Since the videos of photos of Urban Meyer in his Ohio restaurant went viral a few weeks back, there have been plenty of reports about how Jacksonville Jaguars players feel about their head coach.
Early on we saw lots of damning reports of players laughing or scoffing at Meyer for the way he apologized to the team. He and quarterback Trevor Lawrence didn’t appear to be on the same page. And some reports have shared that players have “lost any respect” they had for Meyer.
However, according to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, that would be hard because “sources close to several players suggested the coach never had the locker room.” Howe added that “Meyer’s hard coaching style hasn’t rung with veterans the way it would with college athletes.”
It probably doesn’t help that Meyer is publicly setting goals for his players that seem impossible for even the best NFL teams to achieve. It’s unlikely that a team that doesn’t trust or respect him is going to put much stock in lofty goals or care if they don’t reach them. Understanding the difference between coaching in college and the NFL is something it sounds like Meyer hasn’t figured out.
Meyer continues to catch a lot of flak for his apology over the incident as well as the fact that he chose not to travel with the Jaguars back from Ohio. It’s hard to believe anything short of winning football games is going to make things better for him. And even then, if he doesn’t have the respect of the players on the team, what does it even matter?
