Urban Meyer experienced more losing in less than a full season with the Jacksonville Jaguars than he did during his entire seven seasons at Ohio State. While the coach faced many challenges with his first NFL gig, it sounds like the most obvious one bothered him the most.
Meyer spoke with Ian Rapoport of NFL Media about his firing on Friday. He discussed the difficulties of losing and said he always tells people it “eats away at your soul.” It was evident how hard of a time Meyer had with losing when he totally snubbed Mike Vrabel, one of his former assistants at Ohio State, after Jacksonville was blown out by the Tennessee Titans last week.
“Someone asked me about Vrabel’s [handshake], we’re really close,” Meyer told Rapoport. “That had nothing to do with him. That’s probably one of my issues why I’ve thought some of the things I said: I can’t take losing. I try to accept it, it just eats away at my soul. And I believe our players deserve better.”
That’s a significant admission from Meyer. Most of his skeptics predicted he would struggle with losing after dominating the college game for so long. There were many factors that went into his ousting in Jacksonville, but that was obviously one of the main ones.
Meyer said after the Jaguars lost their fourth game of the season that his players were “heartbroken.” He also set some ridiculously lofty goals for the team early on. He knew going from a dominant college coach to the coach of a rebuilding NFL franchise would be difficult, but he probably still underestimated the challenges.
Photo: Oct 10, 2021; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer reacts during the second half against the Tennessee Titans at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
