Category: Urban Meyer

Jags cut ties with Urban Meyer, Darrell Bevell to take over as interim HC

With four games remaining Urban Meyer is out as the #Jaguars head coach. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell will serve as the interim to close the season.

With just four games remaining in the 2021 NFL regular season, the Jacksonville Jaguars have fired their head coach in Urban Meyer. With the team letting him go, his NFL career in Jacksonville will end after just 13 games.

With Meyer out as the Jags’ head coach, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who brings over 20 years of NFL coaching experience to the table, will take over as the interim head coach. It’s a role he once had at his previous stop with the Detroit Lions after taking over for Matt Patricia in 2020 once he was fired as well. While holding the role, Bevell went 1-4.

Meyer was named the Jags’ coach on Jan. 14 after the team fired Doug Marrone. He was a coach known for his success on the college level where he won three championships, two of which came with the Florida Gators (2006 and 2008) and one of which came with Ohio State (2014).

Much like his collegiate career, Meyer’s NFL career came with a lot of controversial situations, including the decision to hire Chris Doyle, who previously battled allegations of racism and bullying at Iowa University in 2020, as his top strength and condition coach. Doyle later stepped down, but the controversy didn’t stop there for Meyer.

The other notable incident (among several) occurred in October after the Jags’ Week 4 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Meyer, who didn’t fly back with the team, was caught on video with a woman who wasn’t his wife dancing in his lap with Meyer’s hand below her waist. Afterward, owner Shad Khan released a statement that said the team would be sticking with Meyer, but he’d have to earn the trust of the team back in the process.

Despite that, it seems Meyer never got it together as a report from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network came out that claimed he got into an argument with receiver Marvin Jones Jr., who allegedly didn’t appreciate Meyer’s criticisms of the receivers. The report also shed light on a meeting where Meyer allegedly challenged his assistant coaches to defend their résumés  while calling them “losers.”

Pelissero’s report also discussed the Jags’ recent benching of running back James Robinson during the team’s Week 13 game against the Los Angeles Rams. Meyer told the media that the personnel situations fell on his assistants (in this case tailbacks coach Bernie Parmelee), but the report disputes that and claims that Meyer was the one who ordered the staff to bench the second-year player.

Lastly, on Wednesday, another report surfaced from the Tampa Bay Times where former kicker Josh Lambo claimed Meyer kicked him and called him out of his name to get I’m to perform better as the kicker was struggling with field goals. After Lambo let him know he didn’t appreciate it and to not do it again, Meyer told him he could do what he wanted as the head coach.

With the report coming out, it appears Khan had reached his breaking point and cut ties with Meyer. And with the first-year head coach gone, Bevell will have the chance to try and get the team to rebound with four games remaining.

Meyer, who had been an employee with the Jags for a little under 12 months, will exit his first (and maybe his last) tenure in the NFL with a 2-11 record.

Twitter reacts to latest Urban Meyer report about incident with Josh Lambo

With another Urban Meyer story hitting the web where he allegedly kicked a fan favorite, Josh Lambo, Twitter once again let it be known how they feel about the first-year coach.

Urban Meyer was the talk of this past weekend after NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero shared a damning report about incidents he had with both players and coaches over the recent weeks. With more than enough distractions in the way, the Jacksonville Jaguars also didn’t have the best week on the field, falling to their most despised rivals in the Tennessee Titans by a score of 20-0.

However, the drama has leaked into this week, too, after the Tampa Bay Times released a report of their own where former Jags kicker Josh Lambo claims that Meyer kicked him on the leg (and called him out of his name) during the Jags’ last preseason game in Dallas. According to Lambo, it was a tactic to get the struggling kicker to perform better.

Lambo also claimed that the first-year head coach told him that he could do whatever he wanted as the team’s head coach after the veteran told him not to ever do it again. Of course, the reactions of fans and reporters of the NFL community chimed in on the allegations, expressing their displeasure with what was said in the report.

