As coaches, we all find ways to teach our players lessons regarding accountability, and specifically, for being accountable for our actions.
Over the past several days, Urban Meyer has had to step up to be accountable for his actions and decisions from the viral video from over the weekend.
Part of that process for any head coach is stepping to the podium and answering tough questions, and Urban found himself in that situation on Monday, and again earlier today.
After apologizing to his team on Monday for being a distraction, Urban faced more tough questions today as more and more questions have seemed to pop up regarding the situation in question.
Before we get to some of that though, Urban opened his presser today by sharing the three roles of a head coach in his eyes.
1) the health and safety of the players
2) motivate them and bring out the greatness in them
3) give them everything possible to be successful, and give them a great locker room, and then get the heck out of the way
Urban acknowledged he failed in that last part by being a distraction heading into their game against his former assistant Matt Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans.
As the head coach at both Florida and Ohio State, Urban stepped away from situations citing health issues and distress, so it makes some sense that in the days since video surfaced that there would be some chatter about his future with the Jaguars, because there was bound to be some heat coming his way.
Asked today if he "at any point over the last few days" if he felt "distraught enough to consider resigning."
Urban's response was simple. "No."
Urban also took some heat for an answer he provided on a radio show last night on how he's preparing the team for their challenge against the Titans this weekend with the dark cloud hanging above the organization.
"I don't believe that's in my court. The leaders on the team are going to make that decision. It depends on how much trust you have built up with them, how we structure everything this week and focus on winning that game.
"I'm going to be extremely clear as I can...our staff is working their tails off, but you know as well as I do that the ownership of this team is with the players."
"I’m going to be extremely clear as I can; our staff is working their tails off. But you know as well as I do that the ownership of this team is with the players.” https://t.co/H6bSvat3Tr
— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) October 5, 2021
Those with an intimate knowledge of Urban's leadership style, and how he runs his teams, understand that he firmly believes the best teams are player-led, not coach-led. While that certainly seems to be the message he was trying to get across, it (perhaps understandably) fell on some deaf ears considering the distraction currently at hand.
When asked about that today, he expanded a bit.
"Players always own the team. In college I consider it the same way. There is nothing that is more important than the locker room. The context of that is that it is my responsibility to earn their trust back as their leader."
"It's always been like that with our teams and organizations. This is a player's team and a player's organization. Our job is to direct them, but they are the decision makers in the organization."
Urban also answered questions about his decision to not fly back with the team, if he asked permission to do that, and confronted a handful of other looming questions in the clip below.