The Jacksonville Jaguars are in advanced talks with Urban Meyer to make him their head coach and a deal could be reached by Friday, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Florida Times-Union on Thursday morning. The person requested anonymity because the deal has not been finalized.
If a deal is not reached within the next 30 hours, the Jaguars could wait until late next week after this Monday's Martin Luther King Day holiday and Wednesday's presidential inauguration before finalizing an agreement with Meyer.
From the start, Meyer has been the Jaguars' top target to replace Doug Marrone, who was fired on Jan. 4 after finishing with a franchise-worst 1-15 record and losing 21 of his last 24 games.
Meyer is only focused on the Jaguars' job, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed. However, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that Meyer talked with the Los Angeles Chargers about their vacant head coaching job.
The Jaguars' head coaching vacancy is considered an attractive job, especially with the franchise having locked up the No. 1 overall pick to select Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Jaguars also have more than $90 million in available cap space for free agency.
In 17 seasons, Meyer has never had a losing season, including his first two years as head coach at Bowling Green where he went 8-3 and 9-3. At Florida, Meyer won national championships in 2006 and 2008 and went 65-15 in six seasons. Meyer coached Ohio State from 2012-18, winning the College Football Championship at the conclusion of the 2014 season.
Jaguars owner Shahid Khan is seeking a proven coach to turn around his franchise that's had 11 losing seasons in 13 years.
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