Urban Meyer was fired overnight after a tumultuous 11 months as the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ head coach. Meyer’s first year with the Jags wasn’t pretty. The team sits at 2-11, which does not live up to the expectations placed on the team at the beginning of the season. Urban Meyer and No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence were supposed to be the turning point for a struggling team.
Jags’ owner Shad Khan released a statement early this morning.
“After deliberation over many weeks and a thorough analysis of the entirety of Urban’s tenure with our team, I am bitterly disappointed to arrive at the conclusion that an immediate change is imperative for everyone,” Khan said. “I informed Urban of the change this evening. As I stated in October, regaining our trust and respect was essential. Regrettably, it did not happen.”
Their record wasn’t the only indication of dysfunction within the organization. First, there was the viral video of Meyer getting a lap dance from a woman who was not his wife. Later, anonymous sources began citing specific incidents such as Meyer calling his assistant coaches “losers,” getting into yelling matches with players and the latest, and most likely the nail in the coffin, story to come out – Josh Lambo‘s account of being kicked by Meyer in practice.
Khan acknowledged earlier this week that this year is different than just being bad. The expectation of winning culture that arrived with Meyer last January was replaced with drama.
“In the past, it was like you were, quote, it’s like the lowly Jaguars, and everyone left you alone,” Khan said. “Now the scrutiny we have is really something different. How much of that is we’re bringing it upon ourselves, or how much of that is deserved? Urban, he won wherever he was. This is something he’s never dealt with.”
The Jags’ lackluster offense has been the main reason for their losses. If you can’t score, you can’t win, and the Jags have been putting up a dismal average of 9.1 points in the last seven games. Lawrence has thrown just one touchdown since the beginning of November.
