If you've been an Ohio State football fan for a long time you will understand my frustration with Jim Tressel's style of football. Jim Tressel was a small town, mediocre coach playing small ball football in the big ten and winning on superior talent alone. He was continuously out coached, under prepared, and out game planned in nearly every big game he was a part of and never delivered big wins.
Ohio State kept him around because he dominated the big ten and beat Michigan every year. It was frustrating to watch his brand of football. Three yards and a cloud of dust, punt, punt, punt, and was never creative or aggressive on offense. Not only did he lose nearly every big game, he almost lost so many games to inferior programs. Youngstown, Toledo, Troy State, Ohio University... the list goes on and on. How many games did you watch and want to gauge your eyes out?
Tressel won in the big ten because of superior talent. Period. He beat a constantly rebuilding Michigan, a child molestation mired Penn State, and had no other real competition for the longest time. It's easy to win with superior talent when everyone else sucks. It wasn't just superior, it was superior by enormous margins. His Ohio State teams had NFL caliber talent at nearly every position and would win big ten games, but lost all the big games. The 2006 national championship team was the perfect example of superior talent losing to inferior talent in a big game. He should have been fired after that horrible loss to Urban Meyer's Florida.
Urban Meyer brings a breath of fresh air. He is an innovator, he is creative, he adapts to his players and talent, he can play slow or aggressive ball, and he knows how to win. He has broken records at every stop along the way. He began his head coaching career breaking records at Bowling Green State University and being ranked as high as 15th in the nation. He moved on to Utah where he and Alex Smith broke offensive scoring records again. He would then move on to Florida, beat up on the SEC and win two national titles, one of which against Ohio State (destroyed us 41-14 with a vastly inferior team).
I am glad to see Urban Meyer coming to Ohio State and bringing along his offensive philosophy and playbook. Ohio State will dominate the big ten and national football scene for many years to come!
Read these great articles on Ohio State, Jim Tressel, and Urban Meyer:
Why Jim Tressel Sucked at Ohio State
Urban Meyer in the Big Ten, an Ohio State Fan's Guide
Urban Meyer's Spread Option Offense
Subscribe