Worst hire ever? Here’s Urban Meyer’s long list of failures as an NFL head coach
Andy Nesbitt lists out all the failures of Urban Meyer at the NFL level in what may go down as one of the worst head coaching hires in NFL history.
Sports Seriously, USA TODAY
Urban Meyer went 2-11 with the Jacksonville Jaguars before being fired during the 2021 season.Gus Bradley went 14-48 over nearly four seasons as Jaguars head coach. His .226 winning percentage ranks fourth-worst among qualifying coaches in NFL history.
In a list of worst coaching hires in NFL history, it’s little surprise the Jacksonville Jaguars would take the top spot.
Such was the disaster that was Urban Meyer, who turned to “DUUUVAL” chants to full-fledged boos well before his first and only season in the pros came to an unceremonious end. Meyer’s beleaguered 2021 season slotted in as the NFL’s worst coaching move of the past 25 years on a list published by CBS Sports on July 10.
“Desperate for rejuvenation, the Jaguars looked past Meyer’s history of fielding troubled talents at Florida and Ohio State, instead focusing on his three national championships. It took but a few months for the trouble to follow Meyer to the NFL,” explained Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports. “Despite inheriting No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence, he made it just 13 games before ownership pulled the plug. The worst part wasn’t the losses but the scandals sandwiched between them, none greater than a seemingly flirtatious trip to the bar — captured in viral video — while the rest of the team flew home from a defeat.”
Meyer was a curious hire to be sure, but Jags fans celebrated the move at the time. After all, he led the Florida Gators to national championships in the 2006 and 2008 seasons before winning another at Ohio State. But he left the Buckeyes after the 2018 season and didn’t take another coaching job until Jags owner Shad Khan came calling after firing Doug Marrone on the heels of a 1-15 season.
It became clear early on that Meyer’s domineering style was not going to work in the NFL, and a series of incidents both on and off the field led to one of the shortest coaching tenures in league history. His 13-game stretch isn’t the shortest, though: Bill Belichick took the 1B slot on CBS Sports’ rankings with his one-day stint as New York Jets head coach.
Meyer wasn’t the only Jaguars coach to make the list. Marrone’s predecessor, Gus Bradley, came in at No. 14 for four seasons of double-digit losses in the mid-2010s. Florida’s other teams appeared three times, with the Miami Dolphins ranked third with Cam Cameron (1-15 in 2007) and 24th with Nick Saban (15-17 from 2005-06) while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed 18th with Greg Schiano (11-21 from 2012-13).
What happened to Urban Meyer as Jaguars coach?
Where to begin. For starters, the Jaguars were a disaster on the field in 13 games under the three-time national champion in college. He went 2-11; that’s two more losses than he had in seven seasons at Ohio State and four fewer than he had in six seasons at Florida. No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence led the league with 17 interceptions and was sacked 32 times in his rookie season.
But it wasn’t the on-field struggles that ruined Meyer’s reputation in Jacksonville. Rather, it was the seemingly never-ending list of off-field drama that rose well past the boiling point. Here’s a brief rundown:
One of Meyer’s first hires was Chris Doyle, the former Iowa strength and conditioning coach who left the school after players accused him of bullying and making racist remarks. Doyle resigned from the Jaguars just days after his hiring announcement, while Meyer and the Jags were later issued subpoenas regarding his firing from Iowa.Tim Tebow won two national championships and a Heisman Trophy under Meyer at Florida, but the quarterback had been out of the NFL for six years — and was trying to break into Major League Baseball — when Meyer brought him in as a tight end. The Jaguars waived him after one preseason game.After a Thursday night loss in October at Cincinnati, Meyer stayed behind in Ohio while the team flew home. Video surfaced over the next few days of him dancing provocatively with a woman who was not his wife at a steakhouse he owns. Jaguars owner Shad Khan called the behavior “inexcusable.”The final straws of Meyer’s time in Duval were the reports that came out in December of him berating players and assistants. He reportedly called his assistant coaches “losers” and asked them to defend their records. Days later, former kicker Josh Lambo told the Tampa Bay Times that during the preseason, Meyer kicked him during warmups and said “Hey, dip—-, make your (expletive) kicks!” Lambo would go on to sue the Jaguars claiming emotional distress, though the case was dismissed.
Meyer was fired Dec. 16, 2021, and would become a college football analyst with Fox the following season. He has since been part of the network’s “Big Noon Kickoff” show.
Why Gus Bradley made the list of NFL’s worst coach hires
While nothing can touch Meyer’s tumultuous time in Jacksonville, the Jaguars made CBS Sports’ list of worst coaching hires twice. They also ranked No. 14 with Gus Bradley, who went 14-48 from 2013 to 2016.
“Monte Kiffin once called Bradley a ‘once-in-a-lifetime coach,’ and the latter looked the part as an ascending assistant under Pete Carroll during the construction of the Seattle Seahawks’ ‘Legion of Boom’ defense circa 2012,” Benjamin wrote for CBS Sports. “The infrastructure wasn’t nearly as formidable in Jacksonville, however, and he ultimately left town with one of the worst winning percentages in NFL history.”
At .226, Bradley has the fourth-worst winning percentage in NFL history, according to Pro Football Reference. He was fired Dec. 18, 2016, and has yet to land another head coaching job. He went on to be the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers the following season, later taking the same spot for the Las Vegas Raiders, Indianapolis Colts and now the San Francisco 49ers.
Contributing: Garry Smits, Florida Times-Union