Category: Urban Meyer

Podcast: Discussions on Alualu’s decision to sign with Pittsburgh, Lawrence, 17-game seasons

Jags Wire’s James Johnson and Phil Smith review the latest in Jags news this week on the “Bleav in the Jags Podcast.”

In the newest episode of “Bleav in the Jaguars,” Jags Wire contributor Phil Smith and myself discussed the latest in Jacksonville Jaguars news this week.

We started episode 65 discussing what a 17-game season means for the Jags and the league in general, as a lot of players aren’t high on it. While it does mean more money for the players and owners, it’s possible the product could suffer with the additional game and we explained why.

Afterward, we discussed the impact of Tyson Alualu’s choice to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers over Jacksonville. It basically put the Jags in a situation where there aren’t many options to replace him, but we mentioned one who the Jags could turn to in the draft.

Lastly, we discussed the biggest takeaway from Urban Meyer’s interview with Peter King. Of course, that was his transparency about taking Trevor Lawrence, which is something fans of the league’s other 32 teams and the media should’ve seen from the jump.

The full episode can be heard below in the media player, while our archived episodes can be revisited here.

Feel free to subscribe to “Bleav in the Jags” via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify.

Urban Meyer invites local 11-year-old female football star, teammates to Jags’ training camp

Keilani Contreras became the first girl to score a touchdown in the Arlington Youth Football Association on Saturday.

There’s football history being made in Jacksonville, and it has nothing to do with that big cat-themed professional franchise that plays its games on the north bank of the St. Johns downtown. Keilani Contreras, an 11-year-old who plays in the Arlington Youth Football Association, became the first girl to score a touchdown in the history of the league on Saturday.

After the game, she spoke with Action News Jax’s Ryan Nelson to give a powerful postgame interview.

“Girl power, I feel like that’s a lot,” she said. “Because sometimes girls, they’re scared to go out for stuff. Sometimes boys might be like ‘Oh you can’t do this because you’re a girl’ … well, look at me! I’m a football player! Nobody can tell me nothing else.”

The clip reached the eyes of Jaguars coach Urban Meyer, who extended his congratulations to Contreras, as well as an invitation to the team’s training camp this summer.

Hopefully Contreras’ touchdown on Saturday was the first of many as she continues to break down barriers in Jacksonville.

Myles Jack explains how Urban Meyer’s impact is already being felt at Jags’ facility

Urban Meyer hasn’t been with the Jags long, but Myles Jack has come out to say that he’s impressed with the atmosphere Meyer is creating.

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer walked through the door saying he wanted to provide his players with the best amenities, and it appears he’s already staying true to his words, according to linebacker Myles Jack. The Jags’ 2020 team captain got a chance to catch up with First Coast News recently and had nothing but great things to say about the job his new head coach has done.

“He’s just creating a family environment, number one, and is investing in his players,” Jack said. “He’s making sure we have everything to be successful and I think that’s going to be key and crucial. As far as having to go outside of the stadium to get treatment, they’ve decided to bring that to us. They’re going to work us and work us hard, but they are going to take care of us as well.

It’s really up to us to be successful. There is no reason we shouldn’t be able to go out there and do what we need to do. I’m very excited and sore [from workouts], too.”

That’s huge coming from one of the Jags’ defensive leaders, who was also very supportive of the last regime. While fans will ultimately have to wait until the regular season to truly see how much of an impact Meyer can have on the team, it’s good to see Shad Khan’s decision already paying off. 

Overall, there is a significantly different atmosphere at TIAA Bank Field. They’ve changed their motivational signage along with their nutrition and weight lifting routines, and much more. In other words, it’s somewhat starting to feel like the days when Meyer was laying the foundation at Gainesville and Columbus, and with the NFL moving closer to a player’s league, that doesn’t necessarily feel like a bad thing.

Jags’ Urban Meyer adds Florida to list of 2021 pro day stops

The Jags are in attendance at Florida’s pro day as expected to check out names like Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes, and Marco Wilson.

After having a homecoming of sorts Tuesday by attending Ohio State’s pro day, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer will be repeating the process Wednesday. However, this time it will be much closer to Jacksonville as the first-year head coach is currently in Gainesville for the Gators’ pro day.

