Urban Meyer admits he couldn’t handle losing with Jaguars

Urban Meyer admits he couldn’t handle being in a losing situation with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In an exclusive interview with NFL.com, former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer told Ian Rapoport about all that went wrong for him during his 13-game run down in Duval.

Meyer was fired with cause by the Jaguars in the early hours of Thursday morning. This was his first stab at the NFL, but the three-time national championship-winning head coach went 2-11 in his Jaguars run. Mired with controversy throughout, one thing is clear from his time leading Jacksonville: He was not equipped to handle all the losing that comes with a rebuilding team.

“I tell people, losing eats away at your soul,” said Meyer. “Once you start losing, it’s hard on everybody.”

In times of great adversity, the true nature of one’s character is revealed for all the world to see.

Urban Meyer admits that he was not able to handle the losing in Jacksonville

Look, most coaches do not win in Jacksonville. In fact, the only coach to lead his team to the playoffs since Jack Del Rio was fired was Doug Marrone four years ago. The Jaguars have had one winning season since the Second Bush Administration. Though Shahid Khan bought the team from Wayne Weaver a decade ago, the Jaguars’ fortunes have not changed under his ownership.

There were so many things Meyer said and did during his Jacksonville run that were red flags. From hiring disgraced former Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, to admitting to Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio that “it’s Alabama every week”, to the entire debacle following the road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football, it was a trainwreck.

However, the biggest disconnect seemed to emanate from how truly hard it is to win in the NFL. Recruiting doesn’t matter in a league influenced by parity. Intimidation doesn’t work on professional coaches, players and full-grown men who have to pay a mortgage and support their growing families. You can’t just flip a switch and expect to win in the NFL. You have to work for it.

Prior to arriving in Jacksonville, Meyer never had a losing season. Not at Bowling Green, not at Utah, not at Florida, not at Ohio State, not anywhere. While we all knew there was going to be a period of adjustment under Jacksonville, Meyer could not adjust to taking losses. It is a humbling experience to say the least, but to be this “sickened” by it was the biggest red flag of them all.

Jacksonville has a chance to turn this thing around under new leadership, but Meyer’s successor cannot be this grossly affected by losing games with a rebuilding team.