When Shad Khan, the owner of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, pursued Urban Meyer to be his head coach this past offseason, it instantly became fascinating to watch. From the outside, however, it appeared that Mr. Khan pursued Meyer to be their transformational team leader perhaps more than Meyer was pursuing the Jaguars. Meyer, by his own admission, did a lot of research about the possibility, including closely conferring with former coaches that made the same transition from college to the NFL. Reportedly, with the first pick of the NFL Draft, the prospect of the Jaguars drafting Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence – described as a ‘generational talent’ – was also a very important piece of Meyer’s decision-making process.
Very early on after his hire, Urban Meyer spoke a lot about the need to ‘change the culture’ of the Jaguars, especially with his insightful observation that ‘culture determines behavior.’ Meyer later revealed that he made it clear that the need to change the Jaguars culture, and Mr. Khan’s agreement to invest significant personnel and money in Jacksonville to do it, was a fundamental requirement for him to become the next head coach of the previously 1 – 15 franchise. Embarking on the change of an organization’s culture is no small task and isn’t done on a short-term basis. It’s far bigger than changing a team. In hiring Meyer, however, the message from Mr. Khan was also crystal clear. He isn’t an NFL owner satisfied with collecting his almost guaranteed money from simply owning the franchise. He wants to win, and he expects Urban Meyer to turn it around.
From the outset of the hiring of Meyer, one of the questions posed by many observers, including the professional media, was ‘Is this a good fit and how long will he last?’ The reasoning was, at least on the surface, that Meyer’s long history as a college coach may work against him in the NFL. Meyer has had a stellar career as a college head coach with football programs at Utah, Florida, and Ohio State, but he also departed from head coaching positions unexpectedly because of stress-related health issues. The stress of coaching jobs, something which he still speaks about (‘I worry about everything’), imply to some observers that he may not be long for the NFL.
Other factors, such as the way he coached his college players versus the way he’ll have to coach NFL professionals, Meyer’s lack of NFL experience, being very unaccustomed to losing games under very intense scrutiny, and the speculation about the head coach vacancy at USC’s historic football program, all serve to build the doubter’s narrative. The most important factor on the field, however, is the performance of his rookie quarterback, Trevor Lawrence. After the Jaguars have fallen to 0 – 4, like his head coach, Trevor Lawrence is extremely unaccustomed to losing football games, causing questions about his outlook and durability with a losing franchise.
In other words, as former Atlanta Falcons head coach Jerry Glanville was once said, ‘You know why they call it the NFL – because it’s not for long!’ So, the question is, what does the hiring and speculated departure of Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer, and the Jaguars as a franchise, have to do with resilience? I think everything.
For transparency’s sake, after examining both the verbal and nonverbal communication in many of the press briefings Coach Meyer has done, both before and after his Jaguars hiring, I’m convinced that he currently has no intention of leaving the team before he believes his job is accomplished. I believe that he truly believes that he’s in it for the long haul.
So, following are some observations about the resilience of Coach Urban Meyer, Trevor Lawrence, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, and what it may indicate for each of them going forward:
1. Urban Meyer is very resilient. I believe there’s a lot of evidence that points to it. Although sometimes words are cheap, they can also be gold, which reveal someone’s true beliefs and motivations. For instance, Meyer doesn’t use the word “resilient” much, but a lot of his communication about how he evaluates, selects, and coaches players is actually centered on resilience. In his press briefings he speaks very highly of his team, including Trevor Lawrence. He uses words such as “competitiveness”, “mental toughness”, “hard as nails”, and “I love that guy – everything about him.” Meyer constantly expresses strong loyalty to his team in how he speaks about them to the press. He has their back and he expects that loyalty expressed is loyalty received as well. Lastly, the fact that he returned to the pressure cooker of coaching a 1 – 15 NFL team after his last college job may indicate he’s either completely delusional or very resilient.
2. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is very resilient too. Almost as important as #1, there’s a lot of evidence that former #1 pick Trevor Lawrence is also very resilient, in spite of his lack of experience at losing. Urban Meyer speaks about Lawrence consistently in terms of his steadiness, mental toughness, work ethic, and that he believes in him as his quarterback. In watching Lawrence’s verbal and nonverbal communication in a losing environment, including his press briefing after their heartbreaking loss to the Bengals, he is one cool cat. Even when answering questions about where the team failed, his eyes are bright and smiling. It’s clear he really he believes what he says about himself – “I’m made of the right stuff”, “I’m not gonna play timid” – and is determined to not let their record crush him. After leading the NFL ‘interception board’ in their first three losses, it’s no accident that he bounced back with a tremendous game against the Bengals.
3. The Jaguars resilience as a franchise is not yet clear. It’s not clear in my view because the resilience level of the franchise’s most important member, team owner Shad Khan, isn’t clear. By his resilience I am referring to Khan’s determination to stick with Meyer and see the whole culture change process through. Obviously, he’s the captain of the ship and it ultimately goes where he directs. There are some encouraging signs of resilience, however. Simply his interview and selection of Urban Meyer, who didn’t only want to coach the worst team in the NFL, but to change its culture, speaks volumes. Mr. Khan is certainly a serious person who isn’t going to simply humor Meyer with lofty goals and not intend to buy into them. In fact, Mr. Khan literally bought in. He bought in to the idea of culture change in Jacksonville, with a lot of personnel and infrastructure upgrades, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
For me, this will be a fascinating story to follow in the weeks and months to come. I hope that all three contributors – Meyer, Lawrence, and the Jaguars – in what they’re trying to achieve in Jacksonville, have the resilience to see it to its successful completion.
