Why did Urban Meyer not fly back to Jacksonville with the Jaguars? | You Pod to Win the Game
Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel discuss the mess Head Coach Urban Meyer has created for himself and the Jaguars. Meyer’s actions are not the actions of an NFL coach that is all in on doing what it takes to turn things around in Jacksonville. Hear the full conversation on the You Pod to Win the Game podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
CHARLES ROBINSON: Urban-gate breaks over the weekend, dancing-gate, handsy-- handsy-gate. There's a lot of gates we can probably come up with. You saw the video. What was your thought process when you saw this?
DAN WETZEL: What you see in that video-- and I said this on our [? college ?] pod. It looks like the guy who wants to be the old coach hanging around the bar. It looks like a guy who owns the Pint House out there in Dublin. He's got his little bar, wants to hang out at the bar and be a big deal, have people-- I would guess. My presumption is he's known this woman. This wasn't just some random woman who walked up to him and asked him to dance. He wants to hang out at the bar. He wants people to know who he is.
He's wearing his-- he's not trying to hide. He's in his own bar with his name on the lights wearing an Ohio State shirt, right? It's not like I'm going out for a quiet drink with my whatever-- my friends or whatever to some birthday party. He's trying to be seen. He's sitting staring out at this bar, his bar. And so he wants to be what he was, this beloved old coach. And in Jacksonville, he's getting his [BLEEP] kicked. And so the fact that he put no effort in-- to not fly home after the game is crazy.
I was like-- NFL coaches start watching film of the game-- at least some of them, maybe not the head coach-- but pretty quickly on the bus as it's idling in the stadium. You know, I've seen them walking out with the tablets or with their laptops watching. I see staffers watching as they're walking to the bus. Like there's no, we'll get to tape tomorrow. That's a college mentality. Everyone meet back up here at noon tomorrow.
No, they're working on it on the plane. They're talking about stuff. They're figuring out. They come back. Sometimes they stay up all night. And there's no 10 days off. Everybody flies back. Urban Meyer's got a ton of money. If he wanted to fly to this dinner, he could have left Jacksonville on a private plane at 6 o'clock or 5 o'clock on Friday night and flown to the dinner and then flown back that night, saw his grandkids and all of that.
He had no interest in getting-- and his whole bit-- and this is the thing about Urban. This is why people want him to fail is because the way he talks is so absurd. He comes in. I care more about winning football games than anybody that's ever lived. No, you don't. Look at you. You're literally partying the night after a loss. He's literally partying the night after a loss. We never see video of NFL coaches at bars.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Very rarely.
DAN WETZEL: Very, very rarely--
CHARLES ROBINSON: Especially during the season.
DAN WETZEL: --are they at a bar.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Especially during the season.
DAN WETZEL: During the season, no. Right. You know, like I said, you might get something they stop at. But very, very rarely during the season are they out at bars. This guy's out. I take it. You don't look like you take [INAUDIBLE]. You're having a great time.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah.
DAN WETZEL: It's a hell of a lot better Friday night than most people.
CHARLES ROBINSON: There's the thing, too, in-- so the first time I ever covered the NFL was, what, 2000. OK. So in 21 years, I don't ever remember hearing of a coach not--
DAN WETZEL: No.
CHARLES ROBINSON: --returning back with a team after a game.
DAN WETZEL: I had a guy in the NFL say it was like, you know, hey--
CHARLES ROBINSON: Like it had to be an emergency.
DAN WETZEL: --my dad's sick.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Right.
DAN WETZEL: I'm going to stay back. I'm going to catch the first flight in the morning. And that's like--
CHARLES ROBINSON: Or a players in the hospital.
DAN WETZEL: That's a receivers coach.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, a player's in--
DAN WETZEL: Right.
CHARLES ROBINSON: --the hospital. Like, you know, so you're going to stay back with the player.
DAN WETZEL: No, I just got to see the grandkids. And then you don't come back for a full day.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah.
DAN WETZEL: You know, that's the problem. And what, he's got a bar in his house. He's got a huge house. He's got plenty of places to go. Again, he's not in a corner in some private room having dinner with his-- with his friends and family. He's sitting there trying to [INAUDIBLE]. But this is why they don't like Urban Meyer. But you know who came from the college ranks that no one's got a problem with? Matt Rhule.
