Talk about a turnabout. A day after Urban Meyer caused a massive stir by hiring Chris Doyle, the controversial former Iowa strength and conditioning coach turned in his resignation to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday.
URBAN MEYER:
Chris Doyle came to us this evening to submit his resignation and we have accepted. Chris did not want to be a distraction to what we are building in Jacksonville. We are responsible e for all aspects of our program …— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) February 13, 2021
More Meyer:
and, in retrospect, should have given greater consideration to how his appointment may have affected all involved. We wish him the best as he moves forward in his career.
— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) February 13, 2021
The decision to hire Doyle as the Jaguars’ director of sports performance was completely panned. Doyle parted company with Iowa over the summer amid controversy over his treatment of Black athletes in the Hawkeye program during his 16 years with the school.
The head of the Fritz Pollard Alliance blasted the hiring earlier in the day.
“At a time when the NFL has failed to solve its problem with racial hiring practices, it is simply unacceptable to welcome Chris Doyle into the ranks of NFL coaches,” Rod Graves’ said in a statement. “Doyle’s departure from the University of Iowa reflected a tenure riddled with poor judgment and mistreatment of Black players. His conduct should be as disqualifying for the NFL as it was for University of Iowa.
“Urban Meyer’s statement, ‘I’ve known Chris for close to 20 years’ reflects the good ol’ boy network that is precisely the reason there is such a disparity in employment opportunities for Black coaches.”
On Thursday, Meyer justified Doyle’s hiring saying, “I vet everyone on our staff and like I said the relationship goes back close to 20 years and a lot of hard questions asked, a lot of vetting involved with all our staff,” Meyer said. “We did a very good job vetting that one.
“… I met with our staff and I’m going to be very transparent with all the players like I am with everything. I’ll listen closely and learn and also there’s going to have to be some trust in their head coach that we’re going to give them the very best of the best and time will tell. … The allegations that took place, I will say [Notes:to the players] I vetted him. I know the person for close to 20 years and I can assure them there will be nothing of any sort in the Jaguar facility.”
Doyle’s resignation will not erase the questionable decision Meyer made in making the hire before he coached a single NFL game.
