First, let's all be grownups and agree that Urban Meyer won't last much longer with the Florida Gators. To believe otherwise is foolish. It's only a matter of time before some human wallet like Danny Snyder or Jerry Jones offers Meyer $10 million a year plus a lifetime of hair gel to lure him away from college.
So it's going to happen. Meyer will be coaching in the NFL, this coming season or soon afterward. The money will be too good and the appeal to Meyer's ego too grand.
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| Steve Spurrier's NFL misfortunes shouldn't deter Urban Meyer from making the jump. (US Presswire) |
Snyder wouldn't be scared off by how he once hired another brilliant Gators coach with the move failing brilliantly, and Meyer wouldn't have a choice because of the large numbers of zeroes on the check provided by Snyder.
Want an even better match? Try Meyer and Jones.
Understand the complete optics of this. Why would Meyer go to Notre Dame or any other college job? The college challenge is dead to him. He has climbed that mountain. There's no better college job than the Gators right now, not one, unless you consider the Cleveland Browns.
Meyer is an obsessive personality and challenge oriented. He doesn't do easy and he doesn't do predictable and Notre Dame is predictable. Meyer attacks the impossible and the NFL is something few people expect him to attempt, which means he'll definitely try.
Meyer calls all the speculation about his NFL future silly, but once upon a time we heard another Florida coach, Steve Spurrier, declare his undying love for the Gators and intense dislike of all things NFL. Then Snyder parked a Brinks truck full of $100 bills outside the Redskins facility and Spurrier ran a 4.3 40 from Florida to snag the cash.
Meyer could command far more money than Spurrier ever did and Jones will pay it. He spent millions on a giant new TV screen, so why wouldn't he break the bank on Meyer?
They would be an excellent pair. Meyer wouldn't care about personnel control or that Jones likes to grab the spotlight constantly on occasion.
The players would like Meyer but respect him, he would get along with the media and get inside the cranium to repair the December-challenged offensive savant known as Tony Romo.
If Meyer can make Alex Smith look like Roger Staubach, imagine what he would do working with a guy who actually has ability.
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Most of all, Meyer would do what Wade Phillips has yet to accomplish as Cowboys coach and that's pay attention to detail and instill a sense of accountability throughout the team.
The Gator Haters, Inc. (and others) will laugh and mock, but in the NFL no one is chuckling. When it comes to college coaches, Meyer's at the top of every team's list, surpassing names like Carroll and Saban.
There hasn't been a college coach as highly thought of as Meyer by many in the pros in a long, long time. I know because I've asked.
Meyer would have to make just two significant changes after joining the NFL. He would have to retool his offense because what he runs now would get shredded to pieces in the NFL and get his quarterbacks decapitated.
Meyer would also have to toughen up his disciplinary stances, which have been, shall we say, slightly relaxed at Florida. His Gators teams have been a little too familiar with the cool steel of handcuffs.
(Then again, that's another reason why Meyer would fit right in with the NFL.)
There's no other overall scenario better for Meyer. Not Notre Dame, no other college job, not the Browns, not the Buffalo Bills and not Washington. Nothing but Dallas makes sense for both entities.
Meyer says he's happy and doesn't plan on going anywhere. But haven't we heard a great Gator coach say that once before? No, I'm not talking about Ron Zook.
I would wish you good luck in Dallas, Urban, but you won't need it.
See you soon at Cowboys Stadium.
