TO UPDATE: Chris Doyle left his position with the Jaguars on Friday night. Head coach Urban Meyer said in a statement that Doyle “didn’t want to distract what we’re building in Jacksonville”. Meyer also said the organization “should think more about how [Doyle’s] Appointment can have affected all parties involved. “
ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported on Doyle’s resignation.
ORIGINAL ITEM:
Jaguar’s trainer Urban Meyer has already made a controversial hiring for his first Jacksonville staff.
The team, which announced its full workforce on Thursday, announced the hiring of Chris Doyle as director of athletic performance. Doyle is moving from Iowa to the NFL after serving 21 years as a strength and conditioning coach – a tenure that ended amid player allegations of racism and bullying by the coach.
Doyle was put on administrative vacation on June 6, 2020, the day after former Iowa offensive lineman James Daniels – now the Bears – accused Iowa of “racial differences” in the treatment of players. Dozens of former players shared their experiences on social media, many of them with Doyle.
The next day, Doyle released a statement stating, “At no point have I crossed the line between unethical behavior or racial prejudice. I do not make racist comments or tolerate people who do this.” Iowa announced on June 15, 2020 that it had separated from Doyle, who received $ 1.1 million under the separation agreement.
MORE: Why the Jaguars hired Urban Meyer
The fact that Meyer would even consider hiring Doyle as a coach for his mostly black team is cause for concern.
These are highlighted more clearly as this is not the first time he has been criticized for his work with assistants: he kept Zach Smith as an assistant in Florida after learning he was involved in a 2009 domestic violence incident with Ms. Courtney Smith was arrested. In 2012, he hired Zach Smith to coach receivers in the state of Ohio. Documents later showed that he was aware of domestic violence in the Smiths’ marriage.
Meyer answered questions about his staff on Thursday, saying he has known Doyle for 20 years and that he, general manager Trent Baalke and owner Shahid Khan had checked him out.
Here is Urban Meyer’s answer about hiring Chris Doyle. Says he, GM and owner checked it out.
Translation: You know they just don’t care, pic.twitter.com/2EcAuKmuJT
– Richard Johnson (@RJ_Writes) February 11, 2021
“I checked it thoroughly with our managing director and owner,” said Meyer. “I feel great about the attitude and expertise in this role, so we gave him a thorough review.”
Regardless of Meyer’s statement, his election met with great criticism on social media:
To recap, Urban Meyer retired from Ohio State coaching after an employee abused his then wife while OSU did nothing. Now he’s hiring the strength coach who left Iowa after several black players there said he abused them and made racist comments about them. https://t.co/VJV7xfSN0c
– Diana Moskovitz (@DianaMoskovitz) February 11, 2021
I didn’t think there could be any other setting this NFL off-season that would make the cycle look worse than it already is and STILL https://t.co/rlzzVFHmlW
– Harry Lyles Jr. (@harrylylesjr) February 11, 2021
Of all the people Urban Meyer was able to hire, did he hire this guy? “Really?”
Nice message to send to your black players. And black coaches. And black people in the organization. https://t.co/NG9d4GPNVW
– mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) February 11, 2021
From a former Iowa player, Doyle said, “Maybe you should start rowing or something, you know? Oh, wait, blacks don’t like boats in the water, do they?”
From another black player in Iowa: Doyle said, “Why are you leaving? [with] all this boast? I’ll get you back on the road “Https://t.co/XZkz30ApDu
– Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) February 11, 2021
One of Urban Meyer’s first employees to be hired as the Jaguars’ head coach is Chris Doyle, a former Iowa strength trainer who was fired last season for bias due to the race.
Shocking? Not really. https://t.co/TmoeGUHmwy
– Unnecessary roughness (@UnnecRoughness) February 11, 2021
Chris Doyle’s training brought 13 Iowa players to the hospital. He wasn’t fired. He received an award and became CFB’s highest paid strength trainer.
Doyle has been accused of racial bias by several black players. He was given a $ 1.1 million severance package and it only took him 8 months to find a new job. https://t.co/vritP8sAQg
– Rodger Sherman (@rodger) February 11, 2021
Wow! Crazy! Iowa has produced some crazy athletes over the past two decades!
I wonder why this bus suddenly became available to be rented elsewhere. Https://t.co/fWZq71n62v
– Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) February 11, 2021
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