The wheels are already coming off for Urban Meyer and Week 1 hasn’t even started
The Jaguars hired Urban Meyer to chart a new course for the franchise, but he’s already rubbing people the wrong way in Jacksonville.
Jaguars officials should already be concerned about Urban Meyer’s performance as the team’s head coach and he hasn’t even coached a down of regular season football. The former Ohio State and Florida head coach is already exhibiting troubling signs in Jacksonville.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that Meyer already has everyone associated with the team “looking over their shoulders.” That’s particularly true for members of his coaching staff who have already been “belittled” in the aftermath of poor preseason results.
In fairness to Meyer, there’s no surprise that he’s experiencing some turbulence as he tries to transition from college to the NFL. Most coaches who make that leap really struggle to find the right balance between being a hands-on head coach and delegating responsibility to others. Professional football is just a different beast when compared to the college game.
The big concern for the Jaguars front office is how the situation could deteriorate quickly if the team gets off to a poor regular-season start. Jacksonville only won a single football game last season which put them in a position to nab quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the No. 1 overall pick.
Lawrence may lead the Jaguars to long-term success, but he could also struggle mightily at times during his rookie campaign. Meyer is not a head coach who is accustomed to losing. There’s no way of knowing how he might respond to getting pummeled on a weekly basis in the NFL.
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The real problem for the Jaguars is that they’ve already committed too much to Meyer to make any sort of immediate change. They’re likely stuck with him for at least a couple of seasons. Surrounding a potential franchise quarterback like Lawrence with a toxic ecosystem could set the Jaguars’ franchise back for a decade. Jacksonville fans should be very concerned about the negative culture Meyer is building.