The college Football kickoff took place just one week before the NFL regular season starts. There were several intriguing matchups, but Ohio State vs. Texas took the cake. One of the biggest storylines of the game was Julian Sayin's debut with the Buckeyes. Urban Meyer doesn't think head coach Ryan Day's questionable decision-making helped, which led him to give sound advice that he should've listened to during his stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Although Sayin helped Ohio State beat Texas, he and fellow quarterback Arch Manning went 2-of-3 in fourth-down attempts. That's not particularly surprising when you take into account that both of them are inexperienced. What stood out was that Meyer put some of the blame for his struggles on Day for being so aggressive.
Urban Meyer believes Ryan Day's decision-making affected Julian Sayin
Urban Meyer said on the FOX halftime broadcast that Ryan Day's aggressive playcalling didn't help Julian Sayin in the first half.
"I want to talk about what could've been, "Meyer said via Nich Schultz of ON3. "There were a couple coaching decisions early in the game. When you have an elite defense - I've been fortunate to have some great defenses, a young quarterback - play field position. There were four fourth downs in the first half, three of them I was like, 'What are we doing?' ... I get it. I get why you're aggressive and all that."
Meyer continued, "But you know what? Early in the season, this kind of elite defense with a young quarterback, let them go come out. That's when young quarterbacks make mistakes."
You will agree that this is sound advice, one head coaches should use take, including Meyer himself.
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Why Urban Meyer failed Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars
Sometimes, the messenger is as important as the message itself. This is true for Urban Meyer's latest remarks. After all, he had a young quarterback in Trevor Lawrence when he was hired to be the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars and did the complete opposite of what he's preaching.
For starters, Lawrence was expected to be the unquestioned starter as a rookie. Yet, he had to split reps with Gardner Minshew. Sure, you could argue that players need to earn their job, but when the plan was for the Clemson Tiger to begin the season under center, he could've taken all the practice he needed to be ready. This wasn't possible because of Meyer's plan.
On top of that, Meyer, along with general manager Trent Baalke, didn't surround Lawrence with a competent supporting cast. No offense to Laquon Treadwell, but he's been a backup-level receiver throughout his career. Not many quarterbacks will thrive with him as their No. 1 target.
Similarly, Meyer brought in Tim Tebow to play tight end. However you look at it, those kind of moves weren't ever going to help the then-rookie quarterback or the team.
This is even worse when you take into account that Meyer vowed to put every single player in a position to succeed, but as former Jaguars wide receiver D.J. Chark Jr. revealed, that was all lies.
Heck, Marvin Jones Jr. also said that he had realized after just two weeks that Meyer was all words and no substance. Not surprisingly, he was kicked to the curb less than a year after getting hired to turn things around.
Fast forward to 2025, and Meyer is puffing his chest and talking about how someone else is failing to help his quarterback. He should travel back in time and give himself his own advice. Maybe then, he might've lasted a couple more seasons with the Jaguars.