JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Urban Meyer has always had an eye for the NFL, but it wasn’t the right time to make the jump until now.
Meyer said that he’d waited and studied the league when he first started getting interest about 10 years ago. But it wasn’t until the past year that Meyer began considering making a jump to the NFL a reality.
That waiting paid off for the Jaguars, who landed the three-time national champion college coach on Thursday night in the biggest hire in franchise history. Owner Shad Khan looked as happy as he’s ever been during Meyer’s 30-minute press conference on Friday afternoon, and he had plenty of reason for that excitement.
Jacksonville is coming off of a 1-15 season, although there’s never been a more exciting offseason than this one. The Jaguars have an NFL-high in cap space and hold the No. 1 pick in this spring’s draft.
Meyer is the splashiest hire Jacksonville has ever made and no doubt the person Khan feels can help turn the fortunes of the franchise around. Khan, who has very close ties to the University of Illinois, said he’d seen Meyer from afar leading Ohio State past his Illini many times over the years. They connected at the Super Bowl a year ago and the respect between the two men grew from there.
“It is an inflection point for the Jaguars. A lot of things have happened which really put us in a position really to win and the choice of the head coach was probably the most important thing,” Khan said. “I’m really gratified and I’m delighted obviously there, Urban’s on board.”
Meyer said that he did his research, a significant amount of it in all different facets. He spoke to general managers in confidence and friends of his in the league. Meyer picked the brains of former players in the league.
“I’ve always considered it, always thought about it, but not until the last 12, probably 13 months now … I just want to be educated, I want to be I spent a lot of time this year on the salary cap I understand the roster management,” Meyer said. “And I just want to be very well educated into something that is obviously going to be critical to our success.”
Meyer went 187-32 in college stops at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State, winning a pair of titles with the Gators and another with the Buckeyes.
Health issues ended his time in both Gainesville and Columbus. Meyer said that he was more aware of his health now than he was during his early coaching years. He referred back to brain surgery that he had in 2014 as a turning point in his health process. That surgery treated a congential arachnoid cyst in his brain that led to significant headaches and other health issues.
“Well if you’re asking me if I’m going enjoy losing I think we all know the answer that,” Meyer said of his health and how he’ll be different on the sidelines that before.
“I’m older, it’s something I’m going to be very conscientious of and something we’ll watch very closely. I will be the head coach but I’m going to hire great coaches that are going to be expected to do their job. I’m not going to be running around like and nut on the practice field. Those days are gone. I know what it’s supposed to look like. And I want to be very demanding of everyone. It’s something [his health] I’ll watch very closely, but it’s something that, you know, I had that surgery in 2014, that really helped things. But it’s just something to watch very closely.”
Meyer said that the first order of business is combing through the current Jaguars staff and
“I do [feel the excitement of the hire],” Meyer said. “I spent a lot of time down here obviously and then I spent a lot of time in Jacksonville recruiting. ... You know my kids were athletes growing up at the time so I remember driving to Jacksonville, 10 times a year for whatever events. We have great friends here and you know I kind of feel it through them. I have 479 messages I’m trying to get back to. It’s been fantastic and you know I can’t wait to do the very best for this incredible place.”