Coach Meyers staff update

Since being hired nearly a month ago I believe no less then the amount of people in India and China combined have been rumored to be joining the staff of Urban Meyer. From the stupidly insane Kirk Herbstreit to the awesomely delightful Chris Spielman. In the mean time about half the asst. coaches around the country turned rumors of interest by Meyer into huge pay raises and contract extensions at their current jobs. We here at Motsag hate the guessing game or rumor mongering so we will only update the coaches once OSU makes them official. So here is the list so far of coaches who are 100% hired and on the staff.

Tom Herman – Offensive Coordinator and QB coach. Herman is a young coach who has studied and used the spread offense to improve the offenses at Rice and Iowa St. He is a member of MENSA and seems to fit the role of a guy who has tons of energy and will recruit hard in Texas and the Great Plains.

Everett Withers – Co-Defensive Coordinator and Asst. head Coach. Withers is a defensive guru with experince coaching DBs in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans and did coach former Buckeye Donnie Nickey. He he is young and will recruit hard the Mid-Atlantic area like Washington DC and Virginia and Maryland and New Jersey.

Luke Fickell – Defensive Coordinator and Asst. Head Coach (as best as we can tell). Everyone knows who Fickell is and what he brings to the staff. Meyer said Fickell will call all defensive plays in the games. He will likely be our Lead Recruiter too and is well known as one of the best recruiters in the country.

Stan Drayton – Running Back Coach. Drayton was hired last year from Florida where he worked under Coach Meyer. He was hired here as the WR coach but was traditionally the RB coach before coming here. He moved back to his traditional job starting in January. Drayton will recruit the Florida and Georgia and South East like a mad man with tons of ties and relationships down there from his time at Florida.

Mike Vrabel – Linebackers Coach. The guy is Ohio State. After playing 14 years in the NFL he came home to his alma mater Ohio State to help his BFF Fickell and was retained by Coach Meyer today. He will recruit the North East and Ohio and will use the strategy look at my handful of Super Bowl Rings.

Taver Johnson – Cornerbacks Coach. Taver is also being retained from the Tressel era. He has been at OSU for 4 years and has ties to the Cincinnati area for recruiting.

**UPDATE** Zach Smith – Wide Receivers Coach. Zach Smith was the WR coach at Temple and Marshall and 5 years under Coach Meyer. he is the Grandson of Former OSU HC Earle Bruce. He will handle recruiting in PA and WV and MD as well as help in Florida.

Mickey Marotti – Strength and Conditioning. Mickey is considered one of the best S&C coaches in the country and a master motivator. He is also one of Coach Meyers most trusted friends.

Brian Voltolini – Director of Football Operations. Voltolini will be responsible for the operation of the football program’s budget, scholarships, team travel, housing, camps and clinics. Pantoni will supervise all aspects of the program’s administrative duties for recruiting, including on-campus official and unofficial visits, budgeting, travel and database management. Basically the do it all and get no recognition guy.

Mark Pantoni – Director of Player Personnel. Pantoni will be in charge of everything recruiting related. He is a recruiting guru and will implement some awesome exciting events to lure kids to campus and sell the program. He will be the contact guy for anyone wanting to visit OSU and could be the most important hire so far for Meyer.

Ohio State is limited to 10 actual coaches the last 3 listed above aren’t considered coaches but are part of his non coaching staff. With Coach Meyer and 7 asst coaches already named that will leave 2 more slots to fill soon. Most likely an OL coach and either a TE coach or ST coach. one thing is very evident with each confirmed hire it is obvious that Coach Meyer is hiring smart and young coaches with specific ties to certain geographical areas of the country for recruiting purposes.