JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars coaching staff was barely finalized Thursday when the name of one hire jumped out — Chris Doyle.
Doyle will serve as the Jaguars director of sport performance, his first job in the NFL. But it was Doyle’s job before coming to Jacksonville that set social media ablaze.
Doyle was Iowa’s strength and conditioning coach from 1999-2019 before being placed on paid administrative leave June 6, 2020 amidst allegations of racism and mistreatment of former players.
Jaguars coach Urban Meyer said on Thursday that he’s known Doyle for close to two decades and was comfortable with the vetting process used on not only Doyle, but all the staff he hired. He said that owner Shad Khan was involved in the “high-end hires.”
“I vet everyone on our staff and like I said, the relationship goes back close to 20 years,” Meyer said. “[There were] a lot of hard questions asked, a lot of vetting involved with all our staff, but we did a very good job vetting that one.”
Meyer said that he’s not concerned that Doyle’s presence would impede potential free agents from coming to Jacksonville.
“If I was, I wouldn’t have hired him. Once again, I’ll explain that if that becomes a question,” he said. “The one thing I’m very confident [in] is that I would imagine within a year or two, we’ll have the best sports performance team in the National Football League. As far as the last few years, we’ve had serious issues with injuries. I want to say 63 games were missed just on the defensive side of the ball because of injuries, where in 2017, there were only two.”
A large number of former Hawkeyes players made allegations of racial bias and mistreatment against numerous coaches in the Iowa program, but Doyle was the only one removed from the school. Doyle received a $1.1 million separation agreement from Iowa on June 15, 2020.
Iowa commissioned a deep dive into the allegations and hired the Husch Blackwell firm to provide a report on the football culture within the program. The complete 28-page report can be found here.
The report found that the powers that be within the Iowa program “perpetuated racial or cultural biases and diminished the value of cultural diversity. The program over-monitored players to the point that they experienced heightened anxiety and maintained a culture that allowed a small group of coaches to demean players.”
Several former players said in the report that Doyle wasn’t the only one to blame within the program, but he was the one singled out the most.
Doyle, along with Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, are among the defendants in a lawsuit filed by 13 former Iowa players, all of whom are Black. The allege that they were the recipients of “targeted discriminatory behavior.” Former Iowa defensive back Diauntae Morrow told ESPN last year of a particular instance of mistreatment by Doyle in 2009, saying that Black players often felt “alienated.”
For an NFL team that has been at the forefront of racial progress under owner Shad Khan, the hire was questionable. Last summer was a period of racial reckoning across America, with Jacksonville players taking the reins and leading a march from TIAA Bank Field to the steps of the sheriff’s office. Khan has spoken about racism that he faced and penned a powerful op-ed last June about ending racial discrimination.
Doyle hasn’t spoken publicly since releasing a statement last year in wake of being accused by the players.
“I have been asked to remain silent, but that is impossible for me to do. There have been statements made about my behavior that are not true,” Doyle’s statement said. “I do not claim to be perfect. I have made mistakes, learned lessons and like every American citizen, can do better. At no time have I ever crossed the line of unethical behavior or bias based upon race. I do not make racist comments and I don’t tolerate people who do.
“I am confident that a complete review of the body of work over 21 years will speak for itself and I am trusting the process to respect the rights and experiences of all parties involved. There are countless men of character who are better fathers, husbands, activists, leaders and contributors to society due to their experience at Iowa Football. The record will show this.”