Obviously a very interesting 24 hours as this thing went nuclear. Have spent most of that time on the phone (got a few hours of sleep) and still not quite sure where this is going to go but I've organized some thoughts just based on what little I've heard and just a general read on the situation.....
1. This could, and should, have been handled better at B1G Media Day by Ohio State. I think it was handled about as poorly as possible from a PR standpoint. There was no reason to comment about anything Zach Smith related and there was certainly no reason to comment to the point where any comments made could be proven either untrue or had doubt cast on them. A "no comment at this time, Smith is no longer with us and we are still working on gathering additional information on the validity of the reports" and we likely aren't sitting here right now.
2. I'm not reading the Paid Administrative Leave angle in the same fashion as some others like Rece Davis are. I think if Ohio State knew yesterday that it wanted to fire Meyer, that it would have just fired him. Paid leave is the correct course of action right now, especially if the goal is to eventually retain Meyer as head coach. I think simply standing behind him and doing nothing is not only bad optics but if things continue to get worse with this situation and/or new information comes out that is negative towards Meyer, then you have just doubled down on bad PR after B1G Media Day.
This slows everything down and allows Ohio State to look into the situation without the negative reaction to Meyer roaming the practice fields at the Woody the whole time.
I'm probably sticking my neck out there even hinting at this, but I think the hope internally is to retain Meyer so long as this situation stabilizes a bit and new information doesn't come out that would be damning. Obviously if new information comes out that reflects poorly on Meyer, he contacted Smith and advised her to stay quiet as one example of something that would obviously not be good, then all bets are off at that point and he's probably gone.
3. Make no mistake about it, Ryan Day is who Urban Meyer wants in charge of the program right now. And it makes sense for a few reasons. Obviously Day is very highly thought of by Meyer and others at OSU, that doesn't even really need to be said.
From a PR standpoint, we can argue all day long about the validity of the Schiano stuff and whether or not enough time has passed on Wilson and how he left Indiana. But clearly at this stage you don't want to give anyone out there even the smallest morsel that could be turned into a negative in the media. Day is the safe choice in the PR battle.
From a recruiting standpoint, Day in charge provides the minimum amount of damage both short term and in a long term doomsday scenario. Day was essentially the primary on Garrett Wilson, Harry Miller, and both quarterback commits. He's probably the best recruiter on the staff right now.
From an on-field standpoint, this also makes the most sense. This allows Schiano to do what he has done best at Ohio State, just focus on running the defense. If you elevate him, you have to elevate someone else on the defensive side of the ball and give them more responsibility. Alex Grinch hasn't coached a game here and is still adjusting to the Schiano scheme. Larry Johnson is best left to do what he does better than anyone, coach and develop defensive linemen. Billy Davis is a 3-4 guy, it's not a good fit for him to take over the defense right now. Taver Johnson just came back and is in the same boat as Grinch.
Meanwhile offensively, Kevin Wilson would in theory be perfectly capable of running the offense all by himself if necessary. I don't see a scenario where Day isn't heavily involved in the offense either way, but it's a spot where you can take a little bit off Day's plate to handle the CEO stuff without worrying about whether the whole offensive system is going to collapse.
As for recruiting.....
The general theme from commits and even some of the targets I've talked with is that people are waiting to see what happens with Meyer. Some kids and families have politely declined comment until they know what's happening. Others have been a bit more vocal but have essentially relayed the same wait-and-see type of message. Some examples:
Steele Chambers: "When I committed to The Ohio State University I also committed to Coach Urban Meyer so I am sticking by him 100% until this thing is cleared up."
Fred Battle (father of Jordan Battle): "We're positive that everything will work itself out. We are praying that all will go well for coach Meyer and his staff and the program."
Darvon Hubbard: "This is just a bump in the road for me. I'm not thinking about it too much. I know we will be good in the long run and I'm still committed 100%."
2020 RB Kendall Milton: "I'm just waiting it out to see what happens in the end."
This is pretty much the standard sentiment across the board. A wait-and-see attitude both in terms of what happens to Meyer with his job security and just generally what comes out about Meyer and his handling of the situation as well.
I'm not going to make any big bold predictions on recruiting right now. I don't know how anyone could with a straight face and clear conscience. We just don't have enough information on what Meyer's real status is to make any type of determination there yet. Obviously if Meyer is removed, that is going to hurt recruiting. Beyond that, we just have to wait and see what more comes to light here.
Things are being kept very tight lipped right now. If you're not above Urban Meyer on totem pole, you don't have much knowledge of what is going on right now around campus. This is all being handled by the higher ups at this point and not a lot of information is being filtered down.
Obviously the coming days are critical. Does the information get worse or do things stabilize? That really dictates how this goes for Meyer, which will dictate how this goes for the program and recruiting. Again, I actually think he stays if things stabilize but I have no idea if they will or not at this point. You just never quite know in these types of situations when the worst has hit.
