The Rebranding of the Buckeyes

What a great weekend for Buckeye Nation!  Although I didn’t have the privilege of being in attendance, all signs point to the fact that Saturday’s open practice with the students was a tremendous success!!  This is one of many great ideas Coach Meyer and his staff have put together in the process of giving the look of Ohio State football a facelift.  This “rebranding” is something I would like to talk about.

Being in marketing, I sometimes get caught up in commercials and magazine articles as I dissect the target audience and the intention behind the messaging.  Although the refurbishing of the Ohio State image is not a commercial, nor a magazine article, I have taken notice to several things this new coaching staff has put into place…and for good reason.  After everything that’s happened to this program over the past year or so, the most important thing any new coach could do is demonstrate that OSU is still the best place to get your education, develop as a young man and play on a perennial powerhouse football team.  Head Coach Urban Meyer and his staff have meticulously done that since day one.

Take, for example, the official Ohio State website.  Even though they had created this new look prior to Coach Meyer taking over the helm, the new way in which they highlight news, add photos and video and portray the “champions” of Ohio State is straight from the Urban Meyer playbook.  The way that all of the coaches seemingly use the media in terms of interviews, social media, videos and news reporters is completely different than we’ve seen before and portrays the transparency Coach Meyer promised to have on the day he was hired.  Ohio State has also approved the $7 million purchase of a new scoreboard and high definition video monitor, sound system and video ribbons that will circle part of the stadium.  If you’ve been to a game in the last decade, you’ll know that this was sorely needed and will benefit everyone that attends future games as well as be impressive to future recruits.  That was followed up by this past weekend’s open practice where the students at OSU were given full access to the team as well as a tour of the beloved Ohio Stadium.  Word is also out that Coach Meyer is bringing his wildly successful “Friday Night Lights” up from Gainesville to Columbus.  Anyone who has followed football recruiting knows how successful Meyer was in attracting the top high school talent each summer to the bright lights of the Swamp.  And I’m sure this is just the beginning of big things we will be seeing out of the “Mecca” of college football.

Now, I realize that some stories have come out recently that portray Coach Meyer in very poor light.  I refuse to give those articles any more publicity than they have already gotten.  Personally, I think it’s a combination of a sore Florida fan base and the ever-present media hatred for Ohio State that continues to cause these things.  Sometimes I wish these reporters and “snitches” would look themselves in the mirror and think about their own faults and mistakes before trying to irresponsibly destroy the lives of others…but that’s just me.  Regardless of the reasoning behind the stories and whether there is any truth to them or not, the bottom line is:  People are people.  EVERYONE makes mistakes…me, you, Matt Hayes, George Dorhmann, Urban Meyer and Jim Tressell.  We’ve seen it before, we’ll see it again.  I have no doubt that the perfect coach for Ohio State University’s football team is Urban Meyer.  He has my full support and Buckeye love and as Buckeye fans, I’m sure he has yours, too.

The present and future is very bright at Ohio State.  We have arguably the best coach in college football, one of the best assistant coaching staffs, the best and largest fan base of any football team, a renovated ‘Shoe on the way and promise of continued football dominance in the days ahead.   I can’t wait to see this team play in the fall, but for now, I’ll take the Spring Game this Saturday!  Go Bucks!!

Recent Ohio State Football Coaching Stories

• Inside Ohio State Football and Urban Meyer with Nicki Meyer – Nicole Lynn Meyer, also known as Nicki, is the oldest of three children born to Urban and Shelley Meyer. She is currently a junior at Georgia Tech University on a volleyball scholarship
• Coach Meyer, Buckeyes & fans connect at practice – Inclement weather forced Ohio State facilities and operations personnel to move Saturday’s student-centered practice indoors, but that didn’t dampen the crowd or the enthusiasm.
• Meyer’s Coaching Staff Coming Together (Scout.com) – Urban Meyer put a lot of thought into who he would hire as his nine assistant coaches when he took the Ohio State job.
• How Urban Meyer’s Gameplan Will Affect Offensive Output – Ohio State fans should feel extremely confident as to what they’ll see out of their offense in 2012 and moving forward under new head coach Urban Meyer . Meyer’s resume speaks for itself
• Understanding Urban: Buckeyes Will Take Counter Measures in Run Game – As has been stated, debated, hashed and re-hashed, the new-look Ohio State offense will be much different from anything we have seen in Columbus. It will also feel very familiar to Buckeyes fans at the same time
• Meyer Happy To Be Back At It At OSU (Scout.com) – The first day of spring practice at Ohio State under Urban Meyer included a first look at the new offense the Buckeyes will run and allowed the new head coach to see if what he suspected from his offseason study of the roster was accurate
• Ohio State football: Urban Meyer era begins with fast-paced practice – Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer smiled when asked if Wednesday was a pinch-yourself moment. Meyer shook his head slowly after his first spring practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, adding the pinch-yourself moment will probably be Sept. 1 when the Buckeyes open the 2012 season against the Miami Redhawks.
• Head Coach Urban Meyer addressing the media after winter workouts (Video)
• Meyers’ new home overlooks Muirfield – Ohio State University’s new football coach, Urban Meyer, and his wife, Shelley, have bought an 11,700-square-foot Muirfield home for $1.45 million
• Ohio State has its best practice of the spring in the eyes of coach Urban Meyer – Meyer called the practice “A1A” with the highlight a 75-yard touchdown pass from Braxton Miller to Carlos Hyde
• Urban Meyer changing the atmosphere for the Ohio State football program – Coach Urban Meyer has brought a new feel to the Ohio State football program. During the spring drills, Meyer and his assistants have hammered in the idea of winners and losers during spring drills and the atmosphere of practice has changed as a result.
• Meyers reaction mixed to first Buckeyes workouts – Five practices into his tenure at Ohio State, coach Urban Meyer is both impressed with some things hes seen and also realizes the Buckeyes have a long way to go.
• Ohio State Football: Urban Meyer Makes a Smart Move to Reward Buckeyes’ Fight – Ohio State has never been thought of as a “slack” program but it seems new coach Urban Meyer is going to take the already intense football culture of Columbus up a notch with
• Hilarious Urban Meyer Parody  – Just watch (LOL)
• Coach Tom Herman Talks About Installing New Offense (Video)
• Coach Luke Fickell Talks About the OSU Linebackers (Video)
• Fickell Settles In For Next Chapter At OSU (Scout.com) – No one can question the loyalty Luke Fickell has for Ohio State. A year after serving his alma mater as interim head coach, Fickell is back coaching linebackers and getting a fresh perspective by working with new coaches
• OSU Safeties, Withers Roll With The Punches (Scout.com) – Everett Withers has a lot on his plate. In addition to his job as Ohio State’s assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator, Withers also coaches the safeties.
• Kerry Coombs makes his presence known as Ohio State football kicks off spring practice – The loudest guy out there was not the former Florida head coach, but the newest hire on Meyer’s staff, the cornerbacks coach from the University of Cincinnati
• Short Video Clip of Doran Grant and Kerry Coombs – I love how this guy coaches!
• Ohio State’s Hinton reflects on days as Van Wert Cougar coach – Before Tim Hinton took over as head football coach at Van Wert High School in 1989, he served as a graduate assistant under Coach Earle Bruce at the Ohio State University – alongside another up-and-coming graduate assistant named Urban Meyer.