The Jaguars Have Fired Urban Meyer Less Than A Year Into A Disastrous Tenure

The Jacksonville Jaguars are in the midst of another dreadful football season, sitting at 2-11, tied for the second-worst record in the NFL. However, this year’s misery has come with more controversy than usual in north Florida, as new head coach Urban Meyer has produced non-stop headlines for all the wrong reasons.

There was him hiring the former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle, who had been fired for allegations of racist behavior while with the Hawkeyes, which lasted less than a week before the unsurprising backlash led to his resignation. Then there was the Tim Tebow saga in training camp, as Meyer couldn’t help but bring his old quarterback in as a tight end, with Tebow ultimately not making the team. Then Meyer was filmed getting danced on by a young woman who was not his wife at a bar in Ohio on an off weekend after Thursday Night Football, leading to an awkward apology. Most recently, there have been numerous reports of Meyer being a generally terrible boss, calling assistant coaches losers in a meeting, arguing with star receiver Marvin Jones, and, on Wednesday, an allegation from former kicker Josh Lambo that Meyer kicked him during a practice.

Apparently the Lambo allegation was the final tipping point and, despite clearly not wanting to make a move in-season, the Jaguars hand was forced and after midnight ET, word broke that Meyer had finally been fired, with owner Shad Khan releasing a statement.

The most damning quote is this one, “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.”

That, one would think, would be the end of Meyer’s coaching career, where he was wildly successful in college at every stop but a trail of off-field issues followed his teams seemingly everywhere he went. Now, his first NFL job ends in disgrace after a woeful 13 games and the Jaguars, once again, are looking to restart with a new coach.