Urban Meyer seeking $12 million a year to return to coaching, report says

Former Ohio State and Florida coach is favorite for Jaguars coaching job

Head coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes looks on against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 17, 2016 in Norman, Oklahoma.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Is Urban Meyer worth $12 million a season as the new Jaguars head coach?

According to a Mike Florio with ProFootballTalk, that’s what Meyer is looking for in a potential coaching salary. That salary would make Meyer, along with New England’s Bill Belichick, the highest paid coach in the NFL.

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The NFL Network reported over the weekend that Meyer, 56, is the frontrunner for the Jaguars job that opened up Monday morning when owner Shad Khan fired Doug Marrone after a 1-15 season. Khan denied those reports, but said that he did know Meyer loosely through Big Ten connections.

Meyer has had success at every stop in college, including two national championships at Florida and another at Ohio State. He’s been out of coaching for two years as an analyst for FOX Sports.

That starting salary, while enormous for a person who has never coached in the NFL, isn’t extraordinary under market conditions. Carolina’s Matt Rhule got nearly $9 million annually when he left Baylor for the NFL. While Meyer comes with baggage (significant player legal issues emerged at Florida, an abrupt resignation, a three-game suspension at Ohio State for concealing domestic issues of a former coach) there’s no denying he’s had success, and lots of it.

According to widely circulated numbers, Seattle’s Pete Carroll ($11 million), Las Vegas’ Jon Gruden ($10 million), New Orleans’ Sean Payton ($9.8 million), Baltimore’s John Harbaugh ($9 million), Carolina’s Rhule ($8.5 million) and Los Angeles Rams’ Sean McVay ($8.5 million) follow Belichick. Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Atlanta’s former coach Dan Quinn and Kansas City’s Andy Reid all have $8 million salaries and round out the top 10.


About the Author:

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.