Tag: Urban Meyer

ESPN considers ‘worst mistake’ Jaguars have made in last five seasons

ESPN considers ‘worst mistake’ Jaguars have made in last five seasons

Every NFL team has made its share of mistakes. Some more, and some much bigger, than others.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are, historically, no strangers to committing errors, as they have attempted to field a Super Bowl-contending team over 30 years of existence and have only 10 winning seasons to show for it.

And in their last five, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell believes the Jaguars committed one of the biggest blunders in the league by hiring Urban Meyer as their head coach in 2021.

Barnwell considered Meyer’s short tenure in Duval the sixth-worst mistake an NFL team has made since 2020, noting the one-year Jaguars head coach’s staff choices, personal decisions and awkward moments among the flaws he committed on the job.

There are so many moments from the Meyer era that could be considered embarrassing decisions and situations in their own right. The Chris Doyle hire. Signing Tim Tebow to play tight end. Abandoning the team plane so he could go to his bar in Ohio, at which point he was filmed in close contact with someone who wasn’t his wife. An impossibly awkward handshake with Mike Vrabel. Talking about the expanded role on defense for a player who had been on the field for zero snaps. His reported unfamiliarity with Aaron Donald and Deebo Samuel. Oh, and allegedly kicking his own kicker, which finally led to the Jaguars firing him.

Meyer went 2-11, wasted a year of Trevor Lawrence’s rookie contract and set the franchise back well beyond where it was when he arrived. Doug Pederson took over as coach, and it’s a small miracle that he got the Jags to the playoffs the following season at 9-8. While Jags fans are understandably frustrated with what has happened since, even the lowlights of the Pederson era feel like Vince Lombardi in comparison to Meyer’s abbreviated run.

Jaguars Wire need not add further comment.

Barnwell faulted the Cleveland Browns for making the league’s most self-damaging move since 2020: Trading for quarterback Deshaun Watson and giving him a fully guaranteed, $230 million contract in 2022, while he faced nearly two dozen civil allegations of sexual misconduct. The NFL eventually suspended Watson for 11 games that season.

The Browns have since benched Watson after he passed for 3,365 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 19 starts, going 9-10.

Urban Meyer responds to rumors of his interest in Ohio State coaching return

Will this end the speculation? #GoBucks

It seems like whenever there is a significant job opening in college football, former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer gets his name lobbed all over message boards, certain media mouthpieces, and social media.

Scratch that, his name has also been floated out there when current Ohio State head coach, Ryan Day, can’t get the job done against Michigan. After all, Day is 1-4 against the Wolverines, a far cry from the 7-0 record Urban Frank Meyer had against OSU’s arch rival.

So, here we are again after Day’s Buckeyes lost a hard-fought and rather inept game against the Wolverines again. A report circulated earlier this week from former local Columbus and ESPN sportscaster Jay Crawford that Meyer might be interested in returning to coach Ohio State. That was shared across the internet here and likely through the entire Milky Way Galaxy and many in Buckeye Nation peed their pants a little with excitement.

However, sometimes rumors are just rumors, and that appears to be what this was here. But hey, don’t take our word for it, how about from the man himself? Meyer addressed the speculation on “The Triple Option” sports show hosted by himself, and Fox’s Rob Stone and Mark Ingram.

“It has come to my attention that there are reports speculating my return to the sidelines in Columbus,” Meyer said on the show. “While I thoroughly enjoyed my seven seasons as head coach of THE Ohio State University. I have no interest in coaching again. I will always be a Buckeye and have full confidence in Ryan Day, his staff, and every player that puts on the Scarlet and Gray.”

This seems like an annual thing now doesn’t it. While many with a slew of Scarlet and Gray in their wardrobes would love for Meyer to prowl the sidelines again on the banks of the Olentangy, this should put that to rest. Maybe.

It’s time for Ohio State fans to turn their focus on cheering for this team through the 12-team College Football Playoff in hopes that it can get its mojo back and bring home a national championship.

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An Urban Meyer return to Ohio State isn’t as crazy as it sounds

Would you like to see this? #GoBucks

The Ohio State Buckeyes could be looking for a new head football coach if Ryan Day doesn’t make a significant run in the College Football Playoff — maybe.

Day, who has now lost four-straight games to Michigan, a game that is always the most important on the Buckeyes schedule, is on the hot seat after that 13-10 loss on Saturday as a near three-score favorite.

