Just two years ago, Jim Tressel was out and Ohio State was reeling.
Now Ohio State is sitting on an 18-winning streak after its 40-30 victory over Northwestern.
Obviously, the key factor was the school’s hiring of Urban Meyer. In a new book published by Triumph, Buckeye Rebirth, Bill Rabinowitz of the Columbus Dispatch examines Meyer the person, and how he led the charge to a 12-0 season in 2012.
Here is my Q/A with Rabinowitz:
How did this book come about? Were you planning to write a book about 2012 before Ohio State went undefeated?
The idea came to me late in the season. The Buckeyes had a bye week before playing Wisconsin and Michigan to end the season and that’s when I started to pursue the idea in earnest by talking to publishers and writers/authors I knew. Of course, pursuing it was contingent on Ohio State winning its final two games. I wish I’d begun to consider writing a book much earlier than I did. I would have tried to gather material during the season instead of having to go back and do it. But I think in the end it worked out fine because I wanted the book to be built on fresh material.
My primary motivation was simple: I thought this was a unique season because of the NCAA sanctions and new coaching staff and unexpected undefeated season, and I thought the 2012 team deserved to have a book written about it. I covered the team so I knew plenty about what happened, but I wanted to explore the how and why of it. The big challenge I had was that publishers gave me a four-month window to turn in a manuscript. That’s not much time considering that I wanted to (and did) interview every assistant coach and almost all of the key players. That meant I had to write and report simultaneously. I felt like a chef who had to throw a dish in the oven and continually toss in new ingredients. My last interview — with Kenny Guiton when he discussed becoming a father three weeks before the Purdue game in which he was the hero — came the day before the manuscript was due. Not ideal, but I didn’t have a choice if I was going to do the kind of book I envisioned in my mind.
What kind of access did you get to Urban Meyer? What is he like to deal with?
I knew I had to get his cooperation if this book was to get off the ground. I asked him two days after the Michigan game if he would cooperate, and he said that he would. He was generous with his time. I interviewed him five times, usually for about an hour each time. He was cordial and insightful. He never attempted to steer me in any particular direction or tell me what I could or couldn’t write or pursue.
The only agreement we had — and this was my idea — was that nothing I learned from our interview would be printed in the newspaper before the book was published. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been as forthright as he was. Meyer is not one for much small talk. Part of that is because he’s extremely busy. Idle chit-chat isn’t a productive use of his time.
What stood out for you about Meyer?
He’s usually described as intense, and that’s because it’s true. I just can’t imagine him sitting around doing nothing. He’s also extremely intelligent, and not just about football, which isn’t always the case with coaches. He could have been a successful lawyer (he considered that) or businessman. He’s not easy to work with or play for because of that intensity and because he is so demanding. But he’s not a dictator. He doesn’t want yes-men.
He wants the best answers, and if bruised feelings are a consequence, so be it. I also know that as much as he cares about coaching, he does truly cherish his family. Toward the end at Florida, when the job consumed him, he wasn’t the father to his daughters and son that he wanted to be. Now he makes a conscious effort to make sure he is available to them.
How did Meyer get the players to buy into his approach, especially the 5 a.m. workouts?
It took awhile. At first, I think the players were in a state of shock. They had everything taken away from them. They couldn’t wear OSU gear. They got kicked out of their own locker room. There was plenty of grumbling. But they’d finished 6-7 the year before and they knew Urban Meyer had won two national titles. They didn’t exactly have leverage, not that college players ever do. But there was a lot of second-guessing and a reluctance to buy in totally. That changed during the pregame speech before the Michigan State game. The Buckeyes had muddled through a weak non-conference schedule. Maybe they realized their way wasn’t going to cut it during league play. So when Meyer pleaded with them to give up the “evaluation” and just do what coaches asked, they were finally ready to do it. They also came to believe by that point that Meyer and his staff weren’t tyrants, that they did really care about them.
I think one of the most underrated aspects of Meyer’s success is his ability to motivate. He’s known for his success with the spread, but he downplays that. He says he loves coaching against so-called X’s and O’s gurus. Meyer believes what matters much more is understanding the pulse of his team, of knowing which psychological buttons to push. He was a psychology major, after all, and it informs everything he does.
