Urban Meyer's brutal philosophy sums up former Florida Gators coach

23 August 2023 , 12:13

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Urban Myer often used harsh coaching methods (Image: Getty)

Urban Meyer was one of the most ruthless but successful college football coaches in modern history, winning two national championships, two SEC championships, and multiple bowl games with the Florida Gators in his five-year stint.

And in Netflix's new Swamp Kings documentary, a spotlight was shone on Meyer's coaching approach, with former Gators linebacker Brandon Siler revealing what the 59-year-old used to tell his players to push them to be the best. "Urban said 'I'm gonna treat my superstars like superstars and my s*** like s***,'" Siler said. "'If I treat you like s*** and you want me to change, then you find a way to make yourself a superstar.'"

Meyer's tactics worked as the teams won multiple championships over the years and a number of players went on to carve out stellar careers in the NFL. Former wide receiver Percy Harvin, for example, played under Meyer between 2006-08, and he went on to win the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks, as well as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

However, Meyer's own jump to the NFL wasn't as fruitful, lasting just 13 games at the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021. One of the incidents behind his sacking was an accusation of physical abuse by Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo.

Meyer is said to have kicked Lambo's leg multiple times during warmup and when told to stop, he said: "I'm the head ball coach. I'll kick you whenever the f*** I want."

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Lambo reported it to his agent, who then told the Jaguars. And with concerns over how Meyer handed the group already lingering, Jaguars owner Shahid Khan made the decision to fire him. Meyer's 13-game stint at the Jaguars is the joint-fourth shortest in NFL history.

"It was the worst experience I’ve had in my professional lifetime,” Meyer said on his time with Jacksonville. “What really got me, I almost don’t want to say people accept it, I mean, you lose a game, and you just keep… I would seriously have self-talk.

Former Gators linebacker Brandon Siler has revealed what Myer used to tell his players to provoke improvement (Getty)

"I went through that whole depression thing, too, where I’d stare at the ceilings and [think], ‘Are we doing everything possible?’ because I really believed we had a roster that was good enough to win games. I just don’t think we did a great job.

“It eats away at your soul. I tried to train myself to say, ‘Okay, it happens in the NFL. At one point, the Jaguars lost 20 in a row. Think about that. Twenty games where you’re leaving the field where you lost.

"And we lost five in a row at one point and I remember I … just couldn’t function. I was trying to rally myself up, I was in charge of the team, obviously, and then we won two out of three, and I really felt like we flipped that thing."

Joshua Mbu