Urban Meyer continues to deflect blame while watching Jaguars succeed

Former NFL head coach Urban Meyer was never one to apologize and he isn’t starting now. Here are his recent comments on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2022 success.

It only took Urban Meyer 13 games to get fired from his first NFL head coaching job after he took over the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021.

If you ask him, he’ll say something like the weather wasn’t very good that year. Ask anybody else, and they’ll provide a detailed statement on how Meyer orchestrated one of the most chaotic seasons in Jaguars’ history, sending Jacksonville into a 2-11 fiery downward spiral to the bottom of the league.

In a recent guest appearance on the “All Things Covered” podcast hosted by Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson and former Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden, Meyer spoke briefly about the Jaguars’ 2022 success and still refused to accept any blame for how the 2021 season played out.

All Meyer said of that disaster of a season was: “Of course, I would’ve done some things differently.”

On Jacksonville’s recent victories, Meyer said:

"“I was excited to see because they have a lot of different players from when I was there. They did a really good job in free agency this year. [The NFL’s] a quarterback sport and when you get a killer like a Trevor Lawrence, you’ve got a chance. So they’ve got a great future.”"

Essentially, Meyer claims the Jaguars performed much better this past year because they picked up elite players in free agency. That is, at least, partly true: Jacksonville shored up the receiver room with Evan Engram, Zay Jones, and Christian Kirk and also added key pieces in the offensive and defensive lines.

Urban Meyer continues to stroke his own ego with his recent comments on the Jaguars

The O-line boost could explain why quarterback Trevor Lawrence enjoyed a more successful second season in the league, but it doesn’t explain why Lawrence did that much better.

Lawrence doubled his number of touchdowns from 12 last year to 25 in 2022 and cut his picks in half from 17 to eight. He recorded a seven percent increase in his pass completion rate, broke numerous franchise records (most completions in a single season, T-most rushing touchdowns in a single season), and otherwise helped transform a damaged bottom-feeder team into a triumphant division champion.

Under new head coach Doug Pederson, the former No. 1 pick became arguably the most improved second-year quarterback in recent NFL history, and that just doesn’t happen from a few roster additions.

It happens with top-down changes in which Pederson, among others, helped rid Jacksonville of Meyer’s residual dysfunction and equip a franchise quarterback with the tools he needed to succeed.

It’s not all Urban Meyer’s fault. But he could do with a short listening of Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” anyhow.