The best major college football job for Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer was fired by the Jacksonville Jaguars this week after committing a laundry list of missteps during his brief tenure as the franchise's head coach. (You can check out the full list of Meyer's mishaps here.) Meyer went 2-11 in 13 games in Jacksonville. To put those 11 losses in perspective, Meyer only lost […]

Zach Ragan Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer was fired by the Jacksonville Jaguars this week after committing a laundry list of missteps during his brief tenure as the franchise's head coach.

(You can check out the full list of Meyer's mishaps here.)

Meyer went 2-11 in 13 games in Jacksonville. To put those 11 losses in perspective, Meyer only lost nine games during his seven seasons as Ohio State's head coach.

It seems unlikely that Meyer, who is notoriously egotistical, will allow the lasting image of himself as a head coach to be as a total failure. He will almost certainly try to return to coaching at the collegiate level at some point in the not-so-distant future.

But who is going to hire him?

Sure, Meyer is one of the most successful college football head coaches of all time. He won three national championships (two at Florida, one at Ohio State) in less than 15 years.

But there are two reasons why he won't be a desirable option for programs.

  1. He's toxic after the way he treated professional NFL players in Jacksonville.
  2. College football has changed a lot thanks to the transfer portal. Meyer can't lord over players now like he did at Florida and Ohio State.

I don't think we'll see Florida State going after Meyer if they fire Mike Norvell after next season. Nor do I think Texas goes after Meyer if Steve Sarkisian is fired. Those programs are very much in the spotlight and they'll probably want to stay away from the drama associated with Meyer.

But how about Nebraska?

That could be the perfect landing spot for Meyer (if/when Scott Frost is fired).

I think Meyer will want to go to a "name brand" program. Nebraska, despite a lack of success in recent years, is still a "name brand" in college football.

The Cornhuskers might be willing to go down the Meyer road due to the struggles of the program since Bo Pelini was fired in 2014 (and the struggles from before Pelini was hired).

Nebraska is a storied program with rich history, yet it's somewhat removed from the media circus of programs like Texas. That's something else that could work in Meyer's favor. He needs to stay under the radar as much as possible at his next job.

Meyer would still receive plenty of attention at Nebraska, but it wouldn't be anything like it would be at an SEC program or a program like Florida State. He could somewhat fly under the radar while trying to restore the Nebraska program to greatness.

Meyer will desperately want to refurbish his legacy after failing in Jacksonville. But he won't have his pick of jobs. He's going to have to take whatever is offered. Nebraska could be his best option.

Featured image via Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports