A little more than two weeks ago, Urban Meyer was officially announced as the next head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
And what normally is a relatively quiet season of bowl preparation immediately became a firestorm of news from Columbus.
Just two weeks into his tenure, Meyer is already making significant moves to improve the future of the Buckeye football program. Let's check his progress in this winter break report card:
Public Relations: B
The biggest public relations moment to date was the initial press conference, which Meyer navigated with grace and ease. Although it would have been nice to see him put to the fire a bit more regarding the quick change of heart from the retirement a year ago, nobody can fault him for answering the questions in front of him.
For those of us who have followed Big Ten football for many years, one moment of "behind-the-scenes" levity was listening to Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch introduce himself before asking a question to Meyer. Meyer just grinned and said he knows who Tim is.
Of course he does, as May has famously been covering the Buckeyes since 1984, which is nearly longer than I've been alive. While it has been quite a few years, May was actually covering the Buckeyes when Meyer was a graduate assistant at the beginning of his coaching career in the 1980s.
So it was more than a little ridiculous for May to introduce himself, and perhaps the smiles and levity with reporters like him is a sign of better relations to come than what was present in Florida.
The new coach has also won over fans with his confidence about the program's direction. The looming NCAA sanctions do not appear to bother Meyer:
"I feel very confident and have great trust that there's not [any other sanctions or problems coming]. We'll have to deal with the scholarship issue, and I have great trust that we will and we'll move forward."
That's what this coaching move is all about—moving on quickly following the turbulent end to the Jim Tressel era. Meyer has quelled the worries of a fanbase that is hard to please, and that makes for a good start.
Recruiting: A
What is likely the biggest benefit of having Meyer come into the program at this tough time is that his great recruiting prowess can immediately begin to undo the damage caused by the uncertainty of the future after Tressel was forced to resign.
The first big win on the recruiting trail was the NCAA ruling that Ohio State could maintain separate coaching staffs for the bowl game and recruiting. Without bowl preparations to focus on, Meyer has been able to jump right back into the recruiting battles with all his attention.
The results thus far are staggering, and perhaps OSU does have an "unfair" advantage over the rest of the conference. That unfair advantage is having Meyer, who can apparently sell even otherwise committed kids on transferring to Columbus to play for the Buckeyes.
The big snags on the recruiting trail began jumping in the boat this week, as two Top 150 recruits for the class of 2012 de-committed from other Big Ten schools to come to Ohio State.
Tommy Schutt is ranked as the No. 5 defensive tackle in the country and comes to Ohio State instead of Penn State. Se'Von Pittman is ranked as the No. 8 defensive end in the country and comes to Ohio State instead of Michigan State.
But these are not the only big-name recruits reconsidering their commitments to come play for Meyer.
The new coach may not need to worry about scholarship reductions for the same reason Lane Kiffin does not at USC: simply use scholarships on well-evaluated top talent and forget the lessened margin of error afforded by fewer scholarships.
Additionally, Meyer officially hired two new staff members who were critical to his recruiting powerhouse in Florida: Brian Voltolini as director of football operations and Mark Pantoni as director of player personnel.
Pantoni will install the "Friday Night Lights" camp program for evaluating high school players at Ohio State like he did at Florida, and this will give the Buckeyes even more advantages in figuring out the best talent to grab. This will be a case of the rich get richer as Ohio State (and Michigan) begin dominating the conference from the recruiting trail forward once again.
Coaching Staff: B
Other than recruiting players, Meyer has also been recruiting and hiring a staff that has the potential to be power-packed with the likes of Mike Stoops and others. Although Stoops does not appear to be joining the staff, the group assembled thus far is a good start.
First and foremost, Meyer had to decide what to do with Luke Fickell, Ohio State's interim head coach this past season and for the Gator Bowl. Ohio State had pledged to pay him next year even if he was not chosen for the staff, but Meyer made the right decision in retaining Fickell to be co-defensive coordinator.
Fickell may be the coach of the future for Ohio State, so it would be a shame to lose a young talent like that just because of circumstances. Plus Fickell will take over a lot of the play-calling duties on that side of the ball, almost elevating him to an equal level with Meyer.
From here, the possibilities are endless.
The next hire was Tom Harmann, the offensive coordinator at Iowa State. Harmann will tutor quarterbacks like Braxton Miller and will likely be involved in the offensive play-calling even if he is not the official offensive coordinator. Current wide receivers coach Stan Drayton will also likely be retained to coach running backs, which he did for Meyer at Florida.
Today North Carolina's interim coach Everett Withers was hired, likely to be co-defensive coordinator with Fickell. Withers has excelled with good talent on defense at UNC and will have even better talent to work with in Columbus. With Withers and Fickell at the helm, the defensive breakdowns so common in 2011 should stop in 2012.
Although the final pieces have yet to fall into place, the staff is coming into focus at the top levels under Meyer. It appears he will have experienced decision-makers at every level, and that can only help Ohio State get back to the top of the conference quickly.
Overall: B+
Not too bad for the first two weeks on the job.
Building a program is all about putting the right people (players and coaches) in positive situations, and Meyer is definitely grabbing some good names on paper. Ohio State is headed back toward dominance of the Big Ten if these trends continue throughout the rest of the offseason and into 2012.
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