Urban Meyer and Fox Sports are deep in negotiations for Meyer to return to the network, The Athletic has learned.
Meyer was fired by the Jaguars just 13 games into after his NFL coaching tenure following three national championships as a college coach at Ohio State and Florida. His Jaguars tenure was chronicled in detail by The Athletic’s Jayson Jenks and Mike Sando.
“After deliberation over many weeks and a thorough analysis of the entirety of Urban’s tenure with our team, I am bitterly disappointed to arrive at the conclusion that an immediate change is imperative for everyone,” Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement upon firing Meyer. “Regaining our trust and respect was essential. Regrettably, it did not happen.”
Prior to his Jaguars tenure, Meyer worked for two years as one of the studio analysts on Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff,” a show which has a heavy Big Ten imprint. He is well-liked by top Fox Sports executives and the show found viewership success for the network, though they remain behind “College GameDay” in morning pregame college football viewership.
The thinking at Fox Sports, via network sources, is that they don’t view Meyer’s failure at the NFL level as an impediment to his returning to Fox. They know that the hire will be pilloried on social media. Meyer also had a 10-month broadcasting tenure at ESPN in 2011 which ended when he took the Ohio State job.
A deal has not been completed with Fox at the moment but is heading that way. Fox Sports declined comment on Saturday.
Meyer himself indicated he’s on his way back to Fox during an April appearance on the Tim May Podcast. May was a longtime Ohio State football writer for the Columbus Dispatch.
“That’s all still in conversation,” he told May. “I love Fox, I love their team, I love their guys. There’s nothing that’s been finalized yet, but yeah I plan on going back and doing it.”
Fox replaced Meyer on “Big Noon Kickoff” last season with Bob Stoops but Stoops has since returned to coaching in the XFL.
(Photo: Scott W. Grau / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
