Evaluating Urban Meyer’s Transition to the Jaguars: What Will Be His NFL Identity?
There is zero question who the new man in charge in Jacksonville is. For the foreseeable future, the Jaguars as an organization will be defined by new head coach Urban Meyer and the identity he brings to the franchise.
But what exactly is that identity? Does Meyer fit as a coach in the NFL after decades in the college ranks? These are all questions that were raised before Meyer became Jacksonville's coach, and they haven't gone away since he signed on the dotted like when Shad Khan offered him a contract.
To get an idea of what Meyer will bring to the Jaguars in terms of mentality, priorities, and identity, we figured there would be nobody better to speak to than Brendan Gulick of Buckeyes Now. Gulick goes through our most pressing questions about Meyer and weighs in on his ability to lead the Jaguars into the future based on his success at Ohio State.
Q: Let's address the looming question: do you think Urban Meyer is the type of coach who can translate to the NFL?
Gulick: I think Urban Meyer is very calculated. He held all the cards since choosing to walk away from Ohio State. His resume as a college coach is probably enough to make him a Hall of Famer, so if he was ever going to jump back into coaching I think he would have wanted it to be the exact, perfect situation ... and for lots of reasons, Jacksonville appears to be that for him. With a boatload of draft picks, including the No. 1 overall pick and the opportunity to select a quarterback that he can build his franchise around, Meyer is in a great spot.
The cap is friendly for the Jags right now, too. He's going to be able to craft the kind of team he really wants to have. I also believe that his style at the college level would need some tweaking because I'm not sure that would translate perfectly to the NFL. He's already said publicly that he isn't going to be running around at practices the same way he was in previous years. You can't coach NFL players the same way you coach college players. It may work with some of them, but that style is often unsuccessful at the NFL level.
I think Meyer has had ample time to discuss with other coaches that have made the jump to the league and former players of his that have played in the NFL about what he would need to do if he wants to win.
One thing is for sure - Meyer is a perfectionist and if you're not the best in the country at what you do, he doesn't want to be associated with you. He demands excellence. I think he will bring a culture of accountability to Jacksonville and will surround himself with coaches and personnel that are of that same mindset.
There are plenty of examples of NFL teams that turn things around fairly quickly. The league isn't structured for teams to stink long-term, the same way it's not structured for teams to dominate Super Bowls. There's a reason there haven't been repeating Super Bowl champions in almost two decades now (2003 and 2004 Patriots). I believe that Meyer can win in Jacksonville, if given the time and resources to do so.
Q: Meyer is going to be the main voice in Jacksonville, putting his personal touches on every aspect of the franchise. As a result, the team will take on his identity for them. What were the identities of Meyer's Ohio State teams?
Gulick: Meyer's teams at Ohio State were relentless. They personified toughness on both sides of the ball. It was never enough to be good. They wanted to dominate every game. More than anything else, he changed the way Big Ten football was played because he prioritized recruiting players with elite speed. I know he's also said he wants to have the fastest team in the NFL. I think that's right on par with the way he's coached in the past.
Q: Meyer only brought along Ryan Stamper from OSU. What can you tell us about Stamper and what it says that Meyer thought enough of him to bring him with him to Jacksonville?
Gulick: I don't know Stamper particularly well - I'm fairly new to covering the Buckeyes for FanNation and with COVID-19 shutting things down in person the way they have, I haven't really gotten to know him. But his reputation is impressive and I know Ohio State will miss him.
He was instrumental in developing a program at Ohio State called Real Life Wednesdays. The initiative put business and athletic leaders in front of Ohio State athletes for real world education on life after football. The program included resume writing, a speaker series, networking practice and concluded each spring with a job fair that typically drew 50-75 businesses to campus. He did a lot to help Ohio State players prepare for life beyond football, and that's something that the program has put a major emphasis on.
He also played for Meyer and was a terrific linebacker for him at Florida, playing on both of the national championship teams Meyer coached there (2006, 2008).
Q: It seems like Ohio State has been right up there with Alabama in terms of putting talent into the NFL over the last few years. Why do you think that is? Is it because Meyer's staff were that good at developing once players hit campus?
