Meyer’s turbulent tenure was ended with just 13 games and two wins. The Jacksonville Jaguars fired Meyer early Thursday morning due to an accumulation of mistakes.
After Josh Lambo, a former Jaguars player, told a Florida newspaper Meyer that he kicked him in August practice, Shad Khan took the decision to make the move. This was the third black eye for Shad Khan, a three-time national champion-winning college coach who had failed miserably in his transition to the NFL.
Khan released a statement saying that he was disappointed by the decision to make an immediate change after much thought and analysis over the entire Urban tenure with his team. “I informed Urban about the change this evening. It was crucial to regain our trust and respect, as I had stated in October. It didn’t happen unfortunately.
Meyer is joined by Bobby Petrino, former Atlanta Falcons coach. Both were college coaches whose NFL careers ended in a shockingly quick fashion. Petrino quit in December 2007 to become Arkansas’s coach. He was only 3-10 years old at the time.
Meyer finished the partial season with a record of 2-11. The Jaguars’ offensive game began to fall apart after the team’s bye week. In Meyer’s last seven games, they averaged 9.1 points. This was followed by a five-game skid.
For the last four games, starting Sunday against Houston (2-11), Jacksonville will be led by Darrell Bevell, offensive coordinator.
Meyer’s greatest problems came off the field. Meyer tried to manage a professional team just like he would a college campus. He used catchphrases and slogans to promote the facility and instilled gimmicks during practice. He hired motivational speakers to blame the assistants for the team’s growing losses, instead of the players on the field.
Meyer made one of the most shocking decisions in his life after a late September game at Cincinnati. Meyer chose to stay with his family rather than fly home with his team. He was then caught on camera the next night engaging in inappropriate behavior with a woman at a Columbus bar. Khan publicly reprimanded Meyer, saying that he had to win back the trust and respect of his owner.
Meyer’s decision to bail out his players was a clear indication of how out-of-touch he was with NFL norms. It was one of many difficult decisions for the 57 year-old coach, who had success at every college stop: Bowling Green (1901-02), Utah (1903-04), Florida (2005-10), and Ohio State (1818).
Meyer never made the necessary adjustments to get to the pro level.
Khan seemed to find Lambo’s claim too strong for Khan two days prior, when he said that he did not want to make an impulsive choice about the coach’s future.
Khan stated that “What is different about this thing? You have losses and drama.”
The Jags were more dramatic than they were successful.
Lambo told the Tampa Bay Times that Meyer kicked Lambo as he was stretching before he started a practice. Lambo, who was the place-kicker for the team, stated that he told Meyer to “don’t ever (expletive). kick me again”. The coach replied, “I’m head ball coach, and I’ll kick (expletive). whenever I want.”
Meyer issued a statement to the team, denying that the incident occurred as Lambo stated.
Meyer stated, “Josh’s description of me and the incident is completely incorrect and there are eyewitnesses that refute his account.”
Lambo stated that he reported the kick his agent who in turn contacted the Jaguars legal counsel the next day.
The Jaguars released a statement saying that the Jaguars’ legal counsel acknowledged the query of Josh Lambo’s agent on Friday, August 27, 2021 and promptly responded to it. “Counsel offered to talk with Josh or to help Josh with any coaching or other football personnel, provided he was happy to share the information. Any suggestion that he might have done something else is flatly false.”
Lambo was let go after he failed to score his three first field goals of the season.
Lambo’s allegations follow a report by the NFL Network that Meyer caused tension with multiple run ins with players and assistants he called “losers”. The report cited unidentified sources to describe a heated exchange between Meyer, Marvin Jones, and Meyer who criticized receivers for not winning enough one-on-1 matchups or getting enough separation.
Jones stated Wednesday that Jones had received a report that he didn’t like. This was his first public comment since Saturday’s publication. I approached Jones about it, and we spoke and handled it like grown men. That’s all I have for you.
Jones denied that he threatened to quit the practice because of the argument.
Jones stated, “It’s a fact that when you lose, you are always going to be the centre of attention in a negative manner.” That’s all it is. That’s all I have.
Meyer also has other issues
In February, he hired Chris Doyle as a strength coach despite being accused of racism. However, he was forced to fire him the next day because of a pending suit.
Jacksonville was fined $200,000, Meyer was docked $100,000 July 1. This punishment stemmed from a June practice in the league that saw receivers and defensive backs make too many contact during 11-on-11 drills.
Meyer signed the 2007 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow as a tight end. This experiment ended in Tebow looking confused against Cleveland.
Meyer organized a fake QB contest between Trevor Lawrence, a future generational prospect, in training camp. Trent Baalke, Meyer’s general manager, traded Minshew for Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia.
After Meyer claimed that his vaccination status was a factor in the team’s roster decisions, the NFL Players Association began an investigation.
He mishandled James Robinson’s running back, leading to the team’s most consistent offensive player being benched twice.
Lawrence was overwhelmed by all the drama.
Lawrence stated Wednesday that he believes that this needs to change. You can’t be everywhere. You have to play football. That’s what we’re trying for, and I’m certain we’ll succeed.
