As predicted, the Urban Meyer experiment with the Jacksonville Jaguars was a massive failure and he was eventually fired in the middle of the season because of the way he treated his players and coaches.
One of Meyer’s players, while he was head coach of the Jaguars, was D.J. Chark, who recently signed with the Detroit Lions.
During a recent interview with The Athletic, Chark blasted Meyer for how he treated his players and coaches.
From The Athletic:
Receiver D.J. Chark, who signed with the Lions last week after spending the first four years of his career with the Jaguars, said Meyer routinely threatened to fire coaches and cut players. “He feels like threats are what motivates,” Chark said. “I know he would come up to us and tell us if the receivers weren’t doing good, he wasn’t going to fire us, he was going to fire our coach. He would usually say that when the coach was around.”
Chark said the year began with optimism; Jacksonville’s players turned out in high numbers for voluntary workouts, eager for the new season under Meyer. “But the way he was running the ship, it was impossible to succeed,” Chark said.
“You’ve got players in fear that they’re going to lose their jobs,” Chark said. “You’ve got coaches who he belittled in front of us, and I can only imagine what he was doing behind closed doors. I’m surprised he lasted that long, to be honest with you.”
To read the full article (it is worth it) please click here. (Paywall)
