The former Iowa strength and conditioning coach’s resignation follows backlash stemming from his tenure at the University of Iowa.
Doyle, who was on the Iowa staff from 1999 to 2019, was placed on administrative leave by the school in June after several former Iowa players accused him of racism. Shortly after, the university and Doyle agreed to part ways.
Meyer, who previously coached in the college ranks at the University of Utah, University of Florida, and most recently the Ohio State University, was hired as head coach by the Jaguars in January after the team fired Doug Marrone.
Meyer said he didn’t believe that the accusations of racism attributed to Doyle at Iowa would prevent Jacksonville from attracting free agents.
Shortly after being placed on administrative leave at Iowa in June, Doyle posted a statement on Twitter — which has since been deleted — saying the accusations about his behavior are “not true.”
“At a time when the NFL has failed to solve its problem with racial hiring practices, it is simply unacceptable to welcome Chris Doyle into the ranks of NFL coaches,” executive director Rod Graves said. “Doyle’s departure from the University of Iowa reflected a tenure riddled with poor judgment and mistreatment of Black players. His conduct should be as disqualifying for the NFL as it was for University of Iowa.”
Graves added that Meyer’s statement, about knowing Doyle for close to 20 years,”reflects the good ol’boy network that is precisely the reason there is such a disparity in employment opportunities for Black coaches.”
CNN’s Jacob Lev, Ben Morse and Seán Federico-O’Murchú contributed to this report.