Everyone seems to be of the opinion that Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer is not long for the NFL. Whether it’s because he’s coaching a pretty bad team or because of the many wild rumors about what it’s like behind the scenes, many people are already pretty sure he’ll be gone sooner or later.
When USC fired Clay Helton this week, everyone made the same joke that Meyer is already packing his bags for Los Angeles. Naturally, every reporter wanted a chance to speak with him about it. But when Denver reporters said on Tuesday that Urban would be unavailable for a conference call, it raised hackles everywhere that the Jaguars were hiding something.
Wednesday, Meyer met with the media for the first time since the USC news and was asked directly about the rumors that he might want to take that job. For what it’s worth, Urban’s answer was succinct.
“There’s no chance,” said Meyer. “I’m here and committed to building an organization.”
Of course, football has a long history of head coaches who said there was no chance they’d leave their current job for a different job only to do just that, so anytime any coach makes a statement like this it’s never taken as gospel. Some folks were also quick to point out that Meyer himself has said one thing and then done another before in his career.
Still, for the time being, we have to assume that Meyer will stay with Jacksonville at least through the 2021-2022 NFL season. After that, who knows. A terrible season in the NFL can do a lot to a person. Just ask Nick Saban.