The Jacksonville Jaguars are coming off a 2022 season which saw them win the AFC South, make the playoffs and win a playoff game for the first time since 2017. First-year head coach Doug Pederson came right in and changed the toxic culture that former head coach Urban Meyer created in his short 13-game stint in 2021. The fallout from Meyer’s debacle of a tenure is still unfolding, and while it may not matter much with him long gone, some of the stories about him are just wild.
That includes the most recent story about Meyer being upset at being called a rookie coach by one of his players, when in actuality he was a rookie coach in the NFL.
Meyer Threatened To Cut Jags Player
Recently Tyler Dunne of “Go Long” spoke with Jaguars safety Andrew Wingard about the Jags revival, and that’s when Wingard revealed just how bad things were under Meyer.
“He says, Dewey, why the hell do you call me a a rookie head coach? Tell me why. If it was anybody else right now, you’d already be cut,” Wingard said. “Explain yourself to me is essentially what he said. So I had to freaking save face and tell him how much I love him and how he’s the greatest coach ever. … You’re sitting there on your off-night chilling and you get a call from your head coach. ‘Hey I’m gonna cut you if you don’t apologize for calling me a rookie head coach.’”
Meyer’s Tenure Marred By Constant Controversy
When Jags owner Shad Khan hired Meyer prior to the 2021 season he believed he was getting the guy who built programs at Bowling Green and Utah in addition to returning Florida and Ohio State to prominence and winning three combined national championships. But, Meyer’s tenure was filled with negativity and constant controversy, and most of it stemmed from Meyer believing he still had the type of control in the NFL that he had in college.
Meyer’s arrogance and treating grown men as children were also a huge part of his downfall. He’s since returned to the airwaves as a college football analyst on Fox Sports, where he’ll likely stay for the foreseeable future.
