Urban Meyer 's debutNFL season went from bad to worse over the weekend.- On Saturday a report leaked that Meyer had berated his assistant coaches as "losers."
Urban Meyer's debut NFL season went from extremely bad to incredibly worse over the weekend.
On Saturday, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com published a blistering report breaking down the morale inside the Jaguars coaching staff. Things were not going well.
Per Pelissero:
"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."
Meyer had already raised eyebrows throughout the week after fumbling questions about the benching of running back James Robinson during the team's 37-7 loss to the Rams the previous Sunday.
Meyer initially stated that the benching was injury-related rather than a move meant to send a message after Robinson fumbled on the Jaguars' opening possession. But when Robinson re-entered the game during the Jaguars' final drives, something didn't add up. If Robinson's benching was due to an injury, why would they bench him the entire game only to have him head back out onto the field when the game's outcome had already been decided?
—Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) December 6, 2021
According to Pelissero's report, Robinson's benching wasn't injury-related but rather an order from Meyer after his early fumble. Only after quarterback Trevor Lawrence intervened was Robinson put back into the Jaguars' huddle.
Pelissero also outlined a tense interaction between Meyer and wide receiver Marvin Jones during practice over the week.
According to Jay Glazer at Fox, Meyer denied the interaction with Jones but didn't refute the meeting with his assistant coaches.
With all the strife already running through the locker room this week, winning would have helped ease some tensions. Unfortunately, the Jaguars couldn't do that either, getting shut out by the Titans 20-0 on Sunday in their most dismal performance of the year. The loss put the Jaguars at 2-11 on the season and officially eliminated them from playoff contention.
Meyer's post-game handshake with Titans coach Mike Vrabel said more than words ever could about the mood in Jacksonville.
—Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) December 12, 2021
After the game, Meyer's appeared similarly despondent.
Asked about the poor effort from the Jaguars offensive line, Meyer responded with, "Yeah."
—Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 12, 2021
All of this would be bad enough on its own, but it's far from the only Meyer-related bit of bad
A media storm broke out earlier in the season after a video went viral of Meyer dancing with a woman at a bar in Ohio. The footage was taken after an earlier game — another loss, 24-21 to the Bengals back in Week 4 — when Meyer did not take the team plane home with his players. Instead, he stayed in Ohio as the team flew back to Jacksonville.
Through 14 weeks of regular season football, it's difficult to find a bright spot in Meyer's tenure in Jacksonville, and right now, it's unclear how it will end.
According to Pelissero, "there are no signs" that Jaguars owner Shad Khan is looking to make an immediate change. That could be for a good reason. While the details of his contract with the Jaguars are not public, Meyer was reportedly looking for a multi-year deal that paid him in the range of $12 million to jump to the NFL, according to Sportico.
Depending on the terms of the deal, firing Meyer after just one year could be so expensive that the Jaguars are convinced to give him a little more time and hope he's able to turn things around.
—bomani (@bomani_jones) December 12, 2021
Adding insult to injury for Meyer is the fact that the college football coaching carousel has already spun this year, with many desirable jobs getting filled by new coaches who are making close to or even greater than NFL money in some cases.
Whether or not Meyer would even want to return to coaching college remains to be seen, but seeing the paychecks demanded by others in college has to sting a little extra after jumping to the NFL and having the year he's had.
As things stand, it's still impossible to tell how this all plays out. The Jaguars could fire Meyer tomorrow, next week, or this offseason and justify their decision. They could also keep him on board for another year and work to help him turn things around as best he is capable of, either out of a belief that he is the man for the job, monetary calculation, or a combination of the two.
Regardless of what happens, don't say that the situation can't get worse.
As Meyer and the Jaguars have already proven the past few weeks, it absolutely can.