Urban Meyer OUT as Jaguars Head Coach

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Urban Meyer is out as Jacksonville Jaguars head coach, sources told ESPN. Team owner Shad Khan confirmed the move in a statement issued just before 1 a.m. ET on Thursday morning.

Meyer, who coached the University of Florida to two national championships and Ohio State to another, made the leap to the NFL last year. The Jaguars tapped him to turn around a team that went 1-15 in the 2020 season. Jacksonville is currently 2-11.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Meyer’s departure on Twitter.

Khan issued a statement that began:

Darrell Bevell will serve as interim head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars for the balance of the 2021 season. Darrell succeeds Urban Meyer. 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. 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.

The departure comes amid a string controversies surrounding Meyer. The latest was relayed on Wednesday by the Tampa Bay Times, which reported that during the preseason, Meyer had forcefully kicked Jaguars placekicker Josh Lambo and told him, “Hey dipshit! Make your fucking kicks.”

Earlier this week, NFL Network reported that Meyer had called his assistant coaches “losers.” According to that report, “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.”

It had also been reported that Meyer got into a screaming match with Jacksonville wide receiver Marvin Jones.

In October, Meyer was captured on video at a bar in Ohio grinding with a woman who was not his wife after a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals the day before. Meyer had opted not to return to Florida with his team.

In response to the unflattering reports, Meyer declared, “If there is a source, that source is unemployed. I mean, within seconds, if there’s some source that’s doing that.”