Ohio State Football: 2018 rings a reminder of Urban Meyer’s Legacy

Ohio State football players and coaches from the 2018 team received their Big Ten and Rose Bowl rings today, which remind us of the incredible coaching career of Urban Meyer at Ohio State.

This morning the Ohio State football team received their 2018 Big Ten and Rose Bowl Championship Rings to celebrate a successful 2018 campaign. With this last tangible reminder of Urban Meyer’s incredible coaching career at Ohio State, we get a chance to look back at just want Meyer achieved at Ohio State as we prepare for the Spring Game.

When Meyer arrived at Ohio State, he was already one of the top two coaches in college football, earning two national titles at Florida. However, his hiring came at a tumultuous time at Ohio State after the Tattoogate scandal, when players under Jim Tressel sold memorabilia for tats.

Nonetheless, coach Meyer came in and led the 6-7 Buckeyes of 2011 to an incredible 12-0 record in 2012. Many believed they would have won the Big Ten Championship and at the very least put up a better fight against Alabama than Notre Dame did if they were eligible to do so.

But because of postseason probation, the Buckeyes were forced to settle for simply an incredible regular season.

The following year the Buckeyes had an equally impressive regular season before falling in the Big Ten Championship to Michigan State and an Orange Bowl loss to Clemson. However, in 2014, Meyer motivated the team with two simple words: “The Chase”.

All of us in Buckeye Nation are well aware of what transpired that season. How the Buckeyes lost perennial Heisman contender Braxton Miller and then suffered an embarrassing defeat against Virginia Tech at home.

Yet with all the incredible talent and the expert coaching of Meyer, the Buckeyes sprinted back up the polls to number 6 before losing J.T. Barrett in the second half of the regular season finale against the rival Wolverines but still pulled out the win. Then, preseason third-string QB Cardale Jones led the Buckeyes in their contest against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship which resulted in a 59-0 victory and a spot in the Inaugural College Football Playoff.

The Buckeyes went on to shock Alabama and steamrolled Oregon for the their eighth National Championship.

Meyer would not reach quite the same success after that miraculous run for the rest of his coaching career at Ohio State. But he never lost more than two games in a single season and reached 10 or more wins every year..

Even after a messy situation involving long-time assistant Zach Smith, his legacy at Ohio State will always be remembered and respected. He led the Buckeyes to three Big Ten Championships (either first or tied for first in Big Ten East all seven seasons at Ohio State), four New Years Six bowl wins, an 83-9 record, and of course, the 2014 National Championship.

More from Ohio State Football

• Ohio State Football: How Denzel Burke has bounced back so far this season
• Ohio State Football rolling into form at the perfect time
• How Ohio State football has done historically versus new Big 12
• Ohio State Football: We need to see “Killer Ryan Day” at South Bend
• Ohio State Football vs. Notre Dame Prediction, Odds, Spread and Over/Under for College Football Week 4

More importantly though, he groomed young men not only to become incredible athletes but also outstanding men and leaders. Many former players said that his intense but caring coaching was influential on their lives, not just in their play on the football field.

With the closing of Urban Meyer’s reign at Ohio State no more trophies or championships can be won under his coaching. The upcoming Spring Game will be an opportunity to see the first game not influenced by Meyer’s coaching, even though during the first three games last season coach Ryan Day walked the sidelines instead of him.

Urban Meyer leaves behind a legacy that no doubt will only become more legendary as time goes on, and the 2018 rings are a glance at how such a successful season it was not even being the best during his incredible career at Ohio State.

His leadership will be remembered by former players and coaches alike. And as we close the book on his career and transition to Ryan Day, we say one last “Thank You” to Coach Meyer.