What other coaches/players stood out for you in the book?
One of the more underrated factors in OSU’s success under Meyer are his assistant coaches. Offensive coordinator Tom Herman is exceptionally bright and will be a head coach very soon. He’s always fun to talk to. Cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs is a force of nature. Offensive-line coach Ed Warinner really did wonders with that line. Luke Fickell’s willingness to go back to being an assistant says a lot about him. Among the players, Zach Boren, John Simon, Etienne Sabino and Reid Fragel all had interesting stories and are impressive guys, as are many others. There really were few if any jerks on that team.
It was also fascinating to talk to Bobby Brown, who played at Notre Dame where Meyer was his wide receivers coach. He had some insightful wisdom because he was years removed from the experience. But I think the unsung star of the book — and I’ve told Meyer this — is his wife, Shelley. She’s a very likable person and was amazingly candid about her concerns about Meyer coaching again and about how bad things were at Florida at the end. She’s a strong-minded person and I have no doubt that she’s the one person who could put her husband in his place if that was needed.
What did last year mean to Ohio State and its fans?
It’s easy to forget how much in disarray the program was in 2011. They lost seven games for the first time since the 19th century. Their reputation was in tatters. I mean, how many tattoo jokes can someone hear? To hire an elite coach, and a native Ohioan at that, was huge. To have that team go undefeated, despite its many flaws, was just stunning. It really restored the pride in the OSU football program. What’s almost unique about Ohio State football is that it’s probably the only thing that unifies the state.
Politically, the state is divided, as is obvious every four years during presidential campaigns. Other than Columbus in the geographic middle, the state is divided into north and south with Cleveland (Browns, Indians) and Cincinnati (Bengals, Reds) the primary cities. The Columbus Blue Jackets have appeal only locally, especially given its overall lack of success. But Browns fans and Bengals fans can unite around the Buckeyes. Yes, Cincinnati tends to be parochial and there are Cincinnati Bearcat fans, but the Buckeyes dominate the state in terms of appeal.
Going forward, and knowing Meyer like you do, do you expect he will be at Ohio State for the long haul?
That’s the unknowable question. He says he’s a changed man from the one who fell apart at Florida. He says he has balance in his life. His family has worked hard to make sure he maintains it. But what happens when the Buckeyes lose? How will he handle that? Even he admits he doesn’t know for sure how he’ll handle that. He’s so hard-driving that you wonder how long he can keep it up. But it is also clear that he was born to coach. He loves it — the X’s and O’s, the recruiting, having a shared mission, and most of all, the relationships. I believe he does truly care about the well-being of his players. Mickey Marotti, his strength coach and confidant, said something interesting during one of my interviews. He said both he and Meyer share the philosophy that when you love someone, that means you do everything you can to “maximize” them. In other words, you demand they get as close to their potential as possible.
What are some of the things you uncovered in the book that were previously unreported?
The first was the truth behind Meyer’s hiring process. It was widely reported by several websites that this was a done deal by October 2011. Not true. Athletic director Gene Smith didn’t contact Meyer until the Penn State game preceding the Michigan one. It all came together that week. I didn’t know how close Meyer was to not retaining Fickell or defensive-line coach Mike Vrabel. I had no idea that John Simon insisted on having an impromptu knee surgery in the locker room before the Michigan game in an (unsuccessful) attempt to allow him to play.
What I really enjoyed uncovering were the small details about people. I loved the story Tom Herman told me about when he was trying to break into coaching and had no contacts. He went to Goodwill and bought shoes and sent them along with his resume saying that he was just trying to get his foot in the door.
My overarching goal with this book was to make it accessible to the average reader. Yes, I go into some detail about the workings of the spread offense. But this is not a “football” book. It’s a book about people and relationships and overcoming adversity — external and internal. My wife, despite growing up in an athletic family, knows virtually nothing about football. I wanted to write a book that she would enjoy reading. (And yes, she said she did — and hopefully not just because her husband wrote it.) I was really touched today when I talked to my mother-in-law and she said that she was late picking someone up because she got immersed reading the book and lost track of time. Obviously, Ohio State fans are the demographic target. But I really hope that the spouse of a Buckeye fan who picked up the book out of curiosity would find it engaging.
