Urban Meyer’s tenure as Jacksonville Jaguars coach was a disaster, and every so often we get a new story about just how much worse it was on the inside.
Jaguars safety Andrew Wingard relayed an incredible story about the tongue-lashing he got from Meyer over something he said in a meeting. After the Jaguars fell to 1-6, Wingard was part of a meeting of Jacksonville defensive players trying to sort out their struggles. Wingard told his teammates that the team had a rookie quarterback in Trevor Lawrence and a rookie coach in Meyer, and it was on the defense to help them.
As Wingard recalls, he got a phone call on Monday from Meyer, who was fixated on the “rookie” remark.
“He says, ‘Dewey, why the hell did you call me a rookie head coach? Tell me why. If it was anybody else right now, you’d already be cut,'” Wingard told Ty Dunne of Go Long. “Explain yourself to me is essentially what he said. So I had to freaking save face and tell him how much I love him and how he’s the greatest coach ever. … You’re sitting there on your off-night chilling and you get a call from your head coach: ‘Hey, I’m going to cut you if you don’t apologize for calling me a rookie head coach.'”
Wingard apologized in person to Meyer the next day. Meyer supposedly responded by reminding Wingard about his college experience and rattling off how many players Meyer had seen get drafted into the NFL.
At the time, Wingard was a third-year player who was good enough to start for the Jaguars. Meyer threatening to cut him for the crime of referring to the head coach as a “rookie” — a factual statement — is simply absurd. The coach wound up being fired after a 2-11 start to the season, which also involved him making headlines for his off-field stupidity. It’s no wonder the players hated him if stories like this were common.
Wingard, by the way, remains with the Jaguars and started a playoff game for them last season. No wonder he was so happy to see Meyer go. He can say he got the last laugh here.
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