JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Urban Meyer saga in Jacksonville isn’t slowing down.
On Tuesday, owner Shad Khan addressed the weekend situation involving Meyer that surfaced on social media, saying in a statement that his conduct was “inexcusable,” but that he still has confidence in the embattled Jaguars head coach.
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“I have addressed this matter with Urban. Specifics of our conversation will be held in confidence. What I will say is his conduct last weekend was inexcusable. I appreciate Urban’s remorse, which I believe is sincere. Now, he must regain our trust and respect. That will require a personal commitment from Urban to everyone who supports, represents or plays for our team. I am confident he will deliver.”
COMMENTARY: Urban Meyer becomes the ‘distraction’ that he warned people about
What Meyer hasn’t delivered, at least thus far, is confidence that he’s the right man for the job.
On Tuesday, Meyer moved up to the odds-on favorite to be the first NFL coach to be fired or leave his job.
SportsLine oddsmakers list Meyer as a -200 betting favorite to be the first one out of a job. Chicago’s Matt Nagy had the next-best odds to be gone (+200).
“Everything you can possibly do to make your players comfortable, play the game as sports performance, give everybody the best possible situation, you put them in a good scheme and put a good group of assistant coaches around them in a safe environment, and then get out of the way,” Meyer said on Tuesday during his weekly radio show on 1010XL. “And I didn’t do that, I became a distraction, made a stupid decision, and I apologize to it.”
Two short video clips of Meyer were posted to social media on Saturday night showing him in close contact with a woman who was not his wife. The woman was dancing close to Meyer. A second video showed him his hand on her backside.
Meyer said Monday that he “should have left” the bar before anything had the chance to happen. The 0-4 Jaguars dropped a 24-21 game to the Bengals last Thursday night and Meyer stayed in Ohio after the game.
On his radio show, Meyer said that he has earned the respect of players in the locker room for wanting them to have the best at their disposal. Meyer has lobbied hard for a new sports performance facility so players could train and rehab right here instead of having to leave the area to get the best.
“So we’ve earned their trust in that respect I know that for a fact,” he said. “Now, the fact that I became a distraction, I’ve got to earn their trust back from that.”
Meyer said that he was disappointed in himself for not adhering to standards that he spoke about when he was initially hired.
“I made a comment when I got here about the logo, about an owner who wants to win in a worse way, that’s one of the reasons I came here I just, I admire the guy so much and his, his drive is in the purest form and it’s for Jacksonville,” Meyer said. “And so, that’s what makes me so angry at myself, that I live that, I believe that and I failed. And I got to get it back, and I will.”