IDIOT OF THE MONTH: Cleveland Browns stand out among crowded March pack

NFL head coaches are supposed to understand the game better than anyone else in the world. They should know the league inside and out. At the very least, they should know who No. 99 on the Los Angeles Rams is. Former Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coach Urban Meyer couldn’t even do that.

According to a report by Jayson Jenks and Mike Sando of The Athletic, Meyer was unaware who several of the best players around the NFL were, claiming that prior to the team’s Week 13 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, Meyer has one of his assistants “Who’s this 99 guy on the Rams? I’m hearing he might be a problem for us.” YOU THINK?! He’s only an 8-time Pro Bowler, 7-time 1st team All-Pro, 3-time Defensive Player of the Year, and member of the Hall of Fame’s All-2010’s decade team. Yeah! He might be a problem!

It wasn’t just Donald either. According to the report, Meyer didn’t know who All-Pro wide receiver Deebo Samuel or former All-Pro safety Jamal Adams was either. In all fairness, both of those players play in the NFC whereas Meyer’s Jaguars play in the AFC. They are players that Meyer wasn’t going to face very often, but still. Donald, Samuel, and Adams are three of the biggest names in football. If Meyer had watched any film on any of their teams prior to their games, he’d know who each of those players were. Even if he didn’t know who they were at the start of the week, he more than likely should’ve taken the time to study his upcoming opponents and figure out who their best players were before the game. That’s the bare minimum that an NFL head coach should do.

Obviously, Meyer was no stranger to these idiot lists during his tenure with the Jaguars but it takes a whole different breed of stupid to be an NFL head coach who doesn’t know the NFL as much as a casual fan of the league. You don’t even have to watch football to know who these guys are. Your average fantasy football player probably knows who Samuel is after last year. Even if you only casually follow the NFL, you’ve more than likely heard of Donald. Sure, Adams hasn’t been as great in Seattle as he was in New York, but he’s only two years removed from being arguably the best safety in the NFL.

What makes this statement even more startling is the fact that when Meyer was first brought on to be Jacksonville’s head coach, he claimed he “conducted a six-month deep dive on the NFL that included interviews with his former Florida and Ohio State players, as well as a study of the salary cap.” That clearly wasn’t the case. I feel bad for Jacksonville fans. They duped, bamboozled, humiliated, and drug through the dirt throughout 2021. On the bright side, at least Urban Meyer was so bad that the Jaguars once again have the first pick in the NFL draft.