The Jaguars won their arbitration case against former coach Urban Meyer, saving roughly $30 million after firing him for cause in 2021.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will save around $30 million after the team won its arbitration case against former head coach Urban Meyer.
According to On3’s Brett McMurphy, Meyer will not be owed a buyout after the Jaguars fired him “with cause” after posting just two wins in 13 games in 2021 and a pattern of misconduct.
Meyer, who was lured out of retirement after a college coaching career that included two national championships at Florida and one at Ohio State, selected franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the No. 1 overall pick in his only draft, but his brief stint as an NFL coach would go downhill from there.
In his first offseason, Meyer cost the team $300,000 in fines for violating workout rules, allegedly kicked kicker Josh Lambo during training camp and later created a scandal by skipping the team flight after a 24-21 Thursday-night loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4 along with a viral video. Meyer has denied the incident involving Lambo.
The reported witnesses in the case were Meyer, long snapper Ross Matiscik, punter Logan Cooke, Lambo and former general manager Trent Baalke.
Meyer had been trying to recover the money that was left on the five-year contract he signed, reportedly worth $10 million and $12 million.
In addition to his off-the-field issues, Meyer’s successful college coaching style did not translate to the next level. During his lone season in the NFL, the Jaguars started off losing their first five games by an average of nearly two touchdowns before picking up their first win of the season against the Miami Dolphins in Week 6.
In his final seven games as head coach the Jaguars would only win one more game and score 10 points or less in five games, including a 20-0 loss to the eventual AFC South champion Tennessee Titans in his last game.
Meyer’s offense averaged just 13.8 points per game while the defense allowed 26.2 ppg. The Jaguars would go on to finish the season 27th in total offense (305.4 yards per game) and 20th in total defense (353.1 ypg).
Lawrence also struggled under Meyer’s leadership. In his first 13 games of his career Lawrence completed 58 percent of his passes, averaged 210.4 passing yards per game, had nine passing touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He also had six games where he did not throw a touchdown during that span. Lawrence finished his rookie season with a 59.6 completion percentage, was sacked 32 times, led the NFL with 17 interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 71.9.
Although Meyer could still challenge the arbitration process, as of now, the Jaguars can officially close the book on the disastrous Meyer era.
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