OT: Jacksonville and Urban in final stages of deal?
They had another meeting. Looks like it's going to happen.
January 14th, 2021 at 9:50 AM ^
Nothing better for the old ticker than having to gameplan for Derrick Henry twice a year
January 14th, 2021 at 9:55 AM ^
As a Derrick Henry fantasy owner this past season, it is entirely possible to game plan for Derrick Henry. He had a lot of boom/bust games. Some games he ran for 150 or 200 yards, others it was closer to 70 or less. If you stack the box against him he can't build up power/get going. Of course then the hard part becomes stopping the play action pass the Titans run off that. The only team to stop both this year was the Ravens in the last game. Kudos to them.
January 14th, 2021 at 9:59 AM ^
Soooo Urban is going to take the HC job and hire Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter as his DC's?? Letting OSU retain all their coaches and leave Michigan pissing in the wind??
January 14th, 2021 at 10:07 AM ^
It will certainly be interesting to see who he hires, and I would guess some guys from OSU will be joining him. The bigger question will be who he will take 1st overall, Fields or Lawrence, or maybe he trades out and picks up Dwayne Haskins.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:15 AM ^
Oh, please let it happen!
January 14th, 2021 at 10:18 AM ^
I don't think you're going to see him show favoritism to ex-OSU players. He doesn't strike me as a sentimental person. He wants to win.
January 14th, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
I hope you’re right and he needs a qb guru....say one that made kaepernick successful.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:32 AM ^
This is not an actual question. Sunshine is the number 1 pick, and thats even if Fields runs a 4.2 40. Best QB prospect since Luck.
Most likely Urban takes Mariotti and either Pantoni, Coombs, or Hartline. Might even give Judas a call to help him with the transition to NFL.
Nonetheless, this is incredibly great news for Michigan if he takes the JAX job.
Cheers
January 14th, 2021 at 10:39 AM ^
Judas.
Perfect...
January 14th, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
To go further . . . if Meyer raids the OSU cupboard, does that make Ryan Day think longer about the Philadelphia job?
January 14th, 2021 at 12:47 PM ^
First off, he'll take Lawrence because Lawrence is the easiest pick since Andrew Luck. But Fields would also probably be the best QB prospect since Luck this year.
I think he takes MM, Pantoni, Dennis, and maybe Hartline. I can't see Coombs going right back to the AFC South. I wouldn't be shocked if Larry Johnson leaves. There have been rumors about his retirement for a few years now, and taking an easier gig in Jacksonville to ride out a year or two isn't that bad of an option.
But agreed, this is absolutely massive news for Michigan. With Texas hiring Sark and this happening, Ohio State's 2022 class just got a lot more precarious.
January 14th, 2021 at 12:34 PM ^
Trading out of the #1 overall pick, this year, is a fireable offense. Some years its not, but this year it is. Trevor Lawrence is sitting right there. He's the best QB prospect to come out since Andrew Luck. Maybe since Peyton Manning, who knows? And Jacksonville needs a QB. If Meyer voluntarily passes that kid up, I'm not sure he lasts one season. Especially if Lawrence goes somewhere else and lights it up.
The ONLY REASON I would ever trade out of the first pick this year is if Lawrence publicly makes it clear that he will never suit up for the Jags if they draft him. At that point, fine. Offer to trade down, and let the Jets, the Falcons, or the Texans (if Watson trades out) try to out-do each other on trade offers. In that situation, you walk away with a king's ransom of draft picks, on top of all the picks and salary cap space you already have. Plus, if you trade with any of those teams, Fields may very well still be available.
But yeah, otherwise I would never trade out of this spot. Not this year.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:36 AM ^
?♂️ There goes Ryan Day’s GM. That guy negotiating with Jax last week was the problem Monday...
January 14th, 2021 at 10:40 AM ^
You've really got the Michigan fan thing down to a tee. And I cannot blame you for a second as we have been conditioned to this very thought process for a decade now.
January 14th, 2021 at 9:37 PM ^
Bruh. A decade ago Ryan Day was the wide receivers coach for my Temple Owls.
January 14th, 2021 at 12:11 PM ^
Minter looks like he’s joining the good guys...
