2011 Ohio State Football - What is next?

[Captain Hook]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeRed27

I think most AD's would be pretty enthused with a 82% winning percentage and 2 National Titles.

Urban Meyer isn't the perfect choice due to the health concerns, but if that is the biggest drawback I don't see how he doesn't get the job. For OSU there is certainly worse things than having Luke Fickell as a fall back (assuming he does win out).

I agree, he must win out.Some might say that's not fair but it wouldn't be the case if they could've beat Nebraska or Michigan St. and in the Miami game the Buckeyes were outplayed by a bad team.Win two of those games and coach Fickell wouldn't be faced with the difficult task of winning out to be considered for the permanent coaching job.

[OUReds]

I know he was thrown into a bad situation, but let's not forget that Fickell was the guy who watched Bauserman everyday in practice and thought "yep, this is the QB who gives us the best chance to win". Then, when forced to make a change, had absolutely no offensive plan to maximize what Miller could do.

There seem to be no mid-game adjustments.

Yes it's nice that the team is improving, but this is a very young team, improvement is to be expected.

Yes, beating Wisconsin is sweet and frankly I didn't think they had it in them. However, I'm not giving Fickell a pass because he might be able to squeak into the championship game in (another) year where the Big Ten is way, way down.

You just don't hand over the keys to a program like Ohio State to a work-in-progress coach.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by MWM

The final punishment handed down by the NCAA will likely be the deciding factor. The other uncertainty is the current athletic administration and how long they'll be around. I've got to believe the AD is getting canned at some point. Will the new people have just as much enthusiasm about Meyer as the existing.

The AD has been rendered completely and totally irrelevant in this search. He is not the one making the decisions on this position. In fact, I think Meyer would probably prefer it if Smith were moved out the door, as I believe will happen anyhow.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Originally Posted by OUReds

I know he was thrown into a bad situation, but let's not forget that Fickell was the guy who watched Bauserman everyday in practice and thought "yep, this is the QB who gives us the best chance to win". Then, when forced to make a change, had absolutely no offensive plan to maximize what Miller could do.

There seem to be no mid-game adjustments.

Yes it's nice that the team is improving, but this is a very young team, improvement is to be expected.

Yes, beating Wisconsin is sweet and frankly I didn't think they had it in them. However, I'm not giving Fickell a pass because he might be able to squeak into the championship game in (another) year where the Big Ten is way, way down.

You just don't hand over the keys to a program like Ohio State to a work-in-progress coach.

In fairness, Braxton did not look real good early on either and Joe did have a nice game against Akron (I know it was Akron, but still). I personally think Braxton should have played just for the experience, but I don't completely fault Fickell for believing Joe gave us the best chance to win. Now after the Miami game he should never have played again and he largely hasn't except for injury relief (if you can call it that).

I'm really just playing devil's advocate, because I'm on the Urban Meyer train, but I just don't think that decision was as cut and dry as you made it out to be.

[MWM]

If there was any question as to the current coaching staff's readiness to take over this type of program, there shouldn't be after today's game.

[MWM]

I hate that all the premiere college football games these days are night games. Saturday night is the night we like to get out of the house and go out. I'd love to be able to watch the LSU-Alabama game tonight as it's probably the most exciting regular season game since OSU-Michigan in 2006, but I'm just not going to be able to.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by MWM

If there was any question as to the current coaching staff's readiness to take over this type of program, there shouldn't be after today's game.

It's really sad when people see a team beat my alma mater by 14(kneeling down at the 10 to boot), and say, "See there's no doubt this coach isn't ready."

It's even more sad that it's true.

My Hoosiers played hard today, but the talent gap was way more than 14 points.

[Captain Hook]

Originally Posted by MWM

If there was any question as to the current coaching staff's readiness to take over this type of program, there shouldn't be after today's game.

It wasn't pretty today but there was a lot of games that weren't pretty when Tressel was the coach.I'm not sure what you expected to see today but I was just hopping for a win.A young team coming off a huge win had a letdown against a bad team the next week and won by 14 points.These things happen.

[Playadlc]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

It's really sad when people see a team beat my alma mater by 14(kneeling down at the 10 to boot), and say, "See there's no doubt this coach isn't ready."

It's even more sad that it's true.

My Hoosiers played hard today, but the talent gap was way more than 14 points.

Playing all the true freshmen that IU is playing (more than anyone in the country, I believe) this game being in doubt late is significant progress. Especially on the road.

Tre Roberson is a player. I'm not sure if Gunner would even beat him out.

[cincrazy]

Originally Posted by MWM

If there was any question as to the current coaching staff's readiness to take over this type of program, there shouldn't be after today's game.

Jim Tressel had more than his fair share of these types of games. It's not uncommon for OSU. We played like crap, yes. But a win's a win, and this team still has a shot at winning the Big 10.

[GAC]

Originally Posted by MWM

If there was any question as to the current coaching staff's readiness to take over this type of program, there shouldn't be after today's game.

The wife and I, because we work different shifts and don't get to spend as much together as we'd like, spent Saturday in Columbus eating out (J Alexanders has fantastic prime rib by the way) and doing some shopping. I figured "OK, OSU is playing Indiana (my apologizes to Hoosier), a certain win, so I won't be missing anything". We were in a sports apparel store that had a TV with the game on, and when I saw the score was 27-20 I just shook my head in disbelief.

[traderumor]

Originally Posted by MWM

I hate that all the premiere college football games these days are night games. Saturday night is the night we like to get out of the house and go out. I'd love to be able to watch the LSU-Alabama game tonight as it's probably the most exciting regular season game since OSU-Michigan in 2006, but I'm just not going to be able to.

It doesn't look like you missed much. I watched the last 8 minutes and it was clearly evident why the score was only 6-6. More like a Woody/Bo "exciting" big game.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Originally Posted by Captain Hook

It wasn't pretty today but there was a lot of games that weren't pretty when Tressel was the coach.I'm not sure what you expected to see today but I was just hopping for a win.A young team coming off a huge win had a letdown against a bad team the next week and won by 14 points.These things happen.

Exactly. It was just a let down game. Early kick off against the worst team in the conference right after the most emotional game of the season. It was close on the scoreboard but honestly I was never concerned about the outcome.

I would like to see the secondary stop having so many breakdowns.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by GAC

The wife and I, because we work different shifts and don't get to spend as much together as we'd like, spent Saturday in Columbus eating out (J Alexanders has fantastic prime rib by the way) and doing some shopping. I figured "OK, OSU is playing Indiana (my apologizes to Hoosier), a certain win, so I won't be missing anything". We were in a sports apparel store that had a TV with the game on, and when I saw the score was 27-20 I just shook my head in disbelief.

My general feeling on games like that are, "If it's a blowout like I expect, I don't really want to watch. If it's close, I REALLY don't want to watch."

[jojo]

Originally Posted by MWM

The final punishment handed down by the NCAA will likely be the deciding factor. The other uncertainty is the current athletic administration and how long they'll be around. I've got to believe the AD is getting canned at some point. Will the new people have just as much enthusiasm about Meyer as the existing.

OSU now faces the "failure to monitor" charge from the NCAA and has cut 5 more scholarships over the next three years.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...monitor-charge

If Meyer was to come to OSU, he'd be dealing with some significant competitive disadvantages his first several years due to self imposed penalties and whatever the NCAA tacks on. He'd also be inheriting a gap in recruiting classes as this business will likely result in at least one lack later class because here is no direction at the moment.

If he was burnt out from the grind of being the best, I'm not sure that this mess not give him significant cause for pause....