Jaguars HC Urban Meyer ranked at the top of an unflattering list

Could the Jacksonville Jaguars move on from Urban Meyer less than a year after hiring him as the head coach?

There’s constant turnover in the NFL at the head coaching level. In any given year, there are as many as half a dozen openings. This year, the Jacksonville Jaguars moved on from Doug Marrone and hired Urban Meyer as his replacement. Although the Ohio native has been on the job for less than a year, Patrick Walker of CBS Sports believes Meyer’s seat is currently the hottest in the league.

Walker lists Meyer at the top of his head coaching hot seat. He says the Jaguars head coach has made several costly mistakes during his first year at the helm and has done everything he wasn’t supposed to do.

"If there’s a blueprint for how to do everything right when taking the reins as a first-time NFL head coach, you’d have to presume there’s an antithesis that lists steps for virtually guaranteeing you’ll be fired before you get a shot at Year 2. If the latter didn’t exist before, it does now, and Meyer is the author. Anything Meyer could do wrong after joining the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason, he’s either done it, is doing it, or will probably get it done in the next several weeks."

Other coaches that popped up on Walker’s list are Matt Nagy (Chicago Bears), Joe Judge (New York Giants), and David Culley (Houston Texans). Only Nagy has coached in the NFL for more than two years. Both Meyer and Culley are in their first year while Judge is on his second season as Big Blue’s head coach.

It doesn’t make sense for the Jaguars to fire Urban Meyer in 2021.

Unless Meyer makes another jarring mistake, the Jaguars are better off keeping him. There’s no doubt he’s made mistakes since taking over last January but this is going to be a bumpy road and the organization knew it. The Jags haven’t won much in the last ten year and it will take time to get better. The head coach could easily say that he needs more time to turn things around, and he wouldn’t be wrong. Looking at how things unfold, it seems as if he’s struggling to make the transition from college to the pros, and may need a bit more time.

Meyer definitely has to improve, and soon. He must be aware of everything that’s happening at all times. Saying that he didn’t know running back James Robinson wasn’t on the field on a key play against the Tennesse Titans in Week 5 reflects poorly on him. He also needs to have better communication with his players. He told the local media the team wasn’t comfortable attempting a quarterback sneak despite the fact that Trevor Lawrence implied that he would be open to giving it a shot.

Also, Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke must make better personnel decisions. Some of their draft picks haven’t played a snap yet or have had a minimal role thus far. The same is true for their free-agent pickups. The Jags have a keeper in cornerback Shaquill Griffin, wide receiver Marvin Jones has been a key cog on offense, and return specialist Jamal Agnew is the real deal. However, the team’s brass failed to address the tight end position properly. The same is true for the cornerback room.

Firing Meyer during the 2021 season wouldn’t accomplish much but ultimately, the ball is in his court. If he learns from the mistakes he’s made during his tenure in the NFL and starts winning games, there will no longer be talks about him being fired or being in the hot seat.