As seen above, one of the first things Meyer did was visit his good friend and former Gators assistant Dan Mullen, who is now the university’s head football coach. As many are aware, Mullen and Meyer worked together at various universities, following each other from Notre Dame, to Bowling Green, to Utah, then Florida.

As for the players, 16 prospects will be highlighted throughout Wednesday’s event. With the Jags having several needs, many of them will be worth keeping an eye on, but cornerback Marco Wilson, defensive tackle Tedarrell Slaton, and receivers Kadarius Toney and Trevon Grimes are just some of the notables players the Jags could have a chance to select next month.

There is also tight end Kyle Pitts who will be participating in the pro day, but the Jags likely will be out of the running for him as he’s expected to be a top-12 pick. And while the Jags desperately need a tight end, they will likely have to settle for prospects who are under Pitts at the position.

Coverage for the Gators’ pro day will begin at 11 a.m. EST on the SEC Network and NFL Network. For updates, feel free to follow our comrades over at Gators Wire and USA Today’s Tyler Nettuno, who writes here at Jags Wire and for Gators Wire.

Jags’ Urban Meyer adds Florida to list of 2021 pro day stops

The Jags are in attendance at Florida’s pro day as expected to check out names like Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes, and Marco Wilson.

After having a homecoming of sorts Tuesday by attending Ohio State’s pro day, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer will be repeating the process Wednesday. However, this time it will be much closer to Jacksonville as the first-year head coach is currently in Gainesville for the Gators’ pro day.

As seen above, one of the first things Meyer did was visit his good friend and former Gators assistant Dan Mullen, who is now the university’s head football coach. As many are aware, Mullen and Meyer worked together at various universities, following each other from Notre Dame, to Bowling Green, to Utah, then Florida.

As for the players, 16 prospects will be highlighted throughout Wednesday’s event. With the Jags having several needs, many of them will be worth keeping an eye on, but cornerback Marco Wilson, defensive tackle Tedarrell Slaton, and receivers Kadarius Toney and Trevon Grimes are just some of the notables players the Jags could have a chance to select next month.

There is also tight end Kyle Pitts who will be participating in the pro day, but the Jags likely will be out of the running for him as he’s expected to be a top-12 pick. And while the Jags desperately need a tight end, they will likely have to settle for prospects who are under Pitts at the position.

Coverage for the Gators’ pro day will begin at 11 a.m. EST on the SEC Network and NFL Network. For updates, feel free to follow our comrades over at Gators Wire and USA Today’s Tyler Nettuno, who writes here at Jags Wire and for Gators Wire.

Urban Meyer recalls being ‘blown away’ by Tom Brady’s competitive streak

When Meyer shadowed a New England Patriots practice, he saw a competitive streak from Tom Brady that was foreign to him.

One would be forgiven for thinking that Urban Meyer, a coach who won three national championships at the college level, doesn’t need many lessons on sparking a competitive fire within his team. But during his appearance on Peter King’s podcast, Meyer relayed an anecdote from a time he attended a New England Patriots practice and learned from legendary quarterback Tom Brady.

“Well, Tom Brady — I got to witness Tom Brady, firsthand, and it was the last day of minicamp in June and I had been to a few of those,” Meyer said. “Usually, people have one foot out the door because they just got done with a very long seven, eight weeks in the offseason and you’re talking about the greatest quarterback of all time.

And it was (linebacker) Mike Vrabel was there, (linebacker) Tedy Bruschi was — back in those days — and I was blown away. It was the last day of minicamp. They’re in shorts, helmets and they’re doing a two-minute drill and Tom Brady is treating it like it’s the Super Bowl. He goes down and he scores with two seconds left to win that scrimmage or whatever they had, and ran around that field like a child who just won the Super Bowl. That’s how competitive he is.”

For those who’ve witnessed Brady’s time on the field personally and have been lucky enough to cover him, this isn’t the slightest bit surprising when considering he has six rings. That’s not to say Meyer shouldn’t have been amazed, however, especially when considering the effort it took not to get complacent with an organization like New England.

