A complete timeline of Urban Meyer's disastrous reign as an NFL head coach

• The Jacksonville Jaguars fired head coach Urban Meyer after a slew of scandals.
• Not only was Meyer's tenure marred by disasters off the field, his team was also terrible on the field.

Urban Meyer's brief tenure as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars came to a final, merciful end early Thursday morning.

Meyer's tenure in Jacksonville was a total disaster, defined by poor play on the field and worse scandals off it. From the moment he was hired to take charge of the Jaguars, right up until he was fired, Meyer earned the wrong type of headlines for the franchise he was charged with leading to a brighter future.

Here's a complete timeline of Meyer's time with the Jaguars, during which he made a strong case to be named the worst head coach in NFL history.

Meyer was hired in January 2021, making the jump to the NFL for the first time

The Jacksonville Jaguars were looking for a reset.

After spending the 2020 season in the doldrums of the NFL, winning their first game of the season, and then going on to lose 15 straight to finish the year, it was time for a change.

The Jaguars' dismal year had earned them the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, predetermined to be used to take standout Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

In January of 2021, Jaguars owner Shad Khan picked Meyer, bringing him in as the team's next head coach. Meyer's contract was reported to be a five-year deal estimated to be worth $10-12 million per year.

It was all downhill from there.

Meyer was met with immediate scandal

In February, Meyer's first task was to hire his staff.

One hire drew particular attention — former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle.

Doyle spent 20 seasons with the Hawkeyes and was the highest-paid strength coach in college football. However, in 2020, he was fired after allegations that he had used racist language while referring to Black players.

The hire drew the immediate ire of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a group that promotes diversity within the NFL, who called Doyle's hiring "simply unacceptable."

The statement was titled "A Failure of Leadership by The Jacksonville Jaguars."

Just one day after Meyer hired Doyle, he resigned.

"Chris did not want to be a distraction to what we are building in Jacksonville," Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke said in a statement. "We are responsible for all aspects of our program and, in retrospect, should have given greater consideration to how his appointment may have affected all involved. We wish him the best as he moves forward in his career."

Meyer was no longer in Kansas ... or Ohio

In April of 2021, the Jaguars selected Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick of the NFL Draft. It was something of a no-brainer.

The good times wouldn't last too long, though.

As Organized Team Activities (OTAs) began in June and July, Meyer was in for a rude awakening due to the difference between how things work in the NFL.

On July 1, Meyer was fined $100,000 and the Jaguars $200,000 for violating the rules of OTAs as established by the league's collective bargaining agreement with the NFLPA. While the specific details of the Jaguars' violations were unknown, such fines usually stem from practices that include more contact between players than is permitted in offseason activities.

The Tebow Experiment

Another eyebrow-raising move from Meyer during OTAs was his decision to bring in Tim Tebow as a tight end.

Tebow won a national championship as a quarterback under Meyer with the Florida Gators but had flamed out during his NFL career. He had not played professional football in five years, taking turns at minor league baseball and broadcasting. Now 33, Tebow was getting a tryout at a position he had never played.

Fans and commentators alike were skeptical of Meyer's decision to bring in his former golden boy, but Meyer defended Tebow's presence with the Jaguars.

Tebow was cut from the team after an abysmal showing in the Jaguars' first preseason game. One play, in particular, caught the attention of fans who had already been wondering why Tebow was there in the first place.

—Sportskeeda Pro Football (@SKProFootball) August 15, 2021

Meyer was stuck in his college ways

Even though the Jaguars had drafted the top quarterback prospect in years, Meyer insisted on a competition between Trevor Lawrence and Gardner Minshew.

Such competitions are common in college, but in the NFL, where time and snaps with the first-team are limited, Meyer was giving up valuable experience for his rookie quarterback in favor of putting on a charade.

Lawrence was named the starter by late August, taking over first-team reps at practice. A week later, the Jaguars traded Minshew to the Eagles, again raising questions about why a competition had occurred between the two.

The Jaguars went 1-2 through the preseason, and it was about as good as things would get.

The Jaguars opened the regular season in an embarrassing fashion

In Week 1, the Jaguars were up against the Houston Texans, a good opportunity for Meyer to start on the right track.

The Jaguars trailed 34-7 by the middle of the third quarter and wound up losing by a final score of 37-21.

After the game, Meyer had to deflect questions about any interest he might have in the coaching spot that had just opened up at USC.

The Jaguars lost again in Week 2, leading some commentators to begin to doubt Meyer's ability to transition to the NFL.

The loss also prompted the Jaguars to make an embarrassing statement, asking fans for patience as they worked towards a supposedly winning future.

"Hang in there with us," Meyer said in the statement. "We're going to get better."

—Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) September 20, 2021

Things went from bad to worse with a viral video

In Week 4, the Jaguars lost to the Bengals 24-21 in Cincinnati on "Thursday Night Football."

Two days later, a viral video made Meyer the laughingstock of the league. In the video, Meyer is seen with a woman who is not his wife dancing and grinding onto his lap.

It was later reported that Meyer had not taken the team plane back with his players to Jacksonville, remaining in Ohio after the loss. It was a move unheard of for an NFL coach.

Meyer didn't have much in the way of excuses for the video because there weren't any.

