JACKSONVILLE, Florida – The Fritz Pollard Alliance criticized the Jacksonville Jaguars and coach Urban Meyer for hiring Chris Doyle, a former strength coach at the University of Iowa who was accused of making racist comments and disparaging and intimidating players to be on the board. sports performance.
Fritz Pollard Alliance executive director Rod Graves released a statement on Friday that classified Doyle’s hiring as unacceptable and Meyer’s advocacy of hiring an example of the problems faced by minority coaches in the NFL.
“At a time when the NFL failed to resolve its problem with racial hiring practices, it is simply unacceptable to welcome Chris Doyle into the ranks of NFL coaches,” said Graves’ statement. “Doyle’s departure from the University of Iowa reflected a riddled mandate of poor judgment and ill-treatment for black players. His conduct should be as disqualifying for the NFL as it was for the University of Iowa.
“Urban Meyer’s statement, ‘I’ve known Chris for almost 20 years’ reflects the good old boy network that is precisely why there is such a disparity in job opportunities for black coaches.”
The Fritz Pollard Alliance is an organization dedicated to defending diversity in the NFL. It consists of NFL scouts, coaches and office staff, as well as other sports professionals.
Doyle’s hiring caused an immediate reaction on Thursday when the team announced the move as part of Meyer’s full technical team. Doyle was Iowa’s director of strength and conditioning from 1999 until last summer, when he and the school reached a separation agreement after several former Iowa players talked about ill-treatment within the Iowa program.
A number of allegations came from black players and related to the way Doyle treated them and his use of racist language. Meyer said he researched Doyle, had intense conversations with him and is confident that there will be no problems in the future.
“I look at everyone on our team and, as I said, the relationship goes back almost 20 years and many difficult questions have been asked, many assessments involving our entire team,” said Meyer. “We did a very good job of examining that one.
“… I met with our team and I will be very transparent with all the players as I am with everything. I will listen carefully and learn, and there will also have to be some confidence in your head coach that we will give you the best of the best, and time will tell … The complaints that have occurred, I will say [to the players] I examined it. I have known the person for almost 20 years and I can assure you that there will be nothing of any kind at Jaguar’s facility. “
Some of the questions raised by the countless former Iowa players who spoke on social media last year were: Black and white players were considered to be different standards; Black players were mistreated; Doyle and other assistants made racist comments; and black players thought they had to conform to specific ways of dressing and behaving. His complaints prompted the university to hire a Kansas City law firm to conduct an outside investigation into the football program.
The issues were not strictly race-related.
Former offensive Iowa striker Jack Kallenberger said last June on Twitter that he retired from football in January 2019 after he became discouraged because of what he described as bullying related to a learning disability. Doyle was among the coaches he appointed and who harassed him.
The university put Doyle on administrative leave on June 6 in the wake of these allegations. A day later, Doyle defended himself in a statement posted on Twitter that said, in part: “At no time did I cross the line of unethical behavior or prejudice based on race. I don’t make racist comments and I don’t tolerate people who do.”
On June 14, it was announced that Doyle was in Iowa. Doyle, who was the nation’s highest-paid strength trainer with $ 800,000 annually, received 15 months’ salary (about $ 1.1 million), and he and his family received Iowa benefits for 15 months, or even find a job elsewhere, which he did this month with the Jaguars.