OSU/MSU Coaching Futures Discussion

Submitted by EconClassof14 on

The cited podcast is a month old and no longer exists, but I thought it warranted discussion in our slow period. 

 
Feldman and Mandel recently discussed their expectations for how much longer Meyer will coach at OSU. Meyer is currently 53. Mandel expects Meyer to coach another few years until around 2022. Feldman said he "doesn't see Mayer coaching past 56 and certainly not to 60". While their statements are speculative, they did have insight on Stoops stepping down early. The Harbaugh-Meyer battles may not last as long as I expected. 
 
Side note, which scenario do you think would be best for MSU to fade into oblivion?
   A) A disaster of a season this year, 2-3 wins. Fire Dantonio and they start fresh with  Narduzzi or a wildcard upstart coach.
  B) 5-6 wins this year, retain Dantonio (age 61) and give him a few years to try and      stabilize the program
 
 

jmblue

July 22nd, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^

Dantonio won't get fired barring a scandal.  He's been their best coach in the last 50 years. There is no particular reason to believe he personally was the problem last year.   I think it's quite possible he retires in the next few years, though.

No idea if there is anything to that Meyer speculation.  I'd assume he would coach awhile since he's in his prime age-wise.  Given how competitive he seems to be, I could maybe see him wanting to give the pros a shot someday, but otherwise I'd expect him to be in Columbus another decade or so.  

 

Logan88

July 23rd, 2017 at 8:23 AM ^

Unfortunately, I think Meyer is smart enough to realize that he would likely be a massive failure in the NFL. For whatever reason (elite speed on defense?), spread to run doesn't seem to work in the NFL. In addition, take away the talent advantage he enjoys at OSU (and enjoyed at UF) which would not exist in the NFL and his likelihood of success drops even further.

I hope I'm wrong. I would love to see him go to Cleveland and flop big time.

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

July 23rd, 2017 at 9:06 AM ^

current offensive scheme excels with specific talent advantages. He is not an exceptional game planner and play designer - which are critical to NFL coaching. I agree that he must recognize his 2 biggest strengths don't match the NFL. 1. His O is simple yet brutally efficient with superior talent. Power inside game that must consistently gain 4-5 yes for the O to function, exceptional speed from 1-2 hybrids to reach the edge, a durable running QB, and 1 WR who can simply beat a secondary on a go route. Extremely hard to achieve that mix in the NFL. 2. He is a great recruiter. Saban's program can outrecruit OSU, but Urban himself is arguably the very best recruiter as a coach. Essentially moot in the NFL.

FauxMo

July 22nd, 2017 at 12:32 PM ^

I think Meyer stays until his reputation with undergrad girls is so bad and he's so old, he simply can't get any young ladies to buy his shtick anymore. 

"Hey baby, wanna see my national championship rings? They're right here inside the front pocket of my tight jeans. Just reach on in and grab them!"

"No thanks, grandpa." 

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

July 23rd, 2017 at 8:15 PM ^

parameters at this point to avoid any coed issues, so the issue might be whether Shelley tires of the monitoring before Urban loses his appeal with 20-year olds. Besides, UF had a much bigger target pool than OSU. Urban is just reveling in the ol' Gainesville days during the offseason.

Mr Miggle

July 22nd, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^

in 2018. It remains to be seen if he's as good a coach as Dantonio, but a fresh start with Narduzzi is much better than where the program is headed now. It also remains to be seen whether Narduzzi would take the job. The perception that Dantonio is being forced out should make it problematic.

Hiring an up and coming coach is a crapshoot. Finding someone who can be successful at that level and who won't bolt for the first better job offer won't be easy. I don't see any candidates on their current staff.

evenyoubrutus

July 22nd, 2017 at 2:14 PM ^

I have a really hard time seeing Narduzzi take the MSU job, and if he did, I doubt he would stay there very long. I don't think MSU will ever find another coach who sees them as a last stop in his career. Best case scenario they find another Nick Saban who gives them a couple of good, scandal filled seasons. But more likely they'll just find a string of Bobby Williams and John L Smiths.

I Like Burgers

July 22nd, 2017 at 3:04 PM ^

Yeah, there is almost zero reason to take the MSU job over his current Pitt job.  Yes, he made his name at MSU, but that is a brutal job these days.  If you have the choice of playing in a division with Michigan, Ohio St, and Penn St, or....you could stay in your current division where your top competition is probably Miami, UNC, and Va. Tech you stay in the ACC Coastal.

These days MSU is a lateral move from Pitt, and at age 51 he doesn't have much time left to earn a shot at a better job.  Leaving Pitt for MSU certainly isn't going to earn him that shot.

