Of course, the thing they are missing is something that they can't ever wrap their heads around because it's fundamental to who they are. The reason Chardonnay won't ever be Zeke or Barkley, for that matter, has less to do with his talent and a lot more to do with the fact that he's not going to get strong coaching (remember who their RB coach is, although, that's not specific to my point here) there. Zeke and Barkley wouldn't have been Zeke and Barkley if they went to scUM. More likely they would have been Derek Green. Lazy. Entitled. The belief that being a Michigan Wolverine, alone, makes you a winner. Your work has finished as soon as you put on the ridiculous helmet.
I've said it before and I say it again; that which makes Michigan appealing to a player is fundamentally and critically different than what Ohio State is looking for in a player. Sure, there's some crossover... take DPJ, for example... if he wanted to compete and would strangle a guy over a game a checkers, he'd be a Buckeye. Instead, he took the route of least resistance. He'll go to the league, and he may even do very well there, but these 3 years in college... meh... it's a nice little break from having to work hard.
Nailed it.
What those clowns have been lacking over the last 15 years (15 YEARS!!!) more than anything, is coaching. Look at their current staff.
@Buckeye86 laid it out a week or two ago. They have a dime store coaching staff right now stocked with nepotism and guys hired away from high schools to lure recruits. Look up and down that staff and point one guy to me that you think a school like Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, etc. would hire. I don't see one...maybe Zordich...
maybe. Josh Gattis, a coach Saban made no effort to elevate to OC when Locksley left, or even try to retain at all was their supposed savior. That's gone...
poorly. Not one of those clowns will be a future head coach. I said after looking at that list that Day identified the two good coaches on Harbrau's staff and poached them.
On the flipside, look at Ryan Day's staff. Loaded with guys who are either well established as excellent assistant coaches (Wilson, LJ Sr., Mattison, Stud, Yurcich) or hotshot, young up-and-comers (Washington, Hartline, Hafley).
Lets compare:
Offensive Coordinator
Kevin Wilson/Mike Yurcich vs. Josh Gattis
Not even a contest. Wilson coordinated record-setting offenses at OU and actually cobbled together dangerous offenses at Indiana with 2 and 3 star recruits. He's in his third year coordinating a dynamic offense at tOSU. Yurcich coordinated explosive Okie State offenses and developed a few outstanding college QBs. Fields has been nearly lights out this year. Gattis is/was all hype. Received praise as a WR coach at Ped Aggy, then "co-coordinated" an outstanding bammer offense last year. This year he's overseeing a molten sludge-fart, making it more and more apparent Lockley was the real talent.
Defensive Coordinator
Jeff Hafley/Greg Mattison vs. Don Brown
Edge: tOSU. Greg Mattison has a long decorated carer as a DC and DL coach. He worked a miracle in 2011 when he assumed control of a defense that ahd been the worst in scUM history and made them a top-20 unit his first year. Same thing is happening in Columbus this year. Hafley is an energetic, young DC who is getting all kinds of praise for his coaching and recruiting. Don Brown may be their best assistant coach, but he has a well established trend of beating up on teams with inferior talent and/or predictable schemes. When opponents match them talent-wise, or throw a wrinkle at them, they get gashed. The fucking guy couldn't adapt to crossing routes in the Game last year. It worked time after time after time. Zero adjustments.
Quarterbacks
Mike Yurcich vs. Ben McDaniels
Edge: tOSU. Yurcich was in Stillwater from 2013-2018 and each year they had anywhere from really good to excellent QB play. Not one of them were highly recruited kids and he got Mason Rudolph to the NFL. Early returns on Justin Fields are outstanding. I don't even know who Ben McDaniels is. He's hopped from job-to-job on a near yearly basis since 2009. His only two year stint was as an Offensive Analyst on two bad Chicago Bears offenses in 2016-17. Not even close.
Running Backs
Tony Alford vs. Jay Harbrau
Edge: Come on. 
Wide receivers
Brian Hartline vs. None listed (assume Gattis)
Edge: tOSU. Brian Hartline in just his second years is turning into one of the country's best recruiters and our WRs have played at a very high level. WR has arguably been a position of strength for tsun, but how the hell could you tell for sure when their QB can't consistently get them the ball outside of arm punts. tOSU's WRs block like MF'ers, no idea if scUM's do, because their offense is so noodle-dicked they rarely are moving the ball downfield enough to necessitate their WRs blocking.
Tight Ends
Kevin Wilson vs. Sherrone Moore
Edge: tOSU. TEs haven't been a big part of the Buckeye offense for a long time, but when they're called on, they're effective. I don't know who the hell a Sherrone Moore is. Looks like they poached him from CMU. And it seems like their TEs have been dropping a lot of passes the past two years.
Offensive Line
Greg Studrawa vs. Ed Warriner
I'll call this a wash. Main reason being that the OL has been up and down during Studrawa's tenure. And Warriner doesn't exactly have a sparkling resume since 2014. Both of them have been in charge of some outstanding OLs that often seem to coincide with being aligned to a brilliant OC. I always say it's much easier for an OL to look like beasts when they're blocking for a dynamic offense and skilled playcaller.
Defensive Line
Larry Johnson, Sr. vs. Shaun Nua
Edge: tOSU. LJ, Sr. is a legendary DL coach. I don't know who the fuck Shaun Nua is. Looks like he spent several years as the Navy DL coach and last year in the same position at Arizona State. hat's an...underwhelming...resume, to be kind.
Linebackers
Al Washington vs. Anthony Campanile
Edge tOSU. Washington was one of scUM's best assistants. Day cucked harbrau and brought him onboard. The difference between last year and this year's LBs is night and day. I don't know who Anthony Campanile is. He was an offensive assistant at Rutgers from 2013-15 before switching over to defense when he went to Boston College to coach DBs. This is his first time coaching LBs since 2006 at Fairlawn HS in New Jersey.
Defensive Backs
Jeff Hafley vs. Mike Zordich
This might be the one area that is reasonably close, but I'd still take Hafley over Zordich. Our DBs have been lights out this year. scUM's secondary is usually pretty solid which leads me to believe Zordich might actually be competent at his job.
All of that that I just typed out is reason 1a for the gulf between these two programs. 1b is recruiting. We are slaughtering them in recruiting. I don't care what the rankings say when they've had classes consistently larger than ours. Look at the average rating per recruit. It's not close, and it isn't getting closer.
