04-22-2021, 05:19 AM
This is a very long article about Urban Meyer, the quarterbacks he has coached, and his life-long search for a great quarterback.
Link to article
Quote:
Between Johnson in 1989 and Meyer this year, there were 21 NFL head coaches hired from college football. Nine of them eventually made the playoffs with their new team, and 12 did not or have not yet. Much of that is quarterback.
In 1995, 18-year Oregon coach Rich Brooks was hired and went 13-19 in two years with Chris Miller and Tony Banks as his starting quarterbacks. The often-cited Steve Spurrier, a national championship coach at Florida, left for the NFL in 2002 and lasted two years in Washington, going 12-20. He tried to win with the last pick in the first round of the 2002 draft, Patrick Ramsey, as well as Danny Wuerffel, Shane Matthews and Tim Hasselbeck at quarterback. In 2012, Meyer’s good friend Greg Schiano was hired from Rutgers by Tampa Bay, and he was bounced out of the NFL after two seasons and a record of 11-21. His starting quarterbacks were Josh Freeman and Mike Glennon.
And then there’s the successful college coach who flamed out after two NFL seasons with Gus Frerotte, Joey Harrington and a fading Daunte Culpepper as his primary quarterbacks. He left the Miami Dolphins after going a combined 15-17 in 2005 and 2006. And he left wishing his team had signed Drew Brees, as he wanted to do.
“If we’d had Drew Brees, I might still be in Miami,” Alabama coach Nick Saban told ESPN in 2015.
Meyer isn’t comparable to those situations. He’s more akin to coaches like former USC boss Pete Carroll, who went 14-18 in his first two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, but has made the playoffs eight of the last nine seasons once Wilson arrived in Year 3. Boston College coach Tom Coughlin left to become the first coach of the Jaguars, and he built the team and started a four-year playoff run in his second season by finding and believing in quarterback Mark Brunell.
And while Meyer can learn from the NFL mistakes of Saban, he can also learn from the NFL success of Jim Harbaugh, who jumped from Stanford to the San Francisco 49ers and went 36-11-1 his first three seasons with a roster ready to win and quarterbacks ready to lead. First was Alex Smith, followed by Colin Kaepernick.
Link to article
Quote:
Between Johnson in 1989 and Meyer this year, there were 21 NFL head coaches hired from college football. Nine of them eventually made the playoffs with their new team, and 12 did not or have not yet. Much of that is quarterback.
In 1995, 18-year Oregon coach Rich Brooks was hired and went 13-19 in two years with Chris Miller and Tony Banks as his starting quarterbacks. The often-cited Steve Spurrier, a national championship coach at Florida, left for the NFL in 2002 and lasted two years in Washington, going 12-20. He tried to win with the last pick in the first round of the 2002 draft, Patrick Ramsey, as well as Danny Wuerffel, Shane Matthews and Tim Hasselbeck at quarterback. In 2012, Meyer’s good friend Greg Schiano was hired from Rutgers by Tampa Bay, and he was bounced out of the NFL after two seasons and a record of 11-21. His starting quarterbacks were Josh Freeman and Mike Glennon.
And then there’s the successful college coach who flamed out after two NFL seasons with Gus Frerotte, Joey Harrington and a fading Daunte Culpepper as his primary quarterbacks. He left the Miami Dolphins after going a combined 15-17 in 2005 and 2006. And he left wishing his team had signed Drew Brees, as he wanted to do.
“If we’d had Drew Brees, I might still be in Miami,” Alabama coach Nick Saban told ESPN in 2015.
Meyer isn’t comparable to those situations. He’s more akin to coaches like former USC boss Pete Carroll, who went 14-18 in his first two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, but has made the playoffs eight of the last nine seasons once Wilson arrived in Year 3. Boston College coach Tom Coughlin left to become the first coach of the Jaguars, and he built the team and started a four-year playoff run in his second season by finding and believing in quarterback Mark Brunell.
And while Meyer can learn from the NFL mistakes of Saban, he can also learn from the NFL success of Jim Harbaugh, who jumped from Stanford to the San Francisco 49ers and went 36-11-1 his first three seasons with a roster ready to win and quarterbacks ready to lead. First was Alex Smith, followed by Colin Kaepernick.