Detroit Lions: Proceed with caution when it comes to Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer would be a phenomenal ‘football’ hire for the Detroit Lions, but it would come with plenty of skepticism.

When it comes to strictly football, Urban Meyer would be an elite-type hire for the Detroit Lions. Meyer has proven time and time again the ability to identify elite potential and groom that potential into extraordinary talent. If we’re talking strictly X’s and O’s, Meyer is a coach the Lions should strongly pursue if you are one who cares about the integrity of the program, scratch Meyer off of your wish list.

Let’s come right out and say it; the one knock on Urban Meyer is his history of skipping town, quitting once things start to get a bit hairy; he’s done it with both Florida and Ohio State.

Can the Detroit Lions risk hiring a head coach that may skip town if things are not going as planned, say in year two or three of his tenure? Not to mention Meyer’s history of turning a blind eye to serious situations during his college career.

Now I’m not going to pin Aaron Hernandez‘s reputation completely on Meyer, but he had been certainly aware of Hernandez’s character during his time with the Florida Gators. During his time with the Gators, the team gained notoriety with an abundance of players being arrested.

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Meyer again neglected Zach Smith’s domestic violence claims at Ohio State, stating ‘there is nothing here, I don’t know who creates a story like this.’ Well, as it turns out Meyer had been aware of the allegations, Smith’s wife Courtney often texted with Meyer’s wife, Shelley. It became the downfall of Meyer at Ohio State, forcing the coach to turn the keys of the program over offensive assistant Ryan Day.

Meyer, similar to when he departed Florida, stated his health as the reason. That becomes another concern, can he sustain the stress of being an NFL head coach? It’s a fair question to ask.

Meyer is widely considered as one of the greatest college football coaches of All-Time, but can he right the ship in Detroit?

When you look at Meyer’s on-field performance, it won’t take a fan long to realize he’s an unbelievable head coach. It may be hard for Wolverine and Spartan fans to admit (especially Wolverine) knowing Ohio State’s dominance in the Big Ten Conference.

Meyer led the Buckeyes to a National Championship Championship and produced an overall record of 83-9 over seven years. Simply incredible. Before that, Meyer helped turn Tim Tebow into quite possibly the best college quarterback of All-Time, winning a pair of National Championships in six years while producing an overall record of 65-15.

The former college coach has an eye for talent, and I believe he’d have the ability to identify the top talent coming out of college heading to the NFL. He’d be a tremendous asset for the Detroit Lions in the NFL Draft and free agency.

After adding former Buckeye and Lions legend Chris Spielman to the organization, there is now certainly an internal path to landing Meyer.

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Highly successful college coaches don’t always make it in the NFL; refer to Nick Saban, but I have a feeling Meyer would be just fine if you can stomach his history of willful-ignorance.

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