JACKSONVILLE, Florida – The Fritz Pollard Alliance has fired the Jacksonville Jaguars and head coach Urban Meyer for hiring Chris Doyle, a former strength coach at the University of Iowa, who has been accused of making racist remarks and downplaying intimidated the players, to be the team’s team. sports performance director.
Fritz Pollard Alliance chief executive Rod Graves issued a statement Friday saying Boyle’s hiring was unacceptable and that Meyer’s defense of hiring was an example of the problems facing minority coaches in the NFL.
“At a time when the NFL has failed to address its issue with racial engagement practices, it is simply unacceptable to welcome Chris Doyle to the NFL as a coach,” Graves said in a statement. “Doyle’s departure from the University of Iowa reflected a permanence of poor judgment and ill-treatment of black players. His conduct should be as disqualifying for the NFL as it is for the University of Iowa.
“Urban Meyer’s statement: ‘I’ve known Chris for almost 20 years’ reflects the network of good guys, which is why there is such a disparity in employment opportunities for black coaches.”
The Fritz Pollard Alliance is an organization dedicated to promoting diversity in the NFL. It includes scouts, coaches and NFL office staff, as well as other sports professionals.
Boyle’s hiring generated immediate reactions on Thursday, when the team announced the move as part of Meyer’s full coaching staff. Doyle had been Iowa’s director of force and conditioning from 1999 until last summer, when he and the school reached a separation agreement after many former Iowa players talked about abuse in the Iowa program.
A number of allegations came from black players and referred to how Doyle treated them and the use of racist language. Meyer said he researched Doyle, had intense conversations with him and is confident there will be no problems in the future.
“I research everyone on our staff and, as I said, the relationship goes back almost 20 years and a lot of tough questions were asked, a lot of checks involved with all our staff,” Meyer said. “I did a very good job checking it out.
“… I have met with our staff and I will be very transparent with all the players, as I would do completely. I will listen carefully and I will learn and also there will have to be a certain trust in their head coach. that we will give them the best of the best, and time will tell … The statements that took place, I will say [to the players] I checked. I have known the person for almost 20 years and I can assure him that there will be nothing of any kind in the Jaguar installation. “
Some of the issues raised by the many former Iowa players who spoke out on social media last year were: Black and white players were respected by different standards; Black players were mistreated; Doyle and other assistants made racist remarks; and black players felt they had to conform to specific ways of behaving and behaving. Their complaints prompted the university to hire a Kansas City law firm to conduct an external investigation into the football program.
The problems were not strictly related to race.
Former Iowa offensive lineman Jack Kallenberger said in June last year on Twitter that he retired from football in January 2019, after becoming discouraged because of what he described as learning-related aggression. Doyle was among the coaches he named, who harassed him.
The university placed Doyle on administrative leave on June 6 following allegations. A day later, Doyle defended himself in a statement posted on Twitter that read, in part: “At no time did I ever cross the line of unethical behavior or racial prejudice. I do not make racist comments and I do not tolerate people who do. “
On June 14, it was announced that Doyle was in Iowa. Doyle, who was the nation’s highest-paid coach at $ 800,000 a year, received a 15-month salary (about $ 1.1 million), and he and his family received benefits from Iowa for 15 months or more. when he found a job elsewhere, which he did this month with the Jaguars.