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Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer hasn’t had a very good day. A video of him at his bar in Columbus, Ohio went viral over the weekend, after he skipped the team’s flight to Florida to stay and visit his grandchildren. The video didn’t show him visiting his grandchildren, but rather sitting at the bar while a woman who wasn’t his wife danced on top of him.
Not exactly an inspiring moment for a first-time NFL coach who hasn’t yet managed to win a game.
Meyer has apologized to various groups since the video went viral, and on Wednesday morning he reportedly apologized to the entire team for his actions.
Meyer continues to defend himself
Meyer stepped onto the podium in Jacksonville on Wednesday and answered more questions about the whole ordeal. He defended his decision to stay in Ohio, saying he discussed it in advance with the general manager. He also defended his decision to cancel Monday’s team meeting because he doesn’t think big meetings are going to be.
At this point, it seems ill-advised for Meyer to keep talking about why it was perfectly okay for him to skip the team’s flight and stay in Ohio, or why the meeting was canceled. Monday’s team wasn’t a panic move but was part of his leadership approach. The wise thing to do would be to stop talking about it and move on.
Sadly, Meyer hasn’t done a lot of wise things over the past 5-6 days.
Meyer kept making it worse
Meyer, who not so long ago seemed untouchable as a college football coach, has made a big mess of this utterly preventable situation. We don’t know why Meyer’s team-wide apology came days after he was confronted with the fallout from the video. One possible explanation is that every decision Meyer made, starting with skipping the team’s return flight after Thursday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, was wrong. Instead of helping himself, he made the situation worse every moment.
He canceled the team reunion on Monday and told media he apologized to his family and the team, but mumbled and watched the podium for most of the exchange.
Instead of looking contrite and engaged, Meyer looked devious and uncomfortable. Then on Tuesday, team owner Shad Kahn released a statement about Meyer’s actions after meeting him. Kahn said he believed Meyer’s apology was sincere, but that he should work to regain his and the organization’s respect and trust.
Shortly after the statement was released, sources from the Jags team told NFL reporter Mike Silver that Meyer had not apologized to the entire team and had no credibility with his. players – especially after skipping the team flight and canceling Monday’s reunion.
The apology to the team on Wednesday is apparently aimed at helping everyone get on the same page so they can start building trust and respect again. The phrase “better late than never” comes to mind here, as this reported apology to the team comes days after he canceled Monday’s meeting in which he should have apologized.
Meyer is probably hoping that that apology will be the end and that he and the team can move forward and focus on winning (or at least trying to win) football matches. However, if he needs some guidance in getting his team out of this wrestling point, there’s an ideal person he can ask: himself from several years ago.
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