Ian Rapoport reveals backstory to Urban Meyer interview after Jaguars firing
The Jacksonville Jaguars did the inevitable last week by firing head coach Urban Meyer during first NFL season. Following Meyer’s firing, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport got to interview Meyer, where he went in depth about his firing, what comes next, and more.
The interview with Meyer was interesting, and he opened up about his coaching style, Trevor Lawrence, his future plans, and much more. Rapoport joined the Dan Patrick Show on Monday, where he gave some background on how his interview with Meyer took place.
“So it was actually a little surreal I have to say,” Rapoport said of the process of how he got his interview with Meyer. “You always check in. You always call. It’s always worth it. So when I got the feeling that things were going bad, I got the feeling he might get fired, I reached out. Heard nothing, and then I called on Friday morning just doing my due diligence. You never know, maybe he wants to talk. So I call him, nothing, no response.
“I text him, I said like, ‘Hey might be along shot but I’d love to talk to you if you want to talk.’ SO he calls me back and he says, ‘Hey, you know yeah, I’m really disappointed. It’s frustrating. I love Jacksonville.'”
Rapoport: Meyer ‘commented on almost everything’
Rapoport said that Meyer opened up on just about everything he was asked, minus the legal situation surrounding his contract. The Jaguars fired Meyer for cause, meaning that they do not intend on paying out the remainder of his deal.
“And I kind of stop and I’m like, can I interview you? Like is this an interview? Because he kind of started like it’s an interview,” Rapoport said. “He was like, ‘You know what, what did you have in mind?’ I’m like, ‘Getting your feelings on getting fired.” He was like alright. And then I was like, ‘Can I record you? Because I don’t want to screw up any of the quotes.’ He’s like, ‘That’s fine.’ So then I have an app on my phone which I haven’t used in a while, so I had to download it again while I’m on the phone with him while he’s awkwardly waiting.
“I’m like I’m really sorry. He’s like, ‘It’s okay I’m walking on the beach.’ I’m like alright, that’s nice. So then we talked for 25 minutes. I asked everything I wanted to ask, he commented on almost everything except the legal situation with his contract. And then that was it. But it was, I mean I cannot honestly say I was expecting to call him, to him call me back, but here we were.”
Meyer was fired after a 2-11 start to the season and a mountain of distractions piling up on and off the field.