In what seems to be an annual occurrence, Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coach Doug Marrone’s job is in jeopardy heading into the final week of the season. Marrone, who has been in Jacksonville since 2015 and got the head coaching title in 2016 — first in an interim role, then as the full-time coach — could be out of a job following Sunday’s season finale against the Indianapolis Colts.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, there is no word on exactly what is going to happen, but the prevailing thought is that Marrone won’t be employed for much longer after the game ends. Should that go down as expected, things would then get interesting.
The reporting indicates that decorated college football coach Urban Meyer, who most recently coached the Ohio State Buckeyes during the 2018 college football season, would not only be a candidate in Jacksonville, he’s apparently champing at the bit for the job. Meyer, per the report, is telling people close to him that he expects to be the one who leads the Jaguars into the 2021 NFL season.
The team has shown interest in former Florida and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who has been lining up a staff and telling people he’s close to in the football community that he expects to land in Jacksonville, per sources.
Now, it must be said that any college football fan will tell you that whenever a big-name job opens up, Meyer’s name will be linked to it at one point or another. He has also seen his name pop up in NFL searches before, but it is curious that he is apparently telling people he is expecting to get this job. Meyer has no NFL coaching experience, not even as an assistant, but is quite possibly the most accomplished coach of his era after Alabama is Nick’s Saban, Who also had a famous foray into the NFL ranks with the Miami Dolphins.
Meyer’s head coaching career included four stops: Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State. He accrued a 187-32 record and won a trio of national titles. There are legitimate questions about how Meyer — who has had a number of health issues in his career and takes losses harder than anyone else in the profession — would do in the NFL, but going to Jacksonville would theoretically mean that he could build a team in his own image, especially because the Jags will have the No. 1 pick in the 2021 Draft and has a clear path to selecting Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, should he make the jump to the NFL.
As for what happens if Meyer decides he does not want an NFL gig, Rapoport reports that his successor, Ryan Day, would pique the interest of the decision-makers in Jacksonville.
