Urban Meyer explains why Charlie Strong was his first hire in Jacksonville
By Andrew Olson
Published:
After a brief return to the SEC as an analyst at Alabama this past season, Charlie Strong has made the jump to the NFL for the first time in his multi-decade coaching career.
Strong has joined Urban Meyer’s Jacksonville Jaguars staff as the Assistant Head Coach and inside linebackers coach. Meyer recently shared that when putting together his Jaguars staff, Strong was his first hire.
“This is our third stop together,” Meyer told reporters this past week. “We were at Notre Dame under Lou Holtz and he was the first hire I made at Florida. That’s how much respect I have for him. The football acumen is incredible, but it’s much more than that. He’s a people person.
“This whole organization is going to be about the player. I didn’t say ‘soft on the player,’ but giving the player the very best that’s available to them. That means we’re going to push that player to the edge and we want to surround him with the best sports performance team, the best coaching staff, the best trainers, the best weight coaches. Coach Strong has that same vision. We share the same vision.”
Strong, 60, was on Meyer’s Florida staff for five seasons as co-defensive coordinator (2005-07) and sole defensive coordinator (2008-09) before leaving to take the Louisville head coaching job ahead of the 2010 season.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
