Category: Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer addresses reports of turmoil within locker room

Meyer denied both getting into a heated verbal altercation with Marvin Jones and referring to his assistant coaches as “losers.”

Jacksonville’s game on Sunday against the division rival Tennessee Titans was a bit overshadowed (perhaps for the best, as the Jags lost 20-0, getting blanked for the first time since 2009) by a report released by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero on Saturday morning.

In that piece, Pelissero reports that Meyer’s relationship with both players and his assistant coaches has been fractured in recent weeks. Among the most shocking aspects of his report are the allegations that he called his assistants “losers” while painting himself as a winner and asking them to defend their track records as coaches.

He also reportedly got into an argument with veteran receiver Marvin Jones Jr. and lied to the media about the benching of running back James Robinson. That decision was blamed on running backs coach Bernie Parmelee, but per Pelissero, it was Meyer’s call.

Meyer told FOX’s Jay Glazer heading into the game that he believes he still has the full support of the ownership, and he reiterated that position during his postgame press conference after Sunday’s loss to Tennessee. He also denied getting into a heated altercation with Jones and using the word “losers” to describe his assistant coaches.

“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.”

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. 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.”

When discussing any potential leakers who could have spoken to Pelissero for his report, Meyer had his strongest words (which were also vaguely threatening).

“You watched out there today, Myles Jack and that defense and some of those kids, Roy (Robertson-Harris), (Dawuane) Smoot, those guys are playing their tails off,” Meyer said about the team’s effort and morale. “You get a couple scores on offense, you’re right there, and we didn’t do it.”

So what’s the answer? Start leaking information or some nonsense? No. No, that’s nonsense. That’s garbage. That’s once again — I’ve been very blessed. I’ve not really dealt with that. I’ve not dealt with, ‘Well, did you hear what he said?’ What? No. Let’s improve on offense and get our quarterback in a position to be successful. That’s our focus. What someone’s brother said, or someone said someone said, that will occupy very little of my time. And if there is a source, that source is unemployed. I mean, within seconds, if there’s some source that’s doing that.”

Meyer is clearly frustrated that his first season as an NFL coach hasn’t gone according to plan, and if the report from Pelissero is accurate — its contents have been confirmed by the Florida Times-Union’s Gene Frenette — then it’s possible he won’t get a crack at a second season.

His tenure in Jacksonville has been plagued with controversy, beginning with his decision to hire Chris Doyle, who was fired from Iowa for allegedly making racist comments toward players, as a strength coach. He also became the center of national attention earlier this season, when his decision to not fly back with the team after a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals resulted in a viral video of him dancing with a woman at a bar in Ohio.

The report from Pelissero demonstrates the most recent unforced error, and though Meyer seems to believe his relationship with owner Shad Khan remains strong, only time will tell if that remains the case after a tough loss where the offense was nonexistent.

Jay Glazer: Urban Meyer believes he has the ‘full support of ownership’

Per Glazer, Meyer denied having an altercation with Marvin Jones but did not deny the incident with his assistant coaches.

First-year Jaguars coach Urban Meyer has once again found himself at the center of the NFL news cycle. This time, it’s not the result of a viral bar video but rather a report from NFL Network’s Tom Peliserro that sheds light on Meyer’s increasingly strained relationship with both his staff and players.

Among the most damning aspects of that piece — the details of which have been confirmed by some on the local beat — Peliserro reports that Meyer had a verbal altercation with one of the team’s veteran leaders in receiver Marvin Jones Jr. He also reports that Meyer berated his assistant coaches during a staff meeting, calling himself a winner while they were losers and forcing each staff member to publicly defend their pedigrees. He also apparently ordered the benching of star running back James Robinson after his early fumble last week, contrary to Meyer’s public statements on the matter, where he placed the blame on running backs coach Bernie Parmelee.

It’s been a bad look for the 2-10 team to say the least, and it has renewed discussions about whether Meyer will be retained as head coach in 2022. However, per NFL insider Jay Glazer on FOX NFL Sunday, who spoke to Meyer, the national championship-winning coach believes he still has institutional support.

“It was reported this week that he got into it with Marvin Jones, that part he denies,” Glazer said.

However, Meyer apparently didn’t deny that the incident in the staff meeting occurred as described.

“He didn’t deny that part,” Glazer added, referring to the bizarre moment with his staff. “He said, ‘Yes, I’m hard on my coaches, I get on them,’ but he still thinks he has the full support of ownership.”

