Urban Meyer has been sacked as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars after just 13 NFL games.
The legendary college coach, 57, took his first NFL job in January and was tasked with rebuilding the Jags, who had the NFL’s worst record in 2020.
But Sunday’s 20-0 loss to the Tennessee Titans – the first time the Jags have been shut out since October 2009 – left them with a 2-11 record in 2021.
“An immediate change is imperative for everyone,” said team owner Shahid Khan.
Meyer is the second NFL coach to leave their job this season, after Jon Gruden resigned at the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Jags’ offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell will serve as interim head coach for the last four games of the regular season.
Meyer fails to regain owner Khan’s trust
Meyer has previously turned around various college programmes and was expected to build a team around once-in-a-generation quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who the Jags selected with the first pick of this year’s draft.
But Meyer’s reign has been marred by off-field problems as well as poor form. There have been several allegations of poor conduct towards players and staff, with the latest coming this week from kicker Josh Lambo, who was cut from the squad by Meyer.
And in October the grandfather, who’s been married for 35 years, apologised both publicly and privately after videos of him partying with a young woman went viral.
Khan, also the owner of English Championship football club Fulham, said Meyer’s conduct was “inexcusable”, adding: “Now he must regain our trust and respect.”
But on Wednesday Khan said he sacked Meyer “after deliberation over many weeks and a thorough analysis of the entirety of Urban’s tenure with our team”. He added: “As I stated in October, regaining our trust and respect was essential. Regrettably, it did not happen.”
Despite the Meyer distraction before Jacksonville’s trip to face the Miami Dolphins in London, they pulled off a thrilling last-gasp win at Tottenham to halt a 20-game losing streak stretching back to the start of last season.
Two games later, the Jags upset the Buffalo Bills but they have failed to win in five games since and Lawrence was intercepted four times against Tennessee on Sunday, meaning he is now tied with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow for a league-high 14 interceptions this season.
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