Ian Rapoport on why Urban Meyer was fired with cause
Before the season finished, the Jacksonville Jaguars decided to pull the plug on the Urban Meyer experiment. He was fired before Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans, finishing with a 2-11 career in the NFL.
Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong for both Jacksonville and Meyer over the past few months. However, because of alledged off-the-field incidents, the Jaguars were able to fire the head coach for cause.
NFL Network inside Ian Rapoport explained what led to the move being made so early and how Jacksonville will avoid paying Meyer less than originally owed.
“He got fired for cause because of several specific incidents,” Rapoport said. “There was the incident with Josh Lambo, which he (Urban Meyer) has denied. There was the incident with the woman that was not his wife at a bar in Colombus which, you can’t deny, it was on video. And then the other reports and all that. But firing for cause is a legal move I guess you would say to not pay him. I would imagine they go into negotiations now to come up with some sort of settlement where you will leave with a certain amount of money that will probably be less than what he originally scheduled to get paid.
“If you’re wondering about the timing, to me, the best way I could sum it up — they knew they were going to fire him, it was obvious he was gone at the end of the season. If you’re going to do that, just do it now so the stories stop.”
Rapoport explains interview with Urban Meyer
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 a long 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.’”