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Urban Meyer timeline: How embarrassing events and controversies led to Jaguars firing

Jacksonville Jaguars v Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville Jaguars v Tennessee Titans

Urban Meyer has officially been let go of his duties as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The not-so-shocking revelation has honestly been a long time coming, as Meyer's off-the-field behavior has been subject to controversy since he began his tenure as head coach.

What happened that led to his firing? Things have been going south since he became Jaguars head coach, and this is a timeline of events that led to arguably one of the shortest head coaching stints in NFL history.

Urban Meyer's tenure with Jaguars

January 14, 2021: "I got it right."

"I got it right" were the statements made by Jaguars owner Shad Khan in response to his hiring of Urban Meyer. Meyer had previously been a FOX analyst for three years after his retirement from coaching college football.

Khan was so enthused by his hiring, though the rest of the league wasn't so sure that was the case.

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

February 11, 2021: Chris Doyle hiring

Urban Meyer wasn't even a month into his being hired as the Jaguars head coach when he made the massive mistake of hiring former Hawkeyes coach Chris Doyle. Hiring someone you're familiar with isn't the worst idea, but it can be if that person is being investigated for racist remarks and bullying.

Less than 48 hours after his hiring, Doyle resigned due to the massive amount of pressure placed on his actual hiring.

May 20, 2021: Tim Tebow...quar—tight end?

No one ever saw Tim Tebow returning for a glorious NFL comeback. Nobody. That doesn't necessarily mean that players haven't been able to achieve a comeback after retiring, it was just that Tim Tebow wasn't that great to begin with.

He was an average quarterback who had some great moments, but he wanted to return as a tight end. Urban Meyer jumped at the chance to bring Tebow back for whatever reason, and that experiment crashed and burned as he didn't make the 53 man roster.

July 1, 2021: Fines

The NFL explicitly set out rules for all teams to follow so that this season would go off without a hitch, considering many games were canceled or moved due to COVID last season. The OTA sessions were changed to protect everyone involved, but that didn't matter as Urban Meyer and his players got together anyway.

The team and Meyer were collectively fined $300,000 for this and will be penalized two OTA sessions in the coming 2022 offseason.

July 14, 2021: Subpeonas

The Jaguars organization came under fire for the hiring of the aforementioned Chris Doyle, and subpoenas were thrown the team and Urban Meyer's way as they were subject to turning in documents and electronic transmissions that dealt with the hiring and firing of Doyle.

Oct 2, 2021: Dancing viral video

It wasn't bad enough that the Jaguars were losing games left and right, but when they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, Meyer decided to stay in Ohio, where he owned a restaurant.

Instead of traveling back with the team to give them some inspiration, he was video taped dancing provocatively with a woman who wasn't his wife.

Decmeber 5, 2021: Benching Robinson

Even though James Robinson had rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie season the year before, he fumbled the ball in a game and Urban Meyer thought it would be smart to bench him for an extended period of time.

There is a difference between discipline and stupidity, and Meyer was more of the latter.

December 11, 2021: Lost players confidence

Growing concerns within the locker room had begun to fester in anger and frustration as the Jaguars failed to produce much of any sort of semblance of a competitive team. The locker room was beginning to be lost to Meyer and his incompetence.

December 15. 2021: Kicking a kicker

Former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo claimed that Urban Meyer had become angry at him before a practice. Meyer had allegedly cursed at him and kicked him before while Lambo was stretching.

Kicking a place kicker isn't the best idea, especially since a kick back from them might hurt a whole lot.

December 16, 2021: Fired

Jaguars fire HC Urban Meyer. (via @rapsheet) https://t.co/7TvONPwkpg

After what seemed like an eternity of drama and poor coaching from Meyer, the Jaguars finally decided to fire Urban Meyer. The revelation came "too little too late" as they say, but now the team can look to the future.


ALSO READ: Urban Meyer replacements: 3 head coaches Jacksonville Jaguars should consider


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