Urban Meyer is speaking out after being fired as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 57-year-old spoke to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and issued an apology to the team for his actions which caused him to be let go. Meyer was hired to be the Jaguars head coach during the offseason after having a successful college football career.
“I just apologize to Jacksonville,” Meyer said over the weekend. “I love Jacksonville. It’s one of the reasons I took the job. I still think Shad’s a great owner. It’s heart-breaking. I just had a dream of it becoming a destination place with a new facility he agreed to build and someday to walk into that stadium where it’s standing room only. Because I know how bad the people of Jacksonville want it. So, I’m just heartbroken that we weren’t able to do that. I still believe it’s going to be done. It’s too good of a place.”
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Along with not winning games during his first season with the Jaguars, Meyer has been hit with multiple accusations of how he treated his coaching staff and players. He also took heat for being with a woman who was not his wife days after a loss earlier in the season. Meyer denied all the accusations made against him and explained how much losing hurts him.
“I tell people, losing eats away at your soul,” Meyer said. “Once you start losing, it’s hard on everybody. I thought at one point, when we won two out of three, there was some momentum, great energy, the defense was really playing well. We were running the ball and then when that dried up on us, then we started turning the ball over. We had that bye week and then James Robinson gets hurt.”
When Meyer was fired, he had four years remaining on his contract. Rapoport said the Jaguars terminated him for cause. Meyer finished his NFL head coaching career with a 2-11 record. While working in college, Meyer was the head coach at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State and won three national championships and 12 bowl games. When Meyer was asked what his next move will be, he said, “To be determined.”
