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Urban Meyer’s biggest mistakes as Jaguars’ head coach

doug farrar
·12 min read
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Just when you thought that Bobby Petrino was the worst NFL hire of a head coach… well, ever, along comes Urban Meyer to top Mr. Soooo-ey. The Jaguars finally and mercifully fired their first-year man after a 2-11 start to the season, and a litany of lies, out-of-touch statements, and outright abuse of players and coaches.

It was clear that Meyer was in over his head in a football sense — yet another high-profile college coach who does not pack the gear to serve at the next level. But as was true for so many of Meyer’s players at both Florida and Ohio State, it was the off-field stuff that really did him in.

In case you’re unsure as to why the Jaguars would make this move, leaving offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell as the interim head coach, here’s a not-so-brief list of all the things Urban Meyer did wrong in less than one full calendar year in the NFL.

You might want to bring a snack.

"I'm not flying back with the team. I'm gonna stay in Ohio and ruin my life."

(AP Photo/Zach Bolinger)

So… here was the situation. After the Jaguars’ Week 4 overtime loss to the Bengals, Meyer decided against flying back to Jacksonville with his team, preferring to stay in Ohio, where he is… um… obviously well-connected.

We soon discovered the extent of this, when viral video showed Meyer galivanting around in a bar with a woman who was definitely not his wife.

“I just apologized to the team and the staff for being a distraction. It was stupid,” Meyer said after things went public. “I explained everything that happened and owned it, and, you know, just stupid, should not have had myself in that kind of position.”

“I stayed to see the grandkids, and we all went to dinner that night at a restaurant,” Meyer said. “There was a big group next to the restaurant, they wanted me to come over and take pictures, and I did. Trying to pull me out on the dance floor, screwing around, and I should have left.”

Team owner Shad Khan released a statement soon after.

Imagine you’re a player who’s just gone through a close, agonizing loss, and your head coach doesn’t even want to be on the plane with you because he’s too busy doing live Tinder drills? It’s no wonder he lost the locker room as soon as he found it.

Kicking his own kicker.

(Will Dickey—USA TODAY NETWORK)

This story came down the pike on Wednesday, courtesy of Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. And one assumes it was the last straw for owner Shad Khan, though the incident in which Meyer was accused by former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo of kicking him during practice happened in August.

Per the article:

“It was ‘Kicker, Punter, Long snapper,’” Lambo said. “Or (expletive)bag, (Expletive) or whatever the hell it was.”

“I’m in a lunge position. Left leg forward, right leg back. … Urban Meyer, while I’m in that stretch position, comes up to me and says, ‘Hey Dip(expetive), make your (expletive) kicks!’ And kicks me in the leg.”

“It certainly wasn’t as hard as he could’ve done it, but it certainly wasn’t a love tap,” Lambo said. “Truthfully, I’d register it as a five (out of 10). Which in the workplace, I don’t care if it’s football or not, the boss can’t strike an employee.

“And for a second, I couldn’t believe it actually happened. Pardon my vulgarity, I said, ‘Don’t you ever (expletive) kick me again!’ And his response was, ‘I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the (expletive) I want.’”

Lambo also says that Meyer was angry with him because Lambo told Meyer to avoid speaking back in public.

Hiring a known racist as his strength coach without any due diligence.

(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Not long after the Jaguars hired him, Meyer put his rep on the line right away with the hire of former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle, despite Doyle’s long and well-documented record of racist behavior.

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“Yeah, I’ve known Chris for close to 20 years,” Meyer said by way of explanation. “Our relationship goes back to when I was at Utah and he was the No. 1 strength coach, and really he was doing sports performance before sports performance became a high priority in college sports, and so I’ve known him, I’ve studied him, we’ve had a relationship.

“I vetted him thoroughly, along with our general manager and owner. I feel great about the hire, about his expertise at that position.”

When Meyer was asked if he made that call with any hesitation or additional research? Well…

“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, but we did a very good job vetting that one.”

Vet, vet, vet. Well, the vetting didn’t work out, as Doyle resigned soon after.

“Chris Doyle came to us this evening to submit his resignation and we have accepted,” Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke said in a joint statement, which was amended to include Baalke’s name after the team said it had been inadvertently left off. “Chris did not want to be a distraction to what we are building in Jacksonville. We are responsible for all aspects of our program and, in retrospect, should have given greater consideration to how his appointment may have affected all involved. We wish him the best as he moves forward in his career.”

Calling his coaches "losers."

(Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP)

Last Saturday, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network released a blockbuster report in which it was revealed that Meyer was a complete jerk to just about everybody in the building — he had alienated receiver Marvin Jones — who, by all accounts from anybody who knew or played with him in Detroit, is one of the better team guys you’ll ever meet.

The worst was left for Meyer’s coaches, who got the real brunt of his abuse.

During a staff meeting, Meyer delivered a biting message that he’s a winner and his assistant coaches are losers, according to several people informed of the contents of the meeting, challenging each coach individually to explain when they’ve ever won and forcing them to defend their résumés.

Several Jaguars players vented their frustration to Rams players after that game, sources say, reiterating a common complaint that Meyer — who had no prior NFL experience — doesn’t treat them like adults. And the staff meeting follows a pattern of tense interactions between Meyer and his assistants dating back to the offseason. After opening the preseason with consecutive losses, for instance, sources say Meyer informed assistants that he was sick of being embarrassed and if the team didn’t start winning immediately, some of them wouldn’t be around for a second year.

