Report: Urban Meyer Created a ‘Toxic’ Environment, Was Unfamiliar With NFL Star Players

The former Jaguars head coach reportedly regularly threatened to fire coaches and players.

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.”

In the report, there are several accounts of Meyer belittling staff and players while also threatening to fire them on a regular 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 that Meyer was not even familiar with some of the best players in the NFL, including Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel. 

“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.”

At one point, Meyer berated a player so harshly in front of staff members that the player cried. The disgraced coach left the room and left the staff members to console him. In another instance, with scouts in the room, he said, “I hate scouts. Scouts are lazy,” according to The Athletic.

Meyer was eventually fired after several public incidents but the final nail in the coffin was when the Tampa Bay Times reported that Meyer had 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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