Jaguars: Too early to tell if hiring Urban Meyer was a mistake

Head coach Urban Meyer had no trouble turning college programs into powerhouses. Thus, it wasn’t surprising to see the Jacksonville Jaguars hire him as the head coach to lead the rebuild. While it’s too early to tell how his tenure will play out, Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report wonders if he’s the right man to lead the Jags.

Sobleski recently drew up a list of the most bonehead decision every NFL team has made in 2021 and argues that hiring Meyer was a mistake and cites some of the questionable moves he’s made in his short stint as the Jaguars’ head coach.

"Urban Meyer wasn’t ready for the NFL, which quickly became evident. Everything started with his hiring of former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle, who was forced to leave the Hawkeyes program after allegations of racism and bullying surfaced. Still, Meyer defended the hire before backlash caused Doyle to resign."

Sobleski later brings up the $300,000 in fines the Jags got during the offseason, and the infamous videotape of Meyer that went viral a couple of days after the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

It’s too early to pass judgment on Jaguars head Urban Meyer.

Keep in mind that Meyer took over a team that had just one winning season since 2010 and had won just six games in the past two years. The head coach had his work cut out for him as soon as he took over the team, and expecting him to field a playoff team right out of the gate would have been unreasonable.

There’s no doubt Meyer has made mistakes. Hiring Chris Doyle as the Jaguars’ director of sports performance was one of his most questionable decisions. Staying in Ohio after the Jags’ loss against the Cincinnati Bengals should be up there too. Things got so bad afterwards that there was chatter about the organization moving on from him. In the end, owner Shad Khan decided to keep him but said that would need to regain the team’s trust.

On the other hand, the Jaguars have been competitive in recent weeks and have won two of their last four games. Again, turning the team around wasn’t going to be an easy task and Meyer should be scrutinized whenever he makes a poor decision. But saying that hiring him was a mistake even though he’s been on the job for less than a year is a reach.

There are eight games remaining on the Jaguars’ 2021 schedule. If Meyer can lead them to a few more wins and show progress, you won’t be hearing about his job security often. Then again, he’s just getting started and Year 2 of the rebuild will be critical for him. If the Jags aren’t competing for a playoff spot and fail to develop Trevor Lawrence next year, Meyer should definitely feel the heat. For the time being, he deserves a shot to right the ship.