Ohio State assistants happy Meyer is open to suggestion

DALLAS — Whether a head coach fails or succeeds often comes down to what kind of assistants he hires.

And then how much freedom those assistants are given to do their jobs.

Few understand that reality more than Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, a key reason the Buckeyes are one victory from their first national championship since the 2002 season.

“All assistant coaches want to be listened to, not just heard,” Ohio State co-offensive coordinator Tom Herman said Saturday. “They want to feel valued, and at the end of the day, if they have a strong opinion about something, they want to know that they can stand up and say, ‘Here’s what I feel. Here’s why. Here’s my evidence.’ You can’t just say something and then not have anything of substance to back it up.

“There are a lot of coaches in this profession that might have a little big of an ego to allow that to happen in an offensive staff, and (Meyer’s) certainly not one of them.”

Should fourth-ranked Ohio State beat No. 2 Oregon on Monday (5:30 p.m. PST kickoff) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Meyer will join Alabama’s Nick Saban as the only coaches at the Football Bowl Subdivision level to win national championships at more than one school.

Meyer, 50, also led Florida to the 2006 and 2008 season national titles. Saban has claimed four championships — three at Alabama and one at Louisiana State.

The wins have come at every Meyer stop, from Bowling Green to Utah to Florida and now to Ohio State, where he is 37-3 in three seasons. His career record is 141-26, and 10 former assistants under him are head coaches.

Herman will become the 11th, taking over at Houston after this game. Co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Ed Warinner could become the full-time OC, and he was named Football Scoop’s top line coach.

“You can have a bunch of bobble heads, but that’s not as intriguing to me,” Meyer said. “That’s why I think Tom Herman was not good, he was great. Ed Warinner is not good, he was great.

“At the end of the day, the most important thing is selfless ... because your idea might not go, and at some point the coordinator and myself will say, ‘OK, we’re done. This is it.’ So I like a lot of push and pull in there.”

Meyer and his staff had every excuse not to be here for the title game, losing their top two quarterbacks to injuries. But they got here behind No. 3 Cardale Jones, who beat Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten Conference title game and Alabama 42-35 in the national semifinals.

“Coaches (usually) don’t pay attention to guys really past the twos,” Jones said. “I don’t know of a situation that really happened like this when a guy is playing like a third-team quarterback other than Indiana this year. Just to keep that type of guy in line and being ready for this type of position just speaks to the coaching staff and the accountability that they hold on us.”

Meyer takes the underdog into the title game against Oregon, with the Ducks favored by 5½ points. Being favored is cause for concern for the Ducks.

Or at least it should be.

Meyer is 5-0 as an underdog at Ohio State and was in a similar situation eight years ago with Florida. The Gators were 7-point underdogs, but beat Ohio State 41-14 to win the national title.

In convincing his players they not only could win that game but would win it, Meyer got their attention while watching video of the Buckeyes.

“He would pause it and circle a player,” former Florida punter Eric Wilbur told The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. “It might be the linebacker, (James) Laurinaitis, and Urban would say, ‘He couldn’t walk on for our team.’ He would say, ‘We don’t need to scheme for this team because we’re just better.’

“You could see our defensive linemen walk out with the mentality of ‘we can do whatever we want against them.’ ”

Meyer downplayed whether any such psychological tactic was being used this week, saying, “We’re still just in the preparation phase.”

Expect the Buckeyes to be prepared physically and mentally.

And should they win, Meyer will join an extremely select company of proving he can win a championship at more than one school.

The Urban Meyer who won at Florida, however, worked himself into a health scare. This time, he wants to take in the moment more, and he wants the same for his players.

“These kids have been on a heck of a run for the last three years, and I’m more cautious about making sure it’s not just an absolute grind,” Meyer said. “Someone asked a question one time: When does the joy of winning disappear and the fear of losing or the agony of losing overtake that. When that does, that’s not good. That’s not good for anyone.

“So I make sure that we enjoy the wins the best I can and the best our coaching staff can.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.