Urban Meyer contract details: How firing as Jaguars’ head coach impacts future salary, guarantees

Urban Meyer is no longer the head coach of the Jaguars.

Just 13 games into a five-year deal inked in January 2021, Jacksonville owner Shad Khan elected to fire Meyer following a number of missteps since taking over the head coaching job.

The final straw was starting kicker Josh Lambo accusing Meyer of kicking him at practice last August, but that only added to an already lengthy list of questionable decisions by the newly appointed head coach.

MORE: Urban Meyer fired: Timeline of dysfunction with Jaguars

“After deliberation over many weeks and a thorough analysis of the entirety of Urban’s tenure with our team, I am bitterly disappointed to arrive at the conclusion that an immediate change is imperative for everyone,” Khan said in the Jaguars’ official statement released on Wednesday night.

Jacksonville struggled under Meyer, owning a 2-11 record following an ugly 20-0 loss to their division rival Titans this past Sunday. Meyer didn’t make it through one year of a five-year contract, so what happens now?

Here’s everything you need to know about his deal after the firing.

Urban Meyer’s contract details

In January 2021, less than a calendar year ago, Meyer signed a five-year deal that is estimated to be worth $10 to $12 million annually.

While there were never any concrete reports on exactly how much Meyer was making, that estimation would place him somewhere in between Patriots’ Bill Belichick ($12.5 million/year), Seahawks’ Pete Carroll ($11 million/year) and Saints’ Sean Payton ($9.8 million/year) as one of the highest-paid head coaches in the NFL.

MORE: Who are candidates to replace Meyer as the Jaguars head coach?

Meyer’s contract signing – his first-ever deal as an NFL head coach – came on the heels of an immenseful successful run at the collegiate level, where he established himself as one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. He had a 186-32 record during his 17-year college coaching career, which included three national championships and a .853 winning percentage, which is good for the seventh-highest in college football history.

His run in the NFL fell well short of any expectations, being fired after 13 games as the Jaguars held a 2-11 record.

What will happen to Urban Meyer’s contract after his firing?

Those details haven’t yet come forth, and there have been some conflicting reports so far.

CBS Sports’ Allan Bell reported that the Jaguars will still owe Meyer “roughly $50 million” on his remaining contract, however, Sportico’s Legal Expert, Michael McCann, reported Meyer would “likely be denied remaining payments” if he was fired for cause.

He continued to say Meyer could sue for breach, but the Jaguars would have a number of incidents to cite and “it could get messy – fast.”

Meyer was in the first year of a five-year deal that was anticipated to be worth roughly $50 to $60 million in total. Sporting News will continue to follow this developing story and update accordingly.