Urban Meyer reflects on first days after taking over Ohio State program
Urban Meyer’s early days at Ohio State were very different from a coach taking over a high caliber program like that these days.
Over a decade ago, Meyer returned from a leave of absence from coaching after stepping away from Florida after 2010. He took over a Buckeyes’ program coming off a scandal and loss of bowl eligibility.
But he managed to keep the crew together early on and put on a show right from the start.
“And that was very risky, what I did you know,” Meyer said on On3’s Urban’s Take with Tim May. “I look back now and you know, can you really do that nowadays? You talked about the transfer portal. After that Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, we had 85 players in that transfer pool. But they didn’t leave. You know, there was that love for Ohio State. I think they believed that our coaches and by the way, only the seniors were allowed to leave and they didn’t leave, so this is a much different era.
“You know, Luke (Fickell at Wisconsin) … I think that’s a really tough situation and he’s a great coach. He’s a great friend. But you’re talking about Wisconsin, it’s not like they’ve been bad. It’s much easier to go into a place and blow it up than it is to tiptoe around. I really struggled and tiptoed around early on at Ohio State.”
As far as Meyer struggling at Ohio State, that’s a bit of a stretch. At least in terms of the on-field product.
Meyer was nearly unbeatable at Ohio State. He never lost more than two games in a season from 2012-18, his entire tenure with the Buckeyes. Heck, the 12-0 season to begin his tenure was ironic considering the Buckeyes were not bowl eligible amid the Jim Tressel era.
Meyer finished his time at Ohio State 83-9, won the national title in 2014 and won back-to-back Big Ten titles to end his tenure.
Not to mention, Meyer had one of his best coaching jobs in 2014. Ohio State lost quarterback Braxton Miller and had to pivot to JT Barrett, who went on to have his own great Buckeyes career.
But Meyer and Ohio State were in a real pickle once Barrett went down with a season-ending injury against Michigan. Enter Cardale Jones, who won the Big Ten title, College Football Playoff Semifinal and National Championship in a row.
He went 187-32 overall as a head coach with Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State.