Recap: Urban Meyer's First Month As Ohio State Head Coach

Never gets old

Urban Meyer is awesome. Sure he was public enemy #1 around these parts for the latter part of the past decade but I have a forgiving heart (especially when he is pulling the strings for your favorite football team). We are not even a month into this new regime but I think Urban has this team going in the right direction even before holding his first official practice.

With the NCAA’s blessing, Meyer has been able to hit the recruiting trail while is counterpart focuses on getting the Buckeyes ready for their showdown with the Gators. Even though this is a common practice among transitioning coaching staff’s in college football, some have expressed their displeasure with the arrangement. Well, “some” isn’t quite right. In reality the only person to speak up is Dave Brandon from Michigan. The fact that he is the only person to publicly complain about this makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

The recruits have been signing with the Buckeye’s at a furious pace since Meyer has taken over in Columbus. Some have been poached from other schools (thanks PSU and MSU), Brionte Dunn returned from the dark side and other top prospects are taking a closer look at the Scarlet and Gray. If I were a fan of another Big Ten team, these new developments would have me quite worried.


 It was only 9 months ago that Ohio St. was being publicly flogged every day by the media. Recruits were dropping like flies, our coach was forced to resign and numerous starters were being suspended for vast parts of the upcoming season. It really looked as if OSU was entering a time where they would be hard pressed to compete for Big Ten titles, let alone MNC’s.

Toward the end of this past regular season, I was nearly inconsolable. It really looked like we would have to suffer through 3 or 4 years of mediocrity before the team could return to their rightful place atop the Big Ten. 

Then the rumors began to swirl.

Before Meyer was in my sights as the next coach in Columbus, I was scouting rising OC’s and upstart coaches around the country to see who might have the right stuff to coach in front of 100,000 every Saturday. Even though we root for a football powerhouse, it’s hard to make a splash at head coach. I’m sure there were qualified candidates out there but no hire could’ve had the impact that Urban did. He was the rock star this school needed to get right back into thick of things.

I have read as many interviews and articles possible regarding Urban. Can I just say I wish it were Fall 2012 already? His statements on practices and offensive philosophies have got me extremely excited. I had some concern that Meyer was jumping back in too soon and his heart might not be completely in this new job. Obviously Ohio St. was high on the list for him and the money was right but it had only been 11 months since he left Florida. His health and family were still major concerns (though I kind of think those might have been excuses to get out of Gainesville). I understand why he had to take the job. How often does an opportunity come up like this? I just hoped he was %100 committed to getting this team back on top.

Consider those questions and concerns a faint memory. The passion and intensity that we all hoped to see right off the bat has been there. Meyer looks healthy and excited to be in this position. When your brand new head coach has those attributes, it rubs off on the fan base. It is a miracle that I feel the way I do today after the year Ohio St. football endured. Fall 2012 can’t get here fast enough.

I know we have another game left to go this season and I am thankful for that. You only get 12 or 13 Ohio St. games per season and none of those should be taken for granted. Obviously the fans would rather this game be of the BCS variety but any bowl game after that season is worth it (not to mention that we won't have one in 2012). It’s just an added bonus this game is against the Gators. I look for an outstanding performance from OSU because let’s face it. This is an audition for our title run next year!