Whether Meyer actually has the full support of owner Shad Khan remains to be seen, but there’s reason to believe that Khan would not make a change before the end of the season, at the very least. He’s notoriously patient with head coaches, as Gus Bradley was allowed to coach four seasons despite never winning more than five games and Doug Marrone stayed on for three more losing seasons after the team’s AFC Championship run in 2017.

But this team is struggling on the field, and one has to think with Meyer’s continued antics, he’s running out of grace off the field.

Report: Urban Meyer behind rising tensions with players, coaches within Jags organization

The Jags run under Urban Meyer has been a disaster, and according to a report, he’s behind rising tensions within the organization.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2021 season has been a disaster, to put it lightly, and the team will head into Week 14 with a 2-10 record, hoping to beat the Tennessee Titans. The team will have a tall task on their hands to beat a Tennessee team that is leading the AFC South with an 8-4 record and one that has the Jags’ number in Nashville (where the Jags haven’t won since 2013).

However, it appears they will make their trip a few states north with bigger problems than the Titans to address and will need to iron out some internal issues for the long-term future. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, first-year Jags coach Urban Meyer has been the root of rising tensions within the team and isn’t seeing eye-to-eye with players and coaches.

The report comes after the Jags were in the NFL headlines for their suspicious handling of running back James Robinson after he came out to say he felt like the team benched him for 20 plays after he fumbled the ball Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. Then earlier this week, the team’s No. 1 overall pick from April, Trevor Lawrence, revealed that he went to the staff and told them that the second-year running back needed to be on the field due to being one of the Jags’ best players.

Pelissero’s report shared various other shocking incidents that Meyer has been the root of, like the first-year head coach getting into a heated argument with one of the team’s most respected veterans Marvin Jones Jr. The argument was a result of tensions boiling over Meyer’s criticisms of the receivers group.

Pelissero also mentioned one occasion where Meyer delivered a message that insinuated that they were losers. According to the report, he challenged individuals on his staff to defend their résumés by discussing when they’ve won in their careers.

All of this comes in a season when Meyer also hired Chris Doyle, who was accused of racist behavior at Iowa, to run the team’s strength and conditioning program and was caught in a Cincinnati bar with a woman that wasn’t his wife dancing on him. Needless to say, this isn’t what owner Shad Khan wanted when he turned to Meyer for leadership over his franchise, and the last five games are going to be interesting in terms of news surrounding the organization.

James Robinson feels like Jags benched him after fumble vs. Rams

Jaguars running back James Robinson candidly described his experience of being sidelined after fumbling against the Rams.

There were many takeaways from the 37-7 beatdown the Jacksonville Jaguars sustained from the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, but the biggest question might be the suspicious handling of running back James Robinson.

Many felt that the Jags benched the second-year running back after he fumbled on Jacksonville’s first drive while being tackled by defensive tackle Aaron Donald. It’s understandable why that conclusion might be drawn, as Robinson didn’t see the field for 20 more plays while the team played Carlos Hyde for the next few series.

With Robinson being such a valuable piece to the offense, the handling of his snaps was the top topic of discussion in the postgame press conference with coach Urban Meyer. And while Meyer veered away from labeling Robinson’s situation a benching by saying the personnel decisions fall on his assistants, he did point to the heel and knee injuries that Robinson was dealing with as potential reasons for his struggles.

However, on Monday night, fans found out that Robinson agrees with them when it comes to viewing his time on the sideline as a benching. In an appearance on “Jags Report Live” with Brent Martineau and Dan Hicken, Robinson spoke on the matter while handling himself like a true professional.

“I would say so,” Robinson said when asked by Martineau if he thought he was benched. “Obviously, like I said last week, [fumbling the ball] can’t happen, but when it happens and you are out for that long, you got to feel that way. I was just waiting my turn to get back in the game, and it didn’t really come until the third quarter.”

When considering how valuable Robinson is to the team, this definitely will concern fans. That’s especially the case when considering that players voiced opinions alleging mistreatment by the previous regime.

In Monday’s interview between Robinson, Martineau, and Hicken, it was also revealed that Robinson tried to take the field to give Hyde a breather at one point, but the staff elected to keep him on the sideline.

