Is Urban Meyer the Answer for Ohio State?
William Wallace is a regular Saturday Down South contributor. His uncensored views of college football are offensive to some, yet embraced by many.
I know what you’re thinking, Ohio State fans. You aren’t fooling me. A scandal that has your head coach covering up for your star Quarterback is on the front page of every sports page in America, and yet you take an unbiased and rational view of, “Jim Tressel violated the rules and he should suffer the consequences.” You’ve never been unbiased or rational in your entire existence, why would you suddenly start now?
Two words: Urban Meyer. I know what you’re thinking Buckeyes, but I’ll get to that later.
We all know the two game suspension and $250,000 will not be seen as an acceptable punishment in the eyes on the NCAA, but how big of a hammer will the NCAA drop on Ohio State? They hit USC to the tune of a two year postseason ban and 20 scholarships, and that was before being crushed by the media for being soft on UNC Football coach Butch Davis, UCONN Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun and the entire Cam Newton fiasco. That was before making the bogus decision to let suspended Ohio State players participate in a Sugar Bowl instead of starting their 5 game suspensions immediately. The media is demanding action and the feeling is the NCAA will be out for blood.
I’m not shocked to see Jim Tressel making terrible decisions. This is the same man who in 2011 still feels it’s a good idea to wear sweater vests at all times. That tells me everything I would ever need to know about the man’s judgment. On top of that, Tressel had some shadiness from his days at Youngstown State, where the NCAA cited the school with lack of institutional control. Tressel said he knew nothing of the wrongdoings in that case. Regardless, it’s a big deal. Hiring a coach with a lack of institutional control on his record is like hiring a guy with 2 DUI’s to drive a school bus.
Tressel can no longer use his patented excuse of not knowing about improprieties in this case. He admittedly did not disclose potential NCAA rules violations for nine months. The NCAA and his contract demand that he report possible violations. This is a fireable offense.
Yes, I watched that terrible press conference. I know the university’s leadership firmly stated that Tressel will not be fired. Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee, unwisely said, “I’m hoping the coach doesn’t dismiss me.”
It was one of many idiotic statements made during the press conference.
I'm Screwed
AD Gene Smith might have topped Gee when he said, “Wherever we end up at the end of the day, Jim Tressel is our football coach.” Really? Nothing can change that? Not even the wrath of the NCAA after finding evidence that their investigators were purposely misled by Jim Tressel? Still holding firm Gene? Is losing to Michigan really the only thing that can get an Ohio State football coach fired?
Smith and Gee made two big mistakes yesterday. First, they publically made their judgment before the trial even took place. Second, they overestimated the value of Jim Tressel.
Smith and Gee must think they are looking at January 1st, 2007 Jim Tressel. The Michigan Dominating, National Championship winning head coach who was the heavy favorite to win his second National Championship against Florida. Then reality happened. Florida smoked Ohio State 41-14. Then, LSU crushed Ohio State 38-24 in the 2008 BCS Championship Game. The next season ended with a loss to Texas in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes continued to struggle with top programs with a 2009 home loss to a USC team with true freshman at QB. 2010 had promise until a critical loss to Wisconsin and now they head into 2011 with their Head Coach and star QB suspended. There was a time when the only thing the Ohio State coach needed to do was beat Michigan. Those days are gone.
Meanwhile, former Ohio State graduate-assistant and Ohio native Urban Meyer is hanging out on the beach and collecting a nice check for a few hours of work a week for ESPN. People are only as loyal as their options. Ohio State fans were willing to pretend sweater vests were cool when Tressel was their best option, but now that the guy who humiliated Tressel in Glendale is on the market suddenly Buckeyes find themselves wondering if this is a blessing in disguise. Should they stand firm beside the horse that got them here or cap the gimp horse in the head and move on to bigger and better?
Here’s where the irrational Buckeye fans begin to show themselves. They realize they are in trouble so the first thing they need to do is fire Jim Tressel. Make him the sacrificial lamb. This will be viewed as a major concession considering the University President and AD have said that will never happen. The firing will be more than enough to show the NCAA that they can handle this situation on their own and avoid major punishment. Next, they hire Urban Meyer to right the ship and take Ohio State to previously unseen levels of success. The End.
Slow down crazy people. Ask USC if Pete Carroll leaving town was enough to avoid NCAA punishment. How attractive is a job that has five starters including the senior QB suspended for the first five games? How attractive is a job when you can’t go to a bowl game for two years and have scholarship restrictions?
Moreover, we haven’t even asked the most important question yet.
