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Urban Meyer shares why Jacksonville was the perfect opportunity, first priority on the job

Kristian Dyer

By Kristian Dyer

Published:

Urban Meyer is officially the next head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, his first foray into the NFL a situation he describes as “perfect.”

Hard to say that after the Jaguars 1-15 season but he has a point.

The Jaguars are well-situated for what should be a significant but not impossible rebuild. They hold the No. 1 pick in this spring’s NFL Draft (they have two first-round picks total) and currently have the most salary cap space heading into free agency (which, given the fact that the salary cap might decrease, is rather significant).

So Meyer, who has won three national championships but has never coached on Sundays, thinks the Jaguars job is the perfect challenge. Meyer won the national championship with Ohio State in 2014

“Yeah, it had to be perfect. It was something that, this was not a knee jerk reaction, this is something that I’ve been studying for a long time,” Meyer said during his first interview with the Jaguars.

“Not necessarily this job, but just the NFL, in particular, and then this one, the opportunity presented itself. Whether it’s watching film, whether it’s studying a roster, whether it’s understanding the salary cap, what we have available to us, the number one pick.”

Meyer’s comments were made to the Jaguars team website.

With the No. 1 pick, the Jaguars will likely pick Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. But with their salary cap space, a team that made the playoffs and a run to the AFC Championship Game in 2017 has potential.

Will Meyer, who hasn’t coached the past two years and without NFL experience, be the right fit to lead the Jaguars back to prominence?

“It starts with hiring an elite staff. I’m going to spend so much time on that,” Meyer said. “We’ve had a lot of success in college and if there’s one strength I have, it’s surrounding myself with really, really great coaches and really great players and we’ll work on that next. Jacksonville deserves an incredible staff, we’re going to do our best to do that.”

You can watch Meyer’s full comments below:

Kristian Dyer