Michael Thomas comes to Urban Meyer's defense amid multiple controversies
Michael Thomas is skeptical of the reports about his former coach Urban Meyer. After The Athletic released a story Monday detailing a toxic work environment under Meyer, the Saints receiver took to Twitter to offer his thoughts.
“I feel like y’all just saying anything now about Urban,” Thomas wrote followed by an emoji that implied he believes the reports are lies.”
Thomas played under Meyer from 2012-15 at Ohio State, recording a career 113 catches, 1,602 yards receiving and 18 touchdowns. The New Orleans Saints selected him in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, and he has since gone on to make three Pro Bowl appearances in the NFL. The receiver did not play a game in the 2021 season after undergoing ankle surgery in July.
Michael Thomas and Urban Meyer enjoyed their most successful season together in 2015 when the Buckeyes defeated Oregon to win the national championship. Meyer continued to coach at Ohio State until the end of the 2018 season, when he resigned citing health reasons and after sexual assault allegations were brought against one of his longtime assistants. Meyer returned three years later, this time taking a job in the NFL as the Jaguars head coach.
Jacksonville struggled all year, going 2-11 in the first 13 games under Meyer. As reports began to emerge about Meyer’s cruel treatment of players and staff, the franchise decided to part ways with him before he had even coached a full season.
The list of accusations against Meyer is a long one. Former Jaguars receiver DJ Chark, who recently signed with the Detroit Lions, said the coach routinely threatened to fire coaches and cut players. Kicker Josh Lambo claimed Meyer kicked him as an act of intimidation at one point during pregame warmups. The Monday report from The Athletic also claimed that Meyer was unfamiliar with star players around the NFL, including Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
“Who’s this 99 guy on the Rams?” Meyer asked one staffer during the season, according to a source. “I’m hearing he might be a problem for us.”
Jacksonville finished the year 3-14 and hired Doug Pederson as Meyer’s replacement in the offseason.
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.
On3’s Jonathan Wagner contributed to this report.