Strength coach Chris Doyle has resigned from the Jacksonville Jaguars, one day after he was hired.
The questionable hire by new head coach Urban Meyer was immediately greeted with fire.
In June of 2020, Doyle, left the same position at the University of Iowa amid controversy. He was a 20-year veteran of the program and according to CBSSports.com, was the “highest-paid strength and conditioning coach in the country.” His departure followed being put on administrative leave after accusations of unfair and negative treatment by Black players.
Meyer initially defended his hire through a statement via NFL.com:
“I’ve known Chris for close to 20 years. Our relationship goes back to when I was at Utah, and he was the No. 1 strength coach. He was doing sports performance before sports performance became a high priority in college sports. 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 [Shad Khan]. Feel great about the hire, about his expertise at that position. So we vetted him thoroughly. Sports performance is going to be a high, high priority. As it really in the last probably 10 years, certainly at Ohio State, that became if not the most important — you know my relationship with Coach [Mickey] Marotti at Ohio State — but this whole from strength training room, physical therapy, sports psychology, and nutrition all falls under the sports performance team umbrella. And I wanted to get the best of the best.”
But the Fritz Pollard Alliance wasn’t having it. They issued their own statement and put both men’s heels to the fire.
“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,” Fritz Pollard Alliance executive director Rod Graves wrote in the statement. “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.”
The statement by executive Director Rod Graves, titled “A Failure of Leadership by The Jacksonville Jaguars”, was sharply criticized Meyer’s defense of Doyle. It obviously worked as Doyle resigned one day after taking the job.
Meyer issued the statement below about Doyle’s resignation.
“Chris Doyle came to us this evening to submit his resignation and we have accepted. 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.”
Doyle felt the pressure not only by the Fritz Pollard Alliance, but other media entities as well.
Now Meyer will face added scrutiny as he pursues a new strength and conditioning coach.