“I think Carlos wanted a breather,” Robinson said when asked about the attempts he made to get back on the field that the reporters witnessed. “And then I was going to run on the field and they just said ‘no, no, no’ or ‘never mind.’ He just ended up staying in there, but I’m not sure what’s going on there.”

As crazy as that exchange was, Robinson also seem puzzled by the Jags’ decision to keep him in the game late (when it was out of reach), which made little sense when considering injuries.

“I knew the game was over by that point,” Robinson said “I probably should’ve been resting. I’m not sure what the point of [having me in late] was.”

As seen above, those statements came several hours after Meyer once again had no answers as to why a player of Robinson’s caliber would be on the field that late in the game while dealing with two injuries. It’s a clear indication that something fishy is going on in the Jags’ facility, and fans have every right to be concerned.

Urban Meyer denies interest in Notre Dame job

Meyer is adamant that he has no plans to return to the college game after a frustrating first season with the #Jaguars.

Whenever a blue-blood college football job opens up, you can bet that without fail, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer’s name will come up for the opening. And in this case, there’s more reason for that than usual.

On Monday night, it was announced that Brian Kelly would be leaving Notre Dame after 12 seasons to become the head coach at Louisiana State. It was a move that sent shockwaves throughout the college football world and considering it’s a position that Meyer has described as a dream job, it should come as no surprise that he’s being discussed for the opening.

A report on Tuesday from ESPN’s Mike DiRocco said that Meyer wasn’t interested in college openings, and later that day, Meyer himself explicitly stated that he is not looking to leave Jacksonville.

“I’m not a candidate,” Meyer said, per Greg Beacham of the Associated Press. “Obviously I spent six years of my life there, so great respect for Notre Dame, and as I do USC, UCLA, like we talked about. But I’m committed to the Jaguars and doing the best we can to turn this thing around.”

Given the fact that Meyer has now “retired” from coaching twice just to accept another job, it’s understandable that some may not be too keen to take him at his word. With that being said, Meyer struggled to handle the stress that comes with a big-time college football job, and he seems to be enjoying the relatively laid-back style of being an NFL coach (which doesn’t require year-round recruiting).

This will be a story to monitor, and it’s unlikely that Meyer will shake the speculation until the job is filled, but it seems unlikely he would jump ship from the NFL after a season that was widely expected to be a rebuilding year.

Report: Jags HC Urban Meyer not interested in college jobs

Meyer is reportedly “committed to rebuilding the franchise” in Jacksonville.

It’s been a wild few days in the college football world. This had already been a blockbuster coaching carousel cycle with the Southern California, Louisiana State, and Florida jobs opening up, but on Sunday and Monday, things got even weirder. Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley bolted to Los Angeles and LSU poached longtime Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly from South Bend, meaning two more blue-blood programs will be searching for head coaches in the coming days.

With the Fighting Irish job abruptly opening, the rumor mill quickly began spinning about Jaguars coach Urban Meyer potentially taking the job. Meyer has called Notre Dame his “dream job” several times in the past, and with his Jacksonville team struggling in his first year at the helm and sitting at 2-9, it’s not exactly outlandish to think that Meyer, who has won national championships at Florida and Ohio State, would look to jump back to the college ranks.

However, according to a report from ESPN’s Mike DiRocco, Meyer has no interest in college openings and is “committed to rebuilding the franchise” in Jacksonville.

Since it’s Meyer we’re dealing with, the reaction to this report has been, naturally, a bit skeptical. However, a return to college wouldn’t make a lot of sense for Meyer. He stepped away from both Florida and Ohio State after dealing with health problems, and when he left the Buckeyes in 2018, he said he was retiring from coaching.

The chance to jump to the NFL was a unique opportunity for Meyer to take a coaching job that was less demanding in terms of not having to recruit high school players year-round. He also faces much lower expectations in Jacksonville than he would at a big-time college coaching job.

Jaguars fans hoping that Meyer will voluntarily leave the NFL may be out of luck, but only time will tell if this report is accurate.

Jags HC Urban Meyer addresses reports on issues within staff

Urban Meyer called the report that surfaced Sunday morning “incorrect,” but did say he holds his staff accountable for the team’s performances.

The Jacksonville Jaguars fell to 2-8 Sunday after losing to the San Francisco 49ers, adding more anguish to a season where expectations that weren’t high have yet to be met. With that has come reports about there being problems within the staff due to Urban Meyer calling out certain assistants, and after Sunday’s loss, the media asked him to address it.