Gulick: That's certainly part of it. When you have elite coaches working with elite, high-character players, you're typically going to get elite results. But I think it's deeper than that. Talent acquisition (recruiting) is the heart and soul of college football and few do that better than the Buckeyes.
Ohio State's culture is as impressive as any I've ever been around. I think there are a number of reasons for that, but the biggest one is perhaps one you may not have considered. Ohio State Football's digital creative team and social media presence are far and away the most impactful in college football. The only other school nationally that could even compare to that same level of impact is LSU, if you look at the data that came out recently. It's been like this now for several years.
I point that out because it's made an enormous impact in recruiting. Ohio State has prioritized helping their players build their own personal brands on social media and trying to position them to monetize their name, image, and likeness for when the NCAA changes their bylaws on that soon. The constant flow of creative, incredible content that is pumped out on their channels, combined with the team's success on the field, has become extremely attractive to recruits.
So the whole thing has become cyclical ... they are recruiting the best players in the country each year (No. 2 incoming class of freshmen this fall, and the high school Class of 2022 - the rising high school seniors - Ohio State has the best group of commits already by a ridiculous margin), they have elite coaches, arguably the best strength and conditioning coach in the country, they've won four straight league titles and routinely compete for a College Football Playoff spot ... which makes the program that much more attractive to the next wave of elite high school kids across the country.
How does Urban Meyer fit into all of that? In many ways, he hired the people to put a lot of these things into place. His staff proved they could develop college players into ready-made NFL pros. Four of the last five years, a Buckeye has won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (Joey Bosa, Marshon Lattimore, Nick Bosa, Chase Young). Meyer took a program that has unbelievable pride and tradition, that was going through a tough time when Coach Tressel resigned and Luke Fickell had a tough year with a program in limbo, and he brought instant credibility back to it.
His first year, despite not being able to compete for a national title because of NCAA sanctions, he went undefeated and the team never looked back. He essentially picked Ryan Day as the heir apparent and hired him a couple of years before he "retired", and now the program is continuing this incredible trajectory because Meyer's fingerprints are all over everything that Ohio State does.
5) Meyer has said he won't call plays, but it is clear that he will have a major impact on their quarterback -- who will be selected at No. 1 overall. What can you tell us about Meyer's influence on Ohio State quarterbacks and how he aided them?
Gulick: Meyer's influence on the QB at Ohio State was quite clear. Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones, and Dwayne Haskins were fantastic players. Meyer also recruited Joe Burrow, who rarely played a snap for the Buckeyes. Cardale was a bit of an anomaly because he was the third-string QB in 2014, but after Miller and Barrett got hurt, he was forced into action ... and the team won the national championship in the inaugural CFP that year.
Miller and Barrett in particular are new-age QB's that could run as well as they could throw. Haskins was drastically different with a rocket arm. In one season as a starter, he broke the Big Ten all-time single-season passing TD's record. Football has become a QB-driven game. If you have an elite player at that position, you can make a bad team good and a good team great. Without that kind of talent at QB, the team has a really hard time achieving at a high level. Meyer has shown he can win with different kinds of QB's, but you still need a guy that can play at an exceptionally high level.
Even though his professional career hasn't really taken off, J.T. Barrett was so well-respected by his teammates that he became the first-ever three-time captain in Ohio State football history. That has since been replicated this past year by linebacker Tuf Borland, but Barrett was the first to do it. Meyer values leadership in that position above all else. You've got to take care of the ball and the guys that played for Urban largely did that well.
With all that being said, it feels like the worst kept secret in football that Trevor Lawrence will be the first overall pick. Should Meyer choose Lawrence to be the face of the franchise in Jacksonville, I think the Jaguars will turn things around quickly. Without diving too deep into X's and O's, Lawrence is absolutely the kind of QB that Meyer has shown he can win with during his college days. His intangibles and ability is off-the-charts, he's got the physical tools to excel in the NFL and he's known for being incredibly mature. He's Meyer's kind of guy.
