Both Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke were issued subpoenas for a lawsuit involving former Iowa Hawkeyes strength coach Chris Doyle. The subpoenas came from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, which is looking to collect information on Doyle’s hiring and resignation with the Jags in February.
The subpoenas come as the Iowa Hawkeyes are dealing with a $20 million racial discrimination civil lawsuit filed by the lawyers of multiple Black players. These players say that Doyle (and others) were behind racial incidents that led to a “racially hostile environment.”
As we previously reported when Doyle was hired, the decision to bring him on came with a lot of backlash. The team brought him in after he and Iowa’s football program were under investigation last summer. The results of the investigation revealed that multiple Black players felt they were victims of systematic racism and mistreatment during their time with the program.
As the news broke, the Jags issued a statement through their public relations department, stating that their brief employment of Doyle, which was in February, had nothing to do with the Iowa lawsuit.
“We respect and will cooperate with the legal process as required,” the organization said in the statement. “However, the Jaguars have no information that would be relevant to the lawsuit between student-athletes and the University of Iowa.”
The Jags initially announced Doyle’s hiring with the rest of the staff on Feb. 10 and he resigned on the night of Feb. 12. Meyer and Baalke released a statement that said they should’ve put more consideration into the hiring as Doyle decided to turn in his resignation.
“Chris Doyle came to us this evening to submit his resignation and we have accepted. Chris did not want to be a distraction to what we are building in Jacksonville. 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.”
According to documents obtained by the Florida Times-Union, the subpoena issued to the Jags organization, in care of Baalke, is for 19 requests in the form of documents and transmission, while Meyer’s subpoena is asking for 10. They were issued on June 4 and the deadline to provide evidence was July 9.