Gene Frenette: Along with Jaguars losing, Urban Meyer may be losing benefit of doubt

Nearly 11 months ago, it seemed like an ideal match, from both a marketing and football standpoint.

Urban Meyer, taking the NFL plunge with a franchise in close proximity to where he became a legendary coach just 75 miles away at the University of Florida, was viewed by many as a home run hire. If nothing else, he was most certainly a polarizing one, which at least made the Jaguars somewhat relevant nationally instead of a total afterthought.

Plus, knowing Meyer would acquire a generational talent in quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, the belief the Jaguars finally had a foundation for long-term success began gaining some traction.

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Now a lot of that momentum and excitement appears to have diminished, gradually eroding not so much by the Jaguars’ 2-9 record. It’s more the growing feeling that Meyer, knowing the college-to-NFL thing wasn’t going to be easy, has found it to be a bigger adjustment than he cares to publicly admit.

When I posed that question to him Wednesday about the NFL learning curve, Meyer replied: “[It’s] about what I thought. I thought I knew what I was getting into. I knew [it] was putting together a staff, a roster. To stay that I envisioned 2-9, I did not. I envisioned we would be a little cleaner team at this point.

“But I’ve coached a long time, studied this game a long time. I knew that week in, week out, you’re facing the best players on the planet. But I thought we’d be a little cleaner by this point, certainly on offense.”

Obviously, some tough season-ending injuries to DJ Chark, Travis Etienne and Jamal Agnew, and now Dan Arnold, have to be factored into the offense’s struggles. A bigger concern is Meyer doesn’t seem to be adjusting to the NFL world as quickly as the Jaguars need him to.

His whole demeanor, be it on the sideline or in press conferences – where his voice often trails off inexplicably in answering fairly routine questions -- doesn’t exude confidence or a commanding presence like a ship's captain. He too often looks like a coach who is in over his head, which shouldn’t be the case for someone with his accomplished resume, albeit in college.

Meyer’s response to the whole James Robinson second-guessing after last week’s 21-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons — being on the sideline for the last 16 plays of the first half, including when the Jaguars reached the red zone — was astonishing.

When asked why one of the NFL’s toughest short-yardage runners was kept chained to the bench even after the Jaguars had first-and-goal, Meyer replied: “You’d have to ask Bev [offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell] and Bernie [running backs coach Bernie Parmalee] on that one. I don’t micromanage that.”

Really? Can you imagine that coming out of the mouth of any of Meyer’s 31 other NFL colleagues?

Sorry, but as the head coach, there are times when it’s imperative to step in and exercise veto power. It’s Meyer’s job to have an awareness for those situations and, if necessary, overrule his assistants to get the team’s best offensive player on the field.

What's the identity?

That’s the second time this year Meyer seemed ill-equipped to explain why J-Rob was on the bench with his team on the doorstep of the end zone.

On October 10 against the Tennessee Titans, it happened on four straight plays on first-and-goal from the 5 with the Jaguars trailing 31-19. Robinson never got off the bench and his team never got in the end zone.

After the game, when asked about J-Rob's absence, Meyer said he wasn’t sure whether No. 25 had been dinged up, then added: “I just met with Bev [offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell] and we talked about it. I don’t micromanage who’s in the game. I should have – James is running really hard, but so is Carlos [Hyde].”

So in two different instances, Meyer pulled out the “don’t micromanage” card without really sounding definitive in his position about what to do in those situations.

Too many Urban interview sessions produce a head-scratching answer of some sort, like last week with his response about why it’s taken so long to find an ideal offense that best fits Lawrence.

“I think so much of it is when you’re not quite sure of what your personnel is capable of,” said Meyer. “We want to be a run-first with Trevor, and then at times when you don’t score, you get behind a little bit and it starts a transition. So no, there’s no stubbornness.

“It’s just we’re all figuring this thing out, and we should have it figured out by now, and I would say this, that it’s not like we don’t have it figured out. We’re not executing at a high level.”

So Meyer says in one breath that the Jaguars should have an offensive identity figured out as they approach Sunday’s road matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, implying they might not. Then he follows up by suggesting not to get the wrong idea about whether the Jaguars have a handle on an offense that best suits Trevor.

When the head coach is convoluted in his message, especially in the immediate aftermath of another loss, it understandably gives a lot of people pause about the Jaguars’ chances for a franchise turnaround.

Intentional or not, Meyer is giving off a perception of taking too long to grasp what must be done to make sure he’s getting the most production out of the Jaguars.

Progress is too slow

The coach who says he wants “the best of the best” for all aspects of the franchise, including the best coaches, has fallen far way short of that standard so far. Except for the 9-6 upset win over the Buffalo Bills, plus parts of the Cincinnati and Arizona games, Meyer has been outcoached rather consistently and often decisively.

Now to be fair, this is his first NFL rodeo, so there was bound to be adjustments. By comparison, through 11 games, Tom Coughlin in his first season was 3-8 and had lost four one-score games. Jack Del Rio (2003), Mike Mularkey (2012) and Gus Bradley (2013) were all 2-9, though the latter never competitive in his losses.

What makes the Jaguars’ slow start more disconcerting is, besides a lack of discipline with an inordinate amount of false starts and other bad penalties, along with the boss constantly bemoaning about getting this thing or that thing fixed, we’re watching Lawrence’s progress move entirely too slowly. Remember, it was Meyer who waited until the Gardner Minshew trade on August 28 to start giving Trevor the majority of first-team snaps.

While rookie QB Mac Jones of the New England Patriots has had far more success out of the gate, what gets lost in that comparison is The Bolles School product has the benefit of six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick as his head coach and longtime Pats' offensive coordinator Josh Daniels calling plays. Lawrence has a head coach breaking into the NFL and an OC working together for the first time. Big difference there.

Still, so little about this Jaguars' team is buttoned up. Meyer constantly wears the look of a haggard CEO, one who can’t get his operation to run in sync.

He talks incessantly about a good locker room, almost every player being a warrior and the Jaguars’ improvement being just on the horizon, but there’s little evidence on Sundays to support that last claim.

Key injuries aside, the Jaguars should be further along in the transformation process. Their offensive scoring output (15.7 points per game) is only a half-point higher than the 2011 version that was the worst in team history. The defense is better than last year’s woeful product, but painfully inept at creating turnovers. It has exposed a personnel shortage that isn't going away without GM Trent Baalke and Meyer, given all the power by owner Shad Khan to run the team as he sees fit, having a better offseason of acquisitions than their first shopping spree.

Overseeing all this is a coach who — due to an embarrassing video captured at an Ohio bar that compelled Khan to publicly say he had to regain the organization’s trust and respect — too often looks like he’s out of his league.

The good news for Meyer is time is still on his side. Even if the Jaguars win no more than a game or two the last six weeks, Khan is too enamored with him to not give the three-time national championship coach at least two more years to get the franchise on a winning track. He can still get this thing turned around, but I suspect it's a steeper climb than he envisioned.

Pay close attention to this coming offseason, particularly whether Meyer parts ways with some of his coaching staff. A new offensive coordinator, receivers coach and/or quarterback coach may not be an ideal thing for Trevor, but it wouldn’t be surprising given the inconsistency of this offense.

For now, not winning games is only part of Urban Meyer’s problem. The bigger one is he’s losing the benefit of the doubt.

gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Is Jacksonville Jaguars' coach Urban Meyer losing benefit of the doubt?