Meyer was telling his assistants that they might start looking for other jobs if things didn’t turn around… in the preseason. Who does things like this?

Lying about James Robinson's playing time.

(Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports)

The Jaguars’ offense has been an unmitigated disaster all season, and Robinson, the second-year undrafted back, has been the only consistent bright spot. Robinson has 682 yards and seven touchdowns on 143 carries, adding 28 receptions for 209 yards. Which is pretty impressive when your own head coach can’t keep his stories straight about why you’re not in the game.

This was the entire exchange between Meyer and reporters after the Week 13 loss to the Rams (yes, the same game in which Meyer didn’t seem to quite know who Andre Cisco was), in which the decision to bench Robinson in favor of Carlos Hyde (who played for Meyer at Ohio State):

James’ (RB James Robinson) fumble again, and I think he was out for 20 plays. Did you bench him after the second fumble?

URBAN MEYER: He’s still not 100 percent. He’s not practicing during the week. James is as good a guy, a tough a guy, team player as you’ve got, that I’ve ever been around. Your heart bleeds for the guy just because he’s not able to do what he does well. He hasn’t been that way since Seattle. He’s not able to practice, but he wants to play, and he’s still a very good player. You’ve just got to take care of the ball.

Do you think you’re better off sitting him?

MEYER: We had that conversation as a staff, and everybody felt that he was the best option right now, even not 100 percent.

So he wasn’t hurt after the fumble, he’d still be back in?

MEYER: Oh, sure.

He came right back in afterwards? It was three possessions before he got back on the field.

MEYER: Yeah, we were just giving Carlos (RB Carlos Hyde) an opportunity, and then obviously we failed there, as well, or the ball went on the ground.

Carlos also had the fumble late in the game, too, back on the field the next drive. I’m just wondering if there was — if it wasn’t a benching, it was just all health with Robinson?

MEYER: You’d have to ask (Running Backs Coach Bernie Parmalee) Coach Parmalee. I don’t get too involved. I don’t micromanage that. I know he’s been dinged up, so I don’t know if he’s back with the tent or what’s going on, but I know there’s injury involved.

Is that (Running Backs Coach Bernie Parmalee) Parmalee’s call or (Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell) Bev’s call, putting him back in based on injury?

MEYER: Well, James is unique because he is fighting injury. If someone is not producing and you sit him down, that’s a whole different conversation, but this is really injury based.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence had a very different take a few days later.

“In my eyes, obviously I’m the one that’s out there, see all the pieces moving, I see the whole picture, bottom line is James [Robinson] is one of our best players and he has to be on the field. We addressed it and I feel like we’re in a good spot. The whole team, we’re good. Whatever may have happened, I honestly don’t know everything that went into it. I’m playing the game and stuff happens on the sideline with coaching decisions. I don’t really get into that.

“But I know, and I’ve voiced my opinion, James is one of our best players and he has to be in the game. I think we’re all on the same page, so there’s no confusion there. We’re going to move forward but I know James is a hell of a player, so I want him out there.”

Reports later indicated that Meyer put Robinson back in the game after Lawrence asked him what was going on.

Maybe Robinson will get the chances he deserves now. As for the whole “fighting injury” thing… that appears to be another instance in which Meyer just couldn’t keep his stories straight.

Saying the quiet part out loud about player vaccination status.

(Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports)

Also in August, during a press conference in which he was going over the Jaguars’ decisions to get their roster down to the league-mandated 53, Jacksonville’s head coach came right out and said that vaccination status was a factor in final cuts..

“Everyone was considered,” Meyer said, when asked if vaccinated players had more of a positive consideration. “That was part of the production, let’s start talking about this, and then also is he vaccinated or not. Can I say that that was a decision maker? It was certainly in consideration.”

Later in the press conference, when asked about the NFL’s disciplinary measures for unvaccinated players, Meyer doubled down in the case of edge-rusher Josh Allen.

“Josh Allen’s never had it and he’s not played in two weeks. He’s never had COVID. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that, but he’s never had COVID. So, that’s pretty punitive.”

If you don’t know whether you’re allowed to say it, coach… don’t say it.

As to whether Meyer and his staff thought about vaccination status as a tiebreaker? Well, of course they did. Every team does. But again, you don’t say it, because you then run afoul of the NFLPA. Which Meyer did. This prompted an NFLPA investigation, and once again proved that Meyer wasn’t up to the rigors of NFL coaching.

Not knowing the playing time of his own rookie safety.

(AP Photo/Gary McCullough)

Look, we know. Coaching is a tough gig, and you’re not always going to know the playing time of every player in a game if the offensive and/or defensive coordinators control that. But this was another case in which Meyer’s “quiet part out loud” thing bit him in the posterior. If a coach doesn’t know something right after a game, the common answer is, “I have to look at the tape.” Simple, right?

Because if you get any more specific, you tend to reveal that you very much don’t know what you’re doing. This was the case when Meyer was asked about safety Andre Cisco, who, per Pro Football Focus, did actually play seven snaps against the Rams last Sunday… which was the same number of snaps he played two weeks before against the Rams.

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