Ben Axelrod - Urban Meyer vs. College Football: The Case for College Footballs Greatest Coach

For Mom, Dad, Samantha, and Nate. Thanks for always supporting me and my dreams.

Contents

Acknowledgments

This book was written over the course of many self-manufactured long weekends at the Grandview Heights Public Library in the winter of 2017 and powered by several Starbucks Ventiand sometimes Trentacold brew coffees.

It wouldnt have been possible if not for the support from the leadership group at Cox Media Group and LandOf10.com, including James de Gale, Michael Carvell, and Michael Bass. I also want to thank my Ohio State cohorts at Land of 10, Jeremy Birmingham and Ryan Ginn, for trusting me while taking on such a daunting project.

A special thanks to Urban Meyer and the Ohio State football program, specifically the communications department led by Jerry Emig and Adam Widman, and the many players I have covered over the course of my career.

I would also like to acknowledge those who covered Urban Meyer at Bowling Green, Utah, and Florida, and the many members of the Ohio State beat, past and present, whose hard work helped contribute to this book, as well as some whose friendship has always made the busiest time of the year more enjoyable than it should be. Thank you Ari Wasserman, Austin Ward, David Briggs, Kyle Rowland, Tim Shoemaker, Bill Landis, Tim May, Eric Seger, and Tony Gerdeman, among others. Thanks to my friend and mentor, Zac Jackson.

Thank you to my former employers: Bleacher Report, Frank Moskowitz at Buckeye Sports Bulletin, Kevin Noon at Buckeye Grove, John Porentas at The Ozone, and Dan Caterinicchia at Ohio State.

Thank you to Tim, Scott, Michael S., Michael W., and Andrew.

Last but not least, thank you, Torey. I couldnt have written this book without your love and encouragement.

Introduction

Urban Meyer stood in the northeast corner of Arlington, Texas AT&T Stadium, confetti raining from the sky as his players belted out their rendition of Ohio States alma mater, Carmen, Ohio for the final time of the 2014 season.

The Buckeyes head coach clutched his daughter Gigi and son, Nate, and soon his other daughter, Nicki, and wife, Shelley, joined the semi-circle embrace. Tears made a cameo in the eyes of each of the five Meyers.

No matter what had happened before, or what would after, this was the culmination of a run that would define Urban Meyers career and forever etch his name next to the giants of his industry. It was the greatest coaching job in college football history.

Moments earlier, Ohio State had sealed a 4220 victory over Oregon to win the inaugural College Football Playoff championship. This, however, was the rare instance in which another national title appeared to merely be a cherry on top. Truth be told, Meyer had already staked his claim to overcoming college footballs most difficult obstacles a game earlierif not two.

Its one thing to win a third national championship and its another to do it in a foreign postseason format. But to beat three of college footballs top teams while down to your third-string quarterback? That will forever put a head coach in rarefied air.

And yet thats exactly the predicament Meyer found himself facing as starting quarterback J.T. Barrett was carted off the field in the Buckeyes 2014 regular season finale against Michigan. Ohio State had already clinched a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game and all but secured an 111 regular season record. A win over Wisconsin for the conference title would likely solidify the Buckeyes case to make the first-ever College Football Playoff.

It seemed improbable at the time, considering Ohio State entered Indianapolis as a four-point underdog against the Badgers. With star quarterback Braxton Miller lost to injury two weeks before the season and now Barrett dealing with a broken ankle, Meyer was down to a lightly recruited, seldom-used, third-string quarterback named Cardale Jones. Even if the Buckeyes could find a way to pick up a win over Wisconsin, anything they accomplished after would be considered gravy.

Yet not only would Ohio State beat the Badgers 590behind an MVP performance from Jonesbut as the No. 4 seed in the first-ever playoff, Ohio State toppled the nations top-ranked team, Alabama, in the semifinal Sugar Bowl. What would follow would be a one-sided demolition of the Ducks in the national title game, capping one of the most unlikely and historic championship runs in college football history.

Very humbled. Ive got my third-string quarterback sitting here to my left. Ive never met a third-string quarterback before, and hes 30, Meyer said after the game. Were officially brothers for the rest of our lives because were champions.

Its a feeling Meyer is plenty familiar with.

With Ohio States win over Oregon at the end of the 2014 season, the then-13 th -year head coach won his third national title and joined Nick Saban as just the second coach to win national championships at multiple programs. With a career 15427 record to his credit and two undefeated seasons on top of his three national title campaigns, theres no doubting the numbers when it comes to Meyers coaching career. Hes unquestionably one of the best to ever do it in the sport.

But is he the best? On the surface, it may seem like a tough case to make.

Some coaches have more rings and others have more wins than Meyer. And lets just get to the elephant in the room: with the way Nick Sabans Alabama program is currently hitting on all cylinders, itd be tough to argue that any other coachlet alone one of Sabans contemporaries and rivalshas a more legitimate claim to being considered the greatest college football coach of all time.

But while Meyers rsumalthough still impressivemay fall short numerically, his legacy is hardly one that can purely be measured by numbers.

Few coaches have builtand sustainedsuccess as frequently as Meyer has during stints at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State. Even fewer coaches can claim to have cracked college footballs recruiting code or to have found the key to turning historic rivalries into one-sided affairs.

Need proof of Meyers game-planning acumen? Take a look at his record coming off bye weeks or in bowl games. Looking for evidence of his player development? Look no further than the plethora of players hes put into the prosat all different positions.

More than anything, Meyers rise up the college football coaching ranks has been unlike any other in the history of the sport. From nameless position coach to hotshot headman to national champion to early retirement and a rebirth many never saw coming, Meyers journey to his place in the coaching pantheon has been one of a kindjust like his run to his third national title.

What follows is a case for Meyers status as the greatest coach in college football history, how he got there, and how he compares with his rivals, idols, and other coaching greats. By design, Meyer wasnt involved in the process of writing this book. In fact, Id imagine he hates the idea of having his legacy stacked up against those of other coaching legends. If theres one thing the Ohio State head coach has learned how to do in the last five years, its to live in the moment.

The historical-perspective stuff, or noise, as he would term it? Thats for writers like me.

I dont have a Mount Rushmore and I dont have a personal top 10 when it comes to college football coaches. Quite frankly, Im not even too keen on the idea of comparing coaching rsums. Each coachs trajectory includes its own special set of circumstances.