The Jacksonville Jaguars have fired head coach Urban Meyer, ending a tumultuous tenure with the franchise after only 13 games.
The announcement came roughly nine hours after the latest embarrassment for owner Shad Khan: A report in the Tampa Bay Times in which former kicker Josh Lambo alleged that Meyer kicked him in the leg while he was stretching in warm-ups before a practice during the week of the final preseason game. That was the point at which Khan broke.
Khan said that he was bitterly disappointed to arrive at the conclusion that an immediate change is necessary for everyone. I told Urban of the change this evening. I stated in October that regaining our trust and respect was essential. It didn't happen.
"In the spirit of closing the book on the season, I will not comment further until after the season is over," Khan's statement said.
Darrell Bevell will be the interim head coach for the remainder of the season and Trent Baalke will remain as the general manager, according to Khan's statement.
Meyer's only season with the Jags was not very good on the field, but issues off the field were what doomed him. From the moment Meyer was hired, there was a lot of tension between Meyer and his staff and players.
He couldn't overcome the recent incidents and the 20-0 loss to Tennessee. The league sources confirmed to the NFL Network that Marvin Jones Jr. had to be persuaded to return to the team facility after leaving in response to Meyer's published criticism of the wide receivers. Meyer and Jones had a heated exchange after he came back.
On Sunday, Meyer denied that he and Jones had an argument and that he called his assistant coaches "losers" and questioned their resume during a staff meeting. Jones came to Meyer to question what he said about the receiver, but Meyer said the conversation was not heated.
The incident with Jones was just the latest example of the lack of order within the facility and left Khan to fire Meyer a little less than a year after he sat next to him in a news conference and proclaimed, "this time I got it right," in choosing the three-time national champion
Meyer's mistakes began immediately after he was hired.
Meyer hired a former Iowa strength coach who was accused of making racist remarks and belittling players. The Fritz Pollard Alliance criticized the hire of the Jaguars.
Tim Tebow was signed to play tight end by Meyer and the Jags in May. During the training camp, he struggled as a blocker and was released.
The league fined Meyer and the Jags for excessive contact during a June 1 activity. The team will have only eight during the first week of the 2022, due to the forfeited twoOTAs.
In August, the NFLPA said it would investigate after Meyer said that he and Trent Baalke considered a player's vaccine status for final roster cuts because of the high-risk close contact that comes with unvaccinated players.
Meyer alternated days with the first-team offense with the starting quarterback being Trevor Lawrence. The team traded Minshew to Philadelphia three days after Meyer announced Lawrence as the starter.
The Houston team that many considered to be the worst in the NFL opened the season with a loss to the Jacksonville team. The team appeared unprepared, had several illegal formation penalties, and gave its best offensive player just five carries.
The next three games were losses, including a 24-21 loss at Cincinnati on Thursday night football. Meyer went to Columbus, Ohio, to visit with his grandsons, despite the loss to the Bengals.
A video showing a woman dancing close to Meyer's lap at a Columbus restaurant went out on Oct. 1 Meyer apologized in a team meeting later in the week and in a group meeting early in the week. Shad Khan issued a public rebuke.
Meyer said that he explained everything that happened and owned it. It was just stupid. I should not have been in that position.
A video that appeared to show Meyer touching a woman's bottom while sitting at a bar was released around an hour after Meyer apologized. The woman in the first video was wearing jeans and a white top.
Meyer said his family was upset. His daughter posted a message of support on her story, and his wife, who was also on social media, announced she was no longer going to be.
After a 20-game losing streak dating back to the 2020 season opener, the Jacksonville Jaguars won their first game of the season two weeks later, beating Miami 23-20 in London.
The offense has been one of the worst in the league since then. Robinson had a knee injury in the first game after the bye, and Lawrence had struggled.
Meyer had an issue with Robinson's usage. Robinson was benched for 16 plays after he fumbled against Atlanta and 20 plays after he fumbled against the Rams. Meyer didn't know how long Robinson was held out of the games and he doesn't micromanage his assistant coaches. He said that the decision on when to play Robinson was up to the running backs coach.
After the loss to the Rams, Lawrence told the coaching staff that Robinson is the team's best offensive player and needs to be on the field as much as possible.
Meyer clashed with his assistants. According to multiple sources, Meyer treated the assistants poorly and they were upset at having to game plan into the night for the preseason games. Sources said that Meyer was hard on his coaches during his college career, and that he came down hard on the assistants when the team wasn't having success. Meyer would place the blame on the assistant coaches. The Robinson-Parmalee situation is just one example.
Meyer had lost many staffers before the end of the year. Special-teams coach Brian Schneider left the team for personal reasons, Fernando Lovo left to return to Texas for a job in athletic administration, and Tosh Lupoi and Tyler Bowen are expected to leave after the season for Florida.
Meyer's relationship with some players became strained. Multiple sources said players made fun of Meyer in the locker room after the videos of him with a woman were made public.
Meyer won three national titles and had a 187-32 record as a college coach. He won two of those titles with the Gators. He was the leader of the Ohio State team that won the national title in 2014).
His tenures at Ohio State and the University of Florida were not easy.
Meyer was rushed to a hospital after his wife couldn't wake him up after the SEC Championship game. Meyer was scared by the dehydration and chest pains that he had been experiencing. After Florida's bowl game, Meyer announced that he was stepping down for health reasons but changed his mind the next day and said he would take a leave of absence.
Meyer was diagnosed in January of 2010 with a condition called Esophageal spasms, which caused him to have chest pains. He began taking medication, made lifestyle changes, and resumed coaching at the start of spring practice in March 2010.
After the Gators' final regular-season game in 2010, Meyer announced that he would be stepping down and that his final game would be the Outback Bowl.
Meyer had trouble with the law while he was at Florida. The New York Times reported that 41 players on the 2008 national championship team have been arrested, and that 31 players were arrested while Meyer was the head coach. The tight end was convicted of killing Lloyd.
Meyer had a health scare in the fall of last year when he dropped to his knees on the sideline during Ohio State's game against Indiana. Meyer revealed that he was dealing with an ongoing issue related to a congenital arachnoid cyst in his brain, which included severe headaches that had gotten worse over two years.
Meyer was placed on paid administrative leave in August of last year after reports surfaced that he knew about abuse allegations against an assistant coach. Smith was fired by Ohio State.
Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the season. Meyer announced that he was retiring from coaching after the Rose Bowl because of health reasons, despite the fact that the Buckeyes missed out on the College Football Playoff.
