Ohio State was extremely talented last year. Ohio State is almost always extremely talented.
Then came the offseason, when a slew of star players — including defensive lineman JT Tuimoloau, running back TreVeyon Henderson and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka — decided to stay in Columbus and pursue a national title rather than enter the NFL Draft . That was followed by the signing of the nation’s fourth-ranked recruiting class, according to Rivals, including three five-star standouts.
Along the way, coach Ryan Day surgically edited the transfer portal to add pops at key positions, including quarterback (Will Howard, Kansas State), running back (Quinshon Judkins, Ole Miss) and safety (Caleb Downs, Alabama).
The always strong Buckeyes are now even stronger. They’re loaded, flush, and brimming with skills heading into 2024. They’ve even poached the head coach of UCLA (Chip Kelly) to get their offensive coordinator.
But don’t take my word for it.
“As of right now, this is one of the most talented rosters of the last decade, maybe ever,” former Buckeye coach Urban Meyer told Adam King of 10TV in Columbus. “I mean, that’s a big statement. They have to play. But you look at the quality of the athlete at every position. … I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Wait… someday?
It is uncertain whether Meyer meant the most talented State of Ohio selection “in the last decade, maybe ever” or the most talented selection anywhere at any school. Either would be a huge statement. However, the latter would be hyperbolic… maybe.
Nebraska in 1995? Miami in 2001? USC in 2004? Alabama in 2020?
Give Meyer this much: He gets paid by Fox Sports to express big opinions and it’s a big one. He certainly doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind in an effort to lower expectations and ego to help Day, his former assistant.
Rat poison, that’s what Nick Saban used to call it. A large portion that does nothing but increase the expectations of Day and the Buckeyes to win the national championship or explain what the heck happened.
And when it comes to former national champion Ohio State coaches, it’s not just Meyer.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many great players in that building at the same time – at every position, every spot you turn,” Jim Tressel said. “So Ryan did a great job. Ohio State has done a great job.”
Day has did a fantastic job putting together the roster. Recruiting was always good in Columbus, but Meyer modernized it before Day managed to take it to an even higher level – OSU currently has the No. 1 class for 2025.
And Day has done an excellent job coaching the team at almost every level: He is 56-8 in five-plus seasons with three trips to the playoffs.
The problem is he hasn’t been big enough for Ohio State. Of course, he didn’t win a national title. And he has lost three straight games to Michigan.
All this makes this season even more exciting. There aren’t many excuses available — not with Jim Harbaugh in the NFL and former coaches drooling over the collection of players. Anything less than anything – a national title – will likely feel like a failure. That’s a brutal standard. However, it’s only amplified with comments about top talent of all time.
“I said in my opening press conference, you have to beat The Team Up North and then win every game,” Day said this week. “The pressure is the same every year. I just like the pressure when you have a pretty good team behind you.”
The problem with talk of ‘the most talented ever’ is that it immediately leads to comparisons with champion teams of the past, such as the aforementioned. However, winning everything requires more than just good players. There is health, happiness, chemistry and more.
Meyer won a national title with his 2014 team at Ohio State, but the roster a season later was likely “more talented.” It just happened to happen against Michigan State.
And then, perhaps most strikingly, there is the competition.
Yes, Ohio State has a loaded roster. However, this also applies to Georgia. This also applies to Texel. That includes Oregon, and so on.
And this is a new era of college football. The Big Ten is now 18 teams strong – that means games at Oregon, Penn State and the finals with the Wolverines. The league no longer has divisions, so any Big Ten championship game will likely feature a rematch with one of those three, not a speed bump of the old Big Ten West.
Then comes a national playoff that will require three or four wins in a field that will likely consist of four SEC teams.
No offense to Meyer and Tressel, but this isn’t how it used to work. Winning it all in 2024 isn’t just about having great players and great coaching; it is surviving a competitive battle in a marathon of a season that only ends on January 20.
Perhaps this is the most talented Ohio State team anyone has ever seen. Or even the most talented team Meyer has ever seen – including his old Florida Gator teams or the Alabama teams that sometimes beat them.
However, that alone will not be enough.
Good on the old Buckeye coaches for voicing their opinions, but for Ryan Day staring down a career-defining season, this probably doesn’t help.
