Earlier this week, a very lengthy article was published in The Athletic detailing the very numerous problems inside the Jacksonville Jaguars facility while it was home to former head coach Urban Meyer. Such issues included incredibly harsh treatment of players and staff, The Ohio Steakhouse Incident, and, most puzzlingly, allegedly not knowing who certain star players around the league were, including Aaron Donald and Deebo Samuel.
This left everybody stunned, so we, the great investigative journalists at ClutchPoints, conducted our own investigation and attempted to uncover more about Meyer’s tenure with the Jaguars. In this mission, we were successful, learning many things about Meyer's time as head coach, most notably these two things he also didn’t know about the NFL despite coaching in it.
What else Urban Meyer doesn't know
1. Where Jacksonville is, exactly
After being hired, Meyer wanted to make a statement to the fans by driving into Jacksonville instead of flying. However, Meyer was apparently unaware of the specific part of Florida that he could find the city of Jacksonville in, despite playing against Georgia there once a season while at the University of Florida. Reportedly, Meyer spent several hours circling the counties immediately bordering Duval County, and reportedly got as far away as Mobile, Alabama, where he was overheard in a gas station muttering to himself, “This all looks like Jacksonville, is this not Jacksonville?”
The following morning, Meyer gave up on his quest to find the lost city of Jacksonville, and he spent the weekend in Panama City Beach before boarding a private plane that took him to Jacksonville. Upon arrival, however, Meyer still wasn't certain he was actually in Jacksonville, and staffers had to repeatedly reassure him he was actually in the right city. It wasn't until Meyer arrived at TIAA Bank Stadium and saw the Jaguars logo on the field that he was at least 85% sure he was in the right place.
2. Roger Goodell's name
Early in the preseason, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Senior Vice President of Officiating Al Riveron held a Zoom call with all 32 head coaches to go over the officiating changes and new points of emphasis heading into the 2021 season. To this point, Urban Meyer had not learned the commissioner's name, and since his display name on the call was just “Commissioner Goodell,” Meyer had to hurriedly ask assistants and other staffers the commissioner's name, so that he didn't embarrass himself on the call.
Thinking that the freshly appointed head coach was joking, no one he asked obliged his request for his name, so Meyer had to improvise. About 45 minutes into the call, Riveron was going over the new league emphasis on taunting, and Goodell noticed that Meyer had shifted his attention elsewhere and said, “Did you get that Urban?”
To which the Jaguars coach replied, “Yeah, Rick, I got you.”
This wasn't immediately noticed by everyone in the call, but a couple moments later Goodell looked visibly confused wondering whether or not he really heard Meyer call him Rick.
When reached for comment, Goodell said, “He did call me Rick I'm pretty sure. It was awkward, but not anything I felt the need to bring up vocally.”
Several other coaches reached for comment also said they heard Meyer say this, with one AFC coach saying, “How do you enter the National Football League and not know the name of the guy that runs it? I mean, come on, he's been in the job since you were winning National Championships with Chris Leak, and plenty of your former players felt his wrath at one time or another, how do you not know his name by now?”
Following this, Goodell and Meyer didn't see each other for some time, but when the Jaguars played the Dolphins in London, Goodell made the trip as well, considering this was the first NFL game played in the new home of the NFL in London: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. During pregame warmups, the commissioner was making his rounds of the field, doling out pleasantries and small talk when he encountered Meyer and greeted him.
Meyer replied, “Hey, Randy, how do you like the stadium?”
Again, Goodell was confused but made no mention of it immediately.
“It was just unbelievable that not only had he got my name wrong twice, he'd done it in two completely different settings, using two completely different incorrect names, and said them with the confidence of someone who was absolutely certain my name was Rick or Randy.”
After much effort, we at ClutchPoints finally got into contact with people close to Meyer, though they refused to comment and said Meyer himself would do the same.
Note: Yes, this is all satire and does not feature real anecdotes or quotes about Urban Meyer's Jaguars tenure.
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