Urban Meyer desperately needs to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars to a win in Week 5, as it sounds like the first-year head coach is in serious danger of losing the locker room — if he hasn’t already.
Meyer has created negative headlines for his 0-4 Jaguars since a video of him getting cozy with a young woman went viral last week. According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, several Jags players already had “fractured” relationships with Meyer before the embarrassing video surfaced. Some players then felt betrayed by the coach when he chose not to fly back with the team following their tough loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Both players and coaches have been unhappy with Meyer’s handling of the fallout. One Jaguars staffer told La Canfora it was “gutless” of Meyer to not speak with the entire team until Wednesday. An agent for a Jaguars starter said he is shocked Meyer kept his job.
“You can’t make morality a central theme of your leadership message, and then do this,” the agent told La Canfora. “It undermines everything. You can’t be holier than thou and do as I say and then do this. You don’t get up from something like this. These players see right through him. I can’t believe they didn’t fire him.”
An agent for another player said his client views Meyer as a “fraud.”
“He is a laughingstock in that locker room right now,” the agent said. “(My client) said he’s a con man. They think he’s a fraud. How do you not fly home with your team?”
That is consistent with the way an anonymous player blasted Meyer earlier in the week. It could be that there are a few players who want the coach fired, but either way that is not a good sign for a head coach in his first NFL season.
A lot has been made of the embarrassing Meyer videos. However, one former NFL coach doesn’t even think that is the most shocking part of the whole ordeal.
