More details emerged on Monday on former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer’s dysfunctional stint with the franchise. Owner Shad Khan and general manager Trent Baalke pulled the plug on his tenure after only 13 games where the team went 2-11 mainly because of his many missteps off the field, like when Josh Lambo accused Meyer of kicking him.
One stunning detail that arose from The Athletic’s bombshell report Monday was that sources said that Meyer was unfamiliar with some of the top players the Jags played, like seven-time All-Pro Aaron Donald and San Francisco 49ers star Deebo Samuel. This came after Meyer told people he did a six-month deep study on the NFL, which has long been questioned.
Meyer said he conducted a six-month deep dive on the NFL that included interviews with his former Florida and Ohio State players as well as a study of the salary cap. But multiple sources said Meyer was unfamiliar with star players around the league, including 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel, Seahawks safety Jamal Adams and Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, a three-time NFL defensive player of the year.
“Who’s this 99 guy on the Rams?” Meyer asked one staffer during the season, according to a source. “I’m hearing he might be a problem for us.”
There’s no excuse for not knowing who Donald is as a head coach of an NFL franchise. Because of that detail and other allegations from his tenure, he’ll likely go down in league history as one of the worst head coaching hires ever.
If there is a silver lining in Meyer’s tenure, it’s that things can’t get worse, and the only place to go is up for new coach Doug Pederson. While the Jags didn’t do a complete sweep of the past regime and kept general manager Trent Baalke, it already feels like the team is capable of at least two to three more wins due to having a coach who is familiar with the league.
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