Former Florida, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer interviews with Jacksonville Jaguars for first NFL job

The Jaguars interviewed Urban Meyer on Friday for its vacant head coaching job, according to the NFL Network.

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Editor’s note: This article was originally published by the Florida Times-Union and has been republished in its entirety below. 

The Jacksonville Jaguars interviewed Urban Meyer on Friday for its vacant head coaching job, according to the NFL Network.

Meyer, the former Florida and Ohio State coach, is considered to be the frontrunner to replace Doug Marrone, who was fired on Monday after going 1-15 this season.

NFL Network reported last week Meyer had been lining up a staff and telling people he’s close to in the football community he expects to land in Jacksonville.

After firing Marrone, Jaguars owner Shad Khan said he hadn’t talked to Meyer about the Jaguars head coaching job but acknowledged he’s known him over the years through the Big Ten Conference.

But Friday, according to the report, Meyer met with Khan, Tony Khan, Shad’s son, and team president  Mark Lamping, who has a significant role on the Jaguars’ search team. Khan is leading the search, and though it appears Meyer is the top target, it’s likely to come down to whether he wants to end retirement for a new challenge coaching in the NFL.

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Khan’s franchise is coming off its worst record, and the Jaguars have had losing seasons in 11 of the past 13 years.

Meyer, 56, was one of college football’s most successful coaches, leading Ohio State to a national title in 2014, after delivering Florida national championships in 2006 and 2008. But Meyer retired from coaching in December 2018 at Ohio State after seven seasons, citing health problems.

It came after Meyer, who has a 186-32 career coaching record, was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season after an investigation revealed he had protected an assistant on his staff, Zach Smith, who had a history of domestic abuse.

The Jaguars have the No. 1 overall pick in the April 29 NFL Draft and they are expected to select former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who has declared for the draft and hired an agent this week.