After the latest string of controversies surrounding first-year Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer, the former Florida and Ohio State coach was fired by owner Shad Khan last week. Reports on the toxic culture in the Jags’ locker room painted the picture of a coach who couldn’t handle dealing with professionals who are at the top of their game as opposed to college students, and he wasn’t used to being challenged by players with a lot more individual agency.
On Sunday NFL Countdown, former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan went after Meyer, arguing that the coach was not ready to lead professionals at the highest level of football in the world.
“This is the best of the best,” Ryan said. “It’s not just the best players. It’s the best coaches in the country. There’s only 32 of these jobs. Don’t come into this league — you’re gonna get crushed.
“That’s what happens to these college guys. It’s funny. I talked with Urban Meyer when he got the job. He said ‘Explain it, why [is it so hard]?’ I told him it’s the grind. It’s the work you gotta put in. That’s what they’re putting in going across you. It’s not just that you’re playing Alabama every week, which is the case. He didn’t listen. I knew he wouldn’t listen.”
He said that one of the red flags in his conversation with Meyer was when the three-time national champion brought up recruiting.
“He told me about recruiting,” Ryan said. “I told him, ‘Recruiting? That’s a picnic. You’re gonna go and talk to a kid and their families and have a meal, great.’ I’m talking about the grind. Your job as an NFL coach is to put your players in the best position possible to be successful. That’s your job. You want to see what a players coach is? That’s a players coach. They respect your work ethic. You’re there in the office 3-4 times a week, not taking a phone call from some kid and thinking that’s work. I knew he’d get outcoached. He did.
“Go back to college where you belong. I respect him as a college football coach, but I knew this was gonna happen. Guess what, I was right again. Why? Because I’ve been around this game all my life. Those are the guys you ought to be looking at if you’re an owner. Hire somebody that’s been around this game all his life, someone that can relate to motivating a man instead of a young man. There’s a huge difference. I’m not shocked by this whatsoever.”
It’s certainly harsh criticism, but it seems to ring true, seeing how Meyer’s tenure in Jacksonville played out. The coach just didn’t seem prepared to coach in the NFL, though given the way he reportedly treated professional athletes, one has to wonder about his fitness coaching 18 to 22-year-old college athletes.
Someone at the college level may give Meyer another try, but after being fired for cause just 13 games into his NFL career, it seems safe to say that the veteran coach’s days of working in the league have come to an end.