On Thursday, the Jacksonville Jaguars named former Florida and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer the head coach. He is the seventh head coach in the team’s 27-year history, replacing Doug Marrone.
The 56-year-old from Toledo, OH, last coached in the 2019 Rose Bowl game with Ohio State. He has been a College Football broadcaster for FOX and an assistant athletic director of athletics initiatives and relations at Ohio State.
In his 17-year college football coaching career, Meyer is 187-32, tied for 27th all-time with Jess Neely. He has coached four teams starting at Bowling Green (2001-02), Utah (2003-04), Florida (2005-10), and Ohio State (2012-18). As a coach, he has won three national championships (2 with Florida, one for Ohio State), seven conference championships (2 with Utah, two at Florida, and three at Ohio State), and a 12-3 bowl record.
In 2009, Meyer took a leave of absence while in Florida and returned in 2010. After the Gators finished 7-5, Meyer announced his first retirement and would work for ESPN as a commentator and analyst. He was only there for a year before leaving for the Ohio State job in 2012. In 2014, he led the Buckeyes to win the first CFP National Championship over the Oregon Ducks 42-20 in Dallas, TX.
After winning his third national championship, Meyer would win the 2015 Fiesta Bowl and 2017 Cotton Bowl. In 2018, Meyer was placed on paid administrative leave after reports surfaced that he knew about the domestic violence between former assistant coach Zach Smith and Smith’s former wife.
The Ohio State Board of Trustees found that he and AD Gene Smith did not uphold values at the university. He was suspended for three games, and Ryan Day coached those three games. The Buckeyes would finish 13-1 and won the Rose Bowl. For the second time, Meyer would then retire due to health issues and once again go back to a college football analyst for FOX Sports.
Now that the Jacksonville Jaguars have their head coach, they are in the process of finding a General Manager after letting David Caldwell go on November 29th. The Jaguars have over $73 million in cap space and eleven draft picks, including the number one overall pick. Meyer will now focus on adding coaches to his staff. For the 2021 season, the Jaguars will play the AFC South, NFC West, AFC East, the Cincinnati Bengals, and New York Jets.
