The Jacksonville Jaguars have been in the news a lot the last few days but not for anything good.
First-year head coach Urban Meyer had a miserable Sunday as his team lost 20-0 to the Tennessee Titans and he could barely bring himself to answer questions about what’s wrong, except to say that if he finds out who is leaking info from his coaching staff he will fire them. That was in response to a report by NFL Network that Meyer was embroiled in heated arguments with a player and his assistant coaches, referring to them as “losers.” Meyer refuted aspects of that report but did say he is hard on his assistants.
Monday, a former NFL GM said that he heard from a source “inside the building” that the report was just the “tip of the iceberg.” Meyer didn’t inspire too many people later being caught off-guard by how many snaps one of his defensive players was getting in a game. Meyer has developed a habit of seemingly not knowing what’s happening on his own team and this seemed to back that up.
There have been reports of discontent between Meyer and players all season long, but there does seem to be an uptick in recent days of information leaking out about the state of things behind the scenes. Meyer clearly thinks one of his assistant coaches is leaking to the media, and apparently so does owner Shad Khan.
According to NFL reporter Josina Anderson, Khan spoke with the Jaguars coaching staff in person following Sunday’s 20-0 loss. While Khan reportedly expressed support for them, he made it clear he didn’t like the idea of anyone being a source for the media.
I'm told #Jags owner Shad Khan addressed the coaching staff in person subsequent to the https://t.co/QtYTSbnzXa report detailing 'tension' in the building, per league source. I'm told Khan expressed he still has confidence in the staff, but expects things to tighten up [cont]
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) December 13, 2021
2/4 and for coaches to get players playing better together. As for the report itself, I'm told Khan did address it. Khan conveyed that he didn't like it & does not want information leaking out causing distractions, per league source. They added, Khan didn't deliver any [cont.]
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) December 13, 2021
3/4 definitive assurances nor any discouragement about the status of the staff. As for the meeting referenced in the https://t.co/QtYTSbnzXa report reportedly conveying a message that "he's a winner and his assistants are losers," I'm told there are staff who left said [cont].
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) December 13, 2021
4/4 meeting feeling that way & the need to have to defend resumes. "Like all that's been done is not enough," I'm told. The main takeaway I heard is the repetition of the feeling "of not being on the same page" or folks feeling unappreciated, undermined, & yet a desire to fix it.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) December 13, 2021
“I’m told #Jags owner Shad Khan addressed the coaching staff in person subsequent to the NFL.com report detailing ‘tension’ in the building, per league source,” wrote Anderson. “I’m told Khan expressed he still has confidence in the staff but expects things to tighten up and for coaches to get players playing better together.
“As for the report itself, I’m told Khan did address it. Khan conveyed that he didn’t like it & does not want information leaking out causing distractions, per league source. They added, Khan didn’t deliver any definitive assurances nor any discouragement about the status of the staff.
“As for the meeting referenced in the NFL.com report reportedly conveying a message that “he’s a winner and his assistants are losers,” I’m told there are staff who left said meeting feeling that way & the need to have to defend resumes. “Like all that’s been done is not enough,” I’m told.
“The main takeaway I heard is the repetition of the feeling “of not being on the same page” or folks feeling unappreciated, undermined, & yet a desire to fix it.”
It certainly sounds like things are as messy behind the scenes for the Jaguars as most people expected. It’s hard to believe that Meyer will be able to galvanize a coaching staff and players who aren’t convinced to rally behind him. And given how Meyer seems to look absolutely miserable all the time, one wonders how long he or Khan will see all of this as worth the effort.
