The Jacksonville Jaguars suffered a tough loss to the Houston Texans in their season opener on Sunday. And once USC fired Clay Helton as their head coach, rumors began flying that Meyer would leave the Jaguars to return to college football. Meyer spoke to reporters on Wednesday and shut down the rumors as he’s committed to making the Jaguars a winner.
“There’s no chance. I’m here and committed to try to build an organization,” Meyer told reporters, per NFL.com. The Jaguars are hoping that things will turn around after a difficult few seasons. The team selected star quarterback Trevor Lawrence No. 1 overall in this year’s draft. He struggled in Sunday’s game, leading to a Texans 37-21 win.
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“There was never a time we threw up the red flag and said, ‘We’re done,’” Meyer said on the team’s official website Monday. “We’ve seen it before and I’ve been a part of games like that, where a guy catches fire and you come back.” This is the first time Meyer is a head coach in the NFL after spending nearly all his time on the college level. One of the reasons Meyer was hired by the Jaguars is he has won everywhere he coached. At the University of Utah (2003-2004), Meyer won 22 games in two seasons and won the Fiesta Bowl in 2004. He also coached at Florida (2005-2010), where he won 65 games and two national championships. And at Ohio State (2012-2018), Meyer won 83 games and a national title.
USC is looking to get back in the national championship scene as they have not won the title since 2004. Helton was with the team for seven seasons and was let go after the Trojans suffered a brutal loss to Stanford at home. The program will now start the search for a new head coach.
“Clay is one of the finest human beings I have met in this industry, and he has been a tremendous role model and mentor to our young men,” USC Director Athletics Mike Bohn said in a press release. “We appreciate his many years of service to our university and wish him nothing but the very best. Consistent with our values as an institution, he deserves the utmost respect from the Trojan Family during this transition.”