However, he’s still captaining this team for now, and with the CFP on the horizon, there is certainly room to improve his resume.

A deep run in the single-elimination tournament may save his job. But, even if he does win a few games, he may still find himself on the way out. So who could Ohio State bring in?

One Ohio State insider, Jay Crawford, who also used to help host “SportsCenter,” suggested that Urban Meyer could be a candidate, noting the reason the star head coach left is behind the program now.

“Urban never wanted to leave Ohio State. His hand was forced, because the administration at the time, did not like how powerful Urban had become at the university. And so there was a real power struggle. Note that the two main players that forced Urban out —and that’s what it was — are gone,” Crawford said on the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show via 247Sports Brad Crawford.

This is an interesting take given Meyer works for FOX Sports as an analyst now after a failed stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, one shouldn’t bet on Meyer to be interested in it regardless.

For now, all of this is hypothetical, and if Day is released, there’s no denying things could change.

Urban Meyer says he has no interest in returning to coaching

Urban Meyer tries to knock down rumors he would return to Ohio State

Four consecutive losses to Michigan have Ohio State coach Ryan Day on the hot seat. A buzz started about former Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer returning to the job if it should open.

On Thursday, the FOX panelist released a statement saying he has no interest in returning to coaching.

That seems to eliminate Meyer if Day is out. How about former Buckeye and NFL coach Mike Vrabel?

Urban Meyer breaks down why Michigan football beat Ohio State

You know this killed him inside. #GoBlue

You know this killed him inside.

Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has been working as an analyst for Fox Sports and Big Ten Network since leaving the Buckeyes following the 2018 season. Meyer went 7-0 against Michigan football in his tenure in Columbus but his handpicked successor, Ryan Day, is now 1-4.

Meyer met up with Gerry DiNardo to discuss why the Wolverines, as three-touchdown underdogs, were able to shock Ohio State en route to a stunning 13-10 road victory.

In ‘Urban Analysis,’ Meyer discusses the Michigan defensive line, how it set the edge and penetrated the OSU offensive line.

“Nine-of-the-26 of those runs went for zero or minus-yardage plays,” Meyer said. “This blew my mind when I saw this: the last 14 plays of The Game went for no first downs. That’s great run defense.”

Though Michigan fans don’t exactly have love for Meyer, they’ll certainly enjoy him breaking down the Wolverines embarrassing the Buckeyes in the biggest upset victory in the series.

DT Cam Heyward blasts Urban Meyer for Ohio State alumni disrespect

Cam Heyward criticizes Urban Meyer for dismissing alumni like Mike Vrabel and praises Ryan Day for restoring Ohio State’s connections.

It is safe to say Pittsburgh Steelers DT Cam Heyward may share something in common with much of the Jacksonville Jaguars fanbase: their dislike of former HC Urban Meyer.

On the defensive tackle’s podcast, Not Just Football with Cam Heyward, the veteran Steeler was asked his opinion on the recent comments fellow Ohio State alumnus Mike Vrabel made about Meyer. Vrabel had worked with Meyer, who was the head coach of Ohio State from 2012 to 2018 and defensive line coach from 2012 to 2013, but when the two met in the NFL, Meyer pretended he didn’t know who he was.

Heyward didn’t hold back with his comments: “I got a lot of respect for Vrabes, so to hear someone like Urban Meyer, who won a championship with that guy, kind of spit in his face with that comment, I’m not for that. There’s a reason why when I left there, there was a drop-off in communication with alumni.”

Heyward continued to air his frustrations with Meyer but credited current Ohio State HC Ryan Day with repairing the damage Meyer had done.

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Urban Meyer didn’t know who Mike Vrabel, fellow NFL coach and former employee, was

“Yeah, I’m the head coach for the Titans and I worked for you for two years.”

The Manning Cast alternate broadcast of Monday Night Football generally produces great football-adjacent stories. So too did the 13-game tenure of Urban Meyer as Jacksonville Jaguars head coach.

In Week 12, those two forces met in a tremendous, slightly baffling and yet completely believable story from longtime NFL mainstay Mike Vrabel.

Vrabel spent 14 seasons in the league as a linebacker and six as head coach of the Tennessee Titans. He spent another two as defensive line coach for Meyer’s Ohio State Buckeyes. But when the two met in 2021, Meyer took one look at the former All-Pro, NFL coach of the year and, importantly, his former employee and asked “do I know you?”

“Yeah, I’m the head coach for the Titans,” Vrabel told a chuckling Peyton and Eli Manning. “And I worked for you for two years.”

