Can Urban Meyer be taken seriously again as a college football studio analyst after one of the most disastrous NFL head coaching tenures in recent memory? Fox Sports apparently believes so.
According to The Athletic's Richard Deitsch, Meyer and Fox Sports are "deep in negotiations" for a return to the network, indicating that an agreement is imminent. Few who follow or cover sports media could say this is a surprise. Soon after Meyer was fired by the Jacksonville Jaguars last December, speculation over whether or not he would fall back into television began.
This feels like the Fox Sports' version of the ol' Jedi Mind Trick. Are executives Eric Shanks and Mark Silverman waving their fingers to distract and change our thoughts?
This wasn't the coach who went 2-11 with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Bob Stoops didn't replace Meyer on Big Noon Kickoff last season. You love Big Ten football. Urban Meyer was an outstanding Big Ten coach. Oh, and uh, ESPN doesn't have an enormously popular college football pregame show either! Kirk Herbstreit? He does NFL Thursday Night Football!
Returning to coaching sure didn't appear to be a likely option for Meyer. Certainly not in the NFL. His tenure in Jacksonville was so bad that the team fired him before he could even finish his first season. The Jaguars had a 2-11 record when Meyer was dismissed, shortly after a Tampa Bay Times report in which former Jacksonville placekicker Josh Lambo alleged that the coach kicked him during practice.
That story broke days after an NFL Network report detailing tensions among players and assistant coaches with Meyer. Receiver Marvin Jones reportedly became so upset with the coach criticizing his position group that he left the team facility and later had a fiery argument with Meyer during practice. Assistant coaches had their accomplishments and résumés belittled during staff meetings.
Furthermore, running back James Robinson was taken out of a game for fumbling and not allowed to go back in until quarterback Trevor Lawrence questioned why the team's best offensive player wasn't being utilized.
The perception of Meyer's ability to coach an NFL team and deal with older professionals was already deeply in doubt by then. Following a Week 4 loss to the Bengals, Meyer stayed in Ohio while the rest of the team flew back to Jacksonville. A coach not traveling with his team after a loss drew plenty of criticism. But the scrutiny intensified when video of a woman dancing provocatively with Meyer at his Columbus restaurant went viral.
However, Meyer demonstrated soon after the Jaguars hired him that he apparently thought no one would question his authority. Less than a month into his tenure, he added strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle to his staff. Doyle left the University of Iowa in light of accusations of bullying Black players and making racist remarks. Amid the uproar surrounding his hiring, Doyle quickly resigned.
Considering Meyer's questionable decisions and conduct during his short-lived stay with the Jaguars, no college athletic director or president was likely to hire him as a head football coach either. How would he explain his behavior, all of the incidents mentioned above (and more that weren't cited), to the families of young men hoping that the head coach will take care of his players?
So the question needs to be asked again: Can Meyer be taken seriously as a college football studio analyst now?
Presumably, Fox Sports executives and producers would say that Meyer's experience as an NFL coach shouldn't have any bearing on his qualifications as a college football commentator. His record as a college coach is still dazzling. Three national championships. An overall .854 winning percentage (187-32 record).
Plus, Meyer was acclaimed by fans and media for his first stint with Fox during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He showed a talent for explaining concepts like the run-pass option, successful goal-line offense, and effective pass-rushing techniques clearly. The network's Big Noon Kickoff pregame show became popular with viewers, especially among Big Ten fans.
Maybe Fox Sports executives believe some college football fans aren't even aware that Meyer left the studio to coach the Jacksonville Jaguars. That seems unlikely. But some people are fans of one sport while not paying attention to any others. So as far as they're concerned, maybe Meyer went on a sabbatical to study current football offenses and defenses. Or perhaps he took a year off to spend time with his family. Maybe something personal or medical occurred.
What the network surely believes is that Meyer's recent past doesn't matter. Fox Sports has shown with previous hires that bygone transgressions don't influence hiring decisions.
This is the network that brought back Matt Millen after he was one of the worst executives in NFL history with the Detroit Lions. Alex Rodriguez was hired as a baseball studio analyst after the end of his career was stained by PED disgrace. Fox even hired Pete Rose, who is still banned from Major League Baseball! Meyer's truncated NFL coaching career fits right in.
Ultimately, Fox Sports is right. Plenty of outrage will be expressed among social media, sports media critics, and outlets that cover the industry. Anything Meyer says about culture, team-building, leadership, work ethic, and trust will be roundly mocked.
But as loud as those voices can be, they're a fraction of the larger audience. Viewers just want to watch the football game or tune into the pregame show to get some quick news, maybe an overview of the day in college football, and information with insight on the two teams about to play. They likely won't care that Urban Meyer was a disaster as Jacksonville Jaguars head coach.
And with that, he can begin rebuilding the reputation that's been demolished. As both sports and news media have shown, there's no better place to rehabilitate a career than on television.
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