"Report: Mounting 'Friction' and Tension Building Between Urban Meyer, Ohio State"
I think this is his last year, folks. Whether this stuff is true or not, these kind of "whisper campaigns" often presage a change on the horizon. If I had to bet at this minute, I'd say we are seeing Urban's last season at OSU. The only question now is, do they even miss a beat, or will their exceptional recruiting plus Ryan Day as HC? The guy has never been an HC, as far as I know, outside this year as "acting" HC during Urban's suspension...
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2802296-report-mounting-friction-and-tension-building-between-urban-meyer-ohio-state
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^
I know what you mean...you may wish, in the future, to actually say what you mean.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:46 AM ^
I think there was a behind the scenes deal that Urban could come back and fake his health issues so he could go out on his own terms at the end of this year. They call it 'boothitis' and the only cure is a job at ESPN.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:52 AM ^
and the only cure is a job at ESPN
The thing is ... he's not very good as an analyst. That one year he was between Florida and OSU he did the booth thing, and the results weren't that impressive. Not saying he won't get such a gig ... just saying he'd be riding on his name, not his talent in that realm.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:56 AM ^
I was just thinking that too. I don't remember Meyer being more than average on a good day during his stint at ESPN. He'd probably get his old job back in a cold minute, to be sure, but it isn't adding any value to an already talent-starved group of personalities on these broadcasts.
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:36 AM ^
He publicly lied about covering for a serial abuser. No network is going to touch him with a ten foot pole. Maybe Art Briles is available though.
October 23rd, 2018 at 1:22 PM ^
He can go the way of Art Briles - time to coach football in Italy
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
He was on a three-person team with Spielman, and I always remember Spielman having to prompt Meyer to say stuff. I think my favorite was when they were doing a game and the QB threw the ball to a covered receiver but managed to complete it. Speilman was like, "that's what we call a 'courageous' throw. Takes a lot of courage to complete a pass like that, huh Urban? Don't you like a quarterback who's not afraid to make the courageous throw?"
Urban totally didn't get the levity and just goes off like a robot. "No I would not. You must value the ball. Cannot throw into coverage..."
Spielman started laughing and was like, "just checking."
I do think Spielman probably had some role in getting Meyer to Columbus but yeah, dude is not personable and Spielman knew it. He couldn't have been the only one.
October 23rd, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
ESPN/ABC has gone downhill after Keith Jackson retired and the banishment of Bret Musburger to the sec network.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^
Let them win the rest of their remaining games to get 10-1 and our boys come into the shoe and dismantle them. Harbaugh tells Meyer that he should probably not take his "memory" pills. Meyer retires the following Monday.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:59 AM ^
We need Sparty to beat OSU so we have a much safer path to Indy
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:03 AM ^
Um, what? We beat OSU and we're going to Indy.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:08 AM ^
But if we beat PSU and MSU beats OSU, we can lose to OSU and still go to Indy (assuming we beat Rutgers and Indiana, of course), is his point, I think...
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:16 AM ^
Cowardly thinking. Just Beat OSU.
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:20 AM ^
We have never been to Indy. To go with one, two, three or five losses is fucking fine with me. I hope and believe we win out, but come on. A B1G title is a B1G title, under any conditions.
October 23rd, 2018 at 11:21 AM ^
Proved by PSU a couple of years ago.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:27 PM ^
Wow, I can't believe I need to spell it out, but since I got negged 9 times here it is:
I think it goes without saying that we all want the team to beat OSU, very badly, and repeatedly year after year. But if for some godforsaken reason that doesn't happen this year, would you rather the team then play for the B1G Championship or not?
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:22 AM ^
I don't want to go to Indy if we lose to OSU. Better to just curl up into an assball and cry for a month.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:41 AM ^
I'd be OK with this scenario. If we win in Indy, we'd be at 11-2, Big10 champs and going to the rose bowl with an excellent chance to win there. Obviously prefer the CFP and beating OSU, but that would be a very successful season compared to the last 10 years.
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
I would be too. Losing to OSU would positively SUUUUUCK but still going to the title game would be great, to get additional exposure. I don't know if it would do much for bowl seedings but to finish the season 12-2 sounds good to me.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:09 AM ^
I get what Pepper Brooks is saying. If MSU beats OSU then it's guaranteed we go to the B1G game if we are 10-1 heading to Cbus. I think if Urban takes an L in EL and then we beat them it could be the last straw.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:21 AM ^
Beating aOSU should be our #1 goal ... Falling short of that, can you imagine the sturm and drang in Columbus if they won The Game and it didn't matter a damn?