Meyer continued to share another encounter he witnessed that involved Brady, who he saw going over the film with the whole offense as an offensive coordinator would.

“And by the way — I went into the offensive meetings with (offensive coordinator) Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady, and Tom Brady’s actually the one who had the clicker in his hand,” Meyer said. “I mean, Peter, it was amazing. He was in there running the film. And he had the offensive line sitting there, running backs, receivers, and Tom Brady was running the clicker and watching practice film dissecting the offense.

Think about that for a minute. That’s — you can say he throws a great pass, but people that really understand the game, I mean, there’s much more than that that makes him the greatest of all time.”

*Quotes transcribed by 247sports

Though it’s unfair to expect any quarterback to be like Brady, who is arguably the greatest to ever do it, Meyer and the Jaguars hope they will be drafting a similarly transcendent player in Trevor Lawrence next month. Lawrence is considered to be the best quarterback prospect in years, and if he lives up to that billing, perhaps future coaches will be watching his practices to learn the tricks of the trade.

Urban Meyer attends Ohio State’s pro day

The Jaguars coach had the chance to scout some of his former players as he and GM Trent Baalke were in Columbus for OSU’s pro day.

In a homecoming of sorts, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer returned to Ohio State, where he coached from 2012-18, for the team’s pro day on Tuesday. Though he hasn’t been seen at many pro days this offseason, given his ties to the Buckeyes program and the number of talented prospects on the team, it’s no surprise he made the sojourn up to Columbus along with Jags general manager Trent Baalke.

The most high-profile prospect at the pro day was quarterback Justin Fields, who many expect to be the third quarterback off the 2021 draft board. It could be that Meyer simply wanted to do his due diligence on the Buckeyes’ top prospect, but it’s highly unlikely the team drafts a quarterback other than Lawrence with the first overall pick.

12 draft eligible prospects from Ohio State who were coached by Urban Meyer

There are several other Ohio State prospects that Meyer could’ve been interested in scouting, as well. According to Eleven Warriors, a total of 15 prospects worked out for the Buckeyes, many of which were coached by Meyer in college (though he didn’t coach star transfers Fields and Trey Sermon).

OSU had several intriguing defensive prospects participate in Tuesday’s pro day, including linebackers Baron Browning and Pete Warner, along with nose tackle Tommy Togiai. Cornerback Shaun Wade, a Jacksonville native who played at Trinity Christian Academy, didn’t participate and delayed his workout until he fully recovers from turf toe.

Though Meyer already has a lot of familiarity with most of these players, he got an up-close look at how much they’ve developed since he left two years ago. And it seems like a safe bet that the Jaguars will draft at least one player from Ohio State in next month’s NFL draft.

Urban Meyer attends Ohio State’s pro day

The Jaguars coach had the chance to scout some of his former players as he and GM Trent Baalke were in Columbus for OSU’s pro day.

In a homecoming of sorts, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer returned to Ohio State, where he coached from 2012-18, for the team’s pro day on Tuesday. Though he hasn’t been seen at many pro days this offseason, given his ties to the Buckeyes program and the number of talented prospects on the team, it’s no surprise he made the sojourn up to Columbus along with Jags general manager Trent Baalke.

The most high-profile prospect at the pro day was quarterback Justin Fields, who many expect to be the third quarterback off the 2021 draft board. It could be that Meyer simply wanted to do his due diligence on the Buckeyes’ top prospect, but it’s highly unlikely the team drafts a quarterback other than Lawrence with the first overall pick.

12 draft eligible prospects from Ohio State who were coached by Urban Meyer

There are several other Ohio State prospects that Meyer could’ve been interested in scouting, as well. According to Eleven Warriors, a total of 15 prospects worked out for the Buckeyes, many of which were coached by Meyer in college (though he didn’t coach star transfers Fields and Trey Sermon).

OSU had several intriguing defensive prospects participate in Tuesday’s pro day, including linebackers Baron Browning and Pete Warner, along with nose tackle Tommy Togiai. Cornerback Shaun Wade, a Jacksonville native who played at Trinity Christian Academy, didn’t participate and delayed his workout until he fully recovers from turf toe.

