College football headlines have been overtaken with big-name coaching moves this week, with USC hiring Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley and Notre Dame's Brian Kelly leaving for LSU. The flurry of changes isn't expected to include Urban Meyer, however, with ESPN's Michael DiRocco reporting Tuesday that the Jaguars and former Ohio State coach "has no interest" in returning to the college ranks and "remains committed to rebuilding the Jaguars."
Meyer, 57, spent more than two decades at the college football level before joining Jacksonville in 2021, winning a combined three national championships at Florida and Ohio State. His name was quickly linked to Notre Dame's vacancy after Kelly's departure on Monday, chiefly because Meyer previously called coaching the Fighting Irish his "dream job," per DiRocco, and was recruited by Notre Dame after his two-year run with Utah in 2003-2004.
But Meyer has no interest in returning to college football at this stage of his life, DiRocco reports, in part because of how much the NCAA has changed since his last season coaching Ohio State in 2018. For example, name, image and likeness (NIL) deals with athletes did not exist during his time running the Buckeyes.
Earlier this season, Meyer denied interest in USC's opening, now filled by Riley, telling reporters there was "no chance" he'd leave the Jaguars to replace Clay Helton, reiterating his commitment to rebuilding Jacksonville in the NFL.
There's still a lot of rebuilding left to be done. Meyer and the Jags (2-9) are fresh off their third straight loss and have a tall task ahead in Week 13, as they're set to visit the Rams (7-4). Only the Texans (2-9) have scored fewer points in 2021.
