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An ugly timeline of Urban Meyer’s terrible Jaguars tenure

Editor’s Note: We published this back in October but have updated it after Urban Meyer was fired.

It was just in January that the Jacksonville Jaguars hired Urban Meyer.

And it’s been a 12 months filled with controversy, ugly moments and downright awfulness with Meyer at the helm.

Sure, there were and still are expectations that the Jags have a long way to go to get to relevancy — after choosing Trevor Lawrence first overall in the 2021 NFL draft, the franchise had so much more to do that would take a while in a rebuild.

But Meyer has become a big problem for the team for a variety of reasons. Let’s look back at what’s happened since that hiring, up until the franchise let him go early Thursday morning before Week 15 in the NFL began.

1
The Jaguars hired him despite his controversial legacy

We’ve covered this extensively, but if you need a reminder: He failed to report the abuse allegations made by Courtney Smith against then-Ohio State assistant Zach Smith. He completely botched his response to questions about what he’d say to Courtney. There were reports of serious player misconduct at Florida after he left.

In other words, hiring him in the first place was already a problem to begin with.

2
The Chris Doyle hiring debacle

In February, Meyer hired strength coach Chris Doyle, who left Iowa’s program last year after multiple accusations of racism and bullying.

Meyer defended the move by saying he vetted Doyle, and even after Doyle resigned from the franchise days later, the damage had been done.

3
He got fined for OTA violations

He was fined by the NFL for violations during OTAs, and here’s why, per the Florida Times-Union: “A source close to the situation said the Jaguars were in violation during a June 1 practice in which the coaching staff did not instruct players to go through live contact work. However, a few players, wanting to impress the coaching staff, overextended into live contact.”

4
The failed Tim Tebow tight end experiment

(AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Look: There are far worse infractions on this list. But bringing in a former QB who has never played the tight end position and actually giving him some playing time was a BAD look.

5
His team LOST TO THE TEXANS!

Not a great start to the season when you’re losing to a team that’s worse than yours is.

6
The coffee table photo

At the time this photo of a coffee table filled to the brim with photos of his family was the source of a lot of ridicule. Now? It’s even moreso.

7
The "hang in there" graphic

After the Jags lost their second game of the season, Meyer and the team released this statement:

Ridiculous for so many reasons. 

8
A bad loss to the Bengals

We knew it could be a long night last Thursday, and it was — the Jaguars went into the locker room up 14-0 at halftime and lost 24-21.

 

9
Videos of Meyer at a bar with a woman dancing on him emerged

Meyer apologized on Monday after he didn’t travel back to Florida with the rest of the team and was filmed with a woman who wasn’t his wife dancing on him.

10
Shad Khan sticks with him

The Jaguars owner sent a statement saying the team will stick with him, pointing out his “conduct last weekend was inexcusable”

11
He had a horrible excuse for not having James Robinson in for a key 4th-and-1 vs. the Titans

Robinson was having a huge day but was replaced by Carlos Hyde, who didn’t get in the end zone.

Meyer’s quote? BAD.

 

12
The losing keeps on coming

As our Andy Nesbitt wrote after the Seahawks — with Geno Smith — blew out the Jags coming off a bye, it was a new on-field low for Meyer.

13
Rumors swirl about him returning to college football

There were big jobs open at Notre Dame and Oklahoma, but a report said that the coach was committed to the Jaguars. Of course, no one believed him.

14
A report from NFL.com focused on locker room tension

A sampling from a Tom Pelissero story earlier this week that had the NFL world buzzing:

“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.”

There was talk of run-ins with players including receiver Marvin Jones and Robinson getting benched.

15
Meyer's Jags got shut out by the Titans and he delivered a lame handshake to Mike Vrabel

The Jaguars moved to 2-11. After the loss, Meyer did this:

 

16
Former kicker Josh Lambo accused Meyer of kicking him

From TampaBay.com:

“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.”

Was this the last straw for owner Shad Khan, who had said just days earlier that he would wait before making any decisions on Meyer’s job?

17
Meyer was fired early Thursday morning

It’s over.

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