Urban Meyer told NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport that he apologizes to Jacksonville after his recent firing as the Jaguars’ head coach.

“I just apologize to Jacksonville,” Meyer told Rapoport. “I love Jacksonville. It’s one of the reasons I took the job. I still think Shad’s a great owner. It’s heart-breaking. I just had a dream of it becoming a destination place with a new facility he agreed to build and some day to walk into that stadium where it’s standing room only. Because I know how bad the people of Jacksonville want it. So, I’m just heartbroken that we weren’t able to do that. I still believe it’s going to be done. It’s too good of a place.”

Meyer spoke to Rapoport in an exclusive phone interview. Meyer, who was fired after going 2-11 in his first NFL season, confirmed that losing wore on him, an issue many saw coming when he took the Jaguars job.

“I tell people, losing eats away at your soul,” Meyer said. “Once you start losing, it’s hard on everybody. I thought at one point, when we won two out of three, there was some momentum, great energy, the defense was really playing well. We were running the ball and then when that dried up on us, then we started turning the ball over. We had that bye week and then James Robinson gets hurt.”

When asked about his body language in the postgame handshake with Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel, a former Ohio State assistant, Meyer cited the stress of losing.

“Someone asked me about Vrabel’s [handshake], we’re really close,” Meyer told Rapoport. “That had nothing to do with him. That’s probably one of my issues why I’ve thought some of the things I said: I can’t take losing. I try to accept it, it just eats away at my soul. And I believe our players deserve better.”

More from Meyer can be found in Rapoport’s full NFL.com article.