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

[Thump]

 

[ScriptOhio]

Skull Session: Michael V. Drake Didn't Want to Fire Urban Meyer in 2018, Tavien St. Clair Could Become the No. 1 Prospect in 2025 and J.K. Dobbins is “100 Percent Now”

Michael V. Drake didn't want to fire Urban Meyer in 2018, Tavien St. Clair continues to climb the recruiting ranks and J.K. Dobbins is “100 percent now” after his Achilles tear.

www.elevenwarriors.com

SKULL SESSION: MICHAEL V. DRAKE DIDN'T WANT TO FIRE URBAN MEYER IN 2018, TAVIEN ST. CLAIR COULD BECOME THE NO. 1 PROSPECT IN 2025 AND J.K. DOBBINS IS “100 PERCENT NOW”​

(ALMOST) SIX YEARS LATER. Throughout the Zach Smith Saga of 2018 – one I am sure we all remember well and do not need to rehash on a Wednesday morning –former Ohio State president Michael V. Drake remained silent. He remained silent until after the saga ended.

But this week, Bill Rabinowitz of The Columbus Dispatch interviewed Drake, now the president of the University of California’s 10 campuses, and asked him about Smith’s firing and both Urban Meyer and Gene Smith’s suspensions. Oh, and an Ohio State Board of Trustees meeting where “all hell broke loose,” as former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney once said, but we won’t get into that here.

Drake told Rabinowitz the Saga was “personally painful” and “extraordinarily uncomfortable” because it involved people he admired and worked well with. Because of those feelings, he refrained from making public comments throughout the process. Drake denied speculation that he wanted a harsher penalty for Meyer, perhaps even his firing.

From Rabinowitz’s article:

“Absolutely not,” he said. “Let me say how much not is the case: Absolutely not. Zero. I don’t think that would have been appropriate.”
Drake said the suspensions corresponded to what he thought they should be.
“As an institution, we have to represent our institutional values all the time,” Drake said. “That’s really our bottom line. Sometimes we don’t do that perfectly, and when we don’t, we acknowledge that, correct ourselves and move forward. … We have to be who we say we are, and (Zach Smith) wasn’t a good representation or representative of that in many ways. We had to work through that to get on with the future and be better. … Part of being the best collegiate athletics program in the world is that I don’t think we can call ourselves the best in the world just because of our performance on the field. It has to be about who we are in our community more broadly, and we feel we have to stand up for these values.”

As for Gene Smith’s suspension, Drake said it was unexpected but necessary.

“I believe he fully understood that we had to be responsible as a program,” he said. “When things go well, that’s great for everyone. If there are issues and problems, then everybody has to be responsible for those things as well. You take responsibility, you illustrate the lesson, you move forward and you’re stronger at the end of the day.”
Drake said his relationships with Gene Smith and Meyer were good after the suspensions.
“It was something we had to go through,” Drake said of Smith, “and it was in no way personal.”

Following the “Afternoon with Gene Smith” event on April 19 – 11 days before Rabinowitz’s article was published – Smith was asked about 2018 and whether he and Meyer “took a bullet” for Zach Smith’s actions and their ensuing fallout.

“I never looked at that way,” the Ohio State athletic director said. “At the end of the day, mistakes were made and people needed to be accountable for it. I needed to be accountable. Urban needed to be accountable. … When it happened, sure, I was pissed off. But I don’t stay pissed off long. I move to resolution. It’s just the way I am.”

All in all, the Saga seems like water under the bridge for Drake, Smith and Meyer.

“We went to the Rose Bowl and had a great season,” Drake said. “We did events together. Urban’s decision to leave was 100% his. … It wasn’t a happy time. I really enjoyed my relationship with Urban before that and respected him and was supportive of him moving forward. The concept that I wanted him to leave … that’s just not true.”
Meyer confirmed that.
“That’s a true statement,” he said. “He tried to talk me into staying.”

Sometimes I wonder, what if Meyer had stayed?

Where would Ohio State be in 2024?

Something to think about.

 

[DaiMonMoore]

Urban was likely losing the edge and it's probably best he left when he did. You could say the same happened in Florida. He was a complete disaster in Jacksonville.

 

[ochre]

Urban was likely losing the edge and it's probably best he left when he did. You could say the same happened in Florida. He was a complete disaster in Jacksonville.

I don't disagree about the losing his edge part, but I don't think the Jags experience necessarily represents that. To me that's more just that NFL players give zero fucks about checkers.

 

[Buckeye86]

I don't disagree about the losing his edge part, but I don't think the Jags experience necessarily represents that. To me that's more just that NFL players give zero fucks about checkers.

I think Meyer’s lost edge was most apparent on offense… the chances of him winning another national championship valuing, and treating, the QB as a fullback were exceedingly very small, in my opinion.

Anyone think Tate Martell (or a Tate Martell type) was going to get it done at QB ever? Very small maybe, but I’m pretty happy to be with Day now.