January 14th, 2021 at 10:03 AM ^
The addition of Ryan Tannehill played a huge part in unlocking Henry. Just a couple years ago Henry looked like a bust and then they switched Mariota for a semi-accurate passer in Tannehill (along with some smart WR additions like AJ Brown) and suddenly he’s the Incredible Hulk. I would say Michigan has had a similar issue with their RBs. Tons of talent, but not enough of a threat from the QB position.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^
Derrick Henry is 27 years old, as a rb that means about 2 or 3 years of high level football left to change the game.
January 14th, 2021 at 11:47 AM ^
Agreed. And it goes hand in hand.
With this backfield, if Michigan isn't running the ball 40 times a game, making the opposition +1 the box every down, we're wasting that backfield talent.
Speed is space is going to look great when the opposition is cheating to the run.
January 14th, 2021 at 1:16 PM ^
I had Henry in fantasy football his rookie year. I dropped him after 3-4 games because he did absolutely nothing. Good to see that he has rebounded well.
January 14th, 2021 at 11:04 AM ^
He had 3 games under 75 rushing yards. Cook had 5, Kamara had 10 (rushing only), James robinson had 7. I think you need to evaluate what you consider a bust to be, especially considering that 62.5/game is a 1,000 yard pace.
January 14th, 2021 at 1:50 PM ^
As someone who had Ezekiel Elliott on his fantasy team, I would take Henry's version of inconsistent any day. I had to hold my nose to even draft him, and then he was trash without Dak.
January 14th, 2021 at 1:59 PM ^
I don't think I called him a bust, full stop. I think I said he either boomed or busted most of the time, which is true, He had 7 games of 15 or fewer fantasy points for me this season (4 of them under 10). The other games were a single 17 point performance and the rest were over 20 (2 over 30 and 1 at 40!!!). Am I glad I drafted him? Absolutely. Were almost half of his games a disappointment for my team? Yes. Does that matter? Hell no. I'm just a guy who likes fantasy football.
Also I don't think 1000 yards in a season is special any more. There were 9 players to do it this season (one of them Lamar Jackson). If you expand it out to 950 the list grows to 13 with Kenyan Drake and Ronald Jones making the list. Then players who didn't start/play for half the season had good rushing totals like Antonio Gibson (795), JK Dobbins (805), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (803), Kareem Hunt (841), and Miles Sanders (867). I just don't think 1000 yards is as special as we used to think.
January 14th, 2021 at 1:40 PM ^
I use to have a soft spot for the Jags.
No more.
January 14th, 2021 at 5:45 PM ^
January 14th, 2021 at 5:53 PM ^
Unfortunately, if there ever was a situation in which an OSU QB played well in the NFL, it would be with a former OSU coach/in and OSU system/Urban Meyer.
January 14th, 2021 at 9:51 AM ^
It's certainly a high ceiling hire. I'm curious to see if he'll be more in the vein of Pete Carroll/Jimmy Johnson, of if he'll be more of a Nick Saban/Chip Kelly (or worse, Mike Riley).
January 14th, 2021 at 9:58 AM ^
Nick Saban part deux. Saban figured out in a hurry that you can’t just out-athlete in the NFL.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:18 AM ^
This is a tired MgoMeme.
Urban did great at BGSU and Utah without having an athlete advantage. At BGSU he took a team that was 2-9 and went 8-3 in his first season without any of his recruits. Dude knows how to win and can put together an amazing staff.
Just take his BGSU coaching staff for example:
Tim Banks at CB, Tim Beckman at DC, Stan Drayton at RB, Dan Mullen at QB, and Greg Studrawa at OL.
I think this is great hire for Jacksonville where expectations aren't ridiculous.
January 14th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
That's very true. I'm still not sure I see Urban's personality working in the NFL.
January 14th, 2021 at 1:25 PM ^
Exactly. It’s one thing to motive a bunch of 5-star recruits who want to get to the NFL. It’s another thing to coach a bunch of rich athletes who couldn’t care less if they win or lose
January 14th, 2021 at 1:51 PM ^
Corundum.
You've jumped to his defense multiple times. Fair enough. What will his record be next year? Playoffs? How soon will he turn it around? I think he will be another Saban. Only time will tell, but lets hear it. Here is the counter argument. A decent coach can excel in the MAC. Brady Hoke did, Solich continues to churn out wins, Matt Campbell did etc.
