Urban F. Meyer (Former OSU, CFB and NFL coach)

[OH10]

Name the coach doing this consistently.

I honestly can’t find any coach right now of a playoff contender who has been blown out even once by an unranked team. Let alone twice.

EDIT: That’s on Urban. I know we all want it to be on Stud or Davis, who both objectively suck at what they do. But they’re Urban’s guys. Blowout losses to unranked opponents are season killers. Back to back years? Yeah, it’s not the end of the world if a disinterested Urban Meyer walks away at the end of the year.

 

[jwinslow]

I honestly can’t find any coach right now of a playoff contender who has been blown out even once by an unranked team. Let alone twice.

That's not what you said. Find me the coach of the team without inexcusable lapses.

As a side bonus, if Urban were losing shootouts to hapless teams like Iowa, would that make you happier? Like what happens to Clemson or Oklahoma most years?

To answer your extremely convenient metric:

Coach O lost by 30 to MSST last year. MSST got beat 80-13 in the following 2 games and lost every ranked game besides LSU (plus the Egg Bowl).

Harbaugh lost 8 games in 2 years, and they went a decade without a road win over the top-25. They had a playoff ruining loss at Iowa, but hey, it was close!

Brian Kelly lost 8 games in 1 season just 2 years ago, but hey, they were all close!

Herman has opened both seasons with losses to Maryland. Is it comforting that it was close?


None of those coaches is within Miles of Meyer as a college coach.

 

[knuckifyoubuck]

HIRE FICKELL! lol

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

That's not what you said. Find me the coach of the team without inexcusable lapses.

Nick Saban. Five double-digit losses in his almost 12 seasons at Alabama, that worse of which was 14 points.

 

[jwinslow]

Nick Saban. Five double-digit losses in his almost 12 seasons at Alabama, that worse of which was 14 points.

Who is the greatest coach in the history of the sport. There is no other answer, and if it weren't for the SEC favoritism in the polls & polls (partially earned by Saban's greatness), his semi regular losses to teams like Aggy/Miss/MSST would have cost him dearly.

Meyer's program has serious flaws, and just like before the NC run, he needs to look in the mirror about his coaching hires. That said, the cliff beneath Meyer is extremely steep and most free fall when trying to replace a legend.

 

[OH10]

As a side bonus, if Urban were losing shootouts to hapless teams like Iowa, would that make you happier? Like what happens to Clemson or Oklahoma most years?.

Is that a trick question because the answer to that is a resounding YES. We would have been in the playoffs last year if we didn’t get blown out in Iowa City. If we didn’t get blown last Saturday, we’d probably still control our own destiny. So.... YES! I’d be much happier. Wouldn’t you or do you live in some fantasy world where margin of defeat means nothing?

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Who is the greatest coach in the history of the sport. There is no other answer, and if it weren't for the SEC favoritism in the polls & polls (partially earned by Saban's greatness), his semi regular losses to teams like Aggy/Miss/MSST would have cost him dearly.

Well, Josh, you said "Find me the coach of the team without inexcusable lapses" and I told you. Whether he is arguably the greatest college football coach ever is irrelevant. Saban isn't some Knute Rockne or Fielding Yost, who are nothing but whispy legends of the bygone area of sepia photographs and grainy black and white film. He is here and now, and will likely be around for at least another five years or so. Coaches can watch and learn from how he always seems to have his teams ready, regardless of the opponent or venue.

 

[jwinslow]

Is that a trick question because the answer to that is a resounding YES. We would have been in the playoffs last year if we didn’t get blown out in Iowa City.

Because like 07, it was a crappy playoff field, not because they deserved it. Bama got in without doing a single thing all year.

If we didn’t get blown last Saturday, we’d probably still control our own destiny. So.... YES! I’d be much happier. Wouldn’t you or do you live in some fantasy world where margin of defeat means nothing?

They still control their own destiny. Win out, smash MSU & UM and they're in. Or keep playing bad football and get what they deserve.

Wouldn’t you or do you live in some fantasy world where margin of defeat means nothing?

I don't live in a fantasy world where our fanbase would be behaving differently if those inexcusable losses were defense-free shootouts. (like Iowa for a half before the targeting call)

If OSU got one stop down the stretch vs Purdue, came all the way back but ultimately lost, would the chatter be much different? I seriously doubt it.

 

[jwinslow]

Well, Josh, you said "Find me the coach of the team without inexcusable lapses" and I told you. Whether he is arguably the greatest college football coach ever is irrelevant. Saban isn't some Knute Rockne or Fielding Yost, who are nothing but whispy legends of the bygone area of sepia photographs and grainy black and white film. He is here and now, and will likely be around for at least another five years or so. Coaches can watch and learn from how he always seems to have his teams ready, regardless of the opponent or venue.

