Urban Meyer reveals why he took an NFL head coaching job
By Keith Farner
Published:
For several years, Urban Meyer’s name was floated for various coaching jobs, including the NFL. But the Jacksonville Jaguars were the only franchise to convince him to become an NFL coach.
Ultimately, it took someone who is familiar with the college-to-the-NFL decision in Jimmy Johnson, who had similar success in college. Meyer is also aided by what he described as the closest college has been to the NFL ever, in his mind, he told NBC’s Peter King. So the transition is setup to be easier than in years past. But it was ultimately Johnson who helped convince Meyer
“I prayed hard on it,” the 57-year-old Meyer said. “It’s funny you bring Jimmy Johnson into it. He’s been a mentor, a guy that has become a mentor. He wasn’t in my younger days, but the last couple years, I’ve always admired him, and we’ve become friends. And I just felt an emptiness, and I had some opportunities in college. And he made a comment to me, ‘You’ve reached a point where you should just do what you want to do.’
It appears it was a combination of lack of recruiting, Shad Khan’s ownership and the Jaguars roster.
“And do I really want to go recruit 24/7 like it became? I’ve done that,” Meyer said. “I’ve always admired, appreciated and respected the NFL, and then this Shad Khan guy, once I got to know him, I mean, I love the guy. He wants to win so bad. I’ve always loved Jacksonville, Florida. And it’s like this puzzle got put together. I looked at film endlessly, saw some decent players here, and I thought, let’s go take a swing at it. That’s why we did it.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
