The Jacksonville Jaguars are hiring Urban Meyer to serve as the team’s next head coach, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
After 17 years and three National Championships, Meyer will now look to test his skills at the next level.
This week, ESPN college football insider Paul Finebaum appeared on "SportsCenter" and offered his thoughts on what Meyer would likely find most difficult in the pro game, via 247Sports' Garrett Stephien:
“I think dealing with defeat.
“Urban Meyer has lost very few times in his career, and each loss, it nearly killed him — I mean that literally. He left Florida and he left Ohio State because of health issues, because he takes it so hard. All coaches do, but he elevated that to a level we have not seen.
“So if he can deal with that — and the NFL’s a very difficult situation where sometimes going 9-7 is considered good enough — Urban Meyer has to deal with that. It’s not life or death if you lose the game as long as you can get to the playoffs.
“So ultimately, I think that’s the real task. But don’t forget this — in the last 20 years, outside of Nick Saban, Urban Meyer is the best coach in college football. He was absolutely unbelievable and I think that can translate over to the NFL, if he has the right staff and the right complements of players — which I think he will, this year, because of the draft.”
Over the course of his time with Ohio State, Meyer went 83-9. It’s safe to say that he won’t experience anything close to that level of success with the Jaguars, especially not early on.
That said, if he gets the right picks in the looming 2021 NFL Draft, Meyer’s transition could ultimately end up being much better than most people are anticipating.
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