After receiving harsh criticism, the Jaguars announced Chris Doyle’s departure.

Chris Doyle, the strength coach the Jacksonville Jaguars hired, came under heavy fire, and on Friday night, he announced his departure.

The decision was made just one day after Doyle was appointed director of sports performance by the Jaguars’ newly recruited head coach, Urban Meyer’s staff. The appointment was deemed “simply unacceptable” by the diversity organization that closely collaborates with the NFL on minority hiring. Doyle was charged with abusing athletes and using racial slurs while attending the University of Iowa.

“Chris Doyle approached us this evening to offer his resignation, which we have accepted,” the Jaguars stated in a statement that was later changed to credit Meyer and General Manager Trent Baalke instead of Meyer alone.

“Chris did not want to draw attention away from the Jacksonville project we are working on. Since we are in charge of every part of our program, we should have thought more carefully about how his hiring would have affected everyone. We hope for the best for him as he pursues his profession.

Meyer has already justified the action. The Fritz Pollard Alliance also voiced their disapproval of the move earlier on Friday.

In a written statement, the organization stated, “It is simply wrong to welcome Chris Doyle into the ranks of NFL coaches at a time when the NFL has failed to overcome its problem with racial hiring practices.” “Doyle’s exit from the University of Iowa was indicative of a tenure marred by mishandled situations and abuse of African American athletes. His actions ought to exclude him from the NFL in the same way that they did at the University of Iowa. “I’ve known Chris for close to 20 years,” said Urban Meyer, reflecting the good ol’ boy network that is the exact cause of the discrepancy in job possibilities for black coaches.

After the league implemented new regulations targeted at enhancing minority hiring, the Houston Texans chose David Culley as their head coach, the only other black head coach during the hiring cycle. This led to the Fritz Pollard Alliance’s condemnation of the decision. Among the measures were two third-round draft selections awarded to a team that develops a minority candidate hired as a head coach or general manager by another franchise, a regulation that was approved by the team owners.

Roger Goodell claims that, following diversity initiatives, the hiring cycle did not live up to NFL standards.

Along with Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, Culley is one of three active black NFL head coaches. During this cycle, the Washington Football Team’s Martin Mayhew, the Detroit Lions’ Brad Holmes, and the Atlanta Falcons’ Terry Fontenot were the three black general managers hired. The two minority head coaches hired were Culley and Robert Saleh of the New York Jets. Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, still stated this week that the hiring cycle’s result “wasn’t what we intended, and it’s not what we expect moving forward.”

The Fritz Pollard Alliance was not the only group urging the Jaguars and Meyer to reevaluate Doyle’s hire.

Joe Banner, a former executive with the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns, stated on Twitter on Friday, “Urban Meyer should not employ Doyle, and the media, the league, the players, the fans, and the Fritz Pollard group should not remain silent until this is undone.” “We can’t let this continue while acting like we’re making progress.”

Nearly eight months after Doyle left a comparable position at Iowa due to claims he had denigrated athletes while with the Hawkeyes football team, the Jaguars announced on Thursday that they had hired Doyle.

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During a video press conference on Thursday, Meyer stated, “I’ve known Chris for close to 20 years; our connection goes back to my time at Utah, and he was the number one strength coach.” Actually, he was working on sports performance even before collegiate athletics made a big deal out of it. I have thus known him. I’ve researched him. We were formerly in a relationship. He’s been properly screened by myself, our general manager, and our owner. I’m thrilled with the hire and the level of experience in that role. So we gave him a close inspection. Performance in sports will be given top attention. Getting the best of the best was my goal.
After working as Iowa’s strength coach under Kirk Ferentz from 1999 to the present, Doyle was put on administrative leave on June 6 and signed a separation agreement with the university eight days later. Doyle was reportedly given uncommon autonomy for an assistant in his role. The deal called for 15 months of income and 15 months of benefits for the highest-paid strength coach in the country, who makes $800,000 a year; however, the benefits would stop if the coach sought another job.

Doyle is a white athlete, but many of the accusations against him were made by former black players. Miami (Ohio) transfer Manny Rugamba, a starter at cornerback in 2017 and 2018, detailed many incidents of Doyle’s cultural insensitivity in the team’s weight room.

“Opening and closing your hands in a bowl of rice was one of the lifts we had to perform in the weight room. One of my black colleagues and close friends just left the rice station and was at the bench rack when I was heading to the bowl of rice,” Rugamba tweeted in June. There was some rice left over on the bar after the benching. Next, Coach Doyle exclaims, “WTF is this?” Clear it out. The player moves to tidy everything up and turns to leave Doyle behind. “Why are you walking with all that swagger?” Doyle asks. I’ll return you to the streets. With both parents, the player hails from a contented household.

A different occurrence occurred prior to one of our team members lifting. The player replied, “My girl’s place,” when he was asked where he had been the previous evening. Then, Coach Doyle flips his cap backwards and pulls his slacks halfway down to droop off his Mocking the player, he puts one hand in his pants and begins to swagger, saying, “I was at my grandmother’s place.”

“At the age of 18–21, you had to tread carefully around the football facilities because you saw other people handled this way. With your aspirations and career on the line, it was impossible to be yourself, and you were always striving to fit into Iowa society, which might produce tension that at times was intolerable.

Walk-on Terrance Pryor, another former player, said that Doyle confronted him about leaving the squad and advised him to start rowing.
“Wait a minute, so black folks don’t like boats on the water?” Doyle, according to Pryor, stated

Doyle maintained he never “stepped the line of unethical behavior or bigotry based on race” in a statement issued on June 7.

Black players frequently thought they were treated harsher than white players, according to an external evaluation of the Iowa football program done by a law firm and published in July. It also concluded that the program’s regulations “perpetuated racial or cultural prejudices and devalued the benefits of cultural diversity.” The only coaches identified by name in the study were Ferentz and Doyle, despite three other coaches being charged with verbally and physically abusing athletes.

A 100-squat session in January 2011 resulted in 13 players being hospitalized for rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscular tissue that can cause significant problems, including kidney failure. Iowa had previously chastised Doyle for the incident. Still, in the spring of 2011, Doyle received the “Assistant Coach of the Year” honor from Ferentz at a booster club function.

When questioned on Thursday why he chose to recruit someone with Doyle’s background, Meyer said that “a lot of hard questions were addressed and screening involved.” He went on to say that he was “very optimistic” that the Jaguars would not experience any comparable problems.