“I give credit to that 2012 team … I just resisted it and as a result Ohio State is as good a program as there is in America right now” @coachurbanmeyer reflects on his time at @ohiostatefb after winning BTN’s Big Ten Coach of the Decade ?? pic.twitter.com/yww7KuAyty
– FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) July 3, 2020
Urban Meyer was the obvious choice for Coach of the Decade, as Big Ten Network named its team All-Decade
Meyer served as the Ohio State head coach for seven seasons from 2012-18 before retiring due to health issues. Meyer was 83-9, the best winning percentage of any Buckeye head coach in more than one season. His teams won three Big Ten championships, as well as the 2014 national championship. During his time at Ohio State, Meyer lost just four games from the Big Ten regular season. It was also 7-0 against Michigan.
Meyer, now a FOX college football analyst, was questioned by his colleague Rob Stone for his initial thoughts on that honor. (Watch the video in the tweet above).
“I am very honored and when I found out that I started having reflective moments until December 2011, when Gene Smith called me and offered me the job,” said Meyer. Ohio State had just gone 6-7 the year before. They had a great coach. You can discuss how it happened and why it happened, if it was too harsh a punishment.
“I love Jim Tressel. He is a dear friend. I took over a program where they had lost their beloved coach, they had just lost to Michigan and they lost (against Florida) in a bowl game where they played very poorly. “
Meyer said he and his new team were released in January 2012, when the NCAA issued a postseason ban for next season.
“We found out two weeks after the bowl game that we would lose one bowl game (by 2012), we would be on probation and we would lose nine scholarships,” Meyer said. “I wouldn’t have accepted that job if I had known because it often takes years to get it back.
“I give credit to that 2012 team. We went undefeated. Those players, it took them a long time to warm up with our staff. It was very different. But I look at John Simon, Zach Boren, (Etienne) Sabino and some of the great players who resisted. As a result, the Ohio State is as good a program as the one in the United States right now. “
Meyer continued to praise seniors on his first team for not leaving the program in the face of those sanctions.
“Those older people may be gone,” he said. “The rule was and continues to be that if the team is on probation and cannot play in a bowl game, those older people could have recovered and left.” They just lost their coach … it wasn’t a pleasant time here. They glued it. We work them hard. They accepted all the challenges. I will remember it for the rest of my life. I am indebted to them.
Of course, the best hour for Meyer’s tenure in the state of Ohio came two years later, in 2014, when the Buckeyes finished 14-1 and won the national championship.
“That 2014 team will always be in the record books,” Meyer said. “The way it happened was illogical. Braxton Miller fell and a freshman named JT Barrett enters and then falls. You’re going to a three-game run, a historic run, with Cardale Jones and one of the most selfless groups of players I’ve ever been with.
“It was great to do in my home state and at my state school.”
Meyer will enter his second season as a FOX analyst. Stone asked him what he most misses about training.
“It is the fight for the greater good and something greater than oneself,” he said. “That is something that I will appreciate for the rest of my life. So I got into coaching.
“And to be honest with you, just win. You are walking the field after that game and you know that your staff, your players, and everyone on your team have outmatched your opponent. You won the game and move on to the next one. “
When asked what Woody Hayes, the OSU coach legend about Meyer’s tenure at school, could have said, “He said, ‘Boy, good job, and you made the great state of Ohio proud.’ I hope that whatever he says.
Summing up the BTN All-Decade team
Ohio State won five Big Ten Championships as well as the 2014 National Championship during the decade between 2010-19. So it was no surprise that Ohio State players dominated the picks for the Big Ten Network All-Decade team.
Ohio State held seven first-team elections for the team, which was voted on by a panel of former players, coaches, and members of the media. Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin were next with four selections. Michigan State, Minnesota and Penn State had two selections, while Indiana and Purdue had one.
OSU players selected for the first team included QB JT Barrett (also the player of the decade), OL Billy Price, OL Wyatt Davis, DB Malik Hooker, DE Chase Young, DE Joey Bosa and multipurpose offensive player Braxton Miller.
Eight more players were on the second team, including QB Dwayne Haskins, RB Ezekiel Elliott, OL Taylor Decker, OL Pat Elflein, DE Nick Bosa, DB Jeff Okudah, DB Vonn Bell, and player Cameron Johnston.
Here are links to our coverage of the team from across the decade:
JT Barrett first team
Braxton Miller First Team
Chase Young first team
Joey Bosa first team
Malik Hooker first team
Wyatt Davis first team
Billy Price first team
Dwayne Haskins second team
Nick Bosa second team
Jeff Okudah second team
Vonn Bell second team
Pat Elflein second team
Taylor Decker second team
Ryan Shazier second team
Relive the excitement of the 2014 OSU National Championship. Click here for more information.
