By now you surely know about the video of Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer grinding up on a much younger woman who was certainly not his wife at his restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, last Friday. What's even more baffling is that Meyer thought it was acceptable not to fly home with his winless team Thursday night after a heartbreaking loss in Cincinnati. Via SportsLine oddsmakers, Meyer is now the betting favorite as the first NFL coach fired/to leave his job.
It's important to include "to leave his job" because it doesn't seem likely that Jaguars owner Shad Khan is going to eat $50 million or whatever it is that Meyer is owed unless he can fire Meyer for cause. It was never made clear how much money Meyer is getting per season, but it's believed to be in the neighborhood of a five-year, $50 million contract.
Jacksonville played easily its best game of the season against the Bengals and didn't trail … until the game-winning kick as time expired. That's 19 straight losses for the franchise, and 20 in a row seems likely Sunday with the Jags are 4-point underdogs against Tennessee.
Meyer said Monday that he apologized to his team, his family and Khan after that video went viral. He says he stayed in Ohio to visit his grandchildren but obviously wasn't with them at the bar: "I just apologized to the team and staff for being a distraction. Just stupid, and so I explained everything that happened and owned it. Just stupid. Should not have myself in that kind of position."
Yet about an hour after Monday's news conference, another video went viral that appeared to show Meyer touching a woman's bottom while he was sitting at the bar.
Former NFL executive Michael Lombardi tweeted this today: "According to two Jacksonville sources, there are many closed-door meetings happening over the last two days in the football offices and none of them have anything to do with the Titans. Stay tuned. This might get ugly."
Another NFL insider, Michael Silver, tweeted this: "The Urban Meyer situation in Jacksonville has reached a crisis point, especially in the locker room. One player told me, 'He has zero credibility in that stadium. He had very little to begin with.' … Players were particularly put off by the fact that Meyer canceled Monday's team meeting, as he dealt with the uproar over the videos of him and a young woman getting cozy in that Ohio bar. 'He even canceled the team meeting. He was too scared,' a player said."
Khan released a statement today: "I have addressed this matter with Urban. Specifics of our conversation will be held in confidence. What I will say is his conduct last weekend was inexcusable. I appreciate Urban's remorse, which I believe is sincere. Now, he must regard our trust and respect. That will require a personal commitment from Urban to everyone who supports, represents or plays for our team. I am confident he will deliver."
Meyer retired from both Florida and Ohio State for health reasons and the grind of the NFL might be too much for him – he also had an embarrassing hire back in February of Chris Doyle, a former strength coach at the University of Iowa who was accused of making racist remarks, belittling and bullying players. Two days later, Doyle resigned from the Jags.
While Meyer may not simply quit and turn his back on all that money, he and the team could work out some sort of settlement where he again retires for health reasons. Some coaches simply are built for the college game and not the NFL for whatever reason: Ask Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier to name two.
Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Who will be the first NFL coach fired/leave his job?
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