Mr Miggle

July 23rd, 2017 at 1:06 PM ^

It's harder to do at Pitt. It's harder to do when you're in a weak division. Nationally, nobody really cares if you win it once in awhile without becoming a national power. Pitt might be an easier job to do enough to keep it, but it's not as good a job for an ambitious coach.

BeatIt

July 24th, 2017 at 6:15 PM ^

And from Pitts improvement from past years it seems his players are buying in. Pitt was a powerhouse back in the day. You know at one time the Hurricanes were a laughing stock until Schnellenberger arrived. Coaches like Saban, Meyer and Harbaugh have won at every school they have coached at. For 2 reasons, great recruiting and getting your players to buy in by creating a winning culture. I was dissapointed Herman left Houston for Texas as I thought there were a lot of similarities in a Houston like in Miami pre-Schnellenberger. A great state for football talent and big money in Houston for facility improvements at UH. I really believe a talented coach can win anywhere to an extent.

Esterhaus

July 22nd, 2017 at 1:04 PM ^

 

Once Jim Harbaugh wins consistently over him or he ages out healthwise and has installed his own successor, which should be publicly evident with the transition telegraphed. Say six years time.

Dantonio is likely to depart after being forced out within the next three years because he'll not achieve the winning results of his past given that Big Brother has re-arisen from its ashes phoenix-like and has stolen Dantonio's national thunder.

Kelly might preserve his position if he can turn around ND this season at 10-2, otherwise, the mega-Domers I am acquainted with will assert themselves for termination and Kelly will be gone some time in 2018. South Bend has the program to watch in the near term, the Domers are incredibly angry with multiple negative staff and player aspects exemplified best by the Van Gorder debacle.

Maynard

July 22nd, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^

Hate to be this guy but I will be anyway. In order for your scenario to happen over the next 6 years, Michigan would have to win 5 out of the 6 games because OSU would only have to win 2 for it to be 4-4 over 8 years. That wouldn't be Harbaugh consistently winning over the ages. Hopefully we win 5 out of 6 or all of them. 

maquih

July 22nd, 2017 at 1:11 PM ^

Why wouldn't Meyer coach through the age of 60?  As long as his health follows an average trajectory, it wouldn't be an issue at all.

Dantonio is already 61, but even for him I see him going indefinitely as well, he's averaging 9 wins a season in East Lansing! Sure, MSU is looking at a rough season ahead, but nobody would be shocked to see MSU top 25 again in a season or two.   And look at their wikipedia, he's easily the best coach they've had in over half a century, arguably best ever.  I'd like to think that kind of history earns you the right to survive two or three consecutive losing seasons. 

Narduzzi is 51 himself, so you're not getting a lot more youth by kicking out Dantonio right now, even assuming Narduzzi would leave his current exciting job and competitive salary at Pitt. MSU also has some good internal staff like Bennett that would be natural HC candidates, at the same time that staff could support Dantonio working through an advanced age.

Of course, Harbaugh is young and incredible, and Franklin is in a similarly appreciated position at Penn St, so I think the B1G East coaching situation is looking very stable for the forseeable future.

Abomb4480

July 22nd, 2017 at 1:40 PM ^

I honestly see Meyer staying for about 10 more years. Should be a fantastic decade, and I believe Harbaugh will win his fair share. I just don't see Dantonio being forced out unless they are around .500 for a few more years, and I think he will retire by then.

gruden

July 22nd, 2017 at 2:06 PM ^

Didn't Meyer pick UF over ND when he left Utah?  My memory is a bit hazy on it but it seems to me UF outbid ND for Meyer.  If Meyer really wanted ND, that would've been the time to do it (man how that would've changed things).

ND has a lot of tradition, but so does OSU.  I can't forsee him ever leaving OSU for ND.  NFL maybe, but OSU is a destination job in college.

At this point though, I wouldn't mind ND doing a little better if it meant OSU slipping for a while.

Heywood_Jablome

July 22nd, 2017 at 2:43 PM ^

Meyer wanted the ND job at one point, but his wife basicaly said she was never moving back to South Bend.

He had outs in his Florida contract for OSU, UM, and ND.

He'd never leave OSU for ND though....unless he was forced out.

