Urban Meyer Announces Hiring of Amy Palcic To Lead Jaguars' Communications
The Jacksonville Jaguars have hired Amy Palcic to lead the communications team, Head Coach Urban Meyer announced Monday evening. Palcic’s official role has not been explained by the club as of yet.
Palcic is a NFL communications veteran, having previously served as the Vice President of Communications for the Houston Texans. She joined the organization in 2013, was promoted through the ranks and served as VP of communications from April 2018 until last November.
Palcic was the first woman to be given full PR responsibilities with a NFL team. She led the team who won the Rozelle Award in 2017, which recognizes the top NFL public relations team by the Professional Football Writers of America. Palcic was the first director to win the award in their first year on the job as well as the first female director to win the Rozelle.
Palcic was let go by the Texans and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported at the time, she was told she was no longer a “cultural fit.” This was the first big move in what became a months long PR nightmare for the Texans, one that is still ongoing. Media, coaches and players alike all came to Palcic’s defense, essentially saying any team that didn’t have a culture for Palcic wasn’t a team culture one would one to be a part of in any way.
Former Texans defensive end and MVP J.J. Watt was among those to come to Palcic’s defense at the time, tweeting “First & only woman to be head of PR for an NFL team and winner of the Rozelle Award for best PR Staff in the NFL. Massive help in my hurricane relief efforts, community events and much more. Whoever picks up @amypalcic will be getting one of the absolute best in the business.”
Urban Meyer has had a hand in hires across the organization since being named head coach in mid-January. His hiring of Palcic comes after experiencing his first PR issue in the NFL. The coach was scrutinized and came under fire for hiring former Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle as the Jags Director of Sports Performance. He was let go by Iowa due to allegations of racism and bullying. Around 24 hours after the hire was made public, Doyle resigned from his position with the Jaguars.
Palcic’s responsibilities have not been defined publicly yet by the team. Yet her mere presence in the building is indicative of an effort to put a firm and league-wide respected hand on all public relations moving forward.
