JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer knew free agency would be different from recruiting, but he wasn’t exactly prepared for one of the most glaring differences: hiring men without meeting them.
Teams may only contact the agents of players who become free agents during the two-day period before the official start of the competition year. Because when most deals were struck, Meyer built his team without any contact – and he hated it.
“Yeah, that was awful,” said Meyer Friday morning. “I disagree, but no one asked my opinion. I think you could bring them in and meet them earlier, eat with them, you discover the football intelligence, discover their character. You don’t [do], I found, is calling someone who has a skin in play because they won’t quite do it – I don’t see fairness as a very appropriate one. So we took a deep dive. Every man we signed, we did.
“To answer your question, it was awful, and I don’t think it should be. Not when you make organizational decisions. I’m not sure how that rule came about, but for me that’s not a good thing. “
Meyer was one of the top recruiters in the country while in the state of Florida and Ohio. Since ESPN began tracking signing classes in 2006, Meyer has never signed a class that finished below seventh place. He signed twice in the highest classified class and finished second three more times. He never signed a recruit he at least hadn’t spoken to before signing the day.
That was not the case with any of the 11 free agents the Jaguars signed. Carlos Hyde, who agreed with the Jaguars on Monday, played for Meyer in Ohio State, so he knew him, but Meyer couldn’t talk to him until after the new league year started at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Fortunately for Meyer’s peace of mind, his assistant coaches had some connection with six of the 11 players, including receivers Marvin Jones Jr. and Phillip Dorsett and cornerback Shaquill Griffin. But none of the staff had connections with the defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris, kick returner Jamal Agnew, safety Rudy Ford, tight end Chris Manhertz or safety Rayshawn Jenkins.
But Meyer got help from former UF recipient Louis Murphy, who vouched for Griffin and Jenkins. Murphy, who, according to Meyer, may join the staff, is from St. Petersburg, Florida, where Griffin and Jenkins played football in high school.
“He helped me with these guys, what kind of players they are, what kind of people,” said Meyer. “Of course he feels very strongly about the quality of football in the St. Pete area, so he was a cheerleader more than anything, but he helped.”
The Jaguars didn’t hit any of their top goals – defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, who signed with Minnesota – and despite having the most money to spend in free agency, the Jaguars didn’t spend a lot of money on multiple players. Griffin got a three-year deal averaging $ 13.33 million a year and including $ 29 million guaranteed, but the second highest paid player was Jenkins. He signed a four-year deal averaging $ 8.75 million a year, including $ 16 million guaranteed.
This was partly because Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke felt that the selection should be strengthened in several places and that the money could be better spent to spread.
“In recruiting, we would have our recruiting meeting and identify the best players and say go get them,” said Meyer. “And then all of a sudden I start to find out that this man cost $ 28 million and costs this man … I knew, to say I didn’t know, of course I knew, but as you expressed puzzle together over here is your cap space, here are your choices, can we take it with us, but we ask three of these guys to help. And so I imagine once you’ve put together your roster exactly how you want it, you can take and go get that $ 25 million athlete.
“We’re not in a position to do that at the moment. We’re just not. So it was a learning experience, and I feel good about it.”