Urban Meyer will likely be considered one of the most successful coaches in Ohio State football history. Let’s just get that out of the way. Along with Woody Hayes and Jim Tressel, he is very clearly one of the top three.
Meyer won a National Championship (the inaugural College Football Playoff) for Ohio State at a time when the Buckeyes–and the Big Ten in general–were looked down on nationally. He redeemed the program in the eyes of the country, and that is still felt today.
Maybe, if we’re comparing him to Hayes and Tressel, we can point out that Meyer lacked their longevity. Ohio State claims five National Championships from Hayes’ tenure, which lasted almost 30 years. Tressel lasted a full decade, and appeared in a National Championship Game three times.
Meyer, meanwhile, only coached seven years (one with a bowl ban), and reached the College Football Playoff twice, winning it once. Meyer does have the best winning percentage of any coach in Ohio State history (excluding Ryan Day and his currently 3-0 record).
Having said all that, it is very clear that Meyer’s tenure could have been a little better. The Buckeyes consistently underachieved with Meyer at the helm win more was expected. Winning more National Championships might not have been easy–but missing out on a chance to compete for them is a defining characteristic of the Urban Meyer regime.
Next … the losses
Bad loss after bad loss
I’m going to leave the 2013 season out of this. Michigan State was criminally underrated that year, and could likely have been undefeated and competing for a National Championship Game bid if not for a few rough calls against Notre Dame earlier in the season. That loss was tough for Ohio State fans to bear–especially right after the “kick-six” opened up a spot in the NCG–but it wasn’t a bad loss. Michigan State was a great team that just outplayed the Buckeyes that evening.
Every loss (save one) after the 2014 National Championship season, though, follows a similar trend. Not only were they bad losses, they also managed to take the Buckeyes out of CFP contention. Not instant elimination, but a way that would make a Playoff bid all but impossible.
2015 and 2016
The 2015 loss to Michigan State came towards the end of an underwhelming season. That really isn’t fair, considering that expectations of the Buckeyes were sky-high. The loss, though, came at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way. The play-calling was terrible; the offense was stale and managed to keep Michigan State in the game. The loss wasn’t a terrible one for Ohio State’s resume, but it did mean that the Buckeyes wouldn’t get into the Playoff over Michigan State.
The 2016 loss to Penn State is a forgivable one. It was a trap game, in bad weather, against an improving team. More importantly, because of Ohio State’s three Top 10 wins that season, the Buckeyes still went to the CFP. That loss in the CFP, though, followed much the same trend as the 2015 loss–only against a far superior opponent. Lackluster and predictable play-calling led to a listless offense, which ended in an embarrassing blowout.
2017 and 2018
The 2017 season began with a forgivable loss. The offense not clicking was still a major issue, but the loss came against a very strong Oklahoma team in a hyped non-conference game, led by a Heisman Trophy winner in Baker Mayfield. Ohio State’s next two losses, though, followed the same trend, and not in a good way.
In their 2017 loss to Iowa and the 2018 loss to Purdue, the Buckeyes were thoroughly embarrassed. The offense was out of rhythm and turnover-prone, while the defense was nowhere to be found. Those two games were so out of character for Urban Meyer, and yet they came to characterize the last few years of his career. They were outliers, but they were major outliers that had were simply unexplainable.
Next … what could have been
It could have been much better
Earlier in Urban Meyer’s career, a tough loss would spur his team to improve. He did that with Florida in 2006 and Ohio State in 2014, winning National Championships those two years. That happened somewhat in 2015 as well, though the Buckeyes couldn’t squeeze into the CFP.
From 2016 onwards though, Meyer’s losses were characterized by his team just playing an awful game. Once it was against a superior opponent, once it was against an equal opponent, and three times it simply had no business happening. Those losses to Iowa and Purdue showed a different side of Urban Meyer’s coaching, and not a good one.
Expecting perfection is impossible. Every team, even the greatest, slips up. It’s not just the losses to Iowa and Purdue. It’s the manner in which the Buckeyes lost those games. It’s not just losing to Michigan State in 2015. It’s the way that game played out, with the knowledge that a loss likely ends Ohio State’s Playoff bid.
Urban Meyer only lost nine games coaching the Buckeyes. He only won one National Championship and reached the CFP twice. It’s not the nine losses that show he underachieved; it’s how he lost those games and what those losses meant.
Urban Meyer went 82-9. And yet, if the team had played just a little better in three of those losses, we’re probably looking at five Playoff berths for Ohio State. 82-9 is an incredible record. But it could have been so much more. After all, he did come to Ohio State to win National Championships.
It could have been so much more by being just a wee-bit better.