He was running the new Rich Rod spread at the time in the MAC and Utah (who was in Utah's conference back then? It's evolved since that time) and it was an avant garde offense. Nobody knew how to stop it. Since then he has out recruited everyone and had better athletes almost every time he was on the field. Most games in the NFL are decided by 1 or 2 scores. It is a parity league. Yes. He was a GREAT college coach. I don't think it translates at that level in the NFL. Time will tell.
January 14th, 2021 at 3:08 PM ^
Hey thanks for the response. I'll admit that I'm positively biased towards Urban for some personal reasons compared to most of the MgoCommunity.
Schematically he's a great Xs and Os coach but I think he can be more of a CEO type coach with excellent time management skills with the right staff. The power option concepts have been more influential in the NFL as of late, specifically at Buffalo and Baltimore. Both of those teams are current contenders.
Most importantly the situation is right for him: Jacksonville isn't a market with unreasonable expectations and I think he could have them competitive for a wildcard spot within 3 years, especially with their salary cap space and future draft picks. The AFC south has a strong team in Tennessee but Houston is a disaster and Indianapolis is solid but Rivers isn't going to have them competing for division even with that strong defense.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:09 AM ^
If Lawrence is the real deal then Urban will do just fine. Saban's issue was that he wanted Drew Brees but didn't get him. If Miami had gotten Brees Saban would still be in the NFL, likely with a couple championships to his name.
Even Belichick is showing that you can't win in this league without a QB.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:10 AM ^
Saban went 9-7 and 6-10 in his two years. He decided the NFL wasn't for him, but whether he was a failure there is debatable.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^
he lost a lot of that team through in his second year.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:23 AM ^
Saban left because upper management wasn’t pursuing drew Brees like he wanted them too. Nick Saban failing in the nfl is a huge misconception.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:28 AM ^
You are what your record says you are:
15-17
some guys just can’t cut it in the NFL
January 14th, 2021 at 10:36 AM ^
It's silly to look at a guy who coached all of two seasons (one of them with a winning record) and say he "can't cut it." I'm not the biggest Saban fan but that doesn't make a lot of sense.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:38 AM ^
These are always tough arguments. If Bill Belichick had never coached in the NFL after his Browns stint (9 games under .500 I believe) we'd consider him a failure. We all saw how his career worked out
January 14th, 2021 at 10:44 AM ^
I’m not sure what kind of argument Indy Pete is making. Is this to make us feel better about Harbaugh because he has a better winning record when talent is more evenly spread out? Because after 6 years I could care less what he’s done at previous stops.
If what Saban and Meyer have done at the collegiate level is so easy why can’t we emulate it? Why can’t Georgia or Tennessee or USC post Pete Carroll or Texas?
January 14th, 2021 at 12:03 PM ^
I am not making any argument or insinuating anything about Harbaugh or college coaching. I’m just stating the fact that Saban never got it done in the NFL. I am still waiting for someone to explain how he succeeded? It seems like I’ve ruffled feathers feathers of some Saban apologists - touchy group! If you think 15-17 is good, you are entitled to that opinion. I just think it is not good.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:44 AM ^
If “you are what your record says you are” then Belichick win percentage as a coach is .686. Nick Sabans is .881
January 14th, 2021 at 10:46 AM ^
Yes - Saban is probably the college coaching GOAT. He just didn’t win in the NFL. 15-17 is not an opinion, it is his actual record.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
And Bill belichick went 7-9 this year and 36-44 in Cleveland, why are people like this?
January 14th, 2021 at 10:52 AM ^
Miserable
January 14th, 2021 at 10:51 AM ^
Bill Belichick went 36-44 with the Cleveland Browns. Does that mean he couldn't cut it in the NFL either?
Do you think Saban would have left the NFL if he had Brady, Manning or Brees to coach?
January 14th, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^
It's a lot easier to be a great coach when you have better talent across the board... especially at QB. There have been a lot of great coaches that struggle to win games when they don't have a good QB. This has been the Michigan difference since Harbaugh arrived. Good QB play = good seasons. Poor QB play = poor seasons.
January 14th, 2021 at 12:57 PM ^
I'm positive Bill Belichick doesn't sniff a Super Bowl in New England without Tom Brady.
January 14th, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^
I hope he is the next Pete Carroll and never steps foot in Columbus again. The more successful he is in the NFL, the less chance he will keep haunting Michigan Football.