Here are some of many reactions that came as a result of Rick Stroud’s report:

Urban Meyer says Jags won’t ‘sacrifice winning’ to give playing time to rookies

On the usage of safety Andre Cisco, Meyer said he won’t give rookies playing time to the detriment of the team. You know, the team that’s 2-11.

In a week that’s been filled with bad optics for Jaguars coach Urban Meyer, one of the worst moments came postgame after the team’s 20-0 shutout loss to the Tennessee Titans. Asked about rookie safety Andre Cisco, Meyer said that he thought Cisco, who has seen a lot of action on special teams but only sparing reps on defense, got more opportunities there in the Titans game.

The only problem is, Cisco recorded zero defensive snaps, as has been the case in six of Jacksonville’s games this season. Of the seven games he has appeared in, he’s recorded double-digit snaps on defense in just three of them.

On Wednesday, Meyer backtracked on his comments from after the game, stating that he wouldn’t sacrifice winning to give reps to young players, such as Cisco.

“I do, I do, we all do, but I’ll tell you what we need is we need a win,” Meyer said. “We need a win. This organization needs a win. These players have worked so darn. We need a win, and if those guy, our staff, believes they can get in there, I’m pushing it as well. I’d like to see what Jordan Smith can do. He was way behind; he’s worked his tail off. He was not ready to contribute for a couple months just physically, and you have to give him credit, he’s really done a nice job.

Jay Tufele’s got some playing time. He’s going to earn more as we continue. But the one is [Andre] Cisco, he’s the guy that is a talented guy. He has a really good day on special teams. He has gotten reps over the last few weeks, but I usually don’t mandate that type of stuff. We had that conversation, and we have to win a game.”

I’m not sure if Meyer has seen the Jags’ placement in the AFC South standings, but it doesn’t seem like there’s much to sacrifice.

Maybe Cisco isn’t ready, but for one of the draft’s most intriguing prospects, he’s had an incredibly quiet rookie season. He was taken in the third round but was once considered a first-round quality player before a knee injury did some damage to his draft stock. Cisco may not have been 100% during the offseason, but he seems to be now.

Instead, most of the reps have gone to Andrew Wingard, a player who was considered questionable to make the final roster. Wingard hasn’t been terrible, but he also hasn’t been good enough to warrant keeping a potential future starter off the field.

Really, aside from quarterback Trevor Lawrence and cornerback Tyson Campbell, none of the rookies have been able to make much of a difference this season. That hasn’t always been the coaching staff’s decision, as Jay Tufele, for example, missed a good portion of the season with a hand injury, but more often than not it has been.

Considering the Jags took a value and caution-based approach to free agency despite having the most cap space in football, the fact that most of the rookies aren’t contributing meaningfully has resulted in the team struggling in many of the same ways it did during last year’s 1-15 campaign.

Questions surrounding the usage of players like Cisco are just the latest black mark on what has been a chaotic tenure in Jacksonville so far for Meyer.

Former Jags kicker Josh Lambo says Urban Meyer once kicked him during warm-ups

Josh Lambo spoke on an incident in which Urban Meyer kicked him in warm-ups. The first-year head coach has disputed it, though.

Urban Meyer probably had the roughest weekend in the NFL as a damning report surfaced from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, which claims that he has been the key figure in the dysfunction of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The most eye-popping part of the report described a meeting where Meyer gathered his coaching staff together and asked them to defend their résumés while calling them “losers.” There was also an incident mentioned where Marvin Jones Jr. got into an argument with Meyer about his criticisms of the receivers group.

However, as most expected, the reports haven’t stopped, and a new one surfaced on Wednesday from Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times where former Jags kicker Josh Lambo said he was kicked by Meyer once during warm-ups (in the Jags last preseason game in Dallas).

“I’m in a lunge position. Left leg forward, right leg back,” Lambo said to Stroud. “… 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. 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.’”

Additionally, the former Jags kicker also said that Meyer didn’t refer to his specialist by their names, but instead by their positions or with an expletive.

