The Ohio State football program is consistently one of the most successful college football programs in the country. They win a ton of games every year, send a bunch of players to the NFL, and recruit extremely well every season. Yet, they have just two national titles in the last 20 years.
The Buckeyes haven’t won one since the first year of the CFP in that magical 2014 season. So if they are typically one of the most successful programs every year, why haven’t they been able to win another one since then? What’s the reason they don’t have more?
First, we have to look at some of the results of every season. 2015 was one of the best Ohio State football teams ever, but bad mismanagement of the roster, specifically the quarterbacks, is what cost them that year. Also, Tim Beck’s playcalling against Michigan State.
The 2016 team did make the College Football Playoff that year, but then they got housed by Clemson. They were not as talented of a team as Clemson and their offense didn’t have the proper firepower to compete with the Tigers.
2017 was a bad year for this team because they lost two games in the regular season. They laid two stinkers and lost because of it. 2018 was a lost cause because they did the same thing against Purdue. Both of those seasons were taken down due to bad coaching.
The 2019 team is still the most talented Ohio State football team I’ve ever seen. They got screwed in that Clemson game and should have gotten a shot to play for a national title, but playing against that great LSU team would have been a challenge.
2020 saw the Buckeyes actually play for a national title, but the defense let them down. 2021 was a major coaching flop. So despite never being outside the top-7 in recruiting rankings in any of those seasons, they don’t have a single national title to celebrate.
I think the main reason has to come down to coaching. In most of these seasons, poor coaching in critical games is what derailed Ohio State’s chances to win it all. That means that Ryan Day needs to be on his A-game if the Buckeyes want to win one soon.