Seems to me like he's enjoying his time at OSU a lot more than Florida, so I'm not buying the "burn-out" arguement some are trying to make.  He looks pretty content most of the time.

evenyoubrutus

July 22nd, 2017 at 4:51 PM ^

I might sound like a crazy homer for saying this (I am) but I think the odds are higher that Urban's success would slowly erode like so many other national championship coaches have over the years despite still recruiting elite talent, than for him to just quit at a young age again. Not very many coaches end up like Nick Saban. Lloyd Carr, Les Miles, Pete Carroll, Bob Stoops, to name a few. And if you think I'm wrong, just consider how underachieving his team's have been since 2014.

buckeyejonross

July 22nd, 2017 at 7:51 PM ^

What. How underachieving Urban Meyer's teams have been since 2014? How do you type that with a straight face? You own coach just had more NFL draft picks than wins last year, and you're gonna talk about Meyer underachieving and slowly eroding? 

Man, Meyer lost one (1) game in 2015, then followed that up in 2016 by taking the youngest team in the nation to the CFP. So unless Michigan makes the CFP this year, maybe you should re-evaluate throwing out words like "underachieving." Wouldn't want to look silly. 

evenyoubrutus

July 22nd, 2017 at 8:41 PM ^

I do think we underachieved last year. You'll get no argument from me. I'm HOPEFUL that our staff changes will improve that, and that Harbaugh's recruiting will also improve the offense. But remember, Meyer is an offensive coach, and OSU's offense has been atrocious relative to their talent the last two years. I think any rational, objective person would agree with me.

Stringer Bell

July 23rd, 2017 at 12:58 AM ^

2015 OSU was supposed to be the greatest team ever assembled, and they ultimately accomplished jack shit (due to losing to Tyler O'Connor at home lulz).  2016 OSU somehow got into the playoff despite not winning their division or their conference, and proceeded to get their doors blown off.

 

All that NFL talent and Urbz hasn't won anything the past 2 years.  He overachieved in 2014, underachieved since then.

buckeyejonross

July 23rd, 2017 at 1:48 AM ^

I want to print this comment out and frame it, it's so funny. It really must be painful for you to spinzone in your mind how it's a negative Ohio State has only managed to make two of the three college football playoffs ever, and how they only managed to win one of the three. Tough times in Columbus. The pitchforks are out.

buckeyejonross

July 23rd, 2017 at 2:05 PM ^

God you are so bad at this. No wonder Stringer Bell got outsmarted by a stick up kid. In your defense, Michigan hasn't left you much material to work with. 

You know, for a supposedly elite coach, the only thing more incredibly embarassing than losing to Tyler O'Connor at home is losing by 29 points at home to the team that lost to Tyler O'Connor at home.

And, I'll take the playoff berth, thanks. That vaunted Michigan defense probably shouldn't have given up 30 points to our hilariously mediocre offense last year if they wanted to prove who deserved to represent the B1G in the CFP. 

Clemson > FSU > OSU > Michigan. 2016 Michigan football was a 40 degree day. Sorry about it.

BeatIt

July 24th, 2017 at 6:34 PM ^

you may want to look at Alabama. They have had the #1 recruiting class 7 years in a row and lost the championship to Clemson a team that lost to Pitt and should have lost to UNC because of horrible coaching. For some reason Saban can't recruit the right QB's. But I do agree OSU grossly underachieved in 2015.

Scarlatina

July 22nd, 2017 at 11:47 PM ^

Urban said that Notre Dame got into the mix too late.

By the time Notre Dame's AD Kevin White had officially reached out to Urban, he was already into contract negotiation with Florida for the job, and he said he did not want to renege on the agreement. Urban pretty much said that if Notre Dame was just a little bit faster than he probably would have landed in Notre Dame over Florida.

Don

July 22nd, 2017 at 3:00 PM ^

that Meyer is going to self-combust any week now, because "he always does that."

Which happened at one school. You know, always.

bronxblue

July 22nd, 2017 at 3:55 PM ^

To be fair, he also never stuck around anywhere for nearly that long before. And while obviously not something to route for, bit he's been very public about anxiety and other mental issues he's dealt with over the years, and how much of a drain that's been on him and his family. He's not wired like Harbaugh, and as such I can totally buy him wanting to leave somewhat abruptly.

Richard75

July 23rd, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^

But Meyer's job-hopping history has little relevance. Of course he didn't stick around at BG and Utah very long; those are stepping stones. Florida is the only Power 5 head-coaching job Meyer had before OSU (Utah was MWC at the time). He took off early, but that's only one data point. And sometimes, even itinerant coaches settle down. Saban was a true job hopper: He left 3 different Power 5/NFL HC jobs in 5 years or less (MSU, LSU, Dolphins). But now he's been at Bama for a decade.

brad

July 22nd, 2017 at 3:36 PM ^

The only thing required to make MSU fade into oblivion is Harbaugh at Michigan. With OSU, I just expect them to be elite every year regardless of who coaches them. They'll probably replace Meyer with Tom Herman or some other very good coach