According to Adam Schefter, two NFL teams have reached out to former Ohio State HC Urban Meyer regarding interviews for their head coaching vacancies.
Jason La Canfora says league sources have highlighted the Jaguars and Lions as two teams who could be seriously interested in pursuing Meyer. La Canfora and Schefter both point out Meyer has strong connections to the state of Florida after serving as the head coach at the University of Florida from 2005-2010.
La Canfora adds the Jaguars have been noticeably quiet about their head coaching search so far, with several executives and agents telling him they’ve had limited contact with Jacksonville owner Shad Khan or his son Tony Khan.
The sense is the Jaguars may be up to something off the beaten path as they plot the changing direction for the franchise, per La Canfora.
The Lions also have ties to Meyer, with new advisor Chris Spielman an Ohio State alum and someone still involved with the program. Meyer stepped away from coaching the Buckeyes in 2018.
Schefter reports Meyer has not dismissed the interview requests from teams but he is taking his time to weigh his options. Since leaving Ohio State, he’s worked as a TV analyst and Schefter says Meyer wants to make sure he’s ready to commit to a more intensive work lifestyle if he leaves the media.
Meyer is expected to decide in the coming week whether he will interview, per Schefter.
Meyer, 56, got his start in coaching in 1986 as a graduate assistant at Ohio State. He worked as an assistant coach at Illinois State, Colorado State and Notre Dame before getting his first head coaching position at Bowling Green in 2001.
Meyer moved on to become the head coach at Utah in 2003. In 2005, he was hired as the head coach at Florida before retiring due to health reasons in 2010. Meyer came out of retirement to take the lead job at Ohio State in 2012 and was in that position until 2018 before retiring again citing health reasons.
It’s worth mentioning while Meyer has been hospitalized for chest pains and migraines, both of his health-related retirements have followed off-the-field controversies, including how he handled a domestic violence accusation for one of his assistant coaches at Ohio State.
As a head coach, Meyer has a career college coaching record of 187-32 and has won three national titles at two different schools.
We’ll have more on Meyer as the news is available.
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