“It was ‘Kicker, Punter, Long snapper,’” Lambo said. “Or S–tbag, Dips–t or whatever the hell it was.”

However, just as he’s mostly done with some of the previous allegations against him, Meyer denied the incident with the veteran kicker.

“Josh’s characterization of me and this incident is completely inaccurate, and there are eyewitnesses to refute his account,” Meyer said to Tampabay.com. “(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.”

Lambo, who had been with the Jags since 2017 and was a beloved player, but was released on Oct. 19 after struggles that led to the Jags rolling with Matthew Wright. The decision came after Wright hit a game-winning field goal to give the Jags their first with Week 5 against the Miami Dolphins.

Whether others come out as witnesses to speak on the situation is yet to be determined, but it feels like there has been a nonstop cycle of incidents since Meyer took the job with the Jags in January. However, with this one involving a player, expect many others around the league to chime in, as well as the NFLPA to look into it — if they already haven’t.

Also, many eyes will continue to be on owner Shad Khan and a response from him. Earlier in the week, Khan said he wouldn’t make an abrupt decision on Meyer’s future, but a story like this (which comes from a beloved player for the organization) will garner more attention towards the franchise.

7 decisions the Jaguars likely regret now

There were signs that the #Jaguars were in for a disastrous season earlier this year, and with four games remaining and just two wins to their name, there are likely some regrets of decisions made prior.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were eliminated from the playoffs this week after falling to the Tennessee Titans in a 20-0 shut out. The loss was one that eliminated them from the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, and they now have just one more win than they did at this point last season (2-11).

Simply put, even with sweeping changes and a rookie quarterback, that’s not where anyone familiar with the organization hoped they’d be. Clearly, even with four games remaining, there is a ton of rebuilding to do – and the team doesn’t feel a step ahead of the 2020 team that only won one game. 

Most frustrating of all is that this season showed signs of being a disaster from the very beginning, and it was one full of decisions that the team probably regrets along the way. 

Here is a look at seven that stand out:

Shad Khan looking to avoid an abrupt decision on Urban Meyer

Shad Khan has avoided making abrupt coaching decisions for the Jags and wants to follow that trend with Urban Meyer. Despite that, he says he does believe the Jags are better than a two-win team.

When it comes to the man hired to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars, owner Shad Khan won’t make an abrupt decision on coach Urban Meyer who has been in the NFL headlines for all of the wrong reasons lately. Instead, at his 10-year Jags ownership anniversary celebration on Monday night, Khan said he will sit back and assess things as he’s given other coaches the luxury of patience in the past.

“I want to do the right thing for the team. I want to do the right thing for the city,” Khan said, according to 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.

“Gus Bradley was here four years. Doug Marrone was here four years. It was wins and losses and this is a little bit different but, you know, I’m going to reflect on all of that and do what’s the right thing for the team and the right thing for the city.”

Khan made these statements after a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that largely cast Jags coach Urban Meyer as the root of dysfunction within the organization. It went into detail about incidents that Meyer had both with his coaching staff and players.

The most alarming incident mentioned in the report described a meeting where Meyer gathered his staff together and asked them to defend their résumés while calling them “losers.” Meyer denied that, however, after the Jags’ 20-0 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

The report also mentioned an argument that Meyer had with receiver Marvin Jones Jr., who was upset with the criticism that Meyer showed towards the receivers corps. In the report, Pelissero said Jones left the facility, but came back after staff members reached out to him. Meyer also denied this Sunday and told the media that he had a simple discussion with Jones about a report on the receivers instead.

Additionally, the report discussed the Week 13 benching of James Robinson, which Meyer blamed Bernie Parmalee for. However, Pelissero said that the decision to keep Robinson on the sideline was Meyer’s, though he said he doesn’t micromanage personnel decisions and leaves them up to his assistants.

According to the Associated Press, Khan also let it be known that he wasn’t necessarily looking at Meyer’s tenure as a four-year plan and that it was “absolutely a trap I don’t believe falling in.”

