Jacksonville Jaguars overseer of sports execution Chris Doyle, the previous strength mentor at the University of Iowa who was blamed for offering bigoted comments and disparaging and tormenting players while there, surrendered late Friday night only hours after the association was reprimanded for the recruit by the Fritz Pollard Alliance.
First-year Jaguars mentor Urban Meyer delivered an explanation that said the group neglected to appropriately think about the effect of employing Doyle, who had agreed from Iowa in June because of claims made by various Black players.
“Chris Doyle came to us this evening to submit his resignation and we have accepted,” Meyer’s statement read. “Chris did not want to be a distraction to what we are building in Jacksonville. We are responsible for all aspects of our program and, in retrospect, should have given greater consideration to how his appointment may have affected all involved. We wish him the best as he moves forward in his career.”
The move came hours after Fritz Pollard Alliance leader chief Rod Graves impacted the Jaguars and Meyer for recruiting Doyle.
“At a time when the NFL has failed to solve its problem with racial hiring practices, it is simply unacceptable to welcome Chris Doyle into the ranks of NFL coaches,” Graves’ statement read. “Doyle’s departure from the University of Iowa reflected a tenure riddled with poor judgment and mistreatment of Black players. His conduct should be as disqualifying for the NFL as it was for University of Iowa.
“Urban Meyer’s statement, ‘I’ve known Chris for close to 20 years’ reflects the good ol’ boy network that is precisely the reason there is such a disparity in employment opportunities for Black coaches.”
The Fritz Pollard Alliance is an association given to advocating variety in the NFL. It is involved scouts, mentors and front office faculty in the NFL just as different games experts.
Doyle’s employing drew quick reaction on Thursday, when the group declared the move as a component of Meyer’s finished instructing staff.
Some of the charges came from Black players and concerned the manner in which Doyle treated them and his utilization of bigoted language. Meyer said on Thursday he investigated Doyle, had some serious discussions with him and is certain that there won’t be issues later on.
“I vet everyone on our staff and like I said the relationship goes back close to 20 years and a lot of hard questions asked, a lot of vetting involved with all our staff,” Meyer said. “We did a very good job vetting that one.
“I met with our staff and I’m going to be very transparent with all the players like I am with everything. I’ll listen closely and learn and also there’s going to have to be some trust in their head coach that we’re going to give them the very best of the best and time will tell. The allegations that took place, I will say I vetted him. 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.”
A portion of the issues raised by the various previous Iowa players who stood up via online media a year ago were: Black and white players were held to various norms, Black players were abused, Doyle and different partners offered bigoted comments, and Black players felt they needed to adjust to explicit methods of dress and conduct. Their objections started the college to employ a Kansas City law office to direct an outside examination concerning the football program.
The issues were not carefully identified with race
Previous Iowa hostile lineman Jack Kallenberger said keep going June on Twitter that he resigned from football in January 2019 after he became depressed as a result of what he depicted as tormenting identified with a learning incapacity. Doyle was among the mentors he named who hassled him.
The college set Doyle on managerial leave on June 6 in the wake of those claims. After one day Doyle shielded himself in an explanation presented on Twitter that read, to some degree: “At no time have I ever crossed the line of unethical behavior or bias based upon race. I do not make racist comments and I don’t tolerate people who do.”
On June 14, it was reported that Doyle, who had been with the program since 1999, was out at Iowa. Doyle, who was the country’s most generously compensated strength mentor at $800,000 every year, gotten 15 months’ compensation and he and his family were granted advantages from Iowa for a very long time, or until he discovered work somewhere else, which he did for the current month with the Jaguars.