October 23rd, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
Winning The Game always matters, even if it doesn't affect the B1G title race. Every Michigan fan who grew up watching football in the 90s knows this.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:21 AM ^
I'd love for OSU to finish third in the East this year.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:49 AM ^
It will be very interesting to see how OSU reacts in their next game to the Purdue pounding. Will Meyer have the team regrouped, focused and behind him or will they look lost. We may know more through observation after that game.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:54 AM ^
They're off this week and host Nebraska on 11/3 at 12pm.
Barring an upset to Bethune Cookman, Nebraska will roll into the Toilet on a 2 game winning streak. They are currently the best 1-6 team in the history of college football.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^
Oh man, now THAT would be some schadenfreude...
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:55 AM ^
I suspect Nebraska is in for a long Saturday afternoon.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:56 AM ^
At least based on my personal experiences within the OSU fanbase I would say the report is largely correct. They arent particularly happy with his offensive and defensive gameplanning (73 passes against Purdue - gashed repeatidly by their offense) and are very worried that there might be one, two or even three (depending on the bowl game match up) losses still on the horizon.
And I think it's equally clear he wasnt happy with how the entire Zach Smith situation was handled by the school, that he was forced to issue multiple apologies (and he sucks at giving them) and that he doesnt perceive he has the full support of the university any more.
No telling what will happen but I do think the next few months, especially if he loses to us for the first time, will be very interesting.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:14 AM ^
So they want the OC as their coach instead?
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^
But the school didn't bat an eye when Urban threw his wife under the bus. That multiple week investigation was all smoke and mirrors to get their stories straight before telling the public about a wrist slap punishment. Not that they had morals to begin with but they did everything in their power to keep him. Does he really have a beef with how the school handled the situation on his part?
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:24 AM ^
Yes. He's an asshole and a narcissist. I'm sure he's pissed that he had to fire Zach Smith.
October 23rd, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^
A few years ago, a very senior attorney at the organization I was then working for retired. This man was a very highly-respected expert in the relevant field, widely regarded as the top lawyer in the state for his particular subject matter for many years and one of the best in the country.
When he retired, lots of people urged me to apply for the position he vacated. I didn't really want his position because I'm more advocacy/litigation-focused and this position was more related to coordination and project management. But I did have the credentials and standing in the field to where I felt like they should offer me the job if I did apply. I was really on the fence about it, but thought, "well, maybe I'll apply and then see if I can negotiate some necessary changes to the position before I accept it." Even so, my heart wasn't truly in it. I felt like I was applying because I should, not because I really wanted the position.
Well, a couple weeks after my interview I was informed that the hiring committee had decided on two finalists for the position, and I was not one of them. I was honestly enraged. I didn't really want the job, I could objectively see that it was not a good fit for me, and if I'd been offered the job I really have no idea whether I would have accepted it. But I was still pissed off because the emotional part of me felt like I'd earned the right to at least be offered the job and make that decision myself. I know that's ludicrous--certainly I can see that an organization is going to look for the best person to fill the position they are trying to fill, regardless of what some employee thinks he's entitled to. But I just could not suppress the anger. I seethed about it for days. I didn't tell anyone how upset I was, but I think our deputy director must have sensed it because she insisted I go out for coffee with her, and in the conversation eventually told me "well, you're competitive and this is a loss." Yup.
A few months later I had a couple better opportunities come along. I applied for them, accepted one (on the opposite damn coast), and I moved on. Now, these were legitimately better positions and I probably would have applied and so forth regardless. But as long as I was at the former organization, that "loss" ate at me and there was a part of me that just didn't want to be there anymore--even though I recognized how irrational and objectively dubious my thinking may have been.
Obviously Meyer's situation is different. He did something wrong and is pissed about having been held accountable for it. Objectively, his feelings are ridiculous. The "accountability" was a slap on the wrist. He's at one of the best football programs in the country where he can compete for national championships on a yearly basis, he's making an incomprehensible amount of money, and he can stay as long as he wants.
But he's a competitive person. And he took a loss.
October 23rd, 2018 at 4:08 PM ^
Meyer is a sociopath, so yes.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:24 AM ^
How could he not have the full support of the school? The President deferred to the BoT before the investigation even started - so he's complicit with everything. The only BoT member that opposed the 'findings' resigned in protest - so he has unanimous support from the BoT. The AD obviously is behind him 100%. WTF else could he want?
