Jacksonville Jaguars’ new coaching staff looks solid with one exception
Urban Meyer started to put his coaching staff together as soon as the Jacksonville Jaguars hired him as their head coach. After a few weeks, they have officially announced all the additions. It seems like most of them will have a positive impact on the team, with one exception, director of sport performance Chris Doyle.
Doyle was Iowa’s strength and condition coach from 1999 to 2020. Although he won the 1999 Big Ten Strenght Coach of the Year award and was named Iowa’s Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011, he agreed to a separation agreement last year after being accused of racial bias and abuse by former players.
Back in 2011, the same year he won the award, Doyle’s coaching methods put 13 Iowa players in the hospital. Defensive back Emmanuel Rugamba, who spent two years in Iowa before leaving in 2018, was one of many former players that opened up about Doyle’s abuse, racist and abusive behavior.
In a sit-down with the local media, Meyer was asked about Doyle. The head coach said that he’s known him and studied him. He later added that they had a relationship and the team vetted him thoroughly.
Thoughts about Chris Doyle as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ staff.
The Doyle hire is casting a shadow in the Jaguars’ announcements but it’s likely the organization knew this was going to happen. So far, the news has gotten a certain amount of backlash, and rightfully so. Everybody makes mistakes, but Doyle’s history of abusing players is concerning.
Meyer has said that he wants to best coaches, but he could’ve hired that doesn’t have baggage and has shown the emotional intelligence to work with players. As good as Doyle may have been, his methods have no place in both college and pro football.
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The Jaguars seem pleased with Doyle, so it’s unlikely they will part ways with him anytime soon. In fact, if they start winning and he gets credit for it, his past history will probably be forgotten. That doesn’t make his hiring right and even though he should get the benefit of the doubt, he should be kept under close scrutiny.