For any other head coach, most of whom have encyclopedic knowledge of the game and the main characters in it, this would be unbelievable. But given Meyer’s myriad ways to screw up just about anything related to his NFL tenure, this was pretty standard.

Meyer was bad enough to get fired two-thirds of the way through a season with the Jaguars, a franchise that gave Gus Bradley three-plus years at the helm. He was such a disaster we were able to publish an article here titled “12 times we told you Urban Meyer is the worst” and it still missed some of Meyer’s doofus-brained behavior.

Including, apparently, recognizing a division rival’s head coach who also happened to be one of his assistant coaches less than a decade earlier. Urban Meyer, man.

Urban Meyer thinks Ohio State-Oregon CFP semifinal is doomsday scenario

Ohio State football may take on Oregon in the Big Ten Championship and in the CFP Semifinal. Urban Meyer doesn’t think that’s a good combo.

Ohio State football will have one of its biggest games of the season on Saturday as the No. 5-ranked Indiana Hoosiers come to Columbus.

However, the Buckeyes are a heavy favorite despite their opponent coming in without a loss. Ohio State is expected to win the remainder of its regular season games, as is expected of the Oregon Ducks.

That would mean, without divisions in the Big Ten, the Ducks and Buckeyes would face off for a second time in the Big Ten Championship.

If the Ducks win, the Buckeyes should still remain as the best team without a conference championship, which will place them 5th in the College Football Playoff.

Assuming they beat the No. 12-ranked side and then the No. 4-ranked Miami, they could face the Ducks for a third time in the CFP Semifinals, also assuming Oregon beat the winner of Notre Dame–Tennessee.

Obviously all these matchups could change, but this has been what has been projected for the last few weeks, and it has an increasingly likely chance of becoming a reality.

Former National Championship-winning head coach Urban Meyer outlined how that could become a “nightmare” scenario for the Buckeyes and current head coach Ryan Day.

On The Triple Option, a weekly show hosted by Meyer, Mark Ingram II and Rob Stone, the former laid out why he isn’t a fan of the scenario from a coaches perspective.

“How about this, stare at this for a minute, so you got Ohio State, they’ll beat Boise (State) or at least they should. Then (if) they beat Miami they’re going to play Oregon for the third time this season,” Meyer said. “That’s a nightmare for a coach in a playoff. So they played in Eugene, they’re going to play in Indianapolis, probably, and then they’re going to play again in the [semifinals], unbelievable. First time ever.”

But, as we were reminded, teams change and morph into better versions of themselves. The Buckeyes should be better on a neutral field as well.

That said, with the new CFP rankings dropping later today, it should be a similar dance for a third straight week as the Buckeyes will come in at No. 5 and the Ducks will remain as the No. 1 seed.

Urban Meyer said this is why Ohio State football could win it all

The Ohio State Buckeyes have a star-studded team, but former head coach Urban Meyer said this is why they could win it all.

Winning a national championship is no easy feat in college athletics at any level, and the Ohio State Buckeyes are going to be one of the favorite to win it all this season.

The Buckeyes have Purdue at home on Saturday, a game that should be a blowout win, and coming off a 20-13 road victory over then-No. 3 Penn State, they are surging on all angles.

But, does Ohio State have what it takes to win it all?

That’s going to be reserved for a special team, and Urban Meyer, Ohio State’s former head coach, believes this is what could separate the Buckeyes this season.

“The most physical team will win the national championship. I used to say this to our players, the team that punches the hardest will win the national title. It’s historic. I mean, it’s time tested. That’s what happens. Ohio State, there were concerns. I don’t have any more concerns. I saw what I saw. We were live there. That was the best four minute drill I can remember seeing,” Meyer said on The Triple Option.

He didn’t stop there though as there had to be a reason why he thought Ohio State fit that mold.

“There’s five minutes and 13 seconds left. They ran the ball 10 straight times for 59 yards on the road of Penn State from the one yard line. And they basically said, we’re running the ball. Stop us,” Meyer continued with.

The Buckeyes do have a proven run game and do have some of the best lineman in the country. The better question will be if their offensive line can hold up against the best of the best because it is evident just how good their defense can be.

With a few tough matchups ahead in Indiana and Michigan, they may not have their ticket punched to the College Football Playoff quite yet, but if this type of dominance continues, there’s no denying they’ll enter the first 12-team CFP as a favorite to win it all.