While Urban Meyer is currently caught up in a major off-the-field drama, his stint as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars isn’t going all that well on the field either.
The Jags have started the season 0-for-4 and seem destined to remain near or in the basement of NFL teams this season. Most people always knew that the Jaguars were going to be a major rebuilding effort, but those same people always wondered if Meyer would have the buy-in to stick around long enough if the going got tough. He has a history of leaving coaching positions when things get complicated and, right now, things are extremely complicated.
Tim Tebow knows Meyer about as well as anyone in football. Not only did Tebow play for Meyer at Florida but he was with the Jaguars this preseason trying to make the NFL team as a tight end. Things didn’t work out for Tebow but he remains a big supporter of Meyer and what he’s trying to accomplish at Jacksonville.
Tebow appeared on First Take Friday to discuss Meyer’s future in Jacksonville and, responding to Stephen A. Smith’s concerns about Meyer’s ability to weather the storms ahead, said he believes that Meyer will see it through.
.@stephenasmith and Tim Tebow debate whether or not Urban Meyer can last in the NFL 👀 pic.twitter.com/VOKsbCh3Yz
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 1, 2021
“When you hear him say, ‘I’m heartbroken,’ that’s real,” Tebow said. “That’s transparent. That’s absolutely the way he feels. I’m sure flying back, driving to his house, seeing his family, Ms. Shelley (Meyer), I’m sure he was devastated. He takes that personally. I totally agree with you, Stephen A.
“The one thing that I’d remind you of is when you say, ‘He might not last. He might not be around for a while.’ The other quality that he has is a crazy determination. He has a crazy determination. So while it might be hard, I think he’s going to be really determined. I think he expected to win all of those games. I think he expected to be 3-1 or 4-0.
“He is taking that hard. But I also think that this dude is super resolute and super determined. I think he’ll continue to tweak and mold and change and get new guys in there and adapt and do whatever it takes because he’s so determined. I don’t think he’d quit without finding a way to turn the tide a little bit.”
The idea that Meyer expected to be 3-1 or 4-0 at this point might be crazy, but it also might explain why Meyer seems so broken. Given everything we know about the Jaguars headed into this season, that is an absurd expectation for anyone to have, let alone the coach in charge. It might sound like the kind of passionate expectation you’d want from your coach but the reality is that every loss is going to strike him even harder because of it.
We’ll see how Meyer deals with the fallout of this week as he tries to get the Jags in a position to win their first game of the season. All we know is the longer the team loses, the more the questions about his future are going to be asked.
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