Count Rex Ryan among skeptics that Urban Meyer will succeed in the NFL.
Ryan had a severe warning to the new Jacksonville Jaguars coach, even referring to Bobby Petrino as proof of how things can go wrong for successful college coaches at the NFL level. Ryan said, through Brad Crawford of 247Sports:
“Welcome to the men’s league. You will quickly discover that there is a big difference. Look, there is no doubt that this man can train without reservation. But it is the difference overnight. Why do coaches join the league and give up after a year, or even a whole year? I can give two examples of this, Lou Holtz and the guy who gave up on Falcons (Bobby Petrino), whatever his name is. It’s a different league, it’s a different mindset. There are no gimmes here, you can’t schedule a win, hey, I’m going to go down one level, there is no I-AA in this league. “
Ryan added that Meyer will have to make progress during the draft and cannot simply recruit all the best talent in the NFL. He also suggested that Meyer should add Raheem Morris to his team to add some NFL experience. This is something that Meyer is investigating.
Ryan is obviously not the first person to express concerns about Meyer’s adaptation to the NFL level. That said, his college players have been very successful at the NFL level. Meyer certainly has a chance to do that too, but a lot of things need to work out.