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Tim Tebow is back in the NFL. Tebow is expected to sign a 1-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, as first reported yesterday by Ian Rapaport. There had been rumors flying about the possibility of Tebow reuniting with his former college coach and those became reality with the Jaguars reportedly pulling the trigger to sign the former Heisman Trophy winner to play tight end.
Tim Tebow most recently played significant snaps in the NFL in the 2011-2012 season, where he led his team to a playoff victory over the Steelers shortly before being obliterated by the Patriots. His career fizzled out shortly after, being added during training camp by a few teams before eventually being cut. Tebow then moved on to play minor league baseball in the New York Mets system, finishing his most recent season with a batting average of .163.
The Jaguars have been in the news a lot more recently than usual, mostly due to the fact that they won the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes with a 1-15 record. The Jaguars drafted the golden-armed quarterback first overall, as well as adding additional talent with their plethora of draft picks.
Jaguars fans are hopeful for the future of the franchise and rightfully so, drafting a generational prospect at quarterback and hiring a head coach with a history of success. A history of winning is great, but Urban Meyer’s arrogance can be this team’s achilles heel.
In early February, Meyer drummed up controversy by hiring former Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle. Doyle was the Iowa S&C coach for 21 years before they parted ways in 2020. The problem is that Doyle was paid $1.1 million by the school to leave, the equivalent of 15 months salary amidst allegations of racism and bullying.
After the hiring drew criticism, Meyer publicly stated, “I vet everyone on our staff, and the relationship goes back close to 20 years, and a lot of hard questions asked, a lot of vetting involved with all our staff”. Doyle then resigned one day after being hired to the Jaguars staff.
You would think this would lead Meyer to check his ego and realize he is no longer the lone king of the castle like he was when coaching Ohio State and Florida. You would be mistaken.
The signing of Tim Tebow is pure nepotism and bad process in the NFL. He is coming in to play a position he has never played after ten years away from football. The Jaguars are doing well rehabbing their image from the doormat of the AFC South to contenders and Tim Tebow does nothing but hurt that. The focus should be on your number one overall pick, not a washed-up barely relevant former quarterback.
The media should be asking Trevor Lawrence how he is adjusting to the NFL, his new city, and his new teammates, not how Tim Tebow is doing and if he’ll be the emergency quarterback. There are plenty of young tight ends in the league who stand a far better chance at making the final roster than Tebow, including a rookie they drafted from Ohio State, Luke Farrell.
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported during an appearance on SportsCenter today, “not everybody in the Jaguars building is thrilled with this. They don’t think that it necessarily sends the proper message to the rest of the team in the locker room and the guys trying to make this team.”
When bringing along a young rookie quarterback and attempting to turn a team around, coaches need to limit distractions and focus on improving the team. Meyer has done the complete opposite with the signing of Tebow because he thinks he knows better than anybody else.
An undeniably great football mind, but one that needs to focus on just that, football. Not rekindling 15-year-old relationships with players that have no business being on the field.