Urban Meyer knows what he’s getting into in Jacksonville

I think Urban Meyer, who is closing a deal with the Jaguars, you know what you’re getting into.

I think he understands that he won’t be able to get the equivalent of 15 choices in the first round every four years or more, as he did in Florida and Ohio, which allowed him to stack his cards and make it impossible for 90% of competitors to race with he. I think he understands that losing five games in a year is a good season in the NFL, coming from an environment where a single loss can essentially end the season (see: 2009 Florida, ’15 and ’18 Ohio State).

I think all of this, in fact, because I know how deeply he studied the NFL, and how his opinion of it is colored with a realistic view of the gap between the teams in the professionals. And it all came to a head when he and I talked last spring about his NFL research.

Kelvin Kuo / USA TODAY Sports

“The best thing I did was call a group of former athletes,” he said. “I just asked them, ‘Tell me about the culture, tell me about team meetings, tell me about expectations, work ethics, responsibility. I had an idea, but what’s amazing to me is when I listen to the media and the fans, and even others say that the reason they’re losing is because they have bad players. This is one of the most absurd things I have heard in my entire life. I mean, they are NFL players.

“There is no such thing as a bad player in the NFL. Now, you have superstars, some may not be the right fit, there may be some character flaws, there may be some things going on. But to use the term ‘bad player’? And I hear that as an excuse. – Hey, he’s a bad quarterback. What are you talking about? Because I heard that and I used to get angry when they said that about our players. I heard someone say, ‘Alex Smith is a bad player’.

“He was the best thing I ever knew when he left Utah. So I do my homework and find out what it is. They are certainly not bad players. There are certain organizations that win every year. There are certain organizations that cannot win, but they have better players on paper than other organizations, because they recruit from them every year. Every year. So, I would challenge everyone: ‘When you say they are a bad player, what, are you crazy?’ They are not bad players. “

Meyer was just getting started, explaining what, as he sees, this It’s.

“Culture and criteria,” he continued. “There are two things you have to do. Number one, develop and implement a culture in your organization. And it has to be a culture: That’s how it is, non-negotiable. And the other thing is the acquisition of talent. How are you acquiring talent? What is your criterion? Are they all on the same page? And what I discovered, who wins, is this. Those who can’t win, that’s it.

“It is not whether they run in the zone or in the stretch, or in the three-level passes against the crossing routes. I know people think this is it. Yes, this is fun. This is intriguing. But that is not why certain teams win. You walk into the locker room and know why they win. And you talk to your players who are in these organizations and you know exactly why they win. Because the head coach and the GM, and everyone, are aligned with culture and talent acquisition ”.

Watch? It’s all there. A very clear perspective on the talent gap in the NFL from one team to another and from one player to another. An acknowledgment of how competitive the league is. And a well-developed opinion on what separates the great coaches and team builders of the squad from a league where victory happens for those who have the margin.

Meyer is ready for the NFL challenge, because he knows what the challenge is.

So you can avoid the questions about whether he will understand that Percy Harvin will not be covered by a future insurance salesman or Joey Bosa will be blocked by a guy with a professional future in finance. He does. And the above feeling about what it takes to win in the NFL can fully illustrate to you why the process of taking the job was a process for Meyer – out of respect for what he believed he needed to win, based on all that research he did.

That’s why he not only accessed his Rolodex to align a technical team, but also supported the team in areas such as strength and conditioning and player development, to build a program that is holistic and goes far beyond the cover-3 vs. race. . It is also almost certain that his requests for improvements to the facilities were vital – he knows how much he will ask players to invest and wants to make sure that he can make the same investment in them.

And frankly, that’s exactly what the Jaguars need. Jacksonville is not an offensive guru far from winning. The organization needs a thorough cleaning, as Buffalo did when Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane arrived in 2017. This means eradicating what a longtime employee called “9 to 5 culture” in the building, and in fact, it can only be done by taking the thing to the stallions, as McDermott and Beane did.

This requires more than one trainer; requires an agent of change. That’s exactly what Meyer has been wherever he goes, even shaking the identity of bluebloods like Florida and Ohio State, where a few discussed adjustments to total revenue would have been sufficient. As a result, Meyer took the two programs to another level.

But does that mean it will work 100%? Not that. Because while some of the most frequently asked questions about Meyer’s viability in the NFL are easier to answer than you think, others are not – and no, it won’t be as simple as Meyer launching his old program to extend a winning record that is nothing less than crazy (187-32, and two or less defeats in 12 of the last 15 seasons as a coach).

This starts with how difficult your program is, which is just as demanding as Nick Saban’s (which was not a huge success in the NFL) and Bill Belichick’s (which has been). The key? The key will be how quickly it can deliver results to older players. Saban’s path irritated Dolphins players after Miami chose Daunte Culpepper over Drew Brees and the losses increased. Belichick, on the other hand, won a Super Bowl in his second year in New England, which gave him permission to point to the trophy case if anyone complained.

This goes back to a saying that Meyer continually pressured his coaches in Columbus: testimony theory. At the university level, Meyer had testimony. In the NFL, he hasn’t done it yet. He just has theory and will have to sell it and gain testimony before his message becomes obsolete, which is a struggle that any obstinate old school coach faces in the NFL.

Then, there will be the composition and adhesion of your team. I doubt that he is the author of the game, and he is much more a creator of culture than a schemer at this point in his life. But he has principles about what he wants to do and how to get there, and he would oversee the attack, even if he was not in the bush. He would like to know why a move was being made, just as he would like to know why an exercise was in the practice script – and the answer could not be simply because that is how a coach has always done this.

That’s why it makes sense to see names like ex-Texas coach Charlie Strong, ex-Rutgers coach Chris Ash, Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley and Colorado State coach Steve Addazio (and support team names like Ryan Stamper of Ohio State) in the pipeline for work with Meyer. They are immersed in their ways and know what to expect. But several guys who know Meyer well warn that he will absolutely need experienced NFL coaches on the team to make this work, and how these people adapt to the program will be critical.

Then there’s Meyer himself. He is 57 years old. Your health problems are real. They originally emerged during a 13-1 year in Florida and resurfaced during a 13-1 campaign in Ohio, which raises the question of how he would handle, say, a 6-10 first year in Jacksonville – the that would mark five improvement year after year of the game.

“Fourth and one with the game at stake, that’s how he lives his life,” said one of his former assistants.

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This brings us back to the truth – that way, he is 100% what Jacksonville needs, someone to shake up a building where the ethics of the clock forever weighed the football operation. When they buy Meyer, they are getting a guy who will not tolerate it, and it is good for the Jaguars to see that they need it.

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