Buddy Martin Blog: Urban’s Way 3.0. How Will Meyer address questions as Jaguars's coach?
Why is this man smiling? He's happy to be back in coaching. (Fox photo)
Urban Meyer believes in the mantra “Hope & Opportunity” so strongly that he frequently mentions it as the key ingredient to our future for young people. It is the platform he used at Ohio State with recruits, parents and in his media messages. And still does.
Then one day he saw that Hope & Opportunity for himself and decided to go for the brass ring – again. Check that – the diamond ring!
Hello Jacksonville Jaguars. Get ready to strap it on. The new sheriff in River City is a serious dude and he’s in a hurry.
His closest friends once dubbed him “Captain Emergency.” Over the years perhaps that was dialed down to “Captain Urgency.” But he’s on a mission for success -- just like he was at Utah, Florida and Ohio State.
He calls it The Plan To Win. And he no doubt started invoking that plan six months ago before he was ever sure he wanted to coach again. If history is any barometer, he’ll have the Jaguars contending by year two.
“Urban,” Steve Spurrier once said, “has a plan for everything.”
Given the state of his health and happiness, I thought that he would pass on coaching for now, even though he loves Florida and had his eye cast toward the First Coast.
Like so many other of his quests, Urban not only wanted to do his homework on the Jacksonville job first, he was researching it like a thesis. He’s not only The Thinker – he’s the Over-Thinker.
Having an audience with Urban for more than 23 straight weeks since last summer as I co-hosted his Best Fridays in Football podcast -- usually preceded by some brief personal chat -- one might think I’d have garnered key insights about his future coaching employment.
We generically discussed his future in coaching several times, but not in depth, since his name was coming up almost every week as a coveted prospect. Southern Cal. Auburn. Texas. And then the scuttlebutt drifted toward the NFL.
Urban Meyer in the NFL? The guy who once created his own mini-version of Bear Bryant’s Junction by running his Bowling Green players through a gauntler in a closed gym until they puked their guts out? THAT Urban Meyer? “A 32-year-old coach out of control,” as he would later describe himself, vowing never to be that way again.
Yes, and a guy who learned from his mistakes.
Frankly, he said he would never say “never” about coaching. That just sounded like coaching rhetoric to me. At first I thought there was very little chance we were going to see him on the sideline anytime soon, if ever, with the odds of his coaching about 30 percent.
I’m supposed to be a reporter, however, and I flunked because I failed to crack the code and didn’t really see it coming.
After numerous informal chats about it, I moved the odds up to about 40 percent, or 60 per cent against, although I was starting to hear a buzz from my colleagues that he was seriously considering a return. But to the NFL?
Then the heat turned up in December as the beheading of coaches accelerated.
On our last podcast January 6 I kept my promise of not asking him about jobs anymore if he would be willing to come on for a final podcast right after his decision one way or another. He agreed.
BEST FRIDAY'S IN FOOTBALL PODCAST https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vYmVzdGZyaWRheXNpbmZvb3RiYWxs/episode/ZGYxODNmMWUtNTFjMS0xMWViLTlhODAtMDcwYmIzOTk1OTQ4?hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwjpirfl7q_uAhWph-AKHSdDCjwQieUEegQIDhAF&ep=6
But for the next two weeks there was radio silence and after taking the Jaguars job, only a light well-wishing text from me:
“Thrilled for you. Welcome home. #HopeAndOpportunity.”
To which he responded: “Thanks Buddy.”
(Bulletin: Just as I was typing that, Urban texted me that he would be available next week for a final podcast, making good on his promise. Send me any questions by or leave them on our GatorBaitMedia.com message board.)
He is a polarizing figure. There will be those who will mock Urban and say he has manipulated the system by feigning poor health and should be considered a mercenary who cuts and runs at the first sight of blood.
That is a false narrative, of course, but in this day of twisted facts, conspiracy theories and Write Your Own Truth, haters are inevitable. Comes with. Meyer could care less and has no time for the naysayers.
Has he made mistakes? Of course. He admits to being flawed like all of us. Did he harbor a band of criminals at Florida? Of course not! Is he responsible for the Covid-19 Virus, Global Warming and Ozone Layer Pollution? Probably not.
Meanwhile, Urban has exploded on the scene like a rock star and tickets for the concert are about to be sold out. But can Hope & Opportunity survive in the abyss of football purgatory?
In college football if you lose more than one game you’re probably out of the hunt for a championship. In the NFL, losing three or four games is an outstanding season. But how will those losses weigh on Urban?
Ever since Jacksonville decided it wanted to court an NFL team, even way back in 1990 when I worked there in newspaper, TV and radio jobs, it looked and felt like a crucible, full of both dreams and doubts. I was on the doubting side for six months, and then one day I caught the spirit and the vision.
Job opportunity called me away as I joined Terry Bradshaw on the NFL Today Show for three years. Then I looked up in 1996 and the Jaguars were born with Wayne Weaver as owner. Since that time they have enjoyed only a season or two in the sun, but hardly qualify as a success with a franchise record of 184-246 and a 7-7 post season mark.
The plot of the crucible thickened as Pakistani-born American billionaire Shad Khan, 70, bought them in 2011 and became the second-fastest owner to 100 losses. He currently sits at a pathetic 39-105. Recently fired Doug Marrone after winning only one game in 2020, but Marrone did once beat Pittsburgh to win the AFC for his only winning season.
There have been many stories written about Khan potentially moving the Jaguars to London, which would be a pity for the city of Jacksonville. Finally Khan changed his philosophy from hands-off ownership to hands-on. He met Urban Meyer at the Super Bowl and the courtship began. Gradually they forged a deal. He gave Urban the family jewels, $12 million a year in salary, about $100M in cap money and 11 drafts picks, including the No. 1 overall choice that will likely go for Trevor Lawrence. Maybe Urban has spared Jacksonville's NFL franchise from going abroad.
I don’t consider myself an expert on Urban Meyer or claim to know his mind, but as his friend, official biographer in 2008 (Urban’s Way, St. Martin’s Press) and colleague on his podcast for 23 straight weeks, I know a bit about him personally and professionally.
I know there will be flak. Urban Meyer has several flak jackets. He’s going to be tough to take out. And if he goes, as always, it will be on his terms. I predict he will save the Jaguars franchise for DUUUUU-VAL!
I think Khan made a great hire.
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