The Jacksonville Jaguars have met with Urban Meyer and have presumably offered him their head coaching job, but the three-time national champion appears to have at least some reservations about accepting the position.
Meyer has not yet shown tremendous enthusiasm about coaching the Jaguars, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
“From what I gather, he hasn’t been full-steam ahead with regard to taking the Jaguars job or making a strong push to say, ‘Hey, I’m your guy,'” Garafolo said. “He’d be the guy in Jacksonville if he really, strongly said, ‘I’m in, let’s go.'”
There have been reports that Meyer has already begun assembling an NFL coaching staff, but is it possible he would prefer to coach somewhere other than Jacksonville?
“Meyer’s trying to figure out what he really wants to do here and are there other opportunities that maybe he would wait for or be interested in,” Garafolo added. “I think he’s kind of going through his options.”
Meyer has reportedly told associates he has received interest from a second NFL team, though that has not been confirmed. If he does want to coach in the NFL, the Jaguars job should have plenty of appeal. Meyer coached at the University of Florida, so he has ties to the state. Jacksonville also has the top pick in the upcoming draft, which will almost certainly be used on Trevor Lawrence.
Another holdup between Meyer and the Jags could be that Meyer is reportedly seeking a massive salary.
The Seattle Seahawks saw their 2020 season come to a disappointing end on Saturday, but that did not stop ownership from making a new commitment to general manager John Schneider.
The Seahawks announced on Tuesday that they have signed Schneider to a contract extension that runs through 2027. Russell Wilson was one of the first to weigh in on the agreement, and the star quarterback clearly approves.
Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million extension with the Seahawks prior to the 2019 season, so you can understand why he has a good relationship with Schneider. There is also no denying how impressive Schneider’s body of work has been. He and head coach Pete Carroll, who is signed through 2025, have built teams that won two NFC Championships and one Super Bowl.
There was recently a report that a rival NFC team was going to try to hire Schneider away from the Seahawks, but that is not going to happen.
The Philadelphia Eagles have found themselves in search of a new head coach after Doug Pederson was surprisingly fired, and it sounds like many within the organization were not prepared for the task at hand.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Network said Tuesday that the Eagles are “scrambling” to find a new head coach. The belief is that team owner Jeffrey Lurie is the only one who actually wanted to move on from Pederson.
“They are scrambling right now. They didn’t expect to be having a coaching search,” Garafolo told 97.5 The Fantatic. “The owner who dictated the firing of (former offensive coordinator) Mike Groh last year, didn’t like who Doug wanted this year. My read on the situation is that Lurie was the only one who wanted him fired.”
Garafolo mentioned several coaches who could be candidates to replace Pederson, but he noted that the Eagles could be “a little late to the party” on some of them. Potential candidates include Todd Bowles, Eric Bieniemy and Mike Kafka.
It’s also possible that the Philly job could be viewed as less desirable than some others because Pederson was ousted three years after winning a Super Bowl.
“Nationally people are going to look at it like the team ran a Super Bowl winning head coach out of town,” Garafolo said.
Reports have indicated Pederson’s job was safe heading into Week 17. The coach then benched Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld, which was a move that left many Eagles players furious. One veteran player publicly defended Pederson, but it’s possible the situation created a locker room divide.
A lot goes into a head coaching search, and Lurie appears to have left his front office staff in a very difficult spot.
Robert Saleh is viewed as one of the most popular candidates on the head coaching market this offseason, and he may be the top choice of the New York Jets.
Saleh flew out for a second interview with the Jets on Tuesday. According to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, Saleh is a finalist for the job.
Saleh has been the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers since 2017. He received a great deal of credit — and deservedly so — for helping lead the team to the Super Bowl last year. The 41-year-old also had some head coaching interviews last offseason, but he seems more likely to land a job this year.
We know of at least three other teams that have expressed interest in Saleh, so the Jets could have some competition. Of course, New York might also have strong interest in another candidate that just lost his job.
Kentucky two-sport athlete Ben Jordan has died.
Multiple reports on Tuesday confirmed Jordan’s death, though the cause has not yet been revealed. Jordan, who played baseball and basketball at Kentucky, was 22.
Jordan was a Kentucky native and highly touted baseball prospect at West Carter High School in Olive Hill. He had a chance to be drafted by an MLB team before undergoing Tommy John surgery his senior year. Jordan enrolled at Kentucky in 2018 but redshirted, eventually making his debut the following season.
