Following a rash of negative news stories regarding how he's treated both players and coaches on his staff, Urban Meyer's brief, tumultuous run as Jacksonville Jaguars head coach is over.
Jaguars owner Shad Kahn confirmed a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter Thursday morning that Meyer has been let go as the team's head coach, and added that offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell will be the team's interim head coach for the remainder of the season:
This past weekend, Meyer publicly threatened to fire anyone who leaked information to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero, who published an explosive story Saturday about the toxic culture currently in Jacksonville. This came after a 20-0 loss to the Tennessee Titans, which saw this past year's No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence throw four interceptions.
Then Wednesday, former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo told Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times that Meyer kicked him, after saying "Hey Dips--t, make your f--king kicks!" Lambo -- who was released by the Jaguars in October, in the midst of his fifth season with the team -- says after he told Meyer "Don’t you ever f--king kick me again!," the now-former Jaguars head coach simply responded by saying "I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the f--k I want."
All of this, of course, followed an October incident where Meyer didn't fly back with the team after a 24-21 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football. Meyer remained in Ohio, only to be filmed dancing with a girl that wasn't his wife at a bar that weekend.
Following a few days of backlash at that time, Kahn issued a strongly-worded statement regarding the behavior of Meyer:
But as Kahn said Thursday morning, things didn't ultimately improve, and now Meyer has been dismissed.
Schefter says that Meyer was in the first year of what would have been a five-year contract. He'll leave Jacksonville -- and the NFL, for that matter -- with a career record of 2-11.
It's unclear what's next for the 57-year-old, who had previously led both Florida and Ohio State to National Championships at the collegiate level. We don't know if he'll want to coach in college again, and seemingly it would take him a few years worth of apologies to get a chance to do that at anywhere meaningful. A previous employee of both ESPN and FOX Sports, it's hard to imagine Meyer getting a job in television anytime soon.
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