Cowboys have 'very real interest' in Urban Meyer, view Lincoln Riley as possibility

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Report: Cowboys have ‘very real interest’ in Urban Meyer, view Lincoln Riley as possibility

Cassandra Negley

Cassandra NegleyYahoo Sports Contributor

Yahoo SportsDecember 6, 2019, 1:04 PM EST

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Jason Garrett’s time with the Dallas Cowboys continues to run out after that embarrassing “Thursday Night Football” loss to the Chicago Bears.

That the Cowboys could still make the playoffs out of a dismal NFC East is no solace for fans.

The calls to can Garrett as coach are coming more fervently now, despite owner Jerry Jones insisting he won’t fire the guy during the season. If and when it does happen, there are big names ready to step in.

Report: Cowboys interested in Meyer

According to NFL Network’s Jane Slater, the Cowboys have a “very real interest” in former Florida Gators and Ohio State Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer.

They’re also interested in Lincoln Riley, the current coach at Oklahoma, and Tony Elliott, a co-offensive coordinator at Clemson. Riley is 35-5 in three years with the Sooners. Riley and Oklahoma attempted to recruit Jones’ grandson, John Stephen Jones, as a walk-on, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The quarterback plays for Arkansas.

Slater reports that the Cowboys executive vice president and CEO Stephen Jones has spoken with Meyer recently, presumably about the position.


Jane Slater :heavy_check_mark: @SlaterNFL

Jerry Jones says Jason Garrett will remain the coach but I can confirm a very real interest in Urban Meyer. In fact, I’m told Stephen Jones spoke with him recently. Lincoln Riley remains a strong candidate & file this name as a possibility Clemson OC Tony Elliott per sources.

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Meyer is taking the year off from coaching, announcing a year ago he was stepping away from Ohio State for health reasons and was done with coaching. He had said so previously when leaving Florida.

The Buckeyes had a 2018 season under Meyer that was stained by the enabling of assistant coach Zach Smith, who faced domestic abuse allegations by his wife in 2015. He was previously arrested for assaulting her in 2009, while both coaches were with Florida.

During an October appearance on Colin Cowherd’s radio show, Meyer addressed the possibility that Riley would take the Cowboys job and turned it into a declaration that he would “absolutely” take it.

“Sure,” Meyer said to Cowherd. “Absolutely. Absolutely. That one? Yes.”

Meyer also called it “the one job in professional football that you say, ‘I got to go do that.’ ” The former Ohio State and Florida coach is 187-32 over his 17-year coaching career and has a 12-3 in bowl games with three national championship titles.

Jones said in 2017 “there aren’t too many things I wouldn’t do financially to win another Super Bowl,” writes Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson. Offering a big contract to the coach you want would be a first step.

Urban Meyer has said he'd 'absolutely' be interested in taking the Cowboys head coaching position. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
Urban Meyer has said he'd 'absolutely' be interested in taking the Cowboys head coaching position. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)704×511 39.2 KB

Urban Meyer has said he’d ‘absolutely’ be interested in taking the Cowboys head coaching position. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

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Jane Slater is attractive, that’s my take away

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LOL - this would be even more reason to root against Dallas. My 2nd to least fav team (behind GB).

I do think it would be hard to be less successful than Garrett though…whew! Any grade is an upgrade from that dude.

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I am a Cowboys fan…but I don’t think Urban Meyer would work. I think Lincoln Riley would…however

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Idk. Urban Meyer is really skilled at covering for wife abusers. That could come in handy.

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So basically Jerry Jones wants to prove that even when he figures out how to assemble a talented team, he still can’t get out of his own way.

The only way Urban Meyer or Lincoln Riley could work in today’s NFL is if Jerry bought them the best assistants money could buy.

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Who honestly cares?

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I agree with you on this Wes. Especially in the case of Riley. He’s young and likely couldn’t assemble an NFL caliber coaching staff.

Meyer has worked with enough coaches that he might be able to assemble a decent staff but I doubt he could completely fill out his staff with NFL caliber coaches.

You’d have to wonder if J. Jones did go after one of these two if that new coach would retain a lot of the current coaching staff? I’m not sure if that would be wise. But I see it as a possibility.

But I do agree that JJ would be wise to open the pocket book and help recruit some quality NFL coaches to compliment them.

Someone is going to offer Meyer a contract he can’t refuse. I do expect Meyer to jump to the NFL. Dallas does seem like a strong possibility.

Riley I’m not so sure … OKC would be wise to do everything they can to retain him. I wouldn’t be shocked if he stays in college football for a while longer.

I find both names interesting as future NFL coaches.

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It’s funny how a bunch of posters always complain how the Lions aren’t covered enough by the media and they only focus on the Cowboys, Packers, etc. Yet, on a Lions message board, there is a post specifically about the Cowboys…

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So, what would you rather talk about that we haven’t talked to death already? Fatty Matty Patty, our run game, our 3rd string QB, our horrid defense, etc, etc, etc.

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She’s the one I was reading about who had her Fitbit synced-up with her boyfriends and found that he was working-out at 4am in the morning…with another woman (if ya know what I mean.)

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I think you can only have so many “Lions suck fire everybody” threads competing with “give them another year” and “so many injuries” threads and the way too early “I want to draft this guy” threads and “Stafford is near elite/Stafford is JAG/a bum” to the point of ad nauseam.

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So, what does that mean for Garrett, Moore, and Kitna?

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Matt Rhule would work. Kyle Whittingham would work

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I think there’s some sort of money grab opportunity in calling themselves the Urban Cowboys, and that’s all this is about.

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As far as I can tell Rhule only has 1 season as an asst. offensive line coach in the NFL and Whittingham has zero NFL coaching experience and only 1 year as a replacement player in the NFL. That’s a tough transition.

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The other babe must have been a looker, or Jane doesn’t have it

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Fair enough. But stylistically I think they are a match.