A report by THe Athletic’s Jayson Senks and Mike Sando detailed Urban Meyer’s tumultuous and short-lived tenure as the Jaguars coach where multiple people described the environment as “toxic.”
“The most toxic environment I’ve ever been a part of,” a veteran member of the football operations staff told The Athletic. “By far. Not even close.”
Meyer is alleged to have made a number of disparaging remarks about players and staff, while also threatens to fire them on a daily basis. While berating one specific group of players after a preseason game, he said that they “couldn’t get a job paying more than $15 an hour,” if he cut them.
“He feels like threats are what motivates,” former Jacksonville wideout D.J. Chark told The Athletic. “I know he would come up to us and tell us if the receivers weren’t doing good, he wasn’t going to fire us, he was going to fire our coach. He would usually say that when the coach was around.”
The report also revealed Meyer wasn’t familiar with some of the most elite players in the NFL, such as Aaron Donald, Rams defensive tackle, and Deebo Samuel, 49ers wide receiver.
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“Who’s this 99 guy on the Rams?” Meyer asked one staffer during the season, according to The Athletic. “I’m hearing he might be a problem for us.”
Meyer once reprimanded a player so harshly that he cried in front staff members. The coach, who was now disgraced, left the room and allowed staff members to console the player. In another instance, with scouts in the room, he said, “I hate scouts. Scouts are lazy,” according to The Athletic.
Meyer was fired after several public incidents, but the last nail in the coffin was when the Tampa Bay Times It was reported that Meyer kicked kicker Josh Lambo. The Jaguars finished the season 3–14 and hired former Eagles coach Doug Pederson to replace Meyer.
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