Coaching Perspective – Ohio State

Urban Meyer is 38-3 with a national title in just three seasons in Columbus but this is the Buckeyes.  Land of Woody Hayes and eight national titles and countless league crowns.  Is his white hot start enough to crack the podium in the Shoe?  Let’s take a look.

Not In Consideration (Chronological Order)

• Alexander S. Lilley: 1890-1891, 3-5
• Frederick Bushnell “Jack” Ryder: 1892-1895, 1898, 22-22-2
• Charles A. Hickey: 1896, 5-5-1
• Davis Farragut Edwards: 1897, 1-7-1
• John B. Eckstorm: 1899-1901, 22-4-3

In 1901 a player died as a result of on field injuries.  A vote was held to cancel the season and could have led to abolishing the entire program.  The idea was rejected with an 18-8 vote but history could have been radically altered if Ohio State had ended football.

• Perry Hale: 1902-1903, 14-5-2 (5-2)
• Edwin Sweetland: 1904-1905, 14-7-2 (4-1-1)
• Albert E. Herrnstein: 1906-1909, 28-10-1 (17-6-1)

Led OSU to their first league title in 1906 with a 4-0 Big Ten mark.

• Howard Jones: 1910, 6-1-3 (5-1-2)

Despite 4 single season stops at 3 schools, Jones led Yale to the 1909 national title.  In 1916 he would lead Iowa to two conference titles and a share of the 1921 national title before bolting to Duke and his final (and best) stop, USC.  With the Trojans he would win 7 league titles, 4 national titles and 3 Rose Bowls.  He was a no-brainer CFB addition in 1951.

• Harry Vaughn: 1911, 5-3-2 (4-1-2)
• John R. Richards: 1912, 6-3 (5-0)
• Sam Willaman: 1929-1933, 26-10-4 (14-8-4)

Willaman had a much more lasting impact at his previous stop.  While at Iowa State he integrated the team with Jack Trice in 1923.  Unfortunately the race relations of the day were so horrible that Minnesota players stomped him during a game and he would ultimately die from those injuries.  Iowa State worked to honor their fallen player in various ways but in 1997 he got the ultimate honor with the stadium being called Jack Trice Stadium.  To date is the only stadium named after a black athlete in college football.

• Paul Brown: 1941-1943, 18-8-1 (9-6-1)

Yes, that Paul Brown.  The man famous for his work with Ohio’s two NFL teams.  He led OSU to their first national title in the 1942 season.

• Carroll Widdoes: 1944-1945, 16-2 (11-2)

Another short but effective tenure as the Bucks won the 1944 national title.

• Paul Bixler: 1946, 4-3-2 (2-3-1)
• Wes Fesler: 1947-1950, 23-13-3 (13-10-2)

Despite mixed results Fesler did lead OSU to their first ever Rose Bowl win in the 1949 season.

• Luck Fickell: 2011, 6-7 (3-5)

Did Not Place (7th to 4th)

• Francis Schmidt: 1934-1940, 39-16-1 (30-9-1)

After the ineffective leadership by Willaman, the next hire was going to be an important one.  Schmidt helped stabilize the program again and lay the foundation for Paul Brown’s 1944 title team.  The Buckeyes won two league titles under Schmidt and finished in the polls twice.  While not the longest tenure he had an important run at a key time for the program, good enough to warrant him ranking as the 7th best coach in program history.

• John Wilce: 1913-1928, 78-33-9 (37-30-4)

Unless you skipped over the “not for consideration section” you know OSU was a pretty blah program for most of its early history.  Wilce changed that.  Three league titles and a Rose Bowl appearance put Ohio State on the map nationally.  He retired in 1928 to focus on his medical career but despite the second half slump while the head man, his importance to this program cannot be understated.

• John Cooper: 1988-2000, 111-43-4 (70-30-4)

We all know the rap on Cooper.  “Can’t win the big one.”  “Can’t beat Michigan.”  Blah blah blah.  Now that we have had time to really digest his tenure it is damn impressive.  11 bowls, 3 bowl wins, 1 Rose win, 1 Sugar win, 8 final AP polls, two times finishing second, 3 league titles.  He remains second to Woody Hayes in total wins (Tressel is at 94 officially, 106 without sanctions and would have easily passed Cooper without his resignation) and despite a certain lack of respect from certain OSU fans, Cooper always had a feared team ready to play.

• Urban Meyer: 2012-present, 38-3 (24-0)

I mean where do you start on this guy?  Zero regular season league losses?  Insane!  A national title with back up quarterbacks?  Bonkers!  The only thing holding Meyer back from the top three is the shortness of his tenure.  With his past health issues there is always the possibility that he retires before his full potential.  Still, he is well on his way to passing the next two people on this list if his next three to five season are anywhere near as successful as his first three.

Bronze Medal

Earle Bruce: 1979-1987, 81-26-1 (57-17)

Four league titles, 8 final poll rankings, 5-4 bowl record, won the Cotton, Fiesta and Citrus bowls, and 9 or 10 wins every year but one in a mark of insane consistency.  Unfortunately he had the unenviable task of replacing our gold medal coach.  Despite great league success he never contended for a national title and so the pressure was always on him and was canned near the end of the ’87 season.  See Bo Pelini, you aren’t the only one to have crushing expectations end your run at a championship-crazed program.

Silver Medal

Jim Tressel: 2001-2010, 94-22 (59-14)*

7 league titles including the absurd six straight co or outright chips from 05-10 is a nice place to start.  The 2002 national title is also a place we could have started.  6-4 in bowl games** with two of those losses for more national titles is yet another potential jumping off points.  Of course the old-school OSU fans would want to talk about the record against Michigan.  The bottom line is any way you dissect Tressel’s tenure it was nothing short of brilliant.

*That is his official mark.  His 2010 team went 12-1 (7-1) but all the wins were vacated

**I included the 2010 Sugar Bowl victory in the six win tally

Gold Medal

Woody Hayes: 1951-1978, 205-61-10 (152-37-7)

5 national titles, 4 Rose Bowls, 13 co or outright league titles, 21 appearances in final polls and one outstanding right hook.  I kid, I kid.  What is remarkable about Hayes – in addition to all those absurd stats I just gave is – his worst stretch was in the middle of his career.  Following the 1961 national title, he lost two or more games every year from 62 to 67 and never won the league.  In 1968 he picked up his fourth national title and from there until he was fired for the infamous Gator Bowl incident his teams were always players.  From 1972-1977, when you would expect a down turn due to age, his club won the league every year.  Yup, six straight titles when things should have been winding down like they did for other elder statesman.  For national perspective, those 205 wins are top-10 all time and 5 titles is more than Knute Rockey and Pop Warner.  You know, two of the all time greats.