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.
