Jacksonville head coach Urban Meyer has never coached at the professional level before. Naturally, he has a fair number of doubters. But Hall of Fame cornerback and current Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders is not among them. In a recent appearance on NFL Total Access, the former NFL Network analyst said that Meyer has what it takes to be successful in the league.
“Urban Meyer’s a winner. He’s a winner,” Sanders said, according to 247Sports’ Garrett Stepien. “I feel like he has a good staff, has a pretty darn good quarterback. He’s going to have some hiccups. … But he has the opportunity.”
“Urban Meyer’s a winner, man. I like his staff that he assembled. I know the type of ball that he’s going to play. They did really well in the draft. We’re going to see if that pays dividends.
There’s no denying Meyer’s coaching acumen at the college level. In his four stops as a head coach, he won three national championships: two at Florida and then one at Ohio State. He’s one of the architects of the modern spread offense, which completely enveloped the college game and has slowly taken hold in the NFL, too.
Jumping to the NFL will certainly present some challenges to Meyer, and the recent history of coaches making that leap is a bit disconcerting, to say the least. But one thing he has that many of those coaches didn’t is a franchise quarterback right off the bat. The Jaguars’ 1-15 season in 2020 netted the first overall pick, which was used to select star Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who is likely already the most talented passer the team has ever had.
Sanders thinks Lawrence will be successful, but that he will face a level of adversity he hasn’t yet in his career.
“But I like the young kid (Lawrence). I just want to see how the young kid handles adversity,” he said. “I don’t think he’s ever been up against adversity. And I guarantee you in Jacksonville he’s going to have some adversity.”
As the No. 1 recruit in the country coming out of high school who took the Tigers to a national title as a true freshman starter in 2018, he certainly has made it look easy at times. But as the quarterback of the Jags and the top pick in the draft, he has more to prove now than ever before.
There’s still a good deal of uncertainty surrounding Jacksonville’s new pieces, but there’s more excitement around the franchise than there has been in years, despite coming off its worst finish ever. And it seems that their list of believers includes Sanders.