Ohio State is one of the few programs that hasn’t had much in the way of a significant downturn in its illustrious college football history. An 8-4 or 7-5 season has been rare indeed, and would be enough to empty the shelves of water and batteries at Central Ohio grocery stores these days.
In fact, since Woody Hayes had his last losing season in 1966, there has been just two losing seasons since. For those of you counting, that’s 53 years. Pretty remarkable when you think about it.
Earle Bruce, John Cooper and Jim Tressel kept things going to a rapid boil after Hayes was sent packing after infamously punching Clemson player Charlie Bauman. Bruce was fired for stringing together too many 9-3 seasons, Cooper could beat everyone else besides Michigan, and Tressel might just have a tattoo for the 2001 national title winning season.
Next … leveling up at Ohio State
The Ohio State transition
Then came Urban Meyer. He only got one crystal ball despite coming close many times, but he elevated the program to an even higher perch since he came to the banks of the Olentangy. Ten win seasons and high stakes bowls not only became the expectation, but were the reality of every single season once the postseason ban was lifted after the 12-0 season.
But now Meyer is gone — ushered out on his own terms, but given a formidable push by the Zach Smith mess. A legend is gone, and now it’s up to someone new to fill the big shoes left in the shadow. That guy is none other than Ryan Day.
Everyone you talk to seems to have nothing but praise for Day. He’s a Chip Kelly protege, followed Meyer around and learned the importance of all things Ohio State, including obtaining a disdain for the Team Up North.
He went 3-0 and handled himself admirably with the media and competing priorities of running the show while Meyer was sitting in the penalty box for three games.
But … he is a new head coach, and I submit to you that this is a very important year for the Ohio State program. Not in so much that things could slide into oblivion, but that the elite level at which the program is currently at could slide back to somewhere between very good and great.
We’ve seen programs tail off after legends ride off into the sunset before. Nebraska, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oregon, USC. They all experienced at least modest (if not more) set backs when head coaches decided to hang up the headset and retire the whistle.
And that’s the point. Even a modest decline by Day would be enough to put a target on his back, lose momentum and make elevating the program back to the cream of the crop a little more difficult. Ohio State has been one of the top three programs sitting in the penthouse of college football over the last seven years or so, and nobody with scarlet and gray pajamas wants to see that end.
Next … Can the Buckeye way continue?
A very important year at Ohio State
In some ways, Ohio State must duplicate the successful transition Oklahoma has orchestrated. Bob Stoops left Norman and handed the reigns over to Lincoln Riley and things haven’t tailed off one bit — at least so far.
All indications point to Day being the right guy for the job. He’s come onto the scene and been able to win some huge recruiting battles, has embraced Ohio even as someone not from the Buckeye state, and has hired one heck of a coaching staff. Heck, he even tweaked the rivalry by plucking some of That School Up North’s best assistants.
But if OSU suffers any kind of set back in 2019, there will start to be some whispers about Urban Meyer no longer being around. The label of Ohio State being an SEC built team residing in the land of beer and brats, rather than sweet tea and grits could begin to fade.
It takes just a down year or two to lose the momentum in recruiting, and there’s no room for error if the college football world is going to have a scarlet and gray hue to it still.
It’s a new Day in Columbus. Let’s hope the sun doesn’t begin to set on one of the golden eras of football at Ohio State.
