Former Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer allegedly didn't even know who Aaron Donald was during the 2021 season
Urban Meyer is one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. He has three national championships that he won at two different programs (two at Florida and one at Ohio State). He's won the SEC twice and the Big 10 three times. That's an impressive resumé. Meyer, however, is also one of the […]
Urban Meyer is one of the greatest college football coaches of all time.
He has three national championships that he won at two different programs (two at Florida and one at Ohio State). He's won the SEC twice and the Big 10 three times.
That's an impressive resumé.
Meyer, however, is also one of the worst NFL head coaches of all time. His one season in the NFL — the 2021 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars — lasted less than a year.
On Monday, The Athletic's Jayson Jenks and Mike Sando put out a report that went inside Meyer's disastrous season with the Jaguars. It details the toxic environment that Meyer created in Jacksonville, which included often berating players, coaches, and staff members and threatening their jobs. According to The Athletic, Meyer once told a group of his players he would cut them and they wouldn't be able to get a job paying more than $15 an hour.
And that's just the mild stuff (the whole article is a must-read for any NFL or college football fan).
On top of the toxic environment, The Athletic also detailed how Meyer basically had no clue what he was doing in the NFL.
Meyer was so disconnected from the NFL that he didn't even know who several star players were, including Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams, San Franciso 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel, and Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald.
All of those are surprising.
But Aaron Donald? How did Meyer not recognize one of the best players in the NFL?
Even casual NFL fans know about Aaron Donald.
But not Meyer.
“Who’s this 99 guy on the Rams?” said Meyer to a staff member according to The Athletic's source. “I’m hearing he might be a problem for us.”
To make it worse (if that's even possible), the Jaguars played the Rams on December 5. Meyer had been in the NFL for almost a full season and still didn't know about Donald!
No wonder Meyer was so terrible as a coach. On top of his controlling, toxic personality, he had absolutely no idea who his offensive line should be blocking.
I didn't think Meyer would succeed in the NFL — great college football coaches rarely do. But this was even more of a disaster than I expected.
Featured image via Corey Perrine / USA TODAY NETWORK