“The plan is you need to start winning now and tell me what you need and that’s what we’re going to do,” Khan said. “I feel we have a roster that is far better than winning two games.”

Khan has veered away from firing coaches during the regular season aside from Gus Bradley, who Eugene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union says was let go early at his own request. That said, it was unlikely for Khan to make an early decision involving Meyer, to begin with.

The team, which has especially struggled offensively, has four games starting with a home game against the Houston Texans this Sunday. Following that, they have away games against the New York Jets and New England Patriots, then will have one last game against the Indianapolis Colts which will take place at home on Jan. 9.

Report: Shad Khan meets with Jags staff following damning report about team dysfunction

USA TODAY’s Josina Anderson provided some details of the meeting Shad Khan had with the #Jaguars’ staff to address the report published about the team’s dysfunction.

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has said he wants to be more hands-on with his team this season, and with a damning report from Tom Pelissero hitting the web this past Saturday, he’s stepped in to address the Jags staff directly. According to USA TODAY’s Josina Anderson, Khan recently huddled with his staff for a meeting during which he made clear that he wasn’t pleased with the leak.

According to Anderson, Khan told the staff to tighten up and to improve together while still expressing confidence in them. However, there were no “definitive assurances” or “discouragement” shared by Khan about the future.

Also according to Anderson, those at the meeting emphasized that they felt as though they weren’t “on the same page,” and that they felt unappreciated and undermined, though there was a desire to patch things up.

The meeting comes after Pelissero’s report, which detailed the dysfunction within the organization and largely cast Meyer as the root of it, was published and widely shared Saturday. One of the most controversial aspects of the report was the mention of a meeting among the staff during which Meyer allegedly had some assistants defend their résumés while referring to them as “losers.” He denied referring to them that way Sunday after the Jags’ loss against the Tennessee Titans, though he did admit to being hard on his staff. 

“Yeah, calling someone a loser, that’s inaccurate,” Meyer said. ”I have high expectations for our coaches. I’m very demanding of our coaches and expect guys to be held accountable for their positions, and the times when they’re not, we address it. But I assure you there was not whatever report — Amy (Palcic) told me something about that. That’s nonsense.”

Pelissero’s report also mentioned an argument between Meyer and veteran receiver Marvin Jones Jr. about his criticisms of the receivers corps. Jones reportedly left the facility, but returned after staff members convinced him to come back. And while Meyer has denied that incident, at least one other local beat reporter, Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union, has confirmed it.

“And then the other — oh, Marvin Jones. Marvin Jones had a conversation because he came to me and said that there was something in the media, and I said, what’s that, and I didn’t read it, and he said that people were blaming the receivers for all the issues on offense,” Meyer said Sunday. “And I went back and I looked at it, and it was about — I think I said something like we have some injury issues and some lack of consistency. We talked about that, and he’s great. We moved on, and he just — one thing about Marvin (Jones), and there’s a lot of players, especially these professional veterans, there’s a lot of pride.”

Among other noteworthy events detailed in the bombshell report was the revelation that it was Meyer who made the call to bench running back James Robinson Week 13, a move that Meyer previously blamed running backs coach Bernie Parmalee for. 

For the time being, it seems that Khan would prefer to make it through the season before making any drastic decisions. But with Saturday’s explosive report bringing added scrutiny to a short NFL career already rocked by scandal, it’s getting harder and harder to envision a bright future for the organization under Meyer’s guidance. 

Jags’ Urban Meyer apparently unaware of Andre Cisco’s lack of usage

Meyer said Cisco is getting more involved despite the fact that he recorded zero defensive snaps (and saw his typical amount of special teams reps) in Sunday’s shutout loss to Tennessee.

Outside of quarterback Trevor Lawrence and cornerback Tyson Campbell, who was thrust into the starting lineup after the Jacksonville Jaguars traded C.J. Henderson, not many of the team’s rookies have had the opportunity to make much of an impact.

