Urban Meyer could return to the sidelines in 2021, but it wouldn’t be at Texas or USC or another college blue-blood. No, the 56-year-old is reportedly considering a jump to the NFL – the Jacksonville Jaguars, specifically.
Will this actually happen?
“I think there’s a good possibility of it,” former NFL linebacker and Ohio State standout Bobby Carpenter said on The Zach Gelb Show. “I know that there’s been a number of teams that have talked to him [and] he’s talked back to them. I think he understands one thing in the NFL: to be good, you have to have a quarterback. I think the only job he would take would be one where you either have a good quarterback on the roster or you’re a team that potentially could be drafting the No. 1 quarterback in the draft.”
The Jaguars have the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, which will almost certainly be Trevor Lawrence.
If Jaguars owner Shahid Kahn promises to give Meyer whatever he needs to be successful, Carpenter believes Meyer will take the job.
“You couldn’t probably do that with the Cincinnati Bengals or New York Giants – other organizations that are run a little more traditionally,” Carpenter said. “The new owners, they like to spend money. Whatever it takes, we want to make sure we can keep up with the Joneses and have whatever we need. And so, I think there’s a good shot at that. I think he is interested.”
Meyer won two national titles at Florida and one at Ohio State. He left both programs due to health issues.
“I think his health is a concern, and that’s something he’s probably weighing with his family,” Carpenter said. “But I think if there’s an owner that comes out and says, ‘Hey, we’re going to offer you the job, we’ll get you a GM and you guys can work together, whatever you need the answer is always yes – [I think] he’s back on the sidelines.”
Several college coaches have tried – and failed – in the NFL. Heck, even Nick Saban had a losing record (15-17) with the Miami Dolphins.
Of course, Saban’s quarterback play might have had something to do with that.
“Nick Saban got Daunte Culpepper and not Drew Brees,” Carpenter said. “If he gets Drew Brees, I think he might still be coaching the Miami Dolphins and Drew Brees is probably still playing with the Miami Dolphins, but their trainers wouldn’t clear him. So I think Urban knows you need a quarterback.”
Meyer has never coached in the NFL, but Carpenter believes he would be successful.
“Urban is a great identifier of talent – both for players and coaches,” Carpenter said. “I think if he can build a staff, if he has the financial ability to build a staff, I think he could do that. I wouldn’t have said that probably five or six years ago, but I think he has changed a little bit. When Ryan Day got to Ohio State, [Meyer] gave a lot of the offense over to him. He identified Ryan as a coaching talent and knew what he was. So I think that’s a big piece of it: being able to identify guys who are supremely talented at their jobs, and I think Urban does that as well as anybody.”