When he was leading the Ohio State football program, Urban Meyer was definitely one of the best coaches in college football. He helped lead the Buckeyes to a national championship before retiring following the 2018 season due to health issues. He had stress-induced headaches that were debilitating.
By the time the 2021 NFL season rolled around, Meyer felt good enough to return to coaching. He was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars to be their head coach. It was the only time he stepped up to the NFL. It was an unmitigated disaster and effectively ended his coaching career.
Meyer was fired just 13 games into his first, and only, season with the Jaguars. The team was 2-11 at that point, and he had several off-the-field incidents that were questionable. Meyer was hoping to get the entire amount of salary he thought he was owed from them. Unfortunately for him, he will not get that money.
Former Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer loses arbitration against Jaguars
On Monday, Meyer lost his $30 million grievance against the Jaguars. He was hoping to win in arbitration and have it ruled that he was owed a buyout when he was fired in the first year of his contract. Instead, it was ruled that he was actually fired for cause.
When Meyer was with the Ohio State Buckeyes, he never had incidents involving him. He had to deal with the occasional player conduct issue, but his conduct was generally fine. He clearly was not fit to coach at the professional level. The stuff that worked in college was not going to work on grown men.
The embarrassment that his Jaguars tenure was has likely ended any shot that Meyer will ever return to coaching. If he were to go back to coaching, it would have to be at the collegiate level. Yet, Meyer would be forced to be on the recruiting trail again, which is extremely stressful.
Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer will never coach again
With NIL payments flowing through college football, Meyer will almost certainly never coach again. That is not something he wants to deal with. In fact, he was at the roundtable set up by the President to figure out college sports and spoke out against NIL payments as they are now.
Perhaps it's better that Meyer is just on Big Noon Kickoff as opposed to back on the sidelines. The Buckeyes have clearly moved on, and Ryan Day has shown himself to be a worthy successor. Not just that, but being on that show allows Meyer to still be close to the game he loves.
It was probably the right decision for the Jaguars not to pay Meyer a $30 million buyout. Based on everything that happened, firing him for cause seems fair. Meyer also made plenty of money while he was in the collegiate game. Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State paid him plenty of money to be a head coach. Fans likely won't feel that bad for him.
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