That said, Day is probably going more towards a QB that is a run threat in 2024, so obviously there is a balance to be struck, but I think it was clear that where Meyer came down on the scale was increasingly outdated and ineffective.

This whole idea brings up some interesting hypotheticals about what would have happened if Cardale didn’t step in for the championship run in 2014, as well, which seemingly forced Meyer to step back from the “my QB is a FB” edge somewhat for that run.

 

[RB07OSU]

He wasn't losing any edge, pushing him out at the time was the wrong decision. Do I think he could be an effective head coach in the modern CFB climate? No, but when we de facto terminated him, it was bullshit imo.

It's been a long time since any of this was relevant, but to the extent that Urban ever wants to have an association or a consulting role with OSU...heck yeah.

 

[Steve19]

He wasn't losing any edge, pushing him out at the time was the wrong decision. Do I think he could be an effective head coach in the modern CFB climate? No, but when we de facto terminated him, it was bullshit imo.

It's been a long time since any of this was relevant, but to the extent that Urban ever wants to have an association or a consulting role with OSU...heck yeah.

What he said...

 

[gmen6981]

I think Meyer’s lost edge was most apparent on offense… the chances of him winning another national championship valuing, and treating, the QB as a fullback were exceedingly very small, in my opinion.

Anyone think Tate Martell (or a Tate Martell type) was going to get it done at QB ever? Very small maybe, but I’m pretty happy to be with Day now.

That said, Day is probably going more towards a QB that is a run threat in 2024, so obviously there is a balance to be struck, but I think it was clear that where Meyer came down on the scale was increasingly outdated and ineffective.

This whole idea brings up some interesting hypotheticals about what would have happened if Cardale didn’t step in for the championship run in 2014, as well, which seemingly forced Meyer to step back from the “my QB is a FB” edge somewhat for that run.

I agree completely about Cardale. I love J.T. He'll always be one of my all time favorite Buckeyes because of his leadership and heart. But honestly, I just don't see the Bucks winning the Natty in 2014 with him at QB. ( not sure how the season would have gone if Braxton wasn't injured) So many things just happened to fall right that year. It really was a magical season.

 

[CMic]

He wasn't losing any edge, pushing him out at the time was the wrong decision. Do I think he could be an effective head coach in the modern CFB climate? No, but when we de facto terminated him, it was bullshit imo.

It's been a long time since any of this was relevant, but to the extent that Urban ever wants to have an association or a consulting role with OSU...heck yeah.

100% agree.
Urbs hired Day to revamp the offense, and he did.
Fields would have transferred to OSU as long as Day was the OC.

Urbs was, however, a hot fire that was going to inevitably burn out. Wish he could have made it to 10-0.

 

[RB07OSU]

100% agree.
Urbs hired Day to revamp the offense, and he did.
Fields would have transferred to OSU as long as Day was the OC.

Urbs was, however, a hot fire that was going to inevitably burn out. Wish he could have made it to 10-0.

To revamp the offense and recruit at a higher level, both of which he did. And winning a title pretty quickly, while also going undefeated against ttun (to your point). I think he was still in his prime, albeit that the burnout was inevitable and I don't think he would still be our coach to this day because of that.

But Gene Smith, who I have a mixed bag of emotions on, cannot say he was held accountable over any of the whole UFM deal. One thing about OSU at the administrative level that drives me insane is that the AD's are rarely held accountable and the sword falls on someone else. I appreciate that you were "pissed about it" GS, but have some spine and defend your coach. He has done that with coaches that weren't even getting the job done (see Holtmann), so I really am not giving any credence to that part of his story.

To me, the only mistake UFM made on the Smith subject was keeping Zach Smith because he was a legacy of sorts and needed to be fired, not for the reasons most people talk about. And he tended to do that with other assistants, so I am not saying he was perfect. But if the Zach Smith saga was really the reason for UFM getting canned, it is absolute BS.

Also, not shooting the messenger @ScriptOhio . That was a very interesting article and just conjured up some thoughts on the matter now that it is years back. Weirdly, I think exactly the same after years to reflect. UFM was forced out for stupid reasons, but he was a good steward in recommending Day take over. I know Day must beat ttun this year and make a serious run at the title. But I am very proud of Day being our coach and his track record outside of ttun (again, crucial) and his absolute professionalism and knowledge of the game makes it apparent why UFM recommended him even though he was being shoved out the door.

 

[ScriptOhio]

This Week in Twitter: Aaron Craft Obtains Doctorate from OSU College of Medicine, C.J. Stroud Sumo Wrestles with Micah Parsons, and Terry McLaurin Gets Lunch with Magic Johnson

Aaron Craft becomes an OSU-certified doctor, C.J. Stroud brings his competitive feud with Micah Parsons overseas, and Terry McLaurin dines with an NBA legend.

www.elevenwarriors.com

Congratulations are also due to former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer this week, who won the Southern Company Peach Bowl Challenge golf outing this week in a pairing with current Florida State head coach Mike Norvell. Meyer and Norvell defeated Shane Beamer and Houston Nutt in a four-hole playoff on their way to helping raise $300,000 for charity.