Urban Meyer is fired as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Already followed by a dubious reputation in college football, his tenure in the NFL has been marked by scandals and squabbles.NFL Newsrecaps the events leading up to the firing.

Munich/Jacksonville – In the end, the move was without alternative for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Urban Meyer was fired after only 13 games as head coach of the NFL franchise from Florida. The sporting success failed to materialise with a record of 2-11, but the scandals that overshadowed Meyer’s time with the Jaguars probably weighed much heavier. It began with a racism controversy involving one of his employees, and a video of a young woman left him in need of explanation. Again and again he quarrelled with players and coaches.

The sporting expectations were high when Meyer was introduced as the new head coach in January. The now 57-year-old is one of the most successful coaches in college football history, winning three national championships, among others. But his career has also been marked by scandals off the field. He was accused of failing to adequately discipline his coaching staff, and more than 30 players from his former Florida teams were arrested by police in six years. In 2018, Meyer was suspended for three games for inadequately addressing allegations of domestic violence against players and coaches.

File Urban Meyer in Jacksonville: Tebow, scandal video and Lambo allegations

This unsightly trend of controversy unfortunately continued in the NFL. ran recaps the Urban Meyer file on the Jaguars.

February 2021: Racism accusations against Assistant Coach Doyle: Already in January, Urban Meyer is introduced as the next head coach. About a month later, he already makes the first negative headlines. Meyer brings long-time Iowa Strength coach Chris Doyle onto his coaching staff. There were several accusations of racism against Doyle from players during his time at the college. The personnel decision is causing a storm of public outrage. About a day after the announcement, Doyle’s contract is terminated.

May 2021: The Tim Tebow Circus: Urban Meyer had already worked with Tim Tebow in college at Florida and unceremoniously brings him to the Jaguars as well – not as a quarterback, though, but as a tight end. Six years after Tebow last played in the NFL, he is still one of the league’s most colourful personalities. The media hype is huge. But the experiment fails – Tebow is released without a single catch in the preseason. A futile PR stunt.

Meyer counters Lawrence

July 2021: OTAs rules violations – Meyer must pay fine: Long before the start of the Regular Season, Meyer continues to write headlines. Due to violations of the Organised Team Activities (OTAs) regulations, the Jaguars have to pay a fine of 200,000 dollars. The NFL also blames Meyer and fines the head coach an additional $100,000.

August 2021: Meyer ticks off Lawrence in preseason: Trevor Lawrence is the No. 1 pick in the draft, considered an absolute standout and expected to be the new face of the Jaguars. Meyer nevertheless calls an open competition between Lawrence and Gardner Minshew. He unabashedly criticises his rookie for his insufficient learning progress. In the same month, Meyer admits that players’ vaccination status plays a role in his roster cuts. A no-go according to official NFL rules. The players union NFLPA is investigating Meyer.

October 2021: Meyer’s scandal video makes big waves: After a 21-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the rest of the team flies back to Florida. Meyer does not accompany his players, he stays in Ohio and pays a visit to a pub he owns, among other things. The married head coach is filmed celebrating and hooking up with a young lady on the dance floor who is definitely not his wife. The video spreads like wildfire in the media. Anonymous players also express criticism to reporters and speak of a breach of trust. Regardless of the moral implications, it is an absolute no-go for an NFL head coach to leave his team after a loss to indulge in personal pleasure. Meyer apologizes after the fact and promises not to leave his team leaderless again.

Did Meyer kick Lambo?

December 2021 – Explosive report of spat in the booth: NFL insider Tom Pelissero puts Meyer in explanatory trouble again. He reports that there are increasing clashes between Meyer, assistant coaches and players. Among other things, the head coach is said to have called his assistants “losers”. Meyer denies this part of the report. After an argument between Meyer and Marvin Jones, the wide receiver leaves the training ground in a rage and has to be brought back by his teammates.

December 2021 – Meyer allegedly kicked kicker Lambo: Kicker Josh Lambo, who was released by the Jaguars this season, accused Meyer of kicking him. “He came up to me during warm-ups and said ‘Hey, dumbass! Transform your damn kicks’ and kicks my leg,” Lambo tells the Tampa Bay Times. Meyer strongly denies the accusation. He has no recollection of the incident and Lambo never mentioned it to him. But for Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, that was probably the last straw.

Jaguars owner Khan “bitterly disappointed with Meyer “

December 2021 – Meyer to be officially sacked: The head coach will be released by the Jaguars. “After several deliberations over the past few weeks and after deep analysis of the situation surrounding Urban Meyer, we have decided to relieve Urban of his duties,” Khan said. “I am bitterly disappointed that we have had to come to this conclusion. As I said in October, he has to regain our confidence. That has not happened,” Khan explained in a statement.

Current offensive coordinator Darrell Bevel will lead the team as interim head coach. The search for a new head coach for the upcoming season is underway. The Jaguars can’t miss again – or they’ll jeopardise the development of hopeful Lawrence. “I’ve learned there’s more drama in the NFL than there was in college. There was a lot with us, and that has to change. You can’t always be in the headlines, you have to go out and play football,” the quarterback said most recently.