Urban Renewal at Ohio State - my thoughts

Yesterday Urban Meyer was announced as the new head football coach at Ohio State University. Meyer signed a six-year contract for around $4.4 million a year. His previous head coaching stops were at Bowling Green (2 years), Utah (2 years) and Florida (6 years) accumulating a 104-23 record (7-1 in bowl games).

During his time at Florida, he won two national titles and he resigned as Gators coach citing health concerns and desire to spend more time with his family. Meyer takes over a program tainted by an ongoing NCAA investigation, player suspensions and a 6-6 record in 2011.

Interim coach Luke Fickell, who took over when Jim Tressel was forced out for breaking NCAA rules, will coach the Buckeyes in their bowl game and be retained by Meyer as an assistant.

Here are my thoughts on the new hire:

1. Meyer is a proven winner as a head coach. He is the the sixth fastest NCAA coach to reach 100 victories. In his first season at BGSU, he engineered one of the greatest turnarounds in the NCAA football history, going 8–3 and 9-3 after the Falcons were 2-8. In his two seasons at Utah, Meyer went 10-2 and 12-0 including a Fiesta Bowl win over Pittsburgh. At Florida, Meyer was 65-15 (36-13 in SEC) with two national championships.
2. Ties to the state of Ohio and the OSU program. Tressel was born in Ohio and was a Buckeye assistant before becoming the head coach. He bled Scarlett and Gray and understood the rivalry with Michigan. His predecessor John Cooper was an outsider and did not have those characteristics. Meyer was born in Toledo, grew up in Ashtabula and was an assistant at OSU for two years under Earle Bruce.
3. Player arrests. A lot of people mention the 30 players were arrested during Meyer's six years at Florida. What they don't mention is that Tressel has had an even worse record as far as player misconduct. Meyer has dismissed numerous players from the team, including Cam Newton, who eventually won the Heisman trophy at Auburn.
4. Meyer has never fulfilled a head coaching contract. After a little success at Bowling Green and Utah, Meyer left for bigger jobs. Meyer signed three contracts with Florida and never fulfilled any of the three. This guy has a zero chance of fulfilling all seven years of his OSU contract.
5. Meyer checked out during his final year at Florida. After resigning from Florida after the 2009 season, he returned to work the next day, and then resigned after the 2010 season after accumulating an 8-5 record. Given the lack of talent with this current OSU roster, how will Meyer react when things don't go his way in Columbus.
6. New coach is a liar. On Nov. 19, Nov. 22 and Nov. 23, Meyer made public denials of his contact with the Ohio State Athletic Department. That is three lies in one week. He already has a bad reputation for not being truthful in Florida - he was called "Urban Liar" by some in the media. Let's hope he doesn't turn into another Butch Davis.
7. Spread offense in the Big Ten. Meyer's scheme closely resembles the system brought to the University of Michigan by Rich Rodriguez. After a 15-22 record (6-18 in the Big Ten), Rodriguez was fired after three seasons.

Ultimately why I like this hire:
Ohio State needed a big name coach. Short of luring Nick Saban from Alabama or Bob Stoops from Oklahoma, Meyer is the biggest available coach. After having a lost 2011 season in terms of recruiting, the school needs a big name to salvage the 2012 class. Removing the interim tag from coach Luke Fickell full-time won't bring in blue-chip recruits. For OSU fans, let's hope he can pull from in-state and SEC territory players. Buckeye Nation expects nothing less.