It’s been a wild few days in the college football world. This had already been a blockbuster coaching carousel cycle with the Southern California, Louisiana State, and Florida jobs opening up, but on Sunday and Monday, things got even weirder. Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley bolted to Los Angeles and LSU poached longtime Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly from South Bend, meaning two more blue-blood programs will be searching for head coaches in the coming days.
With the Fighting Irish job abruptly opening, the rumor mill quickly began spinning about Jaguars coach Urban Meyer potentially taking the job. Meyer has called Notre Dame his “dream job” several times in the past, and with his Jacksonville team struggling in his first year at the helm and sitting at 2-9, it’s not exactly outlandish to think that Meyer, who has won national championships at Florida and Ohio State, would look to jump back to the college ranks.
However, according to a report from ESPN’s Mike DiRocco, Meyer has no interest in college openings and is “committed to rebuilding the franchise” in Jacksonville.
Filed to ESPN: Per a league source, Jaguars coach Urban Meyer has no interest in taking another college coaching job and remains committed to rebuilding the franchise.
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) November 30, 2021
Since it’s Meyer we’re dealing with, the reaction to this report has been, naturally, a bit skeptical. However, a return to college wouldn’t make a lot of sense for Meyer. He stepped away from both Florida and Ohio State after dealing with health problems, and when he left the Buckeyes in 2018, he said he was retiring from coaching.
The chance to jump to the NFL was a unique opportunity for Meyer to take a coaching job that was less demanding in terms of not having to recruit high school players year-round. He also faces much lower expectations in Jacksonville than he would at a big-time college coaching job.
Jaguars fans hoping that Meyer will voluntarily leave the NFL may be out of luck, but only time will tell if this report is accurate.
