Urban Meyer’s season as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars is now legendary due to its infamous nature, with Mike Vrabel now further making the former Ohio State coach look ridiculous.
Meyer‘s one year as an NFL head coach in 2021 is remembered as one of the worst ever, coming back to coaching after a three-year break from college football. During that season, he and Vrabel – who had served as his defensive line coach at Ohio State – reunited in the NFL as divisional opponents.
However, once Vrabel greeted Meyer on the field prior to a game, the new Jaguars coach asked him: “Do I know you?” before being reminded that they had worked together for two years… while also being the head coach of his team’s rivals.
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Vrabel told the story on the ManningCast, with both Peyton and Eli Manning cracking up in disbelief at Meyer’s lack of awareness once entering the NFL.
This story is similar to one from when Meyer had been looking at tape ahead of the Jaguars game with the Los Angeles Rams. When reviewing the Rams’ defensive film, Meyer was shocked to see a defensive line dominate and asked one of his staffers: “Who is number 99 on the Rams? I’m heading he might be a problem for us…”.
That player had been Aaron Donald, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year – recognized as one of the greatest players in NFL history while wearing number 99 ever since he had entered the league.
Just one week after the Jaguars loss to the Rams, Meyer was relieved of his duties in a rare in-season firing before a head coaches first year was over, while having a 2-11 record.
Revelations from Meyer’s tenure continued to come out throughout the year, with the 57-year-old seen inappropriately touching a woman in a bar who was not his wife, publicly apologizing to his wife, the team and the organization.
As the weeks grew on, many reports had emerged that both players and coaches were unhappy with the way Meyer had been treating them – with many criticizing him for treating people as inferior to him, something that had emerged from his latter days with Ohio State, and perhaps something he has gotten away with in college football.
Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo publicly accused Meyer of kicking him in the leg during warmups before the team’s final preseason game before shouting at him: “Hey, dips—, make your f—— kicks!”
Lambo confronted Meyer about the incident after the game, telling him to ‘never kick me again’, before Meyer said to have responded by stating: “I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick whoever the f— I want!”. Meyer was fired the following day, with the kicker filing a lawsuit against the team.
Meyer returned to FOX Sports the following year, where he still works as a college football analyst.
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