Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer issued an apology Monday in the aftermath of a viral video that showed the married 57-year-old in close quarters with a young woman in a bar over the weekend.
The incident happened Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, where Meyer was the head coach at Ohio State from 2012-18.
“I just apologized to the team and staff for being a distraction,” he said. “It was stupid. So I explained everything that happened, owned it. It’s stupid … I should not have myself in that kind of position.”
Meyer did not fly back with the team after Thursday night’s loss in Cincinnati.
“I stayed to see the grandkids and we all went to dinner that night,” Meyer said. “There was a big group next to our restaurant. They wanted me to come over and take pictures, and I did. They were trying to pull me out on the dance floor screwing around and I should have left.”
The video showed Meyer sitting on a barstool with his hands on the woman who was dancing on him. By some reports, the video was seen more than 750,000 times while spawning countless memes.
Meyer said he spoke to team leaders one-on-one as well as the team at large.
“They’re good, they’re focused on Tennessee. I apologized again for being a distraction. And a coach should not be a distraction,” Meyer said.
Meyer acknowledged that his family is “upset.” He and his wife, Shelley, have three children and two grandchildren.
He also talked to Jaguars owner Shad Khan.
“Very supportive,” Meyer said of their chat. “In fact I talked to him at length right when I got that phone call that night.”
Meyer is off to an 0-4 start in his NFL debut season. The Jaguars will host the Tennessee Titans (2-2) on Sunday.
–Field Level Media
