Jacksonville Jaguars fire head coach Urban Meyer
The Urban Meyer era with the Jacksonville Jaguars was a short lived one. Jacksonville hired Meyer in the offseason, bringing him out of his previous retirement to become the Jaguars’ new head coach. Meyer was paired with a young roster in need of a major rebuild, but he was also gifted with the No. 1 overall pick in his first NFL Draft, which the Jaguars used on quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
The Jaguars have decided to part ways with Meyer, with the news coming shortly after midnight on Thursday morning. The move was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He finishes his Jaguars career with a 2-11 record.
Darrell Bevell will serve as Jacksonville’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
After deliberation over many weeks and a thorough analysis of the entirety of Urban’s tenure with our team, I am bitterly disappointed to arrive at the conclusion that an immediate change is imperative for everyone,” Jaguars owner Shad Khan wrote in a statement. “I informed Urban of the change this evening. As I stated in October, regaining our trust and respect was essential. Regrettably, it did not happen.
“Trent Baalke continues as our general manager and will work with Darrell to ensure that our team will be inspired and competitive while representing Jacksonville proudly over our final four games of the season. In the spirit of closure and recharging our players, staff and fan base, I will not comment further until some point following the conclusion of the NFL season.”
While the Jaguars certainly weren’t expected to compete for a playoff spot this season, the team was completely uncompetitive. Meyer’s tenure as the Jaguars head coach will be remembered for a lack of improvement on the field along with distractions and controversy off the field.
Meyer’s tenure as the Jaguars coach went completely off the rails
On Saturday, Dec. 11, NFL reporter Tom Pelissero reported that there have been multiple incidents between Meyer that have created tension with other coaches and players in the organization.
“Months of tension surrounding Jaguars coach Urban Meyer has boiled over with multiple run-ins with players and other coaches in recent weeks, sources say, renewing questions in league circles about whether Meyer’s stay in Jacksonville could end after just one tumultuous season,” Pelissero said.
Meyer’s continued criticism of the wide receiver room forced veteran wideout Marvin Jones to storm out of the facility, only to later come back and have a “heated argument” with Meyer. The former college football national champion coach has also reportedly been delivering messages revolving around Meyer being a winner and his assistants being losers. Meyer also benched starting running back James Robinson after a first quarter fumble against the Rams. He said that he did not bench Robinson, instead blaming an injury. But that was not the case, leading to strong comments from many players, including quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
At the time of Pelissero’s report, NFL reporter Aaron Wilson named some possible in-house candidates to take over for Meyer, should the Jaguars move on from their head caoch.
“Darrell Bevell, interim coach for Lions last year, in addition to Charlie Strong, are the prime in-house candidates if Jaguars move on from embattled coach Urban Meyer, per sources,” Wilson tweeted. “Meyer’s relationships with staff and players are frayed beyond repair, sources say.”
Meyer was also seen on video earlier in the season at an Ohio bar, and that video caused a storm of distractions and speculation for the organization. At that time, Jaguars owner Shad Khan said that Meyer would have to “regain our trust,” albeit maintaining his belief in him as Jacksonville’s coach. With Meyer now heading out the door, it appears that the trust was never rebuild.