Some of that was to be expected. For example, fourth-round pick Jordan Smith from Alabama-Birmingham was regarded as a project player from the get-go. But that isn’t really the case for safety Andre Cisco.

Cisco was recovering from a knee injury this offseason, and he was drafted in the third round after his stock dropped due to health concerns. However, he was once considered a potential first-round pick. Even now that he’s healthy, Cisco hasn’t seen much of the field, which you would assume is by design from the coaches.

But is it?

When asked about Cisco’s usage after Jacksonville’s shutout loss to the Tennessee Titans, coach Urban Meyer said that he believed the team was starting to get more usage. The only problem is, Cisco recorded zero defensive snaps on Sunday (though he did have 17 special teams snaps, good for his third lowest total in the last seven games).

Obviously, a head coach has to delegate some aspects of their job. It’s what the staff of assistants around him are for. But being this unaware about the usage of one of your key rookies is a bad look, especially in light of the report on Saturday from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero detailing the deteriorating relationship between Meyer and his players and staff.

Among the most damning bits of that report is the allegation that Meyer lied to the media about the decision to pull James Robinson from last weekend’s loss to the Rams after a fumble. Meyer placed the blame at the feet of running backs coach Bernie Parmelee, but per Pelissero, the decision came from Meyer himself.

It’s fair to assume Meyer takes a more hands-off approach with regard to the defense, but he should still be aware of the plan and general usage surrounding players.

The Jaguars sit at 2-11 and don’t look much better than they did last year despite adding a new quarterback and eight other draft picks while entering the free agency period with the most cap space in football. Everyone knew this would be a rebuilding situation, but with the lack of meaningful development on the field and antics off it, Meyer may be on the hot seat in his first season.

This unfortunate quote regarding Cisco doesn’t help his case at all.

Jaguars get shut out by Titans: Here are the reactions from Twitter

The #Jaguars were shutout for the first time since 2009, marking a new low that many took to Twitter to discuss.

Just when fans thought it couldn’t get worse, the Jacksonville Jaguars hit a new low by being shutout 20-0 by their biggest rivals in the Tennessee Titans, a first since 2009. It was a performance in which the defense did what it could, but the offense was anemic, and their net-yard total of eight rushing yards was the lowest in franchise history. Simply put, for those watching, the game couldn’t end soon enough.

Of course, with such a terrible performance on the Jags’ part, many took to Twitter to discuss it. Needless to say, there wasn’t much holding back, and below are some of many tweets that came during and after what was another embarrassing performance:

Tom Pelissero: Meyer’s future being questioned ‘inside and outside of the building’

Tom Pelissero discussed his report from Saturday once again on Sunday morning while adding that there are people inside and outside the Jags’ facility who question Urban Meyer’s future.

​​It’s been a wild week for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but an even wilder one for coach Urban Meyer. It all started with the decision to bench James Robinson Week 13 against Los Angeles (where Meyer placed the blame on running backs coach Bernie Parmalee), and things only went further south when an NFL Network report from Tom Pelissero stated that Meyer was behind the decision. Meyer has since denied this.

That report also highlighted in great detail the dysfunction within the organization, stating that Meyer has been behind issues with both players (like Marvin Jones Jr.) and coaches, who he reportedly called “losers” while challenging them to defend their résumés. After making its rounds on social media and dominating headlines, the report has cast a shadow of uncertainty on Meyer’s future with the Jaguars even after a report from ESPN stating the team’s intentions to proceed with Meyer.

Nearly a full day after it was published, Pelissero circled back to it on “NFL GameDay” and reiterated much of what he said in his initial report, adding that there are questions in and out of the Jags’ building about Meyer’s future.

While Peliserro did say that there aren’t any signs a change is being considered (similar to the report from ESPN), his report raises yet more questions on Meyer, who has since reportedly said he believes management would have his back. 

With the Jags falling to the Titans Sunday, four games remain, and all eyes will undoubtedly be on the headlines this week for potential updates to that report.