Urban Meyer Controversy: Amidst a Season of Controversy, the Jaguars Have Decided to Part Ways with Head Coach Urban Meyer.
Urban Meyer Controversy: With only four games remaining in his first season, the Jacksonville Jaguars fired Urban Meyer on Thursday morning.
Meyer joined the ranks of other renowned college coaches who have failed to replicate their success in the NFL. With great hoopla, he landed in Jacksonville in January after being coaxed out of retirement by club owner Shad Khan.
However, Meyer’s mistakes added up as the Jaguars lost 11 of his 13 games. As reported by the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday night, former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo has accused Meyer of kicking him in the leg during practice during the preseason. Meyer has rejected the allegations.
When it came to college football, Urban Meyer knew all there was to know, but in the NFL, he had to prove himself from the start.
After Khan visited an NFL owner’s meeting on Wednesday in the Dallas region, the Jaguars made the announcement early on Thursday morning.
After “much thought over many weeks and a comprehensive study of the duration of Urban’s stay with our club,” Khan said in a statement posted by the squad, “I am sincerely sorry to arrive at the decision that an urgent change is needed for everyone.” “I broke the news to Urban tonight. In October, I wrote about how crucial it was to win back our confidence and esteem. Unfortunately, that did not occur.
Given the importance of letting the NFL season close and giving everyone involved a chance to regroup, I will reserve further comment until then.
Meyer, 57, is the latest prominent college coach to fail in the NFL after trying his hand there. Others on the list include Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Lou Holtz, Chip Kelly, and others. Meyer coached collegiate football for 17 years at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State, where he won 85 per cent of his games and two national titles.
Meyer resigned as head coach at Ohio State in December 2018, just before he was set to retire from coaching for health reasons.
Meyer stated at the time, “I believe I will not coach again.”
It’s a terrific day for Jacksonville and Jaguars fans everywhere,” Khan said of Meyer’s hire. But at age 56, Meyer was about to become a head coach in the NFL for the first time. And the 2020 Jaguars club he took over had only one win to their name.
Despite selecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the first overall choice in the NFL draught, Meyer and the Jaguars endured another disappointing season. It wasn’t just that the Jaguars were losing while maintaining their customary low profile. They were losing and experiencing a spate of disturbing events, the latest of which was Lambo’s charge.
I’ve gotten down into a lunge stance. “I always say, ‘Left leg forward, right leg back,'” Lambo told the Tampa Bay Times. During my pregame stretching routine, Urban Meyer walked up to me and said, “Hey, dips—-, make your f—-ing kicks!” And stomps on my leg to boot.”
Meyer refuted Lambo’s claim. Unfortunately, it seems like the Jaguars’ level of stress was at a breaking point.
Lambo said that while it wasn’t a love tap, it wasn’t as easy as he might have made it. Whether it’s football or not, it’s never okay for a supervisor to hit an employee on the job, therefore I’d give it a five Which.
For a moment there, I almost doubted it had truly occurred. To use a colorful expression, I pleaded, “Don’t you ever f—-ing kick me again!” I’m the head coach, he said. If I want to kick you, I will.
Daniel Snyder “didn’t interfere with the job that our investigator undertook,” according to Roger Goodell.
On the weekend, NFL Network claimed that Jaguars wideout Marvin Jones had to be encouraged to return to the team’s facility after he had departed in fury at Meyer’s criticism of the team’s wideouts and had a violent argument with Meyer during a practice. The news outlet also said that Meyer informed his coaches that he is a winner and they are losers during a staff meeting.
Meyer rejected the claim and openly threatened to terminate any worker who leaked the negative information. In spite of this, Khan still didn’t appear to be ready to move on from Meyer. When months of unfavorable occurrences, Khan took action after the Lambo incident was revealed.
Khan called Meyer’s off-field behavior “inexcusable” and said the coach “must recover our confidence and respect” in October when footage surfaced of Meyer in a Columbus, Ohio bar with a young lady dancing beside him. The team issued a public rebuke of Meyer at the time.
After the Jaguars’ loss in Cincinnati, which brought their record to 0-4, Meyer, who had stayed in Ohio and not immediately accompanied the team back to Jacksonville, issued an apology.
The NFLPA said in late August, shortly before the season began, that it would launch an investigation over Meyer’s statements. He stated the Jaguars’ roster decisions included players’ immunization records.
Meyer stated at the time, “Everyone was considered.” That was intended as part of the show. Let’s get this conversation going, and while we’re at it, tell me: Is he vaccinated? To what extent may I assert that this constituted a deciding factor? Absolutely, the thought crossed my mind.
In a subsequent statement, the Jaguars clarified that “no player was released due to their immunization status.”
Even though Tim Tebow was going to turn 34 and hadn’t played in an NFL game since 2012, Meyer signed the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner and Florida quarterback in May.
A five-year veteran of the New York Mets’ minor league system, Tebow announced his retirement from baseball in February. Tebow was cut from the Jaguars’ roster in August after trying out for the team as a tight end.
Chris Doyle, who had been with the Jaguars since January as their strength coach, joined Urban Meyer’s staff as the director of sports performance, only to quit the next day.
The change was made just hours after the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a diverse group that works closely with the NFL on minority hiring, deemed the recruitment “just unacceptable.”
It has been said that while coaching at the University of Iowa, Doyle mistreated athletes and made racial remarks.
Jaguars head coach Doug Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke issued a joint statement that read, “Chris Doyle came to us this evening to submit his resignation and we have accepted.”
Khan announced the appointment of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell as interim head coach for the rest of the Jaguars’ season in a statement released on Thursday. Baalke will remain the general manager of the team.
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