The Death of Tresselball – Who should be the next coach at Ohio St.?

Part two in a series about Ohio St. football and what comes next both for the Buckeyes and the rest of college football. Part one about the on-field effects in 2011 can be found here.

Let me dispense with this now. There is no way Ohio St. should hire Urban Meyer. The Florida job almost killed him and he probably should take more than one year off. I believe he will come back to coaching and I believe he should at some point, but only taking one year off the recharge the batteries would be insane. In fact, I believe Ohio St. is the perfect job for Meyer, in the future. That said, its not the place right now.

Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe
Thanks to coacheshotseat.com

My choice for the job is someone who will never get a sniff of it because of his low-profile, but would be great whether he succeeds or not. My choice is Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe.

Now you might be asking what I am on or if I've lost my mind here but hear me out please. Why would Grobe be a good fit at Ohio St. considering he has never won big? First, he was the head coach at Ohio. That means he has recruited the state before and will allow him (along with the Ohio St. name) to continue recruiting the best in-state prospects.

Second, he won a conference title at Wake Forest. The only thing more difficult to do in the ACC is to win the conference title at Duke (something only Steve Spurrier has done in the modern era). That season shows me that when everything lines up, Grobe can win big and with the talent that naturally flocks to Columbus, everything will line up more often. Will it be Tressel level good? No, but that's the point.

The reason is Grobe's age. At 59 (60 starting the 2012 season), he can be easily jettisoned if things don't work out, right as the probation ends. He very well might only go for five years even if successful. That makes him the perfect fit. Grobe can win big or win moderately. It doesn't really matter. He will have done a nice service getting the Buckeyes through probation, and he can retire off into the sunset leaving the job in either great shape or sleeping giant mode for whoever follows him.

Depending on when that follows him comes, Meyer very well might be ready and available at that time. Even if he is not, there will be no shortage of incredible candidates for the job that might not be there now because of Tressel's legendary status and the probation that is obviously coming. So simply, the Buckeyes should look to Jim Grobe to hold the line. They might win big with him or they might not, but they will certainly set the program up well for the future if they make the move.

The Death of Tresselball – On field effects for the coming season

Part one in a new series on what happens next at Ohio St. and what it means for the rest of college football.

As most know by know, Ohio St. coach Jim Tressel finally resigned in disgrace after the allegations and problems within his program kept coming to light and the details kept getting worse. As many who read this blog know, I have been conspicuously silent on the entire situation thus far. For the most part, that was because I was waiting for the process to play out. On some level, I had no belief in the Ohio St administration to do the right thing and I believed the big smoking gun (the SI report) wasn't going to see the light of day until after the upcoming season, making Tressel safe for the upcoming year.

With Tressel gone, the job falls to Luke Fickell, a former nose guard and the current co-defensive coordinator. To him I say good luck. He likely has no shot at the job full-time barring a miracle undefeated season that looks unlikely given the turmoil. Fickell will do a good job under the circumstances and put himself in line for a good first head coaching job somewhere either after this season or next.

On the field, Ohio St. will look a little bit different, at least on offense. Given that Tressel was the primary play-caller, I expect things to be different on that side of the ball most. Tresselball was obsessive in its commitment to the running game and safe conservative gameplans. With a young quarterback, this was usually more so. That won't be the case here. Considering this team has been built around the talents of the currently suspended and possible permanently ineligible Terrelle Pryor, I expect whoever the quarterback is to have a chance to go win games instead of playing not to lose and managing the game. Whoever that quarterback is never would have had that chance with Tressel still running the show. All that said, the framework will be the same. It is way too late to put a brand new offense in place even if the new coaches wanted to. I expect a more aggressive passing game and more attempts to get opposing offenses off balance, but nothing major.

On defense, Ohio St. still has as much talent as anyone in the country and the entire defensive coaching staff remains in place with only co-coordinator Fickell not exactly where he was during the spring. It will be its usually salty self that shuts opponents down regularly. The question is crunch time. How motivated will this team be knowing they likely will have a new coach in December? If they don't work very hard, this team could easily crumble in the second halves of game, especially if the offense struggles (remember what happened to Auburn and Tennessee in 2008 with great defenses and terrible offenses).

With that out of the way, what will actually happen this season for Ohio St.? First, I expect a loss to either Miami or Michigan St. with the suspended players out. Then a loss to Nebraska in the first game back for the suspendees. There is no way they will be clicking the way they need to in Lincoln at night against the Cornhuskers. After that, I expect a totally unexpected loss to someone and then one more to Michigan. This offseason, after the coaching change at Michigan, feels like the kind of change in that rivalry that Tressel taking the Buckeyes over in the first place was. Even though the Wolverines will struggle, I expect them to beat Ohio St. and go into next year with a ton of momentum built up.

Next up, who will be coaching Ohio St. in 2012.