What about Urban? Is he doing less with more?

The uncertainty at QB in 2018 plays a part in their preseason ranking.

I think that his decision to stick with JT over the last 3 years cost us. JT just never returned to form as a passer after his injury in 2014. He was essentially Jalen Hurts for the last 3 seasons. Good enough to get us close, but not good enough to win a championship.

That is on Urban, and it cost us dearly in our recruitment of play makers on offense. We have become a team with great defenses but no offense.

I have to agree with B1G, that whole situation with 3 QBs back in 2014-2015(?) seemed never to be adequately resolved and that has to be on Meyer. The unexpected blowouts, SMH. I sometimes think that a HC becomes so enamored with a player that it clouds his judgement as to what is best for the team. I expect tOSU to be in the 4 team playoff next year.

B1GTide said:

That is on Urban, and it cost us dearly in our recruitment of play makers on offense. We have become a team with great defenses but no offense.

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It's scary how that can become self-reinforcing.

Redwood Forrest said:

I have not looked at stats and I am just going on my impression but I always thought Urban was an offensive guy at Utah and Florida. It seems strange that he would have a poor O now but I guess you pegged it with the recruiting angle. That explains a lot.

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Alex Smith and Tim Tebow may have contributed to Meyer's reputation as an offensive coach.

UAH said:

Alex Smith and Tim Tebow may have contributed to Meyer's reputation as an offensive coach.

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And a few GREAT offensive coordinators. But he is a great head coach - he just needs a great staff far more than someone like Bryant or Saban.

Meyer has an excellent overall record, but failing to show up occasionally has hurt his status as far as being great. Not to say he isn't a "great" coach, but you cannot get the benefit of the doubt and also lose head-scratchers like Iowa and the blow-out loss in the CFP to Clemson, and the MSU loss in '15. Even the '14 loss to Virginia Tech is still in people's minds, even though the Buckeyes came back from that loss to win it all.

B1GTide said:

And a few GREAT offensive coordinators. But he is a great head coach - he just needs a great staff far more than someone like Bryant or Saban.

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UF's O dropped dramatically with Mullen's departure. OSU doesn't seem quite the same since Herman, though Wilson should be good. Adazzio seemed clueless compared to Mullen.

>90% winning percentage is underperforming? I don't think so. Other than Alabama and Clemson, OSU was the last team to win an NC, and the only other to do it in the playoffs. I think Urban is doing just fine. I get the dismay at the occasional unexplainable loss, but how good does someone need to be in order to get the appropriate amount of respect?

CoachInWaiting said:

Meyer has an excellent overall record, but failing to show up occasionally has hurt his status as far as being great. Not to say he isn't a "great" coach, but you cannot get the benefit of the doubt and also lose head-scratchers like Iowa and the blow-out loss in the CFP to Clemson, and the MSU loss in '15. Even the '14 loss to Virginia Tech is still in people's minds, even though the Buckeyes came back from that loss to win it all.

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The thing that makes him undeniably great is the fact that he has achieved this level of success everywhere that he has coached - Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. Add 3 national championships spread over 2 programs and that seals the deal. But he has some head scratching losses - always has.

If it wasn't for Saban and Dabo, Meyer would be considered in a league of his own. If it wasn't for the 2 of them Meyer may have 2 more titles (1 at Florida and 1 at Ohio State)

RollTide_HTTR said:

If it wasn't for Saban and Dabo, Meyer would be considered in a league of his own. If it wasn't for the 2 of them Meyer may have 2 more titles (1 at Florida and 1 at Ohio State)

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That seems to have a bit of "if a frog had wings" flavor to it. :wink: I could not resist!

There's no doubt Urban deserves to be mentioned among the elite coaches but as has been mentioned the thing that separates Saban from Meyer are Meyer's head scratching losses. I can understand how OSU could lose to Iowa. Kinnick Stadium is a tough place to play and OSU was coming off the emotional win over Penn State but no excuse for giving up 55 points and lose by 31. It never would happen at Bama. Saban has had the challenge many times of getting the team ready to play after a big win and usually succeeds. It seems most of the time Bama struggles the week after the LSU game but always finds a way to win. Meyer cannot approach Saban in coaching ability until he finds a way to get his team motivated every week to the point where if they do lose it's not by much.

Redwood Forrest said:

Ohio State is ranked preseason #3 by Athlon, #4 by ESPN, #4 by Sporting News and #5 College Football News. According to 24/7 they have the #2 ranked classes over the past 5 year cycle. Is Urban underachieving with 73-8 (90.1%) win record at Ohio State? I don't think so. It must be the blowouts by Iowa (24-55) and Clemson (0-31) and the 16-31 loss to Oklahoma that has the voters bumping him down the list. Getting stomped like that does make one wonder but still I would put them #2 again this year.

I don't see how a 73-8 record could be underachieving unless you include Coach Saban for having the #1 class every year and only winning half the playoffs. Is it just bad timing/luck or somthing else? I think something else. What do you think?

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Because of the shape of a football, nothing is certain in the game...

Redwood Forrest said:

I have not looked at stats and I am just going on my impression but I always thought Urban was an offensive guy at Utah and Florida. It seems strange that he would have a poor O now but I guess you pegged it with the recruiting angle. That explains a lot.

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He was fixated on the "Dive" play at Florida...

Redwood Forrest said:

Ohio State is ranked preseason #3 by Athlon, #4 by ESPN, #4 by Sporting News and #5 College Football News. According to 24/7 they have the #2 ranked classes over the past 5 year cycle. Is Urban underachieving with 73-8 (90.1%) win record at Ohio State? I don't think so. It must be the blowouts by Iowa (24-55) and Clemson (0-31) and the 16-31 loss to Oklahoma that has the voters bumping him down the list. Getting stomped like that does make one wonder but still I would put them #2 again this year.

I don't see how a 73-8 record could be underachieving unless you include Coach Saban for having the #1 class every year and only winning half the playoffs. Is it just bad timing/luck or somthing else? I think something else. What do you think?

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To even suggest Urban has underachieved is preposterous.

PA Tide Fan said:

There's no doubt Urban deserves to be mentioned among the elite coaches but as has been mentioned the thing that separates Saban from Meyer are Meyer's head scratching losses. I can understand how OSU could lose to Iowa. Kinnick Stadium is a tough place to play and OSU was coming off the emotional win over Penn State but no excuse for giving up 55 points and lose by 31. It never would happen at Bama. Saban has had the challenge many times of getting the team ready to play after a big win and usually succeeds. It seems most of the time Bama struggles the week after the LSU game but always finds a way to win. Meyer cannot approach Saban in coaching ability until he finds a way to get his team motivated every week to the point where if they do lose it's not by much.

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Never say never. I would say highly unlikely though.

One more thought for consideration. The state of Ohio has a population of almost 12 mil. equal to Alabama and Georgia combined, with The Ohio State University located in Columbus its capital city with over 1 mil population in the metropolitan area.

How many football players do we believe there are in Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo and so on? I would tend to think a lot of them.

I also tend to think that there are many of the 12 mil. Ohioans who believe that going to Iowa City and being handled by a so so Iowa team thus missing the playoff is by definition underachieving.

We will see in 2018 if Urban can recover his lost mojo! We know from experience that once lost it is difficult to recover! Just ask Jim Harbaugh.