What Urban Meyer are you getting? The Urban Meyer who transformed Bowling Green, Utah and Florida? The guy who won 100 games in 118 attempts? The guy who won two BCS Championships in three seasons?
Or…
The Urban Meyer who quit on his team twice in 11 months? The guy who took off all of spring practice last year due to health concerns? The guy has been crushed by Alabama twice in the past two seasons? The guy who just lost five games? The guy who rotated 3 QB’s last season, two of which split time at WR and TE? The guy who laid an egg in critical games against South Carolina and Florida State? The guy watched his players get arrested 31 times in 6 seasons? The guy who no longer has Dan Mullen, Charlie Strong, Steve Addazio, or Billy Gonzalez? The guy who has become frustrated with the NCAA and attitudes of today’s players?
We all know what Urban Meyer was, but we don’t know what he is. The same could be said for Jim Tressel.
It’s not going to be easy, Ohio State. You are about to get hammered and there is no shortcut you can take to avoid your beating. My advice would be to worry more about your future than your past. The Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer from the 2007 BCS Championship game don’t exist anymore.
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Urban Meyer would be insane to take the Ohio State job and it has nothing to do with the NCAA violations (those do make it worse). Like the economies of the rust belt, Ohio State’s best days are in the past. Maybe he could take the job and get a vacation home in lovely Detroit. I hear they have some sweet homes going for a few hundred dollars there. The same goes for Penn State and Michigan.
Urban Meyer will be the next head coach at Texas, whenever they force out Mack Brown in a year or two.
Columbus is actually economically very strong and diverse, so whenever you speak idiotic comments maybe knowing some facts could be useful
ohio state is a has been program who skates by every year by being the best team in the ridiculously weak big10. Awesome. Youre better than Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Purdue. The big10 conference is a joke, and the fact that they get an automatic bid and get to play in the Rose Bowl every year is even more asinine. Tressel sold his soul to the NCAA so that he wouldnt have to lose yet ANOTHER game to an SEC school. Congrats to THE ohio state university, you cheated and barely beat the 4th best team in the SEC west. I hope it was all worth it. Luckily for you, Michigan has been even dumber than osu, and Rich Rod crapping all over a once powerhouse program is the only thing thats kept the sweater vest on the sidelines. When osu plays legit football teams, they lose. Wanna prove me wrong? Beat someone worth a damn. That one win against the SEC West’s 4th best team doesnt do much for you. You cheated and sold out to keep your only player thats worth a crap from be suspended for the game, and STILL almost lost the game. The SEC still owns you, osu (and the rest of that pitiful excuse for a conference). They call Tressel “The Senator”, and hes corrupt enough to deserve the nickname.
I typically do not argue with people who make stupid comments online, however I can’t help myself. First off I would like to point out something that you should know, Arkansas finished 2nd in the entire sec. That is why they went to the sugar bowl. You can say other teams were better ifnyou want but they finished 2nd plain and simple. Ohio state beat them and they were a better team. Last year Ohio state beat oregan in the rose bowl 26-17. It was almost the same team that auburn beat in the last minutes of the game. So to say Ohio state never beats good teams considering they have a rose bowl win(PAC 10) and a sugar bowl win(sec) the last 2 seasons. Any program would be proud of that. The season before they lost in the last seconds of the game to a very good Texas team. The year before that a young Ohio state team was manhandled by a veteran lsu team. It was also basically a home game for lsu. However lsu was the
better team that year. I am assuming you do not have a team that you like, you root for a conference., which I do
not understand. Lastly if urban is still needing r and r, Ohio state has another option in Bo Pelini, he is also a Ohio native.
Which of the two is more likely to happen first?
1 – Ohio State fires Jim Tressel
2 – Urban Meyer spends time with his family
Urban Meyer hates his family. Fact.
I’m going with #3 – Urban Meyer inks another deal with ESPN.
Tressel getting fired obviously.
I believe Urban Meyer was firing shots at a certain college,better stick with ESPN.
Look, clearly the answer is to hire me – at either school, Florida or Ohio State. Sure I nearly destroyed the Gator football program, I’m overly emotional, I like to fight students at frat houses, and I don’t know how to pronounce my current school, but I’m an excellent candidate to replace that bastard Jim Tressel. Sweet sweater vest Jim.
Pelini is also a Ohio native. Also the last decade I will admit the sec has overall been stronger than the big ten, however to act as if the big 10 has no talent is absolutely absurd. Ohio state, Wisconsin,Michigan state, Nebraska,pen state,Iowa and Michigan is hardly a terrible conference.