Urban Meyer has coached only four games in the NFL, going 0-4, and his behavior off the field has been poorer than the product playing the games. On Wednesday, Meyer addressed his recent meeting with Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan regarding his behavior over the weekend, in which he was caught on video dancing with a woman at an Ohio restaurant, and fielded questions regarding his immediate future with the franchise.
Meyer acknowledged he has no plans to resign from Jacksonville and discussed his meetings with players about his behavior, including his earlier team meeting Wednesday.
“I had a very pointed conversation with them owning the stupid mistake that I made,” Meyer said to reporters at his scheduled press conference Wednesday. “A job of a coach is No. 1: the health and safety of a player; No. 2: motivating them and bringing out the greatness in them; No. 3: give them everything possible to be successful and get the heck out of the way. I apologize for this distraction.”
Meyer said he held the individual position meetings to address the issue because he’s not a “big team meeting guy.” He wanted to give the players their space and talk to his players in groups.
“You get a lot done in personal space with people,” Meyer said. “I’ve always done that.”
As for staying behind in Ohio and not traveling back with the Jaguars after Thursday’s loss, Meyer pointed out he talked to Jacksonville general manager Trent Baalke weeks prior about that.
“I thought at the time this was a chance for everybody to clear their head, including myself, with my family located where they were to go spend a day or two with them and then go back,” he said. “I wanted them to get out of Dodge too and clear their heads.”
Meyer also spoke to the Jaguars leadership committee. He said that he received 10 phone calls that were “over the top supportive” and the players telling him “we all did stupid things.” The Jaguars head coach said he was impressed with how his players handed the situation.
Meyer didn’t want to delve into his personal life and his relationship with his wife Shelley, but won’t let his mistake dancing with a woman at a restaurant define his marriage.
“37 years we’ve been together and it’s been awesome,” Meyer said. “This speed bump is not going to get in the way of that.”