"I just apologized to the team and staff for being a distraction," Meyer said via ESPN's Michael DiRocco. "Just stupid, and so I explained everything that happened and owned it. Just stupid. Should not have myself in that kind of position."

Days later, Jaguars players mocked their coach by yelling "Grind!" as they broke a huddle at practice.

The video also was the first real test of Meyer's job security, with Khan putting out a statement calling his actions "inexcusable."

"What I will say is his conduct last weekend was inexcusable," Khan said. "I appreciate Urban's remorse, which I believe is sincere. Now, he must regain our trust and respect."

After two wins, the wheels came off

After starting the season 0-5, the Jaguars managed to win two out of three games.

The Jaguars' turn of fortune didn't last long. Jacksonville's 2-1 stretch quickly gave way to another five-game losing streak.

On December 11, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com published a blistering report breaking down the morale inside the Jaguars' coaching staff.

"During a staff meeting, Meyer delivered a biting message that he's a winner and his assistant coaches are losers, according to several people informed of the contents of the meeting, challenging each coach individually to explain when they've ever won and forcing them to defend their résumés," Pelissero wrote.

The next day, the Jaguars lost to the Titans 20-0. Walking off the field after the loss, Meyer looked entirely disengaged as he shook the hand of Titans head coach Mike Vrabel.

—Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) December 12, 2021

Meyer later threatened to fire whoever he found out to be leaking stories about the team.

Former Jaguars kicker accused Meyer of kicking and berating him during practice

In a report from Rick Stroud at the Tampa Bay Times, Lambo said that Meyer kicked him and then expressed frustration with Lambo after telling the coach never to do it again.

Per the Tampa Bay Times:

"I'm in a lunge position. Left leg forward, right leg back," Lambo said. "... Urban Meyer, while I'm in that stretch position, comes up to me and says, 'Hey Dips--t, make your f--king kicks!' And kicks me in the leg."

"It certainly wasn't as hard as he could've done it, but it certainly wasn't a love tap," Lambo said. "Truthfully, I'd register it as a five (out of 10). Which in the workplace, I don't care if it's football or not, the boss can't strike an employee. And for a second, I couldn't believe it actually happened. Pardon my vulgarity, I said, 'Don't you ever f--king kick me again!' And his response was, 'I'm the head ball coach, I'll kick you whenever the f--k I want.'"

Meyer denied the incident as Lambo described it.

"Josh's characterization of me and this incident is completely inaccurate, and there are eyewitnesses to refute his account," Meyer said. "(General manager) Trent (Baalke) and I met with him on multiple occasions to encourage his performance, and this was never brought up. I was fully supportive of Josh during his time with the team and wish him nothing but the best."

According to Lambo, Meyer's response to the incident was also shocking.

Lambo said that he and Meyer later spoke with each other at the team's training facility.

"[Meyer's] response was, 'OK, you don't like me doing this, OK. If you don't like me doing that, fine. But if you ever speak to me like that again, you'll be out of here. You're the first player I've ever let speak to me that way in my career, and if you do it again, you're gone.'

"I said, 'I'm genuinely not trying to be sarcastic here, Urban, but what did I say that offended you?'" Lambo told the Tampa Bay Times. "He said, 'When you responded to me out there on the practice field in front of everybody. If you have an issue and don't like me kicking you, well then you keep that to yourself, and you wait until after practice and after meetings, and you come find me in the office and tell me privately.'"

Meyer was fired hours after the allegations

Before the Tampa Bay Times story was published on Wednesday, Jaguars owner Shad Khan said that he wouldn't make a quick decision to remove Meyer from the job.

"I want to do the right thing for the team. I want to do the right thing for the city," Khan said, per ESPN. "That, to me, is way more important than just acting helter-skelter on emotion. I think we have a history of really looking at the facts and then really doing the right thing."

But hours after Lambo's allegations were published, Khan fired Meyer, ending his disastrous tenure as head coach.

Kahn was understandably unhappy with how things played out.

"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," Kahn said in a statement, per ESPN.

"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."

Meyer finished his NFL career with a record of 2-11.

Before Meyer jumped to the NFL, he was one of the most successful head coaches in college football, though he was no stranger to scandal

Over nearly two decades as a college head coach, Meyer put together one of the best on-field resumes in the sport, winning three national championships between his time at Florida and Ohio State.

But even while his teams enjoyed success on the field, there were already plenty of questions surrounding Meyer's management.

A 2012 report from Matt Hayes at Sporting News outlined the chaos that engulfed the Florida locker room during Meyer's tenure with the Gators from 2005 to 2010, including failed drug attests among team standouts, 30 arrests among players over Meyer's six years leading the program, and a "Circle of Trust" creating a divide between insiders and outsiders in the locker room that raised tensions.

In 2018, Meyer was suspended by the Ohio State Board of Trustees for three games after it was reported that Meyer had been aware of allegations of spousal abuse against assistant coach Zach Smith, who had been fired over the summer.

After the 2018 season, Meyer retired, again citing health reasons. Meyer again spent time as a media figure, but he wouldn't stay away from coaching for too long.

Given the likelihood that he will never be hired to the NFL again in any capacity, chances are it stays that way, leaving Meyer with a strong case to be considered the worst coach in NFL history.