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:50 AM ^
What he wanted was full and complete exoneration from the university from any guilt, wrongdoing or complicity in the entire Zach Smith shit storm. What he did not want was to be suspended, forced to issue multiple apologies to Courtney and be made to look like an lying idiot in the national press. Not saying he's being rationale here - just reporting what he was looking for.
Unfortunately for Urbs he got the latter, not the former.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:57 AM ^
Seven year itch - both sides are scratching off layers of skin furiously.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:05 AM ^
A good friend of mine is an OSU booster type. He didn’t give me anything remotely approaching inside info but he said at the beginning of the season that the players don’t love Urban - with a few exceptions, never have - but that if you are winning and stocking day 1 of the NFL draft with Buckeyes, nobody is going to say a word. The players are scared of him and just want him to get them into the league. But there is no love there. With Urban, it’s all business.
Compare that to the locker room celebration after our most recent win, with Harbaugh jumping around and singing with the players like he was a 12 year old fan. Compare that to the way our players talk about Harbaugh and the way the players were hugging him in the locker room.
The funny thing is that when we hired Harbaugh, so many OSU fans said that our team would get sick of his personality by year 4. I guess not so much.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:35 AM ^
I'm not saying I don't believe you, but I think this might be a mischaracterization of things. If they really were scared of him, these things would seep out on recruiting weekends. When players are recruiting other players this stuff is apparent, and they wouldn't be able to recruit as effectively as they have been. Now, this may be the beginning of the end, and the recruiting seems to be effected at this point, so yeah, maybe now.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:37 AM ^
I travel on business to Columbus occasionally, and I get a chance to talk to OSU fans. Word is Urban Meyer is a bit of a cold fish when he's out in public. I suspect that's just his personality.
That works when the team is winning; it becomes a burr under the saddle when they aren't.
October 23rd, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^
I am thinking there are varying levels of "love" for Harbaugh, and some of the departures are players who don't. This can be OK though - personal differences are OK.
For example - outwardly, Nick Saban seems like the micromanaging, competitive, makeno mistakes, never any fun type. However, there was a funny twitter video this past summer of Saban, on his boat with a many players, and the boat was out of gas. Clearly they all, including Saban, were having a good laugh about it.
The point is, we don't really know. That said, it sure seems like Urban is an unlikable ass who survives on winning reputation only.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:06 AM ^
Meh, they'll be alright most likely. Another school you might know promoted a guy that had never been a college HC when the head coach was fired right before the season. It would hard for the next coach to match his win totals though. In the meantime we need to just bulldoze them and show who's trending up, because their defense is still less than stellar, and we're 8 games deep now.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:09 AM ^
Maybe it's OSU's turn to walk in the desert for a while? Meyer leaves, Day becomes HC, does a thoroughly mediocre (or bad) job, then he gets fired after dropping 4 out of 5 games to us. Next they hire their version of Brady Hoke.
A man can dream.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:26 AM ^
Keep going, I'm almost there...
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:26 AM ^
Do you really think they'd let Day coach five years with that record against us? I think losing the first matchup would probably get his seat warm, and his second loss would be firing time.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:27 AM ^
No. They need to hire their version of RichRod before hiring their version of Brady Hoke.
It's more than just dropping 4 of 5 to us. It's about dreading Saturday for the first time in your life. About having no hope that your defense can get a stop at any point of the game. About seeing (even a mobile) QB get sacked about 500 times. About barely escaping teams like UMass, Illinois and losing to Toledo and Rutgers. They need a good decade of this endless misery. No fan base deserves this more.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:48 AM ^
I agree, but I'd settle for them having another Cooper era. Great teams that blast the crap out of everyone on their schedule.
Until the last weekend in November when all their dreams turn to ashes.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:59 AM ^
The new Cooper would be my preference, but I'll take OSU versions of Rodriguez and Hoke any day.
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:05 AM ^
Except these days with 4 teams that would still give them the opportunity to back door into the playoff, unlike 93, 95, and 96.
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
I don't know about that. Seems like if you're going to lose a game you have to lose it early.
Also, we were unranked in 93 and beat them 28-0.
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:48 AM ^
That 1993 game was so satisfying. All the OSU fans came into Ann Arbor very cocky, convinced that Cooper had finally righted the ship and Michigan was finally going to get their comeuppance. All those mouthy assholes slipped out of Michigan Stadium early because they couldn't handle the blowback to all their bravado. Cowards.