Jacksonville Coach Urban Meyer formally announced his 30-person staff Thursday, wrapping up nearly a month of work to surround himself with assistants who can help him make a successful transition from college to the NFL.
The group includes Darrell Bevell as offensive coordinator, Joe Cullen as defensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer as passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach, and Brian Schneider as special teams coordinator.
Meyer made most of the hires weeks ago, but waited to announce them until after each one signed a contract.
Meyer also made former Louisville, Texas and South Florida coach Charlie Strong his assistant head coach/inside linebackers coach. Strong was one of three key hires who had no previous NFL experience, along with tight ends coach Tyler Bowen and safeties coach Chris Ash. Strong spent the better part of the last four decades in the college ranks.
Former Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle was accused by former players of bullying and making racist comments. He signed a separation agreement in June, and is now on Urban Meyer’s staff with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
Also among the group is Chris Doyle, as director of sport performance, nearly eight months after Doyle departed a similar role at the University of Iowa after allegations surfaced that Doyle had mistreated players while with the Hawkeyes football program.
Doyle, who had served under Coach Kirk Ferentz as Iowa’s strength coach since 1999 and was said to have unusual authority for an assistant in his position, was placed on administrative leave June 6 and signed a separation agreement with the school eight days later. As part of the agreement, the nation’s highest-paid strength coach at $800,000 annually would receive 15 months’ salary and 15 months of benefits for him and his family, though the latter would end if he found new employment.
Many of the allegations against Doyle, who is white, were raised by former players who are Black. In a statement released June 7, Doyle said he never “crossed the line of unethical behavior or bias based on race.”
An external review of the Iowa football program, conducted by a law firm and released in July, found that Black players often felt they were treated more harshly than white players and that the program’s rules “perpetuated racial or cultural biases and diminished the value of cultural diversity.” Doyle and Ferentz were the only coaches mentioned by name in the report, though three coaches were accused of bullying players and being verbally abusive.
Iowa previously had admonished Doyle over a 100-squat workout in January 2011 that led to 13 players becoming hospitalized for rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle tissue that can lead to serious complications, such as kidney failure. Nonetheless, Ferentz gave Doyle the “Assistant Coach of the Year” award at a booster-club event in spring 2011.
Meyer kept seven holdovers from fired coach Doug Marrone’s staff: veteran offensive line coach George Warhop; cornerbacks coach Tim Walton; nickel cornerbacks coach Joe Danna; assistant linebackers coach Tony Gilbert; assistant strength coach Cedric Scott; assistant to the head coach ElizaBeth Mayers; and administrative assistant Tyler Wolf.
The rest of Meyer’s new crew: receivers coach Sanjay Lal; running backs coach Bernie Parmalee; defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi; outside linebackers coach Zach Orr; and senior defensive assistant Bob Sutton.
Anthony Schlegel will serve as Meyer’s strength and conditioning coordinator, and Chris Doyle will be the team’s director of sports performance.
TITANS: Tennessee has hired Erik Frazier as an offensive skill assistant and Jason Houghtaling as an offensive line assistant.
Frazier spent the past two seasons coaching wide receivers and as pass game coordinator for Montana State. He coached receivers at Western Illinois in 2018 and was a graduate assistant at Northwestern in 2017. He’s also coached at Dayton and Delaware Valley.
He worked training camps with the New York Giants in 2019, Minnesota in 2018 and Kansas City in 2017 as a minority intern. The Philadelphia native was a Division II All-America wide receiver at Kutztown.
Houghtaling was offensive line coach at Colgate last season, and he was head coach at Wagner between 2015 and 2019. He also coached running backs at Wagner in 2006, the offensive line in 2007 and 2008, and was offensive coordinator there in 2012 and 2014.
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