Count Rex Ryan among those skeptical that Urban Meyer will find success in the NFL.
Ryan had a stern warning for the new Jacksonville Jaguars coach, even alluding to Bobby Petrino as evidence of how things can go awry for successful college coaches at the NFL level. Ryan said, via Brad Crawford of 247Sports:
“Welcome to the men’s league. You’re gonna find out real quick there’s a huge difference. Look, there’s no doubt this man can flat-out coach. But it is night-and-day difference. Why do coaches come into the league and quit after a year, don’t even make it a full year? I can give you two examples of that, Lou Holtz and the dude who quit on the Falcons (Bobby Petrino), whatever his name is. It’s a different league, it’s a different mindset. There’s no gimmes in here, you can’t schedule a victory, hey I’m gonna drop down a level, ain’t no I-AA’s in this league.”
Ryan added that Meyer will have to build through the draft and cannot simply recruit all the top talent at the NFL level. He also suggested that Meyer should add Raheem Morris to his staff to add some NFL experience. That’s something Meyer is reportedly looking into.
Ryan obviously isn’t the first person to voice concerns about Meyer adapting to the NFL level. That said, his college players have found plenty of success at the NFL level. Meyer certainly has a chance to do so as well, but plenty of things do need to go right.
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