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Urban Meyer and the Jaguars have gotten off to an 0-4 start. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Urban Meyer vows to earn trust of Jaguars players back after controversial videos

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 10/5/21

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer remains in hot water after one video went viral over the weekend showing the married Meyer sitting at a bar in Columbus as a young woman danced close to his lap and, later, a second video seemed to show him groping a woman's bottom at the same establishment.

Jaguars owner Shad Khan released a statement earlier on Tuesday that said Meyer "must regain our trust and respect." As Chase Goodbread noted for the NFL's website, Meyer vowed to do just that during his weekly radio appearance on Jacksonville's 1010 XL/92.5 FM.

"The fact that I became a distraction, I got to earn [the players'] trust back from it," Meyer explained during the segment, per John Reid of The Florida Times-Union. "I know we have incredible leaders, but this one is on me to go out and coach my very best, give them everything possible that I can do to help have success."

Meyer added that conversations with Khan about the controversy have been "horrible."

Hours before Meyer spoke, NFL insider Michael Silver tweeted a thread that suggested the coach's relationships with his players might already be damaged beyond repair:

THREAD 1) The Urban Meyer situation in Jacksonville has reached a crisis point, especially in the locker room. One player told me, 'He has zero credibility in that stadium. He had very little to begin with.'
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) October 5, 2021

2) Players were particularly put off by the fact that Meyer canceled Monday's team meeting, as he dealt with the uproar over the videos of him and a young woman getting cozy in that Ohio bar. 'He even canceled the team meeting. He was too scared,' a player said.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) October 5, 2021

3) Instead Meyer 'only apologized to position groups individually.' He portrayed the woman in the videos as a random person who was 'just there dancing.' Suffice it to say, his audience was highly skeptical.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) October 5, 2021

4) Said one player: 'We looked at him like, WTF? Right when he left everyone started dying laughing. And he knew it.'
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) October 5, 2021

5 Bottom line, said the player: 'It's bad. I don't know how he's gonna function.'
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) October 5, 2021

Winning often cures anything and everything in sports, and the Jaguars notching their first victory under Meyer over the 2-2 Tennessee Titans this Sunday might be necessary for him to still have his job by this time next week.

The Jaguars are on their bye week following a matchup against the Miami Dolphins in London on Oct. 17 and, theoretically, could use that break in the schedule to make a change.

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