Who Will Be Next OSU Coach
Who's next in Columbus? Luke Fickell is supposedly the interim coach, but he doesn't have the pedigree yet to take over full time. Here are a couple of suggestions:
Al Groh?
Urban Meyer?
EDSBS favorite Ron P?
I personally think Urban Meyer is done coaching, but I've been wrong many, many times before. I'd guess they'll make a run at Gary Patterson, but given the sanctions that may be coming, I think they'll go for a super recruiter who will take a tough job because the obvious candidates won't be interested.
Tressel didn't resign because of lying about tatgate. It sounds like the SI story had more to do with his decision giving the timing. It seems very possible that the eventual NCAA sanctions will be severe enough to keep any big names away. OSU will probably try to distance themselves from any Tressel assistants, including Dantonio.
I'm not sure who that leaves. A MAC level coach with good ties in Ohio or a former player turned coach probably. Chris Spielman would make a great face for the program but his coaching experience is lacking. I expect OSU to hire their version of Brady Hoke, someone who loves OSU but wouldn't get mentioned for other major jobs.
Dantonio!
GREG ROBINSON!
I truly believe he will be the head coach. He would leave Nebraska in a minute for OSU. OSU is to him what UM was to Hoke.
He is an Ohio guy through and through and people will compare him to Woody with his intensity and such.
Hoke vs. Pelini would be reminiscent of Bo vs. Woody. Those were great years with respect to the rivalry but both teams crapped their pants in the bowl games.
from Ohio?
on a serious note I'm going to say Tim Beckman. Great coach at toledo and is a great recruiter. He coached at OSU a long time ago. He would be our HOKE. His name came up but since he didn't have what looked like greatness on paper, everyone wrote him off. Then when he got the job, everyone was like holy crap hes "got it". Thats been the feeling around UT since Becks showed up and I feel like if osu wanted somebody squeaky clean then beckman would be the answer.
is that even if OSU could lure Meyer out of retirement under ideal circumstances, is he (or anyone) really going to jump back into the game for a school under serious NCAA penalties, or the threat of such penalties? And would Patterson or Pelini jump from good gigs to coach for a hobbled program?
It depends on what those penalties are. Unfortunately for OSU, that won't be resolved before the season--especially if something new comes out in the SI article.
until the sanctions start to fade away.
Edit:
It will be a least a year. From the Dispatch:
"recruitment for a new head coach - which is expected to include external and internal candidates - will not commence until the conclusion of the 2011-2012 season."
But, if sanctions are bad, they may give Fickle a couple years until a new, big time coach is ready, unless, of course, Fickle works magic.
....and in the midst of an investigation which could neuter AND spay the program for years, only the most insane or most sheltered of all Division I coaches. Is there a required reading of "Denialism" for this mystery candidate to prime them for the sort of atmosphere they can expect at Ground Zero in the Horseshoe?
...for Urban Meyer in 2012. It will take that long for his family to say, "OK: you can go back to work now."
I think it is funny that MSU fans think so highly of Dantonio but now on the RCMB they are talking about how he hasn't done enough to warrent a position like at OSU. HALOL. A lot of people over there are worried that he will leave though and I think Dantonio will be gone in a second if they offer him the job.
The best-case scenario is that Saint Dantonio applies for the job and MSU finds out about it. Then, of course, he gets turned down by TSIO and finds that his locker room isn't "his" locker room anymore, sorta like Tom Izzo found out after his Cavalier Indulgence.
He was a candidate back with Tressel in 2001. He's a couple years older than the Vest, but he's used to rebuilding jobs, played for OSU, has a solid coaching background, runs a pretty similar, conservative offense, and would be able to not harm the program for a few years while they clear themselves out of this mess.
Per EDSBS twitter 
One of the Stoops brothers, not named Bob. Especially if FSU has a good year
I don't think Meyer wants anything to do during the punishment phase of OSU, which could be similar to USC. May be in 3 years when the air is clear he might be interested. It will be difficult for OSU to land a top coach if the sanctions are severe! Hopefully Brady is scrambling to pick up some of those top 2012 OSU recruits.
But does it matter if it's Meyer, or whoever? Could it be that much worse, whoever they hire? What are they going to do, go 10-0 against us instead of 9-1? Any change has the potential to be just a little bit worse for us, and a LOT of room for it to be a WHOLE lot better for us.
I hear Rich Rodriguez is available.