Buckeye 411

• Time For Trophies- Now that the season is over, it’s time to start handing out gold stars and stickers for the best of the best, and Monday/Tuesday were B1G All Conference Awards, or as we like to call them- the “Ohio State was expected to be great, so here’s something for everyone else”.  As you may have read across the interwebs, the best team in the conference only had three players on the first team, while Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Penn State had five each. Most egregious was Ryan Shazier- the conference’s best linebacker, in terms of statistics, being bumped to the second team and overlooked for B1G Linebacker of the Year.
• Along Those Lines- Also “outstanding”? No Ohio State offensive linemen on the first or second teams, in spite of leading the conference
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And now, we know the form of our destructor. Notre Dame has finished the season undefeated, and will play for the National Title, most likely against an SEC team of some semblance.  Who knew that the Holy See was so closely connected with Tikal? We said early on that it would be an amazing accomplishment for the Irish to finish the year undefeated- and yet, here we are. Granted, they faced a down Southern Cal, a “choke-prone” Oklahoma, and struggled against Purdue and Pitt, but they stand atop the polls as our nation’s finest team.  So, let the … [Read More]

Again, this is just a rumor at this point. But the timeline for this news seems to be pretty solid, not including the emails and phone calls we’ve been a part of over the past few hours. Take a gander:

• Earlier last week, Urban released a statement saying that he was not interested in coaching at this time.
• Then on Monday, news broke that he had met with (and declined the offer of) the Athletic Department of the University of Arizona; a meeting that occurred in Miami.
• Yesterday, Ohio State fans began clamoring like a kid listening to the “Santa Report” on the radio on Christmas Eve (c’mon- it wasn’t just me…) tracking a private chartered plane from
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Many fans have expressed many ideas regarding the Ohio State coaching search.  Urban Meyer and Bo Pelini are two of the biggest that we’ve already taken a look at.  Mentioned in the same breath with those two illustrious names is another young bright star of the coaching profession – Jon Gruden.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Gruden’s name has come up in a coaching search in the last six months.  He was first suggested as a replacement for Randy Shannon at Miami, followed by Rich Rodriguez at Michigan.  He was also offered, and turned down, a position as offensive coordinator at Oregon.  The Ohio State job is simply the most recent addition … [Read More]

Special thanks to a friend of the BBC who recommended this feature on O’Brien.

Most of you are probably looking at the title of this post and saying to yourself “who?”.  Well, that’s probably your own fault because a few year’s ago O’Brien was one of the top names in college football.  You may most clearly remember him as the guy who jumped ship from successful ACC member Boston College to full-meltdown-mode ACC member NC State.

Oh…That guy!

Tom O’Brien was born in the great state of Ohio, in the city … [Read More]

At this point, though, a future coaching search is still in the plan.  Until that explicitly changes, we’re going to keep running these articles because, honestly, you really want to know.

We’ve looked at a number of different possibilities for the future of the Ohio State head coaching position so far.  We hit the obvious answer of Fickell first, and followed it with the nearly unheard-of possbility of Lovie Smith.  Just last week we took a look at one of the big possible names for the job, Nebraska’s own Bo Pelini.

Now we hit the next big name for the job, and the … [Read More]

Ever since his meteoric rise in the college coaching ranks six years ago, Mark “Bo” Pelini has been a well known name for the top spot in Ohio State football.  Though he hasn’t ever explicitly said so, having been raised in Youngstown, Ohio, and having graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School, Pelini has likely been a Buckeye fan for life.

Of course, it also helps that he played ball there.

Recruited by Earle Bruce, Pelini spent most of his days on the field as a free safety under John Cooper.  He was a starter in his last two seasons (1989, 1990) and Co-Captain his senior year.  Clearly the Scarlet and Gray runs deep in his blood.

After his playing career, Pelini jumped straight into the … [Read More]

Many, many names have been mentioned in the context of the Ohio State head coaching search.  Some have made some sense (Fickell, Hazell, Dantonio, Pelini) and some not so much (Meyer, Saban, etc.)  We will get to them all shortly.

One guy that may not have entered your radar yet is Lovie Smith, current Head Coach of the Chicago Bears.  I’ll wait while you stop laughing.

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Any minute now…

Smith started his collegiate football experience playing Linebacker and Safety for the University of Tulsa in the late 70’s.  You might recall that the head coach of the Golden Hurricanes at that time was one John Cooper.  Yes, that John Cooper.

Rather than playing in the pros, … [Read More]