The Urban Meyer era in Jacksonville is off to a rocky start.
Not only did the Jaguars drop their season opener Sunday against the Houston Texans. A report also surfaced before the game that painted Jacksonville’s first-year head coach in a negative light.
Multiple sources told CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora before Jacksonville’s season-opening, 37-21 loss to the Houston Texans that Meyer’s temper and lack of familiarity with the ebbs and flows of the NFL calendar already were rubbing Jaguars players and staff the wrong way.
Meyer, a decorated college coach who won national championships at both Florida and Ohio State, reportedly has had repeated issues with other Jags coaches, to the point where morale has suffered as a result of his outbursts.
“He has everyone looking over their shoulders already,” a source with direct knowledge of the team’s daily operations told La Canfora. “He becomes unhinged way too easily, and he doesn’t know how to handle losing, even in the preseason. He loses it and wants to take over the drills himself. It’s not good.”
The Jaguars went 1-2 during the preseason after posting a 1-15 record last season under former head coach Doug Marrone. The future seemingly took a turn for the better when Jacksonville selected Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence — an elite QB prospect — with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but concerns regarding Meyer’s transition to the NFL ultimately could undercut that progress.
Sources told La Canfora that Meyer lashed out at his coaches after Jacksonville’s preseason losses, even calling their job security into question, which obviously isn’t the best sign this early in his tenure. There’s a fine line between motivating players and completely losing the locker room, and what works in college doesn’t necessarily work at the professional level.
The Jaguars made a ton of mistakes in Sunday’s loss — their 16th consecutive defeat dating back to the 2020 campaign — and Meyer called the sloppiness “inexcusable” after the contest. That, if things continue to go south and Meyer’s patience wears thin, might end up being a tame critique in hindsight.
