Urban Meyer sent shockwaves throughout the NFL when the Jacksonville Jaguars announced their coaching staff for the 2021 season and the team added former Iowa football strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle.
The 52-year-old left Iowa last summer with a $1.1 million separation agreement after allegations of racism and bullying. He has continuously denied any “unethical behavior or bias” based on race.
Among the many people to have an issue with the hire was Jemele Hill.
Meyer stood by his decision to hire Doyle and noted that owner Shad Khan was involved in the process.
“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,” Meyer said. “I vetted him thoroughly along with our general manager and owner. Feel great about the hire, about his expertise at that position. So we vetted him thoroughly and sports performance is going to be a high, high priority.”
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
“If I was, I wouldn’t have hired him,” Meyer said. “I’ll explain that if that becomes a question. The one thing I’m very confident is that I would imagine within a year or two we’ll have the best sports performance team in the National Football League.”
Doyle was the strength coach for the Hawkeyes for 20 years, but controversy arose after multiple former Iowa players spoke out about their negative experiences with Doyle, including allegations of racism.
Terrance Pryor posted on Twitter that Doyle suggested that he “take up rowing or something,” before saying, “oh wait, Black people don’t like boats in water do they?”
“This is one of many racist incidents that Black athletes had to deal with during my time there,” Pryor wrote.
