The college football coaching carousel already started to turn but Urban Meyer is not hopping on right now. He is not going to succeed Billy Napier at the University of Florida, just as anyone with a brain already knew.
A reunion between the Gators and their two-time national champion coach is not in the cards.
Meyer retired from coaching in 2018 to focus on his health after seven years at Ohio State. The Jaguars later lured him back to the sideline in 2021, but the hire ended up being a total disaster. He didn’t even last the full season. Jacksonville kicked him to the curb after starting the year at 2-11. A series of scandals also provided the organization an excuse to bail.
Although the NFL did not work out for Meyer, his ability to win games on the college level cannot be overlooked. His three national championships speak for themselves. As does his 187-32 record.
Florida is going to fire Napier unless he somehow manages to win at least six games down the stretch. The Gators’ remaining schedule makes a winning record unlikely and that may not even cut it!
- at Mississippi State
- vs. UCF
- at No. 6 Tennessee
- vs. Kentucky
- vs. No. 2 Georgia
- at No. 1 Texas
- vs. No. 16 LSU
- vs. No. 5 Ole Miss
- at Florida State
Putting optics and past behavior completely to the side, it would not be the worst move for Florida to hire Meyer as Napier’s replacement. He wins college football games. Period.
Some Gators fans have actually gone so far as to toss the idea around on social media. They are sorely mistaken.
Florida will not re-hire Urban Meyer.
Not only is the university unable to hire Meyer because of his past (41 players on his 2008 team have since been arrested), it cannot hire him because he made it abundantly clear on ‘The Triple Option’ podcast that he is not interested. Ain’t gonna happen.
That ship has sailed. I want that program to do well, so bad. I know so many people there and we gave a big part of life to that program. But that ship has sailed.
— Urban Meyer
That settles that!
Some of the other names included in the hypothetical, soon-to-exist coaching search are Lane Kiffin, James Franklin, Eli Drinkwitz, Matt Campbell and Mike Gundy. However, if Florida decides to wait out one of the coaches in the College Football Playoff, it will be at a major disadvantage in terms of calendar.
Moving through the month of December without a head coach would be detrimental to recruiting— both through the traditional high school pipeline and through the transfer portal. The roster would evaporate.
Thus, the Gators need to make a move sooner than later. Urban Meyer is not the answer. Obviously.