Urban Meyer's time as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars came to end this week after the club fired him less than a season into his tenure. For the first time since he was removed from his post, Meyer spoke to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network and explained how he was "devastated" by how things turned out.
"I just apologize to Jacksonville," Meyer told Rapoport, via NFL.com. "I love Jacksonville. It's one of the reasons I took the job. I still think Shad's a great owner. It's heart-breaking. I just had a dream of it becoming a destination place with a new facility he agreed to build and some day to walk into that stadium where it's standing room only. Because I know how bad the people of Jacksonville want it. So, I'm just heartbroken that we weren't able to do that. I still believe it's going to be done. It's too good of a place."
CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora reported on Saturday that the Jaguars fired Meyer for cause. That stems from the handling of the benching of star running back James Robinson, which was sparked due to an early fumble in Week 14. That, along with more controversy, and owner Shad Khan's discussions with those within the organization about Meyer's character and leadership ultimately led to the decision to let him go.
"It was almost like there became a moral obligation to fire him after the way he handled Robinson's benching and with the way he treated people," a source with knowledge of the situation told La Canfora. "It was the right thing to do. Nothing was changing. He wasn't getting any better. It kept getting worse."
Regarding the Robinson situation, Meyer said: 'When you see someone lose the ball or even see them be loose with the ball, get them out of the game, get their mind right, and then get them back in.' When he fumbled, I said, 'Take him out.' We took him out and then we had a lack of communication about when to put him back in."
Meyer said that he and Robinson exchanged texts following his firing and described their relationship as "great."
On top of the Robinson situation, there was also an incident following the Jaguars' loss to the Bengals where he elected to stay in Ohio and not accompany the team home. A video then went viral that captured Meyer at a bar with a young woman dancing close to his lap. In a statement immediately following the incident, Khan said that Meyer's behavior was "inexcusable."
There was also an incident with former kicker Josh Lambo where he revealed that Meyer kicked him back in the preseason. Meyer said that the altercation with Lambo was not accurately portrayed.
"It was like, 'Wait a minute, where is this coming from?' " Meyer said. "I've certainly made a few mistakes but those weren't right."
One of the more startling aspects of Meyer's tenure was the lack of development -- possibly even regression -- of No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence. The Clemson phenom has completed just 58.2% of his passes this season with 14 interceptions and nine touchdowns. Despite those struggles, Meyer believes that Lawrence will succeed in the NFL.
"He's going to be great," Meyer said. "He's 22 years old, thrust into a place that lost 15 straight games. He had some devastating injuries to his offensive skill guys – (DJ) Chark went down and (Travis) Etienne, then (Jamal) Agnew, and then our TE Dan Arnold. Those are our fast guys. And we had enough (talent), I'm not blaming that, but we had to be more creative. I just think we could've done better. But there is zero doubt Trevor is going to be a great NFL quarterback."
Meyer also revealed that the source of his frustration with how things unfolded in Jacksonville was not being able to live up to Khan's hopes.
"I love our owner Shad, Shad's a great man," Meyer said. "Two reasons I took the job: One for him, the second reason was I loved Jacksonville and wanted to help turn around an organization that had been struggling."
As for what may be next, Meyer said "to be determined." He has also not heard from anyone in the coaching world about a possible job, according to Rapoport.
