Coach Chris Doyle has resigned from the Jaguars a day after new head coach Urban Meyer made the controversial decision to hire the former college assistant for his staff.
Meyer, who was hired last month for his first NFL job, announced late Friday night that Doyle had resigned from his position as director of sport performance after the backlash his hiring created. Diversity group the Fritz Pollard Alliance had strongly criticized Jacksonville for Doyle’s hiring.
Doyle was the head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Iowa until 2020, when he and school agreed to part ways after he was accused of making racist comments and bullying players.
“Chris Doyle came to us this evening to submit his resignation and we have accepted,” Meyer said in a statement Friday. “Chris did not want to be a distraction to what we are building in Jacksonville. We are responsible for all aspects of our program and, in retrospect, should have given greater consideration to how his appointment may have affected all involved. We wish him the best as he moves forward in his career.”
Some black players at Iowa accused Doyle of telling them he was going to “send them back to the ghetto” if they did not meet his standards, among other remarks, according to USA Today. An external review of the situation concluded “a small group of coaches” demeaned players and “the program’s rules perpetuated racial or cultural biases and diminished the value of cultural diversity.”
Doyle, in a statement made last June, defended himself by saying, “I do not make racists (sic) comments and I don’t tolerate people that do.”
Meyer initially defended the hiring at press conference on Thursday, saying he was “very confident” there would not be issues with the 52-year-old Doyle.
“I’ve known Chris for close to 20 years,” Meyer said, going on to say his “relationship” with Doyle began when the two were at the University of Utah together. The only problem with Meyer’s recollection is that Doyle worked at Utah in 1998 and was already strength and condition coach at Iowa when Meyer began his two-year run as Utah head coach in 2003.
“Really, he was doing sports performance before sports performance became a high priority in college sports,” Meyer said. “So I’ve known him, I’ve studied him, we’ve had a relationship. I vetted him thoroughly, along with our general manager [Trent Baalke] and owner [Shahid Khan].”
Many took issue with Doyle being hired, including Rod Graves, executive director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance. The organization, named after the first African-American coach in the NFL, is made up of coaches, scouts, and front office personnel committed to equal opportunity in professional sports.
“At a time when the NFL has failed to solve its problem with racial hiring practices, it is simply unacceptable to welcome Chris Doyle into the ranks of NFL coaches,” Graves, a former Jets executive, said in a statement on Friday. “Doyle’s departure from the University of Iowa reflected a tenure riddled with poor judgment and mistreatment of Black players. His conduct should be as disqualifying for the NFL as it was for University of Iowa.
“Urban Meyer’s statement, ‘I’ve known Chris for close to 20 years’ reflects the good ol’ boy network that is precisely the reason there is such a disparity in employment opportunities for Black coaches.”