Since then, Urban Meyer, in public and in private, has talked about how he knew he was now working in the NFL, not in the Ohio or Florida state.
His players are now adults, not university kids. They have commitments, families, agents, contracts and experience. They also often have the confidence and power to express their concerns and opinions. Teams these days need to be something of a partnership, not just a dictatorship. And it’s not just a comparison between university and pro. That is 2021 versus 2015 or 2009 or when.
“Times are changing,” Meyer said last month. ‘… I mean, the whole country has changed, everything has changed. And so you have to adapt, and those who adapt have success, those who do not, fail. ‘
Talking is cheap, of course, and even under Meyer’s words you can see potential problems lurking. Then he made the disastrous decision this week with a.
That coach, Chris Doyle, resigned late Friday, just a day after accepting the post.
“Chris did not want to be a distraction,” Meyer said in a statement.
Too late for that.
After taking up the post last month, he tried to downplay his transition from the king of college to the unproven NFL coaching newcomer by noting that he had adjusted his two decades at the university level. The way he coached at Bowling Green was not the way he coached at Ohio State.
After that, he equates coaching NFL players with coaching all the players he sent to the NFL, although the circumstances are different.
He sounded like who he is: the uber-confident, my-way-always-working, able to rationalize everything that the characteristics achieved after three national titles and a winning percentage of .854.
Part of that is what made him great and Jacksonville can still make him great.
Only a part of it.
Appointing Doyle as the new director of sports performance in the team made no sense. Doyle spent 20 years at the University of Iowa before former Hawkeyes players emerged. Meyer took him anyway and rejected the fuss, or even unaware of it.
Then he did.
“We are responsible for all aspects of our program, and should, in retrospect, have paid more attention to the impact of his appointment on all involved,” Meyer said in a statement.
It’s better to be Meyer’s mulligan, otherwise he’s going to fail exactly the way he set out in his introductory news conference – due to the inability to adapt.
He can presumably alleviate the difficult feelings between NFL players, both the current Jaguars, and the kind of free agents Meyer wants to recruit, and himself. It was his own fault for his credibility. It does not have to be fatal.
Meyer rationalized that Doyle was the best in the business and thus would give the players the best chance of winning.
“The one thing I have a lot of confidence in is that within a year or two I would think we would have the best sports performance team in the National Football League,” Meyer said.
It’s a rah-rah, hyperbole. It works on teens and desperate fans and boosters. And that’s how Meyer has always worked. Throw an impossible quantifiable statement out there and use it as a reason for madness and as a blow to critics.
If you do not agree with Meyer, you should not want to win as much as he does. If you challenge him, do not care as much as he does.
However, these are no longer unpaid children. Professional players know that the strength and strength coaches are pretty easy to find. The high-paying, hurried man – Doyle earned $ 1.1 million for his final year in Iowa – is mostly a college recruiter.
If Doyle was so amazing, why was he anyway? Meyer did not hire him from the Patriots or Steelers, or even Alabama.
Meyer said he ‘watched [Doyle] thoroughly, ”although what it means is unknown. He said the Jags owner and general manager was on the background test, but also not an African-American or a current or former player. And nothing about the process has been shared in public, except that Meyer said, “I’ve known Chris for almost 20 years.”
This is not really positive in this case. It sounds like one friend saving another. Although nepotism is rampant in NFL coaching staff, it was ridiculous, especially for a new coach.
At university, Meyer’s successful record was enough for amplifiers, administrators, fans, even many media, to excuse all his actions, because the goal always justifies the way: win. Meanwhile, players who were desperate for success and eager to move to the NFL flocked to his system.
When Meyer was occasionally challenged, he took it badly. Ohio State because he still employed an assistant coach, despite Meyer.
Meyer, referring to his health.
Now he is back, with his first obstacle.
If he can somehow match his tremendous coaching talent and confidence to a professional institution based on mutual respect and cooperation, the Jaguars can become successful. That weakness he has can be a wonderful thing for a football operation.
It must also adapt to Meyer’s new reality. Or else it is doomed.
This is the gamble with Meyer. This has always been the gamble with Meyer. A high-risk, high-reward, high drama, high thread.
Welcome to the NFL.
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