Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer says he’s apologized to his family, his team and the Jaguars owner after a video went viral this weekend of a young woman dancing against him in an Ohio bar.
Urban Meyer about to tell his wife this Trevor Lawrence 💀 pic.twitter.com/Oq3UebQpHa
— PonderThat! 🤔 (@PonderThat4) October 3, 2021
Meyer says he stayed in town after his team’s 24-21 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday to spend time with his grandkids and go out to dinner with some friends.
Meyer addressed the incident in a press conference and apologized for being a distraction, especially with a tough game against the Tennessee Titans coming up.
He says he should not have put himself in that position. Meyer added that he went out to eat and a group of fans wanted him to take pictures, which led to him being pulled out onto the dance floor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGWOlExWcFI
Hit The Ground Flopping
Meyer’s first season as Jaguars head coach has been an eventful disappointment, to say the least. He’s trying to navigate with a rookie quarterback, and the Jaguars have not won a game yet. They are 0-4 and in last place in the AFC South.
When Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan decided to give the keys to the future to Urban Meyer and allow him to be the guy to develop what was considered a generational talent in Trevor Lawrence, there were many critics of the move. Meyer had no NFL head coaching experience.
He was a renowned college coach who garnered a reputation as an offensive mastermind and developer of quarterbacks. He’s credited with putting hands on Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, J.T. Barrett and Dwayne Haskins.
Not That Dude
Some prominent voices in the football commiunity thought he was out of his league. Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk blasted Meyer’s quarterback development skills.
“I’m worried for Trevor Lawrence,” Faulk told TMZ Sports. “I mean, outside of Alex Smith, this man hasn’t developed a quarterback that’s playing in the NFL right now. So you put that together. I’m just telling you, like, I’m going to let you know — I think Urban Meyer’s a great coach — but he’s never developed a quarterback outside of Alex Smith when he was at Utah, and he had some really good attempts with, I’m talking, what, four-star, five-star guys when he was at Ohio State and at Florida. There’s something to that.”
Handpicked By Shad Khan
The pessimism hasn’t bothered Jaguars owner Khan, who didn’t even grant any other candidates an in-person interview. Meyer met with Khan on his yacht in Miami to solidify the deal back in January. Despite the confidence of the owner, the rumors about Meyer’s personality being a bad fit in the NFL grew louder as the first kickoff approached.
In early September, CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora reported that Meyer has already had “repeated issues” in Jacksonville.
According to his sources at the time:
There have been repeated issues with other coaches on staff, with Meyer’s temper and lack of familiarity with the ebbs and flows of the NFL calendar rubbing the Jacksonville Jaguars staff and players the wrong way, the sources said. There is a disconnect at times between the members of the staff with extensive pro experience and those who lack it, and morale has suffered as the outbursts have continued. His fiery remarks to players and coaches after games have already struck many as bizarre.
The Urban Meyer Experience
So far, the Meyer experience has been a failure. Working through the on-field issues is one thing, but having your 56-year-old married coach getting aired out on social media and exposed out in public grinding on women half his age is a bad look. Inexcusable for a franchise in need of the right leader. An organization in such a fragile rebuilding state.
Jagaurs fans thought Meyer already learned to steer clear of tight situations.
The Urban Meyer scandal jeopardizes over $100 million for Ohio State https://t.co/0WsJqOVJcl pic.twitter.com/ftoKUIUNsN
— Forbes SportsMoney (@ForbesSports) August 5, 2018
Nick Saban Knows Best?
When the Jags hired Meyer as the sixth coach in franchise history after Doug Marrone had a 1-15 season, they thought they were getting the innovative coach who won three national championships and stacked a 187-32 college coaching record during stints at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State.
Owner Khan has got to be reevaluating his HC position after this latest mini-scandal. How can a coach command respect and discipline from his players if he’s not aware of his surroundings and living responsibly himself? The saga of Urban Meyer continues.
No better duo to lead them to the promised land than Urban Meyer and Shad Khan. Truly a fearsome pair. https://t.co/YWSYqraT16
— Joshua Cox (@jaccox23) September 30, 2021
If he keeps this up, he might have a shorter pro career than Nick Saban, who had a 15-17 record in two quick seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Saban wasn’t afraid to admit that he wasn’t built for the pro game as he went back to colleges and started a dynasty in Alabama. Six Alabama championships later and Saban made the right choice. Let’s see how it plays out for Meyer.
