JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Scratch Urban Meyer off the list of candidates for the USC football job.
The Jacksonville Jaguars coach said Wednesday that there was “no chance” he’d leave the NFL for that job, which came open when USC fired coach Clay Helton on Monday.
“I’m here and committed to try to build an organization,” Meyer said.
Earlier this month Meyer had also said he doesn’t miss recruiting.
Meyer is in his first season with the Jaguars after winning three national championships and compiling a 187-32 college coaching record during stints at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. He won two of those titles (2006, 2008) with the Gators, whom he led to a 65-15 record in six seasons. He also led the Buckeyes to the 2014 national title and compiled an 83-9 record in seven seasons in Columbus, Ohio.
Meyer’s tenure with the Jaguars has gotten off to a bit of an uneven start. He hired former Iowa strength and conditioning coordinator Chris Doyle, who had reached a separation agreement with Iowa after being accused of making racist comments and belittling players. Doyle resigned the following day.
Meyer also had No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence splitting first-team practice reps with Gardner Minshew throughout the majority of training camp, only naming Lawrence the starting quarterback between the second and third preseason games. Minshew was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles before the start of the season.
The Jaguars lost their season opener 37-21 in Houston last Sunday and the Jaguars looked sloppy. They had six dropped passes, used two timeouts in the first quarter to avoid delay-of-game penalties, had multiple illegal formation penalties, and also were penalized for having 12 men in the huddle. Lawrence also threw three interceptions.