Jaguars Firing HC Urban Meyer

Adam Schefter reports that Urban Meyer is out as the Jaguars’ head coach less than a year into his tenure with the team. 

Jaguars OC Darrell Bevell will serve as the team’s interim head coach. 

Here’s a statement from Jaguars’ owner Shad Khan regarding the news:

“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 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.

“Trent Baalke continues as our general manager and will work with Darrell to ensure that our team will be inspired and competitive while representing Jacksonville proudly over our final four games of the season.

“In the spirit of closure and recharging our players, staff and fan base, I will not comment further until some point following the conclusion of the NFL season.”

There were numerous incidents during Meyer’s short time with the Jaguars and it had gotten to the point where change was inevitable. 

Earlier in the day, former Jaguars K Josh Lambo alleged that Meyer kicked him during pregame warmups this past August. 

There was also the incident where Meyer opted to stay in Ohio and not fly back with the team following their loss. Pictures later surfaced of Meyer at a bar. 

Recent reports mentioned that tensions boiling over between Meyer, his coaching staff and the players.

Meyer, 56, got his start in coaching in 1986 as a graduate assistant at Ohio State. He worked as an assistant coach at Illinois State, Colorado State, and Notre Dame before getting his first head coaching position at Bowling Green in 2001. 

Meyer moved on to become the head coach at Utah in 2003. In 2005, he was hired as the head coach at Florida before retiring due to health reasons in 2010.

Meyer came out of retirement to take the lead job at Ohio State in 2012 and was in that position until 2018 before retiring again citing health reasons. 

It’s worth mentioning while Meyer has been hospitalized for chest pains and migraines, both of his health-related retirements have followed off-the-field controversies, including how he handled a domestic violence accusation for one of his assistant coaches at Ohio State. 

The Jaguars hired Meyer out of a TV analyst job to be their head coach in 2021. He agreed to a five-year contract. 

As a college head coach, Meyer has a career coaching record of 187-32 and has won three national titles at two different schools. 

Meyer posted a 2-11 record with the Jaguars.