Fritz Pollard Alliance: Urban Meyer, Jaguars Hiring Chris Doyle 'Unacceptable'

The Jacksonville Jaguars are facing mounting criticism for hiring disgraced former University of Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, who left the program before the 2020 season after multiple former players said he made racist remarks and mistreated Black players.

The Fritz Pollard Alliance, a nonprofit made up of NFL personnel championing diversity and equal opportunity in the league, took aim at Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer on Friday, calling his hiring of Doyle as the team's director of sports performance a reflection of the "good ol' boy network" pervasive across the league. 

Meyer defended his decision to hire Doyle by citing a 20-year relationship with the coach and said he'd done "a lot of vetting" before adding Doyle to the Jags' staff. 

Iowa parted ways with Doyle after several players, some now in the NFL, detailed their experiences with the coach and the program as a whole on social media. The school paid Doyle more than $1.1 million to break ties with their long-time coach and announced an independent investigation would follow. 

Hawkeyes athletic director Gary Barta offered an apology on behalf of the school to "anybody who has had a negative experience with Iowa football" following Doyle's dismissal. 

However, Meyer decided to bring Doyle with him as he embarks on an NFL career. 

This is not the first time Meyer has been criticized for his staffing choices. Meyer's assistant coach Zach Smith was accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife Courtney Smith on multiple occasions during his time on Meyer's staff. When the allegations became public in 2018, Meyer said he did not know about them, however, Courtney Smith said Meyer had ignored the allegations even after she told Meyer's wife Shelley about the abuse.

The Buckeyes placed Meyer on administrative leave to conduct an investigation, however, he returned to coach during the season. Meyer retired at the end of the season. 

Now the Fritz Pollard Alliance has called Meyer's hiring of Doyle "unacceptable" while the head coach continues to defend his ability to judge character. 

"The allegations that took place, I will say [to the players] I vetted him," Meyer said. "I know the person for close to 20 years and I can assure them there will be nothing of any sort in the Jaguar facility."

Instead, Meyer indicated he believes the Jags will have "the best sports performance team in the National Football League" within the next two years.