As with any new staff hire, the casual Buckeye fan finds him/herself gorging every scrap of information in existence about the new coach. This is not a normal hire, and I am not a casual fan - I am a diagnosed Buckeye lunatic. So let's begin.
First things first, like a good little college student I will cite my sources (not today 11w executioner), because everything afterwards will be ladened with opinion.
- http://www.bucsnation.com/2012/4/23/2967681/greg-schianos-defensive-phil... (HIGHLY RECOMMEND)
- http://mmqb.si.com/2014/11/04/nfl-greg-schiano-year-off (What Schiano has been up to under that rock for the last 2 years)
Ok, so what's immediately apparent is Schiano's teaching system. He didn't follow one, he created one. And in this regard he is almost identical to Chris Ash in that he doesn't believe it matters as much what the scheme is, just that the players know that what they're doing is right (their assignment) (duh). It's a refreshing mix of stressed consistency and aggression. Greg may be known as more of a Tampa-2 prophet, but the cover-4 matchup zone is a tweaked analog of that concept. In fact, Schiano was relying on press coverage to the near side before it was the cool thing to do. Regardless of scheme though, he's an eerily similar teacher to Ash. He believes in specific physiological queues rather than general ideas about the outcome. Ex. if a DB drops a pick the self-dialogue shouldn't be "I'll catch that next time." It should be, "I'll focus on my thumbs to catch that next time." All of his defensive queues are in the first link, and damn is it a good read. (For all you High School coaches out there, learn what "bite the ball" means.) His coaching strength is definitely found in his understanding of the human brain and memory, and his use of soundbites as opposed to lengthy explanations.
The defensive staff is already filled with great teachers who are also great recruiters, see LJ, Coombs, and Fickell. But Schiano's legitimacy makes this feel like a different hire. People know who he is because Greg has channeled his inner Ron Burgandy over the years, (being kind of a big deal). And his name has been tossed around almost as much as "Spider 2 Y-Banana" Gruden for coaching vacancies. There's no way around it, Ohio State kinda hit the lottery. And whether or not his product is as good as advertised, Ohio State winning that lottery will create a buzz.
Another fun angle to look at this hire from: JIM TRESSEL IS LOSING HIS EFFING MIND OVER THIS. Well, he may not be that concerned, considering he's rather preoccupied right now. But this is the type of hire that Tressel could not have been paid to make. Why? Because this hire finalizes the creation of an NFL football factory. Tressel wanted all-academic athletes to earn their degrees, and that was damn near priority numero uno. Not to say that Urban doesn't want that, just that he places more stock in winning games and creating professionals. This move, in my opinion, moves us one step closer to a Calipari-esque professional stepping stone. Schiano's time in the NFL does for us what Harbaugh's does for that team. And I wouldn't let Greg's lack of success in the NFL impact my opinion of him, because his strength lies in development. He knows what GM's want and he knows that they're going to want players coached by him. Top-tier athletes also know this, so get accustomed to juniors leaving early fellas.
While he may not be a MENSA member, Greg Schiano will go down as Urban Meyer's most impactful hire as a Buckeye. Why? Because up to now Urban has hired subordinates, Greg Schiano is a peer. There aren't many peers to Urban - period.
This whole situation kinda reminds me of a fond high school memory. A rather dick-headish calc teacher once told me that my answer was wrong. I responded "Well, I think you're wrong," to which he replied, "I've only taught one kid in my life that made me question my work, and you are not him." The point of that depressing anecdote is to allude to recognition and respect. Schiano is the one kid in math class who can make the teacher have second guesses. Up to now, Urban has had the ultimate say in everything including when the backup long snapper was allowed to scratch his nuts. With Schiano, Urban's delegation of responsibility has been cut in half. Why? Because Schiano may actually know as much about football as Urban.
TL;DR I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS HIRE AND YOU SHOULD BE TOO.
