Jaguars’ Urban Meyer makes controversial hire in Chris Doyle as he finalizes staff for 2021

Urban Meyer knows how to make an entrance, that’s for sure. Having been courted by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Kahn on a yacht off the coast of North Florida, Meyer joins the team as their head coach for 2021 and beyond, taking the reins from Doug Marrone. A key reason Meyer — who is a Florida legend from his time spent with the Gators — chose to use the Jaguars as his jumping off point in the NFL is multifaceted, but most certainly aided by the fact they own the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft along with enough collateral to rebuild the team in the way he sees fit. 

Before he can get to tweaking the roster, however, he needed to complete the task of finalizing his coaching staff on offense, defense and special teams, and he’s now done just that. The team formally announced Meyer’s complete staff a few days after Super Bowl LV, and while it’s mostly garnered praise from football minds who see it as a strong foundation for Meyer’s inaugural season at the professional level, one hire in particular instantly created a slew of raised eyebrows around the league — namely Chris Doyle. 

His departure from the University of Iowa last June was marred with controversy when Doyle, then a 20-year veteran of the program and highest-paid strength and conditioning coach in the country, was put on administrative leave following a list of African-American players alleging Doyle treated them negatively and unfairly because of their race. His new job under Meyer will be the first since the Hawkeyes divorced him, and it’s already drawing criticism.

Needless to say, considering the Jaguars were recently on the losing end of an NFLPA grievance — albeit for a much different reason — it’ll be on Meyer to make sure the train remains on the track as he tries his hand in the NFL with a franchise viewed by many (including several former big-name players like Jalen Ramsey and Leonard Fournette) as perennially toxic. 

As Meyer works to change the culture, here’s a look at the entire Jaguars staff for 2021, with key notes for each hire:

Chris Doyle

Director of Sport Performance

Charlie Strong 

Asst. Head Coach & Inside LBs Coach

Darrell Bevell

Offensive Coordinator

Joe Cullen

Defensive Coordinator

Brian Schneider

Special Teams Coordinator

Brian Schottenheimer

Passing Game Coordinator

Sanjay Lal

Wide Receivers Coach

Tyler Bowen

Tight Ends Coach

Bernie Parmalee

Running Backs Coach

George Warhop

Offensive Line Coach

Todd Washington

Assistant Offensive Line Coach

Quinton Ganther

Offensive Quality Control

Will Harriger

Offensive Assistant Coach

Chris Ash

Defensive Backs Coach – Safeties

Joe Danna

Defensive Backs Coach – Nickels

Tony Gilbert

Assistant Linebackers Coach

Sterling Lucas

Assistant Defensive Line Coach

Tosh Lupoi

Defensive Line Coach

Zachary Orr

Outside Linebackers Coach

Carlos Polk

Special Teams Assistant

Patrick Reilly

Defensive Quality Control Coach

Bob Sutton

Senior Defensive Assistant

Tim Walton

Secondary Coach

Anthony Schlegel

Head Strength & Conditioning Coach

Brandon Ireland

Assistant Strength Coach

Adam Potts

Assistant Strength Coach

Cedric Scott

Assistant Strength Coach