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Jimmy Johnson Has Surprising Take On Urban Meyer In Jacksonville

December 20th, 2021

Last week, the Urban Meyer era came to an end for the Jacksonville Jaguars. While on Fox Sports’ pregame show this Sunday, former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson shared his thoughts on Meyer’s first year in the NFL.

Johnson knows just how difficult the jump from college to the pros can be. He was the head coach for the Miami Hurricanes before making his way over to the Cowboys.

Even though Meyer has received a lot of criticism for the way he handled his time with the Jaguars, Johnson doesn’t believe it’s all his fault. In fact, he thinks some people in Jacksonville “backstabbed” Meyer.

“Going to Jacksonville, just like when I went to Dallas, you knew you were gonna lose, you’re gonna have adversity,” Johnson said, via ProFootballTalk. “The difference is, in Dallas, I had my entire coaching staff from college. I had my administrative assistant, I had my P.R. director, I had my trainer. We were all on the same page when we had adversity. He didn’t have that in Jacksonville. There was a lot of backstabbing, one thing or the other, because he didn’t have his people.”

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While it’s unclear who exactly “backstabbed” Meyer this season, it became increasingly evident that he wasn’t going to take the franchise to the next level like he wanted to.

This past Friday, Meyer spoke to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport about his stint in Jacksonville. He apologized to the fan base for not living up to expectations.

“I just apologize to Jacksonville,” Meyer said, via NFL.com. “I love Jacksonville. It’s one of the reasons I took the job. I still think Shad’s a great owner. It’s heart-breaking. I just had a dream of it becoming a destination place with a new facility he agreed to build and some day to walk into that stadium where it’s standing room only. Because I know how bad the people of Jacksonville want it. So, I’m just heartbroken that we weren’t able to do that. I still believe it’s going to be done. It’s too good of a place.”

Meyer’s future as a professional football coach is unclear at this time.

Curated By

Maya Gupta
Investigative Journalist | Grassroots Movement Organizer | Economy Consultant/Speaker
Maya Gupta writes from the fault lines of a world that refuses to stay quiet. Focused on the collisions between culture, power, and accountability, her work cuts past polished narratives to expose what’s really moving beneath the surface. From the rise of creator-driven influence to athlete activism and grassroots resistance, she tracks the momentum shaping a generation unwilling to wait its turn. Her reporting doesn’t cater to comfort, it confronts it, challenging institutions that lean on legacy instead of legitimacy. With a voice rooted in urgency and a lens tuned to those often ignored, Maya delivers coverage that reflects the stakes as they are, not as they’re packaged. This is journalism that doesn’t just observe change, it stands in the middle of it, documenting the push, the backlash, and the undeniable shift underway.

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