Urban renewal?

They'll separate some more wheat from chaff this weekend in the NFL playoffs, with the Packers vs. Rams, Josh (the Bills) vs. Lamar (the Ravens), the Chiefs vs. the Browns and Grandpa Walton (Tom Brady and the Buccaneers) battling Walter Brennan (Drew Brees and the Saints) for seconds on tapioca.

But that's not the marquee news out of the NFL this week.

The marquee news is the Jacksonville Jaguars have won this year's Big Splashy Hire award.

The 1-15 Jags went out and landed them some Urban Meyer, who won three national titles at Florida and Ohio State and a whole pile of games while he was at it. Consensus seems to be that he's not just another college icon destined to be not-so-iconish in the NFL, but the rare college icon who can bring a winner to J-ville.

Doubtless this is because Meyer was at Florida and Ohio State, where football is as  professional an enterprise as it is in the NFL. The head coach functions in those places as much as a corporate CEO as a whisle-slingin' FOOT-ball man drawing Xs-and-Os in the dirt. At places like Florida and Ohio State, the head coach has coordinators for that stuff.

So maybe Urban comes in and retools the Jags into a respectable NFL franchise again, or at least a reasonable facsimile of the Gators or Buckeyes. Or ...

Or maybe the track record wins again.

The track record for college icons trying on the NFL, see, is not stellar. It includes Nick Saban (15-17 in two seasons with the Dolphins), Chip Kelly (fired by both the Eagles and 49ers after going 26-21 with the former and 2-14 with the latter), and Steve Spurrier (12-20 in two seasons with Washington). Also, Lou Holtz, who quit 13 games into his one season with the Jets after going 3-10.

Of course, Lou Holtz was a long time ago. People will argue the college game and the pro game were universes unto themselves in those days, and that's no longer true -- not even on the field, where college and pro systems are remarkably similar these days.

It's a decent argument. But in Meyer's case, there's also this: At both Florida and Ohio State, he eventually walked away because the constant stress ruined his health.

This is because he was a platinum-grade obsessive-compulsive for whom winning was oxygen, which is why he was perfect for both Gainesville and Columbus. In both places, winning wasn't a problem, because nine times out of 10 he had the better players. And players ultimately decide whether or not you win on any level. 

Of course, being expected to win nine times out of 10 -- or 10 out of 10 -- does wear on you eventually. This is especially true if you're as intense as Meyer seems to be. Which is why you have to wonder how long a guy like that can last in the NFL, where the job is even more a 24/7/365 grind and where Meyer, so obsessed with and used to winning, is going to lose more than he used to.

If losing one or two times a year in Columbus wore on him, what's it going to be like in Jacksonville, where he'll assuredly lose many more times than that?

It's why the Blob sees Meyer lifting the Jags to their feet and making them competitive, perhaps sooner than you think. And then abruptly stepping away again, also sooner then you think.

In any event, enjoy him while you got him, Jacksonville. Because he could be gone before you know it.