More than five years after Urban Meyer’s disastrous stint as an NFL head coach ended following only 13 games, he has received a decision as to whether the Jaguars owe him a buyout.
They do not.
Via Brett McMurphy of On3.com, the Jaguars won the case over whether Meyer’s conduct justified a firing “with cause.” The decision saved the Jaguars more than $30 million.
Per the report, witnesses included Meyer, Jaguars long snapper Ross Matiscik, Jaguars punter Logan Cooke, former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo, and former Jaguars G.M. Trent Baalke.
Meyer’s tenure included $300,000 in fines for the violation of offseason workout rules, the notorious decision to skip the team flight home after a Thursday night game in Cincinnati — plus an unfortunate viral video, and the allegation from Lambo that Meyer kicked the kicker during a training-camp practice.
“I’m in a lunge position,” Lambo told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times in December 2021. “Left leg forward, right leg back. . . . Urban Meyer, while I’m in that stretch position, comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, Dipshit, make your fucking kicks!’ And kicks me in the leg. . . .
“It certainly wasn’t as hard as he could’ve done it, but it certainly wasn’t a love tap. Truthfully, I’d register it as a five [out of 10]. Which in the workplace, I don’t care if it’s football or not, the boss can’t strike an employee. And for a second, I couldn’t believe it actually happened. Pardon my vulgarity, I said, ‘Don’t you ever fucking kick me again!’ And his response was, ‘I’m the head ball coach, I’ll kick you whenever the fuck I want.’” (Meyer denied the allegations.)
The fact that Lambo, his snapper, and his holder were witnesses in the arbitration suggests that the kicking of the kicker became a key component of the case for firing Meyer “with cause.”
When the Jaguars fired Meyer, owner Shad Khan’s spokesman insisted that the decision was not sparked by Lambo’s claim coming to light, four months after the incident occurred. Once the Jaguars embarked on an effort to not pay the balance of Meyer’s contract, the reason for downplaying the connection between publication and termination became clear.
The Jaguars couldn’t credibly claim Meyer was fired “with cause” over the incident from August, because they knew about it at the time and took no action. They needed to point to a broader pattern of conduct that, in combination, satisfied the contractual definition of “cause.”
Then there’s the reality that the NFL’s arbitration process is rigged against the employee. Coaches have no choice but to sign contracts that include arbitration provisions giving the Commissioner full power over the process. (McMurphy writes that an “independent arbitrator” resolved Meyer’s claim — it would be stunning, to say the least, if a truly independent party resolved the arbitration. It’s more likely that the Commissioner exercised his prerogative to assign the case to someone who could be trusted to reach the right outcome for one of the people who pay the Commissioner’s salary.)
Frankly, Meyer could have considered challenging the entire arbitration process in court — and still could. In recent cases (Jon Gruden and Brian Flores), the NFL’s preferred system of being judge and jury for all employment claims has taken multiple body blows.
With more than $30 million riding on the outcome, it’s worth Meyer and his lawyers considering a full-blown attack on a process that does not call for a truly independent arbitrator. Then again, it may not matter.
Given Meyer’s various misadventures, if any coach ever satisfied the definition of being fired “with cause,” it’s him.
The NFL will be playing nine international games during the 2026 season and that number could go up to 11 for the 2027 season.
Per multiple reports, owners are expected to vote on adding two international games to next year’s slate at this week’s league meeting in Orlando.
The current Collective Bargaining Agreement limits the league to 10 international games a year, but there is an exception for teams that are unable to play at their regular home stadium. That will be the case for the Jaguars in 2027 as renovations to EverBank Stadium will render it usable to the team for home games. The Jags will play one game at Wembley Stadium and are set to use Camping World Stadium in Orlando as their temporary home field.
This year’s international games will take place in Melbourne, Rio, London, Madrid, Paris, Munich, and Mexico City.
When Colorado coach Deion Sanders recently explained his desire to meet with new Browns coach Todd Monken as a coach and not a father, Deion pointed out that, in 2025, he got no questions from the Browns about coaching Shedeur Sanders.
The Browns weren’t the only team to not tap into Deion’s experience with a former high-profile Buffalo who had made it to the next level.
“Even a guy like Travis Hunter, being drafted to Jacksonville, and I’ve had him for the last three,” Deion told Garrett Bush on The Barbershop podcast. “Don’t you think you would want to talk to me to let me know, to ask me how — what gets him going and what backs him off and, and what, like, you wouldn’t want to know that?”
It’s a sensible argument. Deion clearly knew how to get the best out of Hunter, because Deion did. Even if the Jaguars decided to do things their own way, it’s useful to know what Deion did and how Deion did it in order to devise a specific strategy for managing a player in whom the Jaguars made a very significant investment of draft-pick capital to move up three spots last year, from No. 5 to No. 2.
Even now, as the Jaguars surely try to devise a way to use Hunter on both sides of the ball effectively (which includes keeping him healthy), it would make sense to gather any and all potentially relevant information in order to best make those decisions. It’s as simple as a phone call that, to date, hasn’t been made.
One of the great mysteries of the 2026 offseason has been solved.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence did not actually get a haircut as part of the team’s schedule-release video.
Technically, hair on his head was cut. But it was a wig.
It’s the second offseason okey-doke regarding football’s answer to Samson. An AI-image fooled some folks last month. Last night’s video created a false impression the old-fashioned way — with a prop.
One of these days, Lawrence will cut his hair short. When he does, no one will actually believe it happened.
Last month, an image emerged of Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence with short hair. It was fake.
Now, it’s apparently real.
The Jaguars’ 2026 schedule-release video focuses on Lawrence getting his hair cut. It looks legitimate.
Then again, who knows what is or isn’t real in this inherently fugazi social-media world we’re all navigating?
Even if Lawrence did indeed get his hair cut, he has plenty of time to grow it out again before the season starts, and when the Jaguars attempt to defend an unexpected AFC South crown.
Jacksonville opens the season with a visit from the Browns before returning to Denver in Week 2. They have three prime-time games, all on the road — Thursday night in Week 9 at Baltimore, Week 14 on Monday night at Pittsburgh, and Week 16 on Sunday night at Dallas.
