The Jacksonville Jaguars introduced Chris Doyle as their director of sport performance Thursday, eight months after his tumultuous exit from the University of Iowa.
The longtime Hawkeyes strength coach was placed on leave by the school last June after several former players said he contributed to a dysfunctional culture for Black players.
Doyle, 52, and the university agreed to a separation agreement on June 15 that reportedly paid him $1.1 million.
Jaguars coach Urban Meyer said he had no reservations with tabbing the controversial Doyle for the position.
“I’ve known Chris for close to 20 years …” Meyer said during a video press conference. “He was doing sports performance before sports performance became a high priority in college sports. So I’ve known him, I’ve studied him, we’ve had a relationship.
“I’ve vetted him, along with our general manager and owner. I feel great about the hire, about his expertise at that position. So we vetted him thoroughly … I wanted to get the best of the best.”
Pressed about the hire, Meyer repeated the franchise’s vetting of Doyle and said he was “very confident” there would be no issues.
Doyle had been part of Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz’s staff since 1999. He was previously the strength coach at Utah (1998) and Wisconsin (1996-97).
Jacksonville officially introduced the entirety of Meyer’s staff on Thursday, including offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, defensive coordinator Joe Cullen and special teams coordinator Brian Schneider.
(Field Level Media)
