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Despite major success at college level, Paul Finebaum suggests Urban Meyer ‘not a good fit’ in the NFL
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The conversations about Urban Meyer becoming an NFL head coach is something we hear nearly every year around this time. It’s almost become an annual tradition to speculate where the three-time national champion could land in the pro ranks.
This time, though, there seems to be a little more substance to the rumors. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, a few NFL organizations have already reached out to Meyer to gauge his interest in taking over the franchise. One of those organizations is reportedly the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Because of Meyer’s success at the college level — which included stops at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State — it’s no surprise that he’s often considered a candidate for jobs in the NFL. But SEC Network host Paul Finebaum doesn’t think Meyer would be a good fit at the next level.
Finebaum believes there’s a real chance Meyer could land in the NFL, saying he has “the itch” to get back on the sideline. However, he cited the former Buckeye head coach’s personality and temperament as potential issues at the professional level.
“I know last year there were conversations with the Cowboys and I think Urban, he’s itching to get back and there simply wasn’t anything in college that attracted him once Texas — he turned them down or they decided to wait,” Finebaum said on WJOX. “I don’t think Urban Meyer is a good fit for the NFL. I just think his approach is much better suited for college football. Urban Meyer is a very emotional coach. His temperament is uneven and I think the pro game would just grind him down because it never ends. And I’m not saying college football has an offseason, it doesn’t. But you do go from one thing to another where the NFL just never stops. And I also don’t know how Urban Meyer could get along with an owner. …And that’s one of the toughest parts of the job.”
In 17 seasons as a head coach in college, Meyer has never once had a losing record and has a career mark of 187-32, which rounds out to better than an 85% winning rate. His teams also hit the 10-win mark 12 times in those 17 years.
At Ohio State, Meyer coached for 7 seasons and posted a ridiculous 83-9 record, which included a 54-5 mark in B1G play. He led the Buckeyes to conference championships in 2014, 2017 and 2018.
Meyer stepped down as the head coach of OSU following the 2018 season.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB