Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney Have Shown They Have The Balls That Urban Meyer Does Not
No, that headline isn’t some play on words. This isn’t a satirical piece that in the end actually says Urban Meyer is the greatest coach of all time. Wait, what? I thought I was some knob riding homer that sees everything through scarlet colored glasses? Nope, I just call it as I see it. It’s not my fault that everything always comes up Ohio State. And for the first time since I got here, I finally have a reason to criticize Urban Meyer and The Ohio State Buckeyes.
When Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney named true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence as the starter on Monday, he did so while benching senior Kelly Bryant. Bryant had started for the Tigers the last 18 games, posting a 16-2 record, including an ACC Title and a trip to the College Football Playoff. On top of that, Bryant did absolutely nothing to lose the job. Didn’t break any rules. Didn’t have any character issues. And definitely didn’t play bad football. Trevor Lawrence was just better. And Swinney knew he gave the Tigers a better chance to win a National Championship.
Head on down south to Tuscaloosa and you’ll find a very similar situation. Jalen Hurts, a junior, led Alabama to a 26-2 record over the past two seasons, but it is Tua Tagovailoa that is the starter this year for the Crimson Tide. Why? Because anyone with two eyes can tell you that Tua is a more gifted quarterback. He proved it last year when he came in at halftime of the National Championship game to throw 3 touchdown passes en route to a comeback victory and a title. Hurts, like Bryant at Clemson, did nothing to lose the job. Tua won the job.
How would both Clemson and Alabama be this year had they let Bryant and Hurts remain starters? You’d be looking at the ACC and SEC champions. College Football Playoff members. Maybe even National Champions. But they wouldn’t be the best teams they could be. They would be rewarding seniority and eldership over the best person for the job. Bryant and Hurts could have started the entire season and many people would have understood why. They earned their job based on what they’ve done in the past.
So how does this relate to Coach Meyer and the Buckeyes? Well, because Dwayne Haskins is tearing it up this year as a redshirt sophomore, slinging the football all over the damn field. The Buckeyes haven’t had a pocket passer this talented since, well, ever. He has over a 75% completion percentage, 16 touchdowns, and only 1 interception through 4 games. That’s good enough for a passer rating of 207. Haskins has had a meteoric type rise up the Heisman leaderboard, finding himself currently 2nd in odds behind Tagovailoa. The question now though is, why is this the first we’ve seen of him? Aside from the brief moment of injury, JT Barrett, who is eerily similar to Bryant and Hurts record wise, started and played every moment of the games last year despite his throwing deficiencies. Haskins cannon of an arm didn’t just suddenly develop in the last 3 months. And the Buckeyes, while I love and will defend JT Barrett to the end, just did not have a true passing threat last year.
The 2017 version of The Ohio State Buckeyes was good. Very, very good. A 12-2 record. Beat Michigan, of course. Big 10 Champions, as usual. And had a dominate 24-7 Cotton Bowl victory over Sam Darnold and the USC Trojans. For many schools, this would be the season of a lifetime. For the Buckeyes, it was rather disappointing. The reason it was disappointing is not because of the lack of National Championship – I’ll take a Big 10 title and a victory over USC any year. It was disappointing because our offense never truly gelled into what it could have. Could this have panned out differently had Urban made the decision like Swinney and Saban to go with the more talented player over the proven game managing winner?
I guess when it comes down to it, Urban danced with the one that brought him. He has, to a fault, always stuck by his guys no matter what. Could the 2017 Buckeyes have won the National Title had Urban pulled the rug out from under his experienced, high character quarterback like Saban and Swinney did? Yeah, probably. I guess Urban just does not put winning over everything like Saban and Swinney do. Does that make him a lesser coach? Maybe so. Does that make him a more honorable man? Yes, and he still wins. And that is why he is the greatest coach of all time.
