As a life-long Buckeye fanatic, I was shocked to get a text from ESPN on the morning of May 30, telling me that Ohio State coach Jim Tressel had resigned. I was even more annoyed that the text woke me up from my slumber at 6:07am, so that just added to the misery. My first thought about the situation -ok, it was more of a hazy, incoherent blur- was "we need to get Meyer".
Referring of course, to Urban Meyer, the former head coach at Florida and Utah. He was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, and coached briefly at Ohio State as a graduate assistant between 1986-87, helping out with the tight ends and wide receivers. He has already stated that he will not be pursuing any coaching jobs this fall, that he is happy working at ESPN for now. That works out fine, because the interim coach will be former Bucks nose guard Luke Fickell.
Fickell is actually from Columbus, where the university sits, and played for the Buckeyes from 1993-96. He had been on Tressel's coaching staff since the 2002 season, and has a close relationship with the players on the team. He served as the linebackers coach and defensive coordinator from 2005-10, so I believe he can handle this team. It will be difficult dealing with the fallout from Tressel, and now the deeper investigation into star QB Terrelle Pryor.
To expect another BCS berth this season is probably a big reach, and that will most likely doom Fickell. Anything less than a ten win season as the Buckeyes head coach is borderline unacceptable anymore. And he can thank Tressel for raising the bar so high. I do believe, however, that his tenure will be judged by a single game this season. That would be the November 26 battle at Michigan Stadium (I can't believe I just posted a link to the UofM website). If the Buckeyes are 11-0 at that time and lose to the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, it may spell the end of the Fickell reign in Columbus.
Either way, it's my opinion that there is no way Fickell survives as head coach after this season. With the plethora of great names at the Buckeyes disposal, they will no doubt get a high profile replacement. Let's go over the rest of those names now.
We've talked about Meyer, who will be number one on that list, but let's delve a bit deeper into the choice. They shouldn't -and won't- even look elsewhere until they know that Meyer doesn't have any interest in becoming the next Head Buckeye.
His coaching style is different than that of the Ohio State staff. Coach Tressel used more of a pro style system, tweaking it some to fit the abilities of Pryor. He called most of the plays for the offense, so there will certainly be a transition stage, especially while Pryor and the other offensive players are suspended.
I don't think they'll change the offense much -if at all- when (and if) #2 returns, so in that aspect, the offense wouldn't change much if Meyer takes over. It would become a true spread offense. They do have the number four ranked QB out of high school coming in with the 2011 class, Braxton Miller, out of Wayne HS in Huber Heights, Ohio. He is an athletic runner, and ran the spread offense in high school. That may help in getting Meyer to step away from his ESPN job and onto the field where his college coaching career first began.
Number two on the list would be Jon Gruden, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders head coach. He won Super Bowl XXXVII with Tampa Bay against The Raiders, and is also from Ohio. Sandusky, Ohio actually. Home of the world's greatest amusement park, Cedar Point.
Can you imagine the positive impact Gruden would have on a college campus? He's a great motivator, he knows the game as well as anyone around. And let's face it, he's just cool. There's no way Gruden would put anything but the best product on the field every Saturday. He demands the best out of his players at all times, and if the players don't respond, they won't play. There's no guarantee he would accept, as he is quite happy with his position, also at ESPN -as an NFL analyst and Monday Night Football announcer- like Meyer.
Being a former NFL head coach, his brand of offense would definitely differ from that of Urban Meyer. Gruden ran the West Coast offense as a coach, and it is almost nothing like the Spread offense. It is my belief that an offense run by Gruden would better prepare Buckeye NFL hopefuls for their transition onto the highest stage in the sport. That would be a great recruiting sales pitch for the coaching staff.
Next on the list would have to be Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Bo Pelini, coincidentally also from the Buckeye State. Among a handful of football coaches from Youngstown, Ohio, Pelini also played for Ohio State on defense, and would bring a toughness back to Ohio Stadium that many say Tressel got away from during his tenancy on the Buckeye sideline.
Yes, the defense has remained absolute throughout the years, but Tressel did not run the defense. His offenses had been called ultra conservative and weak. It was largely true. In the 2002-03 season, the year the Buckeyes last won the National Championship, their defense gave up just over 13 points a game -2nd among BCS eligible teams. The offense, on the other hand, was challenged at times. They averaged a little over 29 points per game -41st in that stat. In fact, in the next season's NFL Draft, there were five Buckeyes taken off the championship team, and all of them were defenders.
Granted, there are a smattering of players from that offense currently still on NFL rosters, as they were drafted in later years (WR Michael Jenkins and TE Ben Hartsock, notably). But offense hasn't been the focal point of the team for years, as there are 23 former Buckeye defenders currently on NFL rosters, compared to only 12 from the offensive side (not including the 2011 Draft).
However you look at it, a massive change is in store for Ohio State and their beloved football program, and that change has already begun. Whatever the next move is, know it will be the right one. There won't be a "RichRod" type of disaster in Columbus, because for one, the coaching talent which is readily available to them is far superior to that which Michigan had, and Ohio State will lay tons of money on the table to get the man they want. Welcome back to The 'Shoe, Urban.
O!-H!-I!-O!