Though Meyer already has a lot of familiarity with most of these players, he got an up-close look at how much they’ve developed since he left two years ago. And it seems like a safe bet that the Jaguars will draft at least one player from Ohio State in next month’s NFL draft.

Urban Meyer discusses his passion to win for the ‘incredible’ city of Jacksonville

Urban Meyer is glad to be back in the Florida area and hopes he can revive the Jags as he did for the Gators many years ago.

If there is anything that has become clear over the last few months, it’s that Urban Meyer loves the state of Florida. While his time with the Gators was cut short, the state remained a place close to his heart. Now, with a decade passing since his time in Gainesville, he’s found himself back in the area coaching on the professional level in Jacksonville.

In the process of getting to know Jags owner Shad Khan, Meyer told NBC’s Peter King that it didn’t take long to see that the man he’d eventually be working for shared the same passion. The decision to take the Jags’ vacancy became that much easier, and now Meyer has been tasked with fixing an organization for a community he’s come to love.

“I think, first of all, his personal story is amazing,” said Meyer. “Where he’s from, how he built an empire, and I just think he’s an incredible person. Then I found out [about] his passion for Jacksonville and we share that same passion.

I know Jacksonville because I spent a lot of time here recruiting, my kids would come here quite often, I’m on the Tim Tebow Foundation and I’m a part of that every year. I think this is an incredible place and I think these are tough, blue-collar people who want to win. We share that same opinion.”

With last season being the worst in franchise history and little success before it, Khan wanted the Jags to become a more coach-centric organization. Meyer’s familiarity with the area and their shared passion for Jacksonville gave Khan little doubt who his top candidate was.

A big part of Khan adding Meyer, of course, was to restore the only success he’s seen the franchise have (in 2017), which resulted in a great deal of support from the city. This is something Meyer has witnessed firsthand during some of the collegiate stops he’s made as he improved several programs from some of their low points. 

“When you say Shad Khan wants to win badly I’m sure there are some personal feelings for that, same with me,” Meyer said. “However, that’s second to when you see Jacksonville, Florida, and the opportunity here to go.

“I’ve been a part of environments like Salt Lake City, when all of a sudden you start winning games and the place explodes,” Meyer added, referring to Bowling Green and Gainesville, too. “All of a sudden the world turns upside down and you start winning games. That’s why I’m doing it and I can promise you that’s why our owner is doing it.”

There’s hardly a fan base itching for a winning season more than that of the Jags’ — and if Meyer can build a successful team, that excitement could only bubble over to Jacksonville at large.

Jags tied for most top-100 picks in the 2021 NFL draft

Jacksonville has made a number of high profile trades in recent years, and that has resulted in a lot of draft capital in 2021.

Jacksonville has had to trade away several talented players in recent years who could’ve been solid long-term pieces. Though that has certainly helped put the franchise in the hole it’s in now, at least it resulted in lots of draft capital as the team attempts to undergo a rebuild with a new general manager, head coach, and (likely) franchise quarterback.

Assuming the Jaguars invest the first overall pick in Trevor Lawrence, the next order of business will be building around him. They got a nice start in free agency, making several value signings that build up the team’s depth. But Jacksonville has 10 picks in this upcoming draft, and with its five picks in the top 100, it’s tied with the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets for the most in the draft.

https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1376507549445410818?s=20

In addition to the first pick, the Jags have another first-round pick at No. 25 by virtue of the Jalen Ramsey trade with Los Angeles. The Jaguars also have an extra second-round pick at No. 45 from the trade with the Minnesota Vikings involving Yannick Ngakoue.

Further, the team has two picks in the fourth round (also from the Ramsey trade) and in the fifth (from the Ronnie Harrison trade with Cleveland). The Jaguars initially had 11 picks in this draft, but they shopped their original seventh-round selection to the Saints for defensive tackle Malcom Brown, though they received a seventh from Tennessee in a rare divisional trade involving linebacker Kamalei Correa, who they later released.

The team may add another pick in this draft, as it’s rumored to be receiving interest for quarterback Gardner Minshew. Though Minshew will likely be on a different roster next season, it remains to be seen if that move will potentially occur before the draft. Coach Urban Meyer has said the team is not shopping Minshew “at this point.”