer's Chances With the Jaguars,” Sports Illustrated, January 19, 2021


The analogy with Jimmy Johnson


The SI story identified some college coaches who had made the jump to the NFL in the 21st Century. Here they are,


1st Time NFL Head Coaches hired Directly from College since 2000:

  • Matt Rhule, Carolina Panthers 5-11
  • Kliff Kingsbury, Arizona Cardinals 13-18-1
  • Bill O’Brien, Houston Texans 52-48
  • Chip Kelly, Philadelphia Eagles 26-21
  • Doug Marina, Buffalo Bills 15-17
  • Greg Schiano, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11-21
  • Jim Harbaugh, San Francisco 49ers 44-19-1
  • Bobby Petrino, Atlanta Falcons 3-10
  • Nick Saban, Miami Dolphins 15-17
  • Steve Spurrier, Washington Football Team 12-20
  • Butch Davis, Cleveland Browns 24-35

Kassidy Hill, Sports Illustrated, January 19, 2021


Obviously, only one of them, Jim Harbaugh, has been successful, and ironically, he is back in college where he has not been doing great. 


 

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