As most would expect, Meyer called the reports “incorrect,” though he did say there is a great deal of transparency between the staff regardless of how the team is playing.

“There’s a report, you said,” Meyer asked a media member. “No, the only report, all due respect, is the report from me? We’re a very transparent staff, and I’m very transparent and have always been. I have high expectations. When someone’s not performing well, yeah, we have hard conversations, but that’s the game of football. So that report is incorrect. Do I have high expectations for position groups? Absolutely. Very high expectations. If it’s not fulfilled, then we have to have a conversation about it.”

Meyer’s statements after Sunday’s loss make a lot of sense as he’s been arguably the most open coach the organization has had when it comes to media interactions. It wouldn’t be surprising if he’s just as transparent with his staff, but the bigger question is whether or not he’s doing it in a way that would rub assistants in the wrong way.

When looking at the Jags’ roster, the group isn’t the most talented and the argument could be made that the front office didn’t do the best job giving their assistants talent. The best way to sum it up is that they acquired a lot of B to C-tier signings at best, which is an approach for a team that just is a player or two away from contention. Instead, this team needed more A-tier signings to help elevate their talent, which is how they got where they are now.

So in a nutshell, the Jags haven’t done the best job of helping out their assistants. At the same time, fans have made the argument that the assistants on the offensive side like coordinator Darrell Bevell aren’t putting what they have in the best position to win. That could be the key talking point of the conversations that Meyer mentioned on Sunday, but ultimately we’ll have to wait until the end of the season to see.

If there is a large degree of staff turnover, it would be a sign that Meyer wasn’t impressed, that is, if he is retained. However, if he continues with the group he has, that would be a sign that his relationship with his current group is at least better than some think.

Urban Meyer provides an update on James Robinson’s status as Jags prepare for Colts

Friday’s practice will be huge in terms of evaluating James Robinson’s status for Sunday’s game against Indy.

Heading into Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, Urban Meyer views running back James Robinson as questionable as he continues to nurse a heel injury from Week 8. When asked about Robinson before practice Friday, Meyer said it was an important day to see where Robinson is in terms of being able to go Sunday.

“Questionable, today is an important day,” Meyer said to the media.

On Thursday, Robinson was limited and Meyer said the second-year player was able to take 12 snaps in the process. He also added that he was hoping that Robinson would make enough progress to avoid having to be tested on Sunday before the game, just as he was last Sunday before being ruled out.

“I hope not, I hope today is a good day or tomorrow,” Meyer said when asked if it would be a game-time decision type scenario.

Even if the Jags have Robinson, Meyer said they would mix in Carlos Hyde “for sure” in the rotation, which might mean Robinson’s role may not be as big as fans witnessed before his injury.

That would be a smart move on the Jags’ part, as Robinson is a valuable piece to the offense, who leads the team in touchdowns. When asked yesterday about how he felt during Thursday’s practice, he said he still felt a little pain when running, but was going to get treatment after practice. With that being the case, it appears Robinson is on a day-to-day timeline, which is why Meyer said Friday is an important day for his evaluation.

While the Jags need Robinson, and the offense has only put up 16 points since his injury, they need to be smart about this injury. And while they’ve struggled without him, it’s worth noting that the offense could’ve had a better day without him and missed out on a few key plays that should’ve resulted in touchdowns.

As we close in on the game, we’ll be sure to monitor this situation and provide some updates as the final injury report will be released later today, and more could come out on Robinson’s status late Saturday to early Sunday.

Shad Khan expresses faith in HC Urban Meyer despicable rocky start

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport says a source has informed him that Shad Khan is “all in” on Urban Meyer, but it’s simply too soon to tell if he should be.

The Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t get off to the start they would’ve liked but were able to go into their bye week with some momentum. Of course, that’s because they were able to end a 20-game losing streak Week 6 by defeating the Miami Dolphins 23-20 across the pond.

Now, with the team a bit more upbeat and their first win under their belt, owner Shad Khan told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that he ‘absolutely’ has faith in head coach Urban Meyer. Khan also said he was impressed with the cohesiveness he’s seen from the team, which is something we’ve seen emphasized by the leaders on the team like Shaquill Griffin. 

“I couldn’t ask for anything more from the players,” Khan said this week at the NFL’s Fall League Meeting. “The cohesiveness and the strength to pull it out. This is where the impression from the outside is very different from the inside.”

