I'm no great fan of Urban Meyer. The bottom line, however, is that the public reaction to his "partying in Ohio" videos has been histrionic and largely ridiculous.
So I'll spend the first section of this entry defending him (sort of) and then explain to what degree and how I think what he did was wrong. Not inappropriate, mind you, but wrong considering his job duties.
In case you haven't been following sports this past week, Meyer's Jaguars blew a 14-0 lead to the Bengals last Thursday (I'm restraining myself from a pussy versus pussy comment here). After the standalone Pussies Galore game (okay, I failed), Meyer did not fly back to Jacksonville with his team, but stayed in Ohio and attended a friend's birthday bash sans his wife. At said bash, attendees filmed a young woman doing a gentle shake as she backed up to Meyer, who was seated on a stool with his legs spread. A second video shows Meyer's hand close to and possibly touching a woman's derriere for about three seconds as they crowd near the bar.
From these videos, Meyer has gotten all kinds of hell. People have said he should resign as Jags coach. Some ESPN reporters have oohed and aahed at Meyer's impropriety. The Jaguars' owner has reprimanded him.
My Take
I'm going to go out on a limb here. As a famous guy, Meyer attended a birthday party. He had a few cocktails. People tried to get him onto the dance floor. He refused, so various young ladies who had also imbibed decided to try to entice him onto the dance floor. Meyer, having likely been put in this situation many times in the past, wasn't going to just shoo them away or walk out of the party. He allowed the interaction to play itself out, and what we saw on the videos is evidently as salacious as it got, or we would have seen anything worse, also on video.
So everyone wags a finger. "The horror, the horror" they say. I find it absolutely absurd.
You think those NFL players turned "reporters" calling for Meyer's resignation haven't done worse a dozen times? The arrogance and certainty of the Meyer condemnations is asinine hyperbole. I mean, really, how do ESPN reporters know that Meyer and his wife haven't been swapping for the last 30 years? They flat out don't. And who are a bunch of reporters to lecture anyone on their own subjective rules, regs, and moral certitude? The noise of moral absolutism tries to drown everything out...again.
If Meyer "loses control of his team" because a woman decided to sway between his knees in public, what is next? He gets fired for watching videos of Meana Wolf? I just do not get it. Cancel culture defends sexual nonchalance unless it's a white power-broker male being nonchalant?
Most of the "horrified" reporters are using moral racketeering as a substitute for content.
What is Meyer's Job?
Being politically correct doesn't win football games. This isn't a Disney movie. Being a Leave-It-To-Beaver "good husband" also doesn't win football games. So getting caught with your shorts near a cookie jar is largely irrelevant if Urban Meyer's job is to win football games.
Now if the argument is that Meyer's hiring was more to sell local tickets than win games (a reasonable argument), then perhaps Meyer alienated soccer moms, even though it appears that soccer moms were in evidence at the party and may indeed be his weakness. If you want to castigate Meyer for loss of soccer mom sales in a conservative state, well then, to quote Blondie, "Rip Him to Shreds." But I find it rich when former NFL players and coaches chime in as if offended by the moral degradation on display. If anyone thinks today's players and coaches have somehow shed the proclivities of Joe Namath or Ken Stabler or Dennis Rodman, I have a message for you. This is why strip clubs have private rooms and escort services have delivery.
Urban Meyer getting danced at by hot soccer moms doesn't exactly fulfill Anton LaVey's salacious satanic recommendation to "do as thou wilt."
What Meyer Did Wrong
Coach Meyer, however, may have misstepped in ways other than simply getting filmed. The key question, to me, is whether he had pre-planned the birthday bash and had let everyone know weeks in advance what he would do after the Thursday game.
If his "dial at three" partying was a kneejerk response to a brutal loss, that would not pass muster with me as an owner or assistant coach or player. A hard Bengals kind of loss makes it even more important that Meyer fly back with the team and deal with it. On the other hand, if he had informed everyone weeks in advance that, win or lose, he'd be staying in Ohio for a couple of days off, then if I'm the owner or assistant coach or player, he's in the clear.
I suspect this was not entirely the case, as Meyer came forward on Tuesday and said that he had told the owner "well in advance" that he was staying in Ohio for a brief break. I'm suspicious because "well in advance" is non-specific sleazeball language. Had Meyer told the owner weeks in advance, Meyer would have stated "weeks in advance." Instead, Meyer retreated to non-specific weasel phrasing. Yes, I pay attention to language like that. Secondly, Meyer did not specifically mention "telling the players well in advance." The absence of a statement to that effect is a problem. He really needed to have explicitly told his team "well in advance."
If my suppositions are correct (I'm fairly certain they are), I would have called Meyer onto the proverbial carpet and chewed out his ass. The team should have been informed weeks in advance of the Meyer mini-vacation.
Conclusion
Meyer was absolutely wrong if he hadn't told his team weeks in advance that, win or lose, he wouldn't be flying back with them.
All of the reporters shocked, shocked I tell you, that Meyer didn't run screaming from a soccer mom wiggle should be put on polygraphs and quizzed about their own proclivities. Just for context, of course.
And we still do not know if Meyer and his wife have been swingers for the last 30 years. I prefer to think that they have.
Bob Dietz
October 7, 2021
