The Urban Meyer error is over after less than a season with the Jaguars
Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer walks along the sideline during the first half of an NFL game against the Falcons on Nov. 28 in Jacksonville, Fla. Credit: AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack
From the start, the Urban Meyer hiring in Jacksonville had boom or bust written all over it.
Just before 1 a.m. on Thursday, we got our answer. The implosion was even worse than anyone could have imagined.
Hours after the latest controversy surrounding the coach mushroomed into national news, the Jaguars sent out a news release at 12:45 a.m. to announce team owner Shad Khan’s decision to fire Meyer.
"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," Khan said in a statement. "As I stated in October, regaining our trust and respect was essential. Regrettably, it did not happen."
Meyer created a firestorm in October by declining to return with his team to Jacksonville after a loss to the Bengals, choosing instead to remain in Ohio, where he grew to legendary status in his run as a national championship coach at Ohio State. He said it was to be with his family, but videos soon surfaced showing Meyer at a bar with a woman who was not his wife. Meyer publicly apologized after the incident, and Khan accepted it, but he also added an important caveat.
"I appreciate Urban’s remorse, which I believe is sincere," Khan said. "Now he must regain our trust and respect. That will require a personal commitment from Urban to everyone who supports, represents or plays for our team. I am confident he will deliver."
He failed to deliver. Failed spectacularly.
And it actually was something that happened months before the early October fiasco that sealed his fate. Former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday that Meyer once cursed at him and kicked him in practice during the 2021 preseason, before Lambo had been released.
Lambo said he wanted to speak publicly about the incident after recent reports of friction between Meyer and some of his assistant coaches and other Jaguars players.
"Those are still my people," Lambo told Stroud. "He threatened all of them for speaking the truth. And that’s a bully, and people need to speak up against bullies."
Lambo told his agent, Richard Irvin, about the incident, and Irvin contacted the Jaguars’ legal counsel. The Jaguars acknowledged Irvin reporting the incident and said the team offered to speak with Lambo about it. Lambo told Stroud he had "no recollection of being able to speak with the Jags’ legal team."
Meyer said Wednesday that Lambo’s description of the incident is "completely inaccurate, and there are eyewitnesses to refute his account."
Khan wasn’t buying it. He’d had enough. Meyer was sent packing.
And so ends yet another failed run for a highly successful college coach who didn’t have what it takes to coach in the pros. Meyer joins Lou Holtz (Jets) and Bobby Petrino (Falcons), who didn’t even make it through their first NFL season. And he serves as yet another cautionary tale for team owners who have tried and failed to fill the most important job on a football team with someone who is ill-prepared to take on the challenge.
Jimmy Johnson is the outlier when it comes to big-time college coaches making a successful transition to the NFL; he produced a Hall of Fame career with the Cowboys after winning a national title at Miami. It’s more common to see college coaches fail at the NFL level — see Steve Spurrier and now Meyer.
The Jaguars are left to pick up the pieces yet again. They have been one of the NFL’s least successful teams since Tom Coughlin molded them into winners in the early years of the franchise. Khan thought he hit a home run with Meyer, but it turns out he committed one of the costliest errors imaginable.
The good news: The Jaguars still are an attractive team to coach, starting with quarterback Trevor Lawrence and a handful of foundational players that include pass rusher Josh Allen, running back James Robinson and linebacker Myles Jack.
But Khan needs to find a more palatable alternative after Meyer’s pathetically bad tenure.
And as for Meyer, good riddance.
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