Often overlooked is the way the Jags have stuck together through scandal. Just last month, Meyer made headlines after a video surfaced of him at a bar with an unknown woman. In addition to being an unnecessary distraction for a team looking for its first win, Khan himself felt compelled to release a statement as Meyer’s actions made the Jags the NFL’s hottest topic for the wrong reason.

Despite that, though, Rapoport says he’s been informed by a source that Khan is “all in” on Meyer. Rapoport also got Khan to further comment on the situation, which happened just weeks ago.

“I think this is NFL football,” Khan said. “You’re on stage all the time and you have to be absolutely self-aware. But I’ve gone over this so many times there’s very little to add.”

Fans and critics alike have come into this week questioning Meyer’s job security, and it appears Rapoport’s report has provided some clarity on that. Khan’s endorsement shouldn’t come as a surprise, either, when looking at how patient he’s been with coaches in the past.

Another big indication that Khan will be able to move past Meyer’s rough start in the NFL and off the field was pointed out by Albert Breer of the Monday Morning Quarterback: the fact that both sides have invested so much into each other. When the Khan’s hired Meyer, they just weren’t looking for a coach, but a program leader. With that came a big investment into Meyer’s staff, sports science, training tactics, and even a new facility in the future, among other things. 

Despite all of that, though, the Jags’ win against Miami isn’t a case that should have moved the needle much if Meyer’s job security was ever truly in question. A win against a struggling Dolphins team probably isn’t the best bellwether for Meyer’s future.

To put it simply, if the Jags’ next six games go like their first six, it would be hard to frame Meyer’s performance as anything other than a disappointment. However, looking at the team’s progress, there’s still a chance things will look up in the next six games. 

The bad and the good

Frankly, plenty of things should concern fans about Meyer. His ability to avoid being a distraction from now on should be interesting to watch, as well as his ability to get players to buy into him as a leader (that is, if they haven’t), especially after his concerning remarks about how the team’s ownership falls on the players. While we’ve seen the last regime have success by playing for each other, it only worked for so long, and eventually the players needed leadership from the coaches, too. 

But there’s also reason to have hope. The staff has helped Trevor Lawrence (and the team in general) get better by the week. If that continues, and the Jags can have consistent success, the rest could fall into place easily.

Jaguars coach Urban Meyer explains team’s pass rushing shortcomings

Meyer said that the team needs to do a better job of getting a “push” on the interior.

While answering a question about the play of the offensive line and the challenge the unit will face from Seattle on Sunday, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer had some interesting insight about the way his team has struggled to pressure quarterbacks.

Meyer said that the Seahawks do a good job of getting an interior “push,” limiting what the opposing quarterback can do in the pocket. But he eventually went on a tangent about his own team’s shortcomings in that regard.

“This is going to be one of the best pushes that we’ve had inside, and the push that we’re not getting on defense right now is correlated to the edge pressure,” Meyer said. “You can have really good edge pressure, at times we do, but the quarterback steps up, and there’s nothing there. Or, even worse, someone gets out of a rush lane and (Miami quarterback) Tua (Tagovailoa) scrambles for a first down. So it’s amazing how that whole thing works together.”

Getting production out of pressure has certainly been one of the biggest issues for Jacksonville’s defense in 2021. While it ranks in the upper half of the league in pass-rush win rate (43%), that hasn’t resulted in sacks. The team has just eight on the year, which ties with Kansas City for the fewest in the league. Granted, the Jags had an early bye, but the pass rush is still underachieving.

Expectations were high heading into the year for Josh Allen and K’Lavon Chaisson, who are now playing their natural position’s in defensive coordinator Joe Cullen’s defensive scheme. That still seems to have helped the play of Allen, who despite his lack of production still ends up being among the highest-graded Jaguars week in and week out.

Chaisson, on the other hand, has had an incredibly disappointing sophomore season after he was largely AWOL from the stat sheet as a rookie.

But based on these comments from Meyer, the problem may be more with the line’s interior. With a lack of push from those guys, opposing quarterbacks can just step up in the pocket to either run or throw, even if pressure is coming from the edge.

Aside from signing Roy Robertson-Harris and trading for Malcom Brown, the Jags’ didn’t do much this offseason to address the line’s interior, and that remains among the team’s biggest needs in 2021.