The Urban Meyer experiment in Jacksonville and humiliating chain of events that precipitated his firing as coach of the Jaguars was a short-term marriage, destined for an acrimonious split. And his failures at the pro level should be a cautionary tale for other NFL teams that turn to the college ranks in search for a new head coach.
Perhaps Meyer's antics would've been tolerated if he was back in Columbus. Surely he could've gotten away with grinding on an underage woman if it was at a frat party, and bullying his assistants and players like they were second-class ragdolls. In the NFL, where players are paid millions, everyone around Meyer laughed in his face.
From the get-go, the three-time national champion acted more like a 30-year-old who overstayed his welcome in a college town -- working odd jobs to pay rent -- than a pro football coach. Theoretically, spending two years away from the sidelines would've allowed Meyer to evolve his coaching style and make a seamless transition to the NFL. But, in the end, his egotistical attitude and stubbornness won over.
Meyer's departure from Ohio State and subsequent firing by the Jags bears close resemblance to the Bobby Petrino debacle. Both guys were highly successful college coaches who tried their hand in the NFL, and only lasted 13 games. Even the record is strikingly similar: Petrino finished 3-10, Meyer went 2-11. Meyer and Petrino were in over their heads from the beginning.
Of course, there's exceptions to the college-NFL pipeline rule. Kliff Kingsbury has won 23 of 45 games in the pros, and has the Cardinals sitting near the top of the NFC. Kingsbury was also hired after going 35-40 at Texas Tech and being fired due to an underwhelming 5-7 campaign. But cool-man Kliff fit the Sean McVay-esque, innovative, offensive-minded prototype, and was worth taking a chance on to fit the mold of a high-octane offense.
Beyond Kingsbury, though, college coaches have had limited success at the pro level. Matt Rhule is just 10-20 through his first season-and-a-half, and the rudderless Carolina Panthers are on a tailspin. Former offensive coordinator Joe Brady was the mastermind behind LSU's massive success back in 2019, but he couldn't crack the code with Carolina's revolving door of quarterbacks.
The reasons behind the rocky transitions are aplenty. Struggles with adapting schemes, inability to adjust approaches with players and staff members, and facing better competition all explain why successful college head coaches have been unable to make it at the next level.
"It's Alabama every week," Meyer embarrassingly told Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio before their Week 2 matchup. If facing college programs is a point of comparison, the Jags looked more like Bowling Green, grasping the coattails of the big boy Buckeyes, than an NFL team on Sundays. Surely life is more difficult without three non-conference tune-up games.
Flushing out the toxicity and turmoil left behind in Meyer's 11-month tenure will be a task in itself. An organization that has reached the playoffs just once since 2008 will be looking for a cultural reboot once again. Given the current state of the franchise, it feels like the Jags' run to the AFC title game back in 2017 was eons ago.
On paper, the Jags had nice young pieces, and appeared capable of growing together through the course of the season. First-overall pick Trevor Lawrence was touted as a generational talent, and wide receivers DJ Chark and Laviska Shenault -- along with running back James Robinson -- provided the Clemson product with a solid supporting cast. But Meyer's incompetence, selfishness, and ego -- his need to establish himself as the ship's captain -- were harmful.
In particular, his single-handed hindrance of Lawrence's development was organizational malpractice, and illustrates the amount of damage that could be done in a relatively short period of time. Still, the boom-or-bust potential of bringing in a college coach to work with a young quarterback, as illustrated by Kingsbury, could be the carrot-and-stick that tantalizes teams to hire them.
With Iowa State's Matt Campbell rumored to be the next coach interested in trying his hand at the next level, NFL teams clearly aren't finished considering tapping into the college ranks. But the impact and damage caused by Meyer should be enough to make teams think twice about throwing the challenge flag on conventional head coaching routes.
Jack Stern is a columnist and an associate producer for CBS Sports Radio. You can follow him on Twitter @J_Stern97.