Urban Meyer is a fan of the Doug Pederson hire by the Jacksonville Jaguars, but not because he’s happy that they are getting someone who may be better than him.
Urban Meyer is a former college football coach that has been in the media for his controversial tenure with the Florida Gators. He was fired after 3 seasons and has since taken on a new role as an analyst for ESPN, but he still approves of the Jaguars’ Doug Pederson hire. Read more in detail here: jaguars coaching staff.
Highlights of the article:
- Old Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer was pleased when ex-Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson was hired by his former club.
- Meyer’s mess will be cleaned up by Pederson, who guided the Eagles to a Super Bowl triumph and three playoff appearances in five seasons.
- The great college football coach also expressed interest in learning who the Jaguars’ new offensive coordinator would be.
Urban Meyer, the former head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, has no grudges towards his former employers. With least not publicly, and not that he’d have any cause to be angry at the Jaguars after their dreadful season.
Nonetheless, Meyer spoke highly of Jacksonville’s move to employ Doug Pederson, the former head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, and charge him with doing practically what his predecessor failed to do. Winning games would be a good place to start.
Urban Meyer supports Doug Pederson’s hiring by the Jaguars.
For weeks, it looked like the Jaguars might sign Byron Leftwich, the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who played for the Jaguars from 2003 to 2006. However, Leftwich allegedly refused to work with Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, whom the team does not seem to be planning to fire anytime soon, and withdrew his name from consideration.
From 2016 to 2018, Pederson led the Eagles to a 42-37-1 record in five seasons. Jacksonville hired the two-time Super Bowl winner on Friday, Feb. 4, and presented him to media the next day. Pederson won his first Super Bowl as a backup quarterback for Brett Favre with the Green Bay Packers in 1996.
Meyer stated he praised the Jaguars’ choice to employ Pederson on the Feb. 7 broadcast of Outkick’s Don’t @ Me With Dan Dakich.
Meyer stated, “Obviously, I believe he’s a tremendous coach,” adding, “It’s [a] great hiring and offensive mind.” I believe he’ll do well.”
Pederson and Meyer have not worked together, but the three-time national champion claimed they met at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2018. Former Eagles tight end Trey Burton, who played for Meyer at the University of Florida, gushed about Pederson to the experienced head coach.
Meyer is also looking forward to seeing who Pederson picks as offensive coordinator.
Previous Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson was hired by Urban Meyer’s former club | Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images; James Gilbert/Getty Images
It seemed like the Jaguars’ next head coach would have an offensive background from the minute Meyer was dismissed in mid-December. According to NFL Media, eight of the 12 candidates that interviewed for the Jaguars job, including Pederson, are presently or have previously held the post of offensive coordinator.
Meyer told Dakich that he’s very interested in who Pederson picks as his offensive coordinator. Former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell was hired away by the Jaguars’ previous head coach to fill the same job on his staff since the Wisconsin product had vast expertise teaching the spread concept.
Pederson had not yet appointed a new coordinator at the time of publishing. It’s unclear if Bevell will play for the Jaguars next season.
“So I think it’ll be fascinating to see who he picks as coordinator [or] if he coordinates the offensive,” Meyer said to Dakich. “However, I believe that’s a decision you have to make when you’re in the NFL.”
The Jaguars need Pederson to work his magic and help Lawrence bounce back from the Meyer period, which was short-lived.
Trevor Lawrence finished his rookie campaign with 59.6 comp pct, 214.2 pass YPG, 12-17 pass TD-INT, 71.9 passer rating. Carson Wentz also struggled his rookie season before turning it around and making the Pro Bowl in his 2nd year under Doug Pederson. #Jaguars banking on that. pic.twitter.com/M6QtywFo3S
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) February 5, 2022
Even though the Jaguars didn’t have Trevor Lawrence at quarterback when Meyer was hired in January 2020, it was a near-certainty that the Clemson star would be selected first overall in the next NFL draft. And they succeeded!
Neither of them had the debut season they had hoped for. Lawrence struggled during his rookie NFL season, and Meyer didn’t even make it to Christmas. In 17 starts, the 2020 All-American threw for 3,641 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions for a 59.6% completion percentage, 12 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. At the very least, he established a new rookie club passing yardage record.
Jaguars supporters should hope that Pederson can repeat the success of former Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz in his second season. Despite a decline in completion percentage from 62.4 to 60.2, the former North Dakota State standout improved his TD-INT ratio from 16-14 to 33-7 in three fewer games.
To be fair to Pederson, offensive coordinator Frank Reich and a strong offensive line contributed to Wentz’s performance. Right now, neither are available to the Jaguars.
Pederson has proved, though, that he can develop young quarterbacks, particularly after less-than-stellar initial seasons. It will only help Jaguars fans forget about Meyer sooner if he can transform Lawrence into a dependable NFL starter.
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Urban Meyer didn’t mince words while describing his dreadful Jaguars stint: ‘It Eats Away at Your Soul.’
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- philadelphia eagles head coach
- jaguars offensive coordinator
- urban meyer nfl