1. This could, and should, have been handled better at B1G Media Day by Ohio State. I think it was handled about as poorly as possible from a PR standpoint. There was no reason to comment about anything Zach Smith related and there was certainly no reason to comment to the point where any comments made could be proven either untrue or had doubt cast on them. A "no comment at this time, Smith is no longer with us and we are still working on gathering additional information on the validity of the reports" and we likely aren't sitting here right now.
2. I'm not reading the Paid Administrative Leave angle in the same fashion as some others like Rece Davis are. I think if Ohio State knew yesterday that it wanted to fire Meyer, that it would have just fired him. Paid leave is the correct course of action right now, especially if the goal is to eventually retain Meyer as head coach. I think simply standing behind him and doing nothing is not only bad optics but if things continue to get worse with this situation and/or new information comes out that is negative towards Meyer, then you have just doubled down on bad PR after B1G Media Day.
This slows everything down and allows Ohio State to look into the situation without the negative reaction to Meyer roaming the practice fields at the Woody the whole time.
I'm probably sticking my neck out there even hinting at this, but I think the hope internally is to retain Meyer so long as this situation stabilizes a bit and new information doesn't come out that would be damning. Obviously if new information comes out that reflects poorly on Meyer, he contacted Smith and advised her to stay quiet as one example of something that would obviously not be good, then all bets are off at that point and he's probably gone.
3. Make no mistake about it, Ryan Day is who Urban Meyer wants in charge of the program right now. And it makes sense for a few reasons. Obviously Day is very highly thought of by Meyer and others at OSU, that doesn't even really need to be said.
From a PR standpoint, we can argue all day long about the validity of the Schiano stuff and whether or not enough time has passed on Wilson and how he left Indiana. But clearly at this stage you don't want to give anyone out there even the smallest morsel that could be turned into a negative in the media. Day is the safe choice in the PR battle.
From a recruiting standpoint, Day in charge provides the minimum amount of damage both short term and in a long term doomsday scenario. Day was essentially the primary on Garrett Wilson, Harry Miller, and both quarterback commits. He's probably the best recruiter on the staff right now.
From an on-field standpoint, this also makes the most sense. This allows Schiano to do what he has done best at Ohio State, just focus on running the defense. If you elevate him, you have to elevate someone else on the defensive side of the ball and give them more responsibility. Alex Grinch hasn't coached a game here and is still adjusting to the Schiano scheme. Larry Johnson is best left to do what he does better than anyone, coach and develop defensive linemen. Billy Davis is a 3-4 guy, it's not a good fit for him to take over the defense right now. Taver Johnson just came back and is in the same boat as Grinch.
Meanwhile offensively, Kevin Wilson would in theory be perfectly capable of running the offense all by himself if necessary. I don't see a scenario where Day isn't heavily involved in the offense either way, but it's a spot where you can take a little bit off Day's plate to handle the CEO stuff without worrying about whether the whole offensive system is going to collapse.
As for recruiting.....
The general theme from commits and even some of the targets I've talked with is that people are waiting to see what happens with Meyer. Some kids and families have politely declined comment until they know what's happening. Others have been a bit more vocal but have essentially relayed the same wait-and-see type of message. Some examples:
Steele Chambers: "When I committed to The Ohio State University I also committed to Coach Urban Meyer so I am sticking by him 100% until this thing is cleared up."
Fred Battle (father of Jordan Battle): "We're positive that everything will work itself out. We are praying that all will go well for coach Meyer and his staff and the program."
Darvon Hubbard: "This is just a bump in the road for me. I'm not thinking about it too much. I know we will be good in the long run and I'm still committed 100%."
2020 RB Kendall Milton: "I'm just waiting it out to see what happens in the end."
This is pretty much the standard sentiment across the board. A wait-and-see attitude both in terms of what happens to Meyer with his job security and just generally what comes out about Meyer and his handling of the situation as well.
I'm not going to make any big bold predictions on recruiting right now. I don't know how anyone could with a straight face and clear conscience. We just don't have enough information on what Meyer's real status is to make any type of determination there yet. Obviously if Meyer is removed, that is going to hurt recruiting. Beyond that, we just have to wait and see what more comes to light here.
Things are being kept very tight lipped right now. If you're not above Urban Meyer on totem pole, you don't have much knowledge of what is going on right now around campus. This is all being handled by the higher ups at this point and not a lot of information is being filtered down.
Obviously the coming days are critical. Does the information get worse or do things stabilize? That really dictates how this goes for Meyer, which will dictate how this goes for the program and recruiting. Again, I actually think he stays if things stabilize but I have no idea if they will or not at this point. You just never quite know in these types of situations when the worst has hit.
