Urban Meyer still has a job. Even after the saga that began with the married Jacksonville Jaguars head coach rubbing and grinding with a woman in his Ohio bar.
And exploded with a viral video that shook the NFL community and has negative ramifications for Meyer and the 24-year-old woman involved.
The soap opera component of this sports moment has provided social media with a feast of plots, subplots, opinions and giant stones to cast against Meyer.
The fact that Meyer was ultimately forgiven by Jaguars owner Shad Khan only helps his public relations standing. Not his cachet as a coach.
The fact that he just admitted that deciding not to fly back with the team after the loss to Cincy was a foolish decision is another head-scratcher.
“Yeah, I look back now … I talked to our GM about it. It didn’t seem like a big deal, but yeah that’s something I won’t do,” Meyer said Friday.
He’s still 0-5 and winless as an NFL head coach. There have been whispers that Meyer’s employment might not last past Sunday in London if the franchise goes down (for the 21st straight time) against the Dolphins.
The Urban Meyer Era Is 0-4 With A Huge Media L | What Was The Jaguars Coach Thinking? – The Shadow League https://t.co/YCzqVg8vhH
— Atlanta Black Star (@ATLBlackStar) October 5, 2021
The fact that Meyer is still employed is unfathomable to some talking heads who have called for his dismissal.
Only the expansion Tampa Bay Bucs (26 games) have a longer losing streak since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
The Chicago Cardinals had 29 straight losses from 1942-45, the longest in NFL history, although that streak came before the merger with the AFL.
The Jags are quickly approaching those levels of historical futility.
Do Or Die?
Urban Meyer has coached in college national championship games in front of 100,000 screaming fans and in major bowl games.
This weekend’s NFL game against the Dolphins, however, is the most important game of Meyer’s football career.
The job of an NFL head coach is to win. Being handsome and charismatic and rich and a controversial college coaching icon only helps when it comes to branding.
But the only way for a head coach to truly keep the haters and vultures away is to stack W’s. Eventually the stench of being a losing franchise infects everyone. Even the highly-touted, hotshot coach from college.
The Jaguars since this tweet: 20 straight losses https://t.co/f74hZz6Pr4
— Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) October 11, 2021
The Heat Is On: 20 Losses & Counting
There’s no guarantee that Meyer is going to win a game anytime soon. The Jaguars have a rookie quarterback, a lack of talent and a head coach who is obviously not locked into getting the most out of his team.
Meyer’s shown very little evidence that he has a concrete plan to build a winner. His ability to develop rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence was supposed to be one of the qualities that compelled Khan to totally ignore the NFL’s Rooney Rule — which requires that at least one minority coach get an interview — and woo Meyer like he was the second coming of Tom Landry or something.
Football knowledge aside, Meyer doesn’t seem to possess the qualities that make a winning coach. His judgment will forever be questioned. His work ethic is now considered suspect.
Meyer’s lack of success at the NFL level is also problematic when trying to get players to buy into a system.
He was a proven leader of boys at Florida and Ohio State, but he’s yet to prove that he’s a sound leader of men. This weekend will give us more insight into Urban Meyer’s future. If he gets blown out Shad Khan could change his mind about the value of his coach.
Today should be Urban Meyer's final game as the #Jaguars' head coach.
The #Browns' Baker Mayfield apparently is bulletproof in Cleveland.
A huge #NFLPA coincidence on Friday. And much more in our Week 5 Sunday NFL Notes @NYDNSports @NYDailyNews https://t.co/DMoYDAevgU
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) October 10, 2021
If Meyer doesn’t get fired after Sunday’s game, he inches closer to getting his pink slip with every record loss.
