By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

We all love to make predictions and nowhere is that more than in sports.

Not only do we love to predict which teams will win and what players will receive end of the year honors, but each sport’s draft is predicated entirely on how a team predicts a particular player will perform.

For the most part I try to stay away from making predictions as much as I can; I’m not very smart and there are so many outside factors it can be a pretty risky business.

However, when it comes to the length of Urban Meyer’s tenure in Jacksonville, I’m willing to make an exception.

If I had to guess as to how much time will elapse before Meyer has another medical condition forcing him to retire, I’d put the over/under at 3 years. And just to clarify, I’m not mocking anyone with a medical condition, just those who seem to have them at the most opportune times.

There are a myriad of reasons why I don’t think this relationship between Meyer and the Jaguars will work out, but they all come back to one single fact most others have already touched on- Meyer isn’t in college football anymore.

There’s a reason why Pete Carroll’s transition from college to the NFL is the exception and not the rule- it’s damn hard.

Meyer was an excellent college coach and the one person I believe would’ve given Nick Saban a run for his money had he stuck around in either Gainesville or Columbus.

But, besides not being sure his systems will work in the NFL, I’m not convinced his approach to coaching will work.

The fiasco that was the Chris Doyle hire, followed by the even more ridiculous press conference, is a perfect example.

In college you may lose a player or two after bringing in someone with the history of a Doyle, but for the most part it’s a storm that passes without much fallout.

(The student athlete has become much more vocal recently, so in all fairness, the storm may be louder now than a few years ago.)

As Meyer found out really quickly, those types of hires don’t fly in the NFL. Players aren’t relying on a head coach to get them to the next level, they’re already there.

And specifically speaking to a strength coordinator, most of the work NFL players do is on their own with their own trainer. Making a decision like that is almost all risk with absolutely no reward, not that the possible reward is an excuse to sell that hire anyway.

Meyer’s history of making these types of bonehead decisions and choices to double down on them because he could in college, is an indication he isn’t really prepared for what he’s about to embark on.

Winning cures a lot of ailments, but it doesn’t cure them all. If he’s going to be successful, he’s going to have to change more than just X’s and O’s.

Who knows, maybe Meyer has been able to figure out how to manage the day-to-day stresses of being a head coach and put those issues behind him.

Maybe he’ll wind up having a very successful stint as Jacksonville’s head coach, lasting into the next decade. Those are all things that could very well happen, I’m just not willing to predict it.