1) I agree with your answer and please regard my qualifier as a footnote.

2) It's extremely relevant, because he's not an option for this program or almost anyone else (other than LSU briefly). He wasn't even really an option for MSU, because that version of Saban looked nothing like this one.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

I'm of two minds on this. I agree with those who say that UM is the best coach we can hope for. OTOH, I also agree that losing these blowout games is unacceptable because they kill our playoff hopes. We lose by 4 points late in the 4th last Saturday, and we're still a realistic playoff team. And if UM is truly the second best coach in the game, don't you want to get into those playoffs and take your chances in a two game format?

And yes, we still have a a chance but not the same chance as we would with a close loss.

 

[Honor&Glory]

Now that I’ve participated in this discussion and caught up on all the posts..

Is this the definition of first world problems?

 

[buckeyemania11]

I'm of two minds on this. I agree with those who say that UM is the best coach we can hope for. OTOH, I also agree that losing these blowout games is unacceptable because they kill our playoff hopes. We lose by 4 points late in the 4th last Saturday, and we're still a realistic playoff team. And if UM is truly the second best coach in the game, don't you want to get into those playoffs and take your chances in a two game format?

And yes, we still have a a chance but not the same chance as we would with a close loss.

I get the feeling, like last year, that they will manage to pull it together and win out.

But yea once again it sucks that it probably takes a pistol whipping by a lower team to get it to that "put it together" point.

 

[BUCK3YE5]

Anyone who wants Urban gone is out of their mind, period.

 

[RugbyBuck]

My problem is that while we can likely get it together and win the conference, we will get our ass handed to us in the playoff if we get there and we can't just continue to take national tv beat-downs and continue our recruiting success. The problem is that this team, including this iteration of the coaching staff, doesn't belong there. It's soft, undisciplined, and insistent that it not make the changes that were/are obviously needed. It's not injuries and it's not a lack of athletic ability (although we seem to insist on placing players in positions for which they're ill-suited). It's coaching and it's not just this year.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Not bad for a bunch of Ohio boys, and a majority of 3/4 stars

Don't try to make it seem like Tressel signed a bunch of no-name Ohio kids and turned them into perennial national championship contenders.

1. From 2001 to 2011, Tressel signed 222 recruits. 134 of those recruits (60.4%) were from Ohio. 88 of those recruits (39.6%) were from eighteen other states and the province of Ontario. That's not "a bunch of Ohio boys." That's a pretty fair mix of in-state and out-of-state players.

Meyer's recruiting is almost exactly the reverse, with 66 of 171 signees (38.6%) from Ohio, and 105 of 171 signees (61.4%) from out-of-state.

2. Here's a list of the states where Tressel signed players: Ohio (134); Florida (24); Pennsylvania (14); Georgia (8); Michigan (6); Indiana (5); Illinois (4); California (4); Maryland (4); Texas (3); New Jersey (2); North Carolina (2); Virginia (2); Kentucky (2); Minnesota (2); New York (1); Louisiana (1); Missouri (1); South Carolina (1); West Virginia (1); Ontario (1).

3. Although there were undoubtedly a lot of great "Ohio boys" on his teams, many of Tressel's best signees were from out of state: James Laurinaitis (Minnesota); Malcolm Jenkins (New Jersey); Terrelle Pryor (Pennsylvania); Cameron Heyward (Georgia); Bradley Roby (Georgia); Santonio Holmes (Florida); Chris Gamble (Florida); Ryan Shazier (Florida); Chimdi Chekwa (Florida); Nate Salley (Florida); Brian Rolle (Florida); Vernon Gholston (Michigan); Ashton Youboty (Texas); and Doug Worthington (New York).

4. And of course, Tressel probably doesn't win an NC in 2002 without those out-of-state kids signed by John Cooper: Craig Krenzel (Michigan); Will Smith (New York); Shane Olivea (New York); Michael Jenkins (Florida); and Darrion Scott (West Virginia).

5. Everybody's recruiting classes are "a majority of 3/4 stars". Last year, Georgia signed one of the most insane recruiting classes ever: seven were 5-stars and nineteen were 3/4 stars.

In eleven classes, Tressel signed fourteen 5-star prospects (according to Rivals). Meyer has signed sixteen 5-star prospects in seven classes. In terms of percentage, that's 9.4% for Meyer (16/171) and 6.3 % for Tressel (14/222). Not a huge difference.