Urban Meyer Could Draw ‘Serious’ Interest From Lions: Report

Getty Urban Meyer looks on in Indianapolis during the Big Ten title game.

The Detroit Lions are getting their ducks in a row in terms of the general manager and coach search and a very intriguing name could come into the mix soon.

While the Lions have not formalized many names with regards to their coaching search yet, in the coming days, former Ohio State boss Urban Meyer could enter the mix. According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the Lions are going to consider Meyer seriously for their opening along with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Detroit’s opening has an interesting wrinkle to remember for Meyer as La Canfora notes, being the Lions currently employ former Ohio State legend Chris Spielman in the front office. That could potentially be appealing to Meyer considering Spielman’s Buckeye ties and familiarity with Meyer.

Obviously, the Lions need to shake things up in a dramatic way, and Meyer would be one outside of the box way to get that done. If the Jaguars are interested, Detroit could be battling a team that offers Meyer the chance to coach in Florida and have the shot at a top draft pick as well as tons of draft capitol. The Lions job, however, could appeal to Meyer’s ego, given he spent the better part of a decade drilling the University of Michigan and has Buckeye ties to lean on in the front office.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Meyer is going to make the call in the coming weeks if he wants to interview for NFL jobs and take on the grind. If the answer to that question is yes, an interview with the Lions could soon follow.

Urban Meyer Resume

If the Lions want to go the college route, there are very few folks who are Meyer’s equal in terms of wins and losses. In a career that has led him to places such as Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State, Meyer has piled up a gaudy 187-32 record. In bowl games, Meyer was an impressive 12-3, and has three national titles to his credit while coaching the Gators and Buckeyes. After 2018, Meyer retired and joined Fox Sports as a commentator, but that has not stopped rumors from swirling about his return to either the college ranks or a career in professional football.

At 56 years old, Meyer could be far from finished in terms of his career, and the only question is whether or not he wants to try the stress of an NFL grind. Meyer has stepped away before for health reasons, and that was a major reason he stepped down from Florida in 2010 and took the 2011 season off. Obviously, Meyer would be an intriguing hire for any NFL team much less the Lions, who need change in a big way.

Lions Coaching Search Update

Detroit’s coaching search hasn’t progressed as completely as their general manager search has to this point, and that makes sense given most of Detroit’s coaching candidates are in the NFL and still haven’t finished off their seasons to this point in time. So far, the Lions have met with seven candidates for their general manager job, only three of which were internal. Detroit could look to hire a coach first and then pair them with a general manager, and it would be interesting to see how that would work.

As for NFL candidates, the Lions figure to have plenty of those as well. Detroit could target Robert Saleh, Eric Bieniemy, Arthur Smith or Brian Daboll for interviews in the coming weeks in addition to others. In the future, Meyer could interview for the job if the Lions want him to come to town.

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