Paul Finebaum provides scathing evaluation of Urban Meyer saga
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer was forced to issue an apology on Monday after a video surfaced showing him sitting in an Ohio bar while a young woman, who does not appear to be his wife, appeared to be dancing against him.
It was a tough week for Meyer and the Jaguars, who lost on Thursday night to the Cincinnati Bengals on a game-winning field goal, then days later dealt with a slew of negative media coverage surrounding the viral video and subsequent pictures. It’s a distraction, as ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum acknowledged. And Finebaum even went so far as to say that the mistake shouldn’t come as a surprise from Meyer.
Finebaum was critical of Meyer’s latest saga, and he’s skeptical that the former college coaching star will ever find success in the NFL. For those reasons, Finebaum thinks the Jaguars should expedite the inevitable and fire Meyer sooner rather than later.
“I wish I could tell you that I’m surprised by anything that Urban Meyer has done,” Finebaum said Tuesday on Stephen A’s World on ESPN+. “But I’m not. This is who Urban Meyer is. He has lived a life of great success and multiple apologies. And each apology I’ve heard from him is lamer than the previous. We’ve been through this countless times, and I think [owner] Shahid Khan and the Jaguars are wasting their time. I don’t think he can coach in the NFL, I don’t think he really should coach in the NFL and I think the sooner this disaster ends, the better for the fans of Jacksonville.”
Meyer forced to apologize after viral moment
Meyer’s apology came Monday, just days after a video and subsequent pictures surfaced on social media Saturday night.
A league source confirmed to the Florida Times-Union that the man in the video was Meyer. There was also a picture posted to social media that showed Meyer smiling next to two younger women, one of which appears to be the woman in the video. Meyer on Monday morning addressed the video in his press conference, saying he apologized to the team and labeled his actions “stupid.”
“I just apologized to the team and the staff for being a distraction,” Meyer said. “It was stupid. So, I explained to everybody what happened and owned it. It was stupid. I should not have had myself in that position.”
Jaguars coaches and players had the weekend off after dropping a Thursday night game to the Cincinnati Bengals last week to remain winless on the season. Their next practice was not scheduled until Monday.
Meyer confirmed Monday that he stayed in Ohio, his former home state, after the game, while the rest of the team returned to Jacksonville.
“I stayed to see the grandkids and we all went to dinner that night at a restaurant,” Meyer said Monday. “There was a big group next to the restaurant. They wanted me to come over and take pictures and I did. And they were trying to pull me out on the dance floor, screwing around, and I should’ve left.”
The video caught traction on Twitter just as photos from that night spread, one of which showed Meyer on a woman’s Instagram story with the caption, “Who is this he keeps flirting with me.”
“I’ve always been so defensive of them,” Meyer said of his players in his press conference. “I remember when Trevor told me he was going to go to [Las] Vegas for his bachelor party, I remember I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, man, be careful. Surround yourself [with the right people.]’ Because I’ve seen this happen. The team — I spoke to a bunch of leaders one-on-one, I spoke to all the players. They’re good. We’re focused on Tennessee. I apologized again for being a distraction. A coach should not be a distraction.
The Jaguars did not issue a statement or provide further clarification regarding the video or Meyer’s involvement. Meyer said he also apologized to his family for his actions.
“Of course I did,” Meyer said, when asked if he apologized to his family. “That’s not me, and they were upset.”
Meyer said Monday his team is not focused on the video. Rather, the Jaguars are looking ahead to the Titans and the AFC South, which remains wide open with the first-place Titans just 2-2.