As buckeye fan and alum of TOSU that has lived through all the disappointments under Woody,Earle,Coop,Tressel and Urban Meyer we’ve been blessed with some pretty dam good coaches imo. During the Woody years things were much different in recruiting. The biggest, there wasn’t a cap on scholarships till they allowed freshman to play. It was always rumored that Woody signed some guys just so Bo wouldn’t get them. There were plenty of disappointments, 69-77 all of them,lol.
Anyway back to the point of my post. Urban Meyer was the best recruiter ever @ TOSU. We were really blessed by him falling in our laps after Tressel fell on his sword. He was far from perfect. Braxton Miller was a phenomenal athlete but not a QB. I think we would have been a more rounded Offense with Kenny Guiton starting and Braxton Miller platooning in preparation for 2013. Exactly why they chose JT over Cardale to start in 2014. In 2015 Meyer made one of,If not the worst decision in his coaching career, he promoted a great position coach to offensive coordinator, Warinner. What makes it worse is all he had to do was improve on the offense that won us a national championship with our 3rd string QB. Made the same mistake in 2017, where our backup should have platooning in preparation for a possible playoff appearance and for 2018.
So now we have a younger hot shot offensive coach on the rise. Recruiting took a much smaller hit with the transition as it could have. I think the new staff did a fantastic job. I really like the subtle differences I’m seeing. The first is his commitment to eliminating unforced errors, TO’s and penalties. Use to drive me nuts hearing him speak about his team being flagged for 11 penalties for 135 yards week after week with the same coach speak “we’ve got some things to clean up”. In practice when they are penalized or fumble they run laps. The difference, it is no longer acceptable and he’s taking action. Same may say “how do you know Meyer wasn’t doing anything? Because nothing changed and we were among the worst teams every year under Meyer penalty wise. Rarely did we see a sideline conversation with the HC and the player on the sideline. Not saying he should be eviserated as soon as he gets to sideline but a nice stern conversation would of been appropriate.
I don’t think we’ll ever have to worry about Day calling out individuals on national tv like Meyer did. Yes, I know he’s trying to motivate guys with his psyche degree but I would cringe at some of the things he would to say on his way to the locker room. Never ever heard him criticize JT like that or Braxton outside of 2014.
When Day says a player has earned playing time he means it. And He plays him. We would hear this many times from Meyer and never saw it come to fruition. Coach a Day is going to play the best players that give us the best chance to win. No more naming starters before spring practice begins. Proof? Recruiting Fields to transfer despite the obvious angst it would create with the heir apparent Tathan Martel. I was shocked, couldn’t believe they were risking dissension for a guy that was unproven. I was pissed because I really thought Martel was the perfect QB for Meyer’s offense. But again imo, we should have seen Martel getting meaningful snaps throughout 2018. After seeing Fields play I immediately understood. This kid is special. He may not have heisman numbers so far but next year it’s on.
So I would be interested if anyone else has seen any other subtle changes. Meyer is still a great coach but I don’t think anyone could argue that Coach Meyer had lost a little of his edge over the years.
***Forgot a couple, not subtle but Day reintroducing the RB screen and taking snaps under center. The RB screen is really effective in slowing down your opponents pass rush. And no more of Warinner’s speed option.