As a redshirt freshman in 2019, Jordan appeared in 10 games and struck out eight. The 6-foot-9 pitcher then walked on to the Kentucky basketball team for the 2019-20 season and appeared in two games. Wildcats head coach John Calipari praised Jordan for his willingness to play two sports.
“I really appreciate Ben helping our team and agreeing to be a part of this,” Calipari said at the time, via Chris Fisher of 247 Sports. “He has a great demeanor and a way about him that really fits in well with this team. The guys already have embraced him as one of our own. I think he’ll be a great addition to this team.”
Jordan announced last year that he was going to give up basketball and focus on baseball this upcoming season.
Kyrie Irving has been away from the Brooklyn Nets this week for personal reasons, and he may not be eligible to play right away if and when he does decide to return.
Irving has missed Brooklyn’s last three games, and no one seems to know why. On Monday night, a video on social media surfaced that appeared to show him at a maskless gathering to celebrate his sister’s birthday. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews, the NBA is looking into the video to determine if Irving violated COVID-19 protocols.
You can see the video in question here.
Wojnarowski also noted that Irving has been ruled out for Tuesday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets and is not expected to play on Wednesday or Saturday, either.
In other words, there is no timetable for Irving’s return. He may have to quarantine even when he does rejoin the Nets, so that could keep him out even longer.
Nets coach Steve Nash made some comments recently that indicated he is unsure of the reason behind Irving’s absence. Brooklyn has lost its last two games to fall to 5-6 on the season.
Ben Roethlisberger and Maurkice Pouncey shared an emotional moment on the bench together after the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday night, and we now what was said between the two.
Footage that aired on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” this week showed an emotional Roethlisberger apologizing to Pouncey. The quarterback told Pouncey “I feel worse for you than me.”
Roethlisberger and Pouncey are both entering the final years of their contracts. Roethlisberger is owed $41.2 million and Pouncey $14.4 million, so the exchange may have been an acknowledgement that the 2020 season could have been one of their last together.
Big Ben has also won two Super Bowls with Pittsburgh, and both came before Pouncey was drafted by the team in 2010. Pouncey is 31 and should have more years left in the NFL than the 38-year-old Roethlisberger, but Ben knows how tough it is to win a championship.
Another angle of Roethlisberger and Pouncey appeared to show that Big Ben was crying. After the way the Steelers started the 2020 season, you can understand why they are so disappointed with the finish.
Kyrie Irving will miss his fourth consecutive game on Tuesday when the Brooklyn Nets take on the Denver Nuggets, but no one seems to know why.
Irving missed Brooklyn’s last three games for personal reasons. It’s unclear when he will return, and Jason Dumas of KRON4 News reported on Sunday that the six-time All-Star has been “off the grid.”
Even if Irving does decide to return this week, he may have to follow NBA quarantine rules. Videos that surfaced on social media Monday night claimed to show Irving at a birthday gathering for his sister, Asia.
Some recent comments made by Nets coach Steve Nash indicated the team may not know why Irving is out and when he could return.
The Nets have lost their last two games to fall to 5-6 on the season. Kevin Durant returned on Sunday after quarantining, but Brooklyn needs both stars in order to compete.
Alabama fans were thrilled over the team’s championship win on Monday night and celebrated accordingly.
The streets of Tuscaloosa were packed after the Crimson Tide rolled to a 52-24 win over Ohio State at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
One fan even scaled a CVS.
And the police even had to come out.
Plus, let’s not forget the person who was on a stretcher.
There haven’t been a ton of reasons to celebrate for many people over the past year or so, but the championship win gave Tide fans a very good reason to celebrate.
Nick Saban doesn’t often share emotions publicly, but he did not hide them on Monday night.
Saban was unusually happy with his Alabama Crimson Tide for their performance against Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship. He was actually happy during his halftime interview, which is very unusual. He was happy in his postgame interview on ESPN too. And he was even shown crying after the team won it all.
Saban said all along how proud he was of his team’s players for maintaining their focus and overcoming all the adversity the challenging season presented. He said this was one of his favorite teams because of all they achieved given the circumstances. His tears confirm everything he felt about this squad.
Here was the last occasion when Saban got choked up.
