Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Ohio State should turn to TOB

Despite the occasional pleasure I get in watching his tired act in Raleigh, this is a serious post. I think Tom O'Brien might be the perfect guy to help Ohio State rebuild their program and reclaim their reputation. Aside from TOB's age (he would turn 64 in during the 2012 season) everything else makes sense.


Ohio State will have a tough time hiring an A list coach
The general assumption seems to be that Ohio State will get an A list head coach. Primary speculation focused on Urban Meyer. I think getting a top guy will be easier said than done. Meyer's health is still in question. This is also a guy who railed on about the corruption of college football on his way out the door at Florida. Does this fit the profile of a guy willing to step into a powder keg? I also don't think any other top guy with a job will take on Ohio State without knowing the full impact of potential sanctions. Given the timing of the USC case, it is unlikely all the sanctions will be known by December 2011 (which is when Ohio State's search will begin).


TOB has the profile that will sell to recruits, most Ohio State fans and the NCAA
He's an Ohio guy. He's a disciplinarian (with less hypocrisy than most college football coaches). He'll recruit Ohio hard. He'll beat Michigan. He'll leave the program in better shape than he found it. He has no association with Tressel nor any of the other boosters. He has a history of following rules.


When USC replaced Carroll with Kiffin, it was a slap in the face to the NCAA. They replaced the rule breaker with one of his lieutenants and a guy who was earning his own sordid reputation in Tennessee. Hence the punishment under Kiffin was severe. With TOB, Ohio State would be making a clean break and hiring TOB for his reputation.


TOB would take the job
Many (myself included) assume this will be TOB's last season. But the like all football coaches, the old Marine does have a healthy ego. He also feels like he has never been given enough credit for what he's done. If he "rebuilt" Ohio State it would solidify his career legacy and give him one final, big pay day. Plus this is the situation TOB seems to love -- low expectations and high upside. It fits his MO and his experience.


Whoever Ohio State hires will be a transitional coach through the sanctions and rebuilding. If that path is inevitable, the school might as well go with the squeaky clean Marine, endure the five years of boredom and come out smelling like a rose for the next young hot name.

21 comments:

Bravesbill said...

I think you might have hit the sauce to hard this past weekend. Why on earth would OSU want a coach who was underachieving his first 3 years at NCST? Why on earth would OSU want TOB after the whole Russel Wilson fiasco this winter? OSU wants to win now, even with the upcoming sanctions. TOB does not fit that agenda. I seriously doubt that he will continue to beat Michigan after they hired Brady Hoke, who is a much better coach than TOB. Sure, he runs a clean program, but many better coaches do as well. Plus, OSU is still a Top 10 program in the country for coaches.

Ryan said...

DISCIPLINARIAN!!! Come on ATL, you of all people have to know that facade is nonsense.

eagleboston said...

I think Urban Myer to OSU makes a lot more sense. The alumni base would surely approve and he has a track record of national championships. I could not think of a better fit for OSU. Plus, from Myer's perspective, these plum jobs don't come open very often.

tvp said...

Why do you assume this is TOB's last season? If that were true then he wouldn't have pushed Wilson out. The NCSU roster will be peaking in 2012.

BCMike said...

This would provide Ginger with another opportunity to bring up the BC betting scandal...I bet he would take the job for that reason alone.

mod34b said...

Shockingly, I must fully agree with Bravesbill here.

But the mere act of agreeing with BB, has sent my mind into a tizzy: (can this really be serious? are you actually seeeing the world through BB colored glasses ??)

That is to say, I agree with BB only if you really are serious about this. This reads more like a College Observer put-on provocation than a serious point! Let's nominate Spaz and Tranq while we are at it! Make Jags the new OSU ethics coordinator! Ha!

So, I will end this with a quote from John McEnroe and a fun You Tube clip -- YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS

William said...

If TOBias doesn't work, maybe I suggest his longtime mustachioed DC?

Erik said...

He's a disciplinarian.... whose players love getting 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalties with no repercussions.

Erik said...

The good news is that if you watch SportsCenter this morning you get to hear Lebron James' take on tOSU.

In other words, KILL ME!

BCNorCal07 said...

I'm actually going to have to agree with ATL, at least in part. The OSU scandal is turning out to be MUCH more serious than what was going on USC. At USC it was just one player. It was serious, sure, but it was one guy. It's starting to look like dozens of players have been getting inappropriate benefits for years (remember Troy Smith?) in Columbus.

This has the potential to be the most serious amateurism case and the harshest sanctions against a major program since SMU. Really. The death penalty won't come out of the bag, but the sanctions could be much more severe than what happened to USC.

I don't know what truly big-name coach would want this job knowing there's a good potential for A) no bowl games, B) no conference titles, C) a possible TV ban, and D) hefty scholarship limits for several years. It's going to get ugly in Columbus once those penalties hit and very few established, elite coaches are going to want to cook in that kitchen.

Dan said...

Exciting piece on Rettig

http://bostoncollege.rivals.com/content.asp?FOR=
1226989

Dan said...

Sorry phone screwed up link

http://bostoncollege.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=
1226989

mod34b said...

Nice link Dan.

Very exciting to see how committed & talented Rettig is and to know he has his own private QB coach (quite an impressive private coach too).

Do we have the next Matty Ice? hope so.

Good positive comments on Rogers too. Hmmm... maybe Spaz and GDF knew exactly what they were doing when they hired Rogers!

p.s. >>> to post a hyper link use this format:

[a href="insert web address inside quotes"]comment[/a]

e.g.

[a href="http://bostoncollege.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=
1226989"]Link[/a]


but replace [ with <
and replace ] with >

Mr. Tambourine MAn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mr. Tambourine MAn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mr. Tambourine MAn said...
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Mr. Tambourine MAn said...

Since he always enjoys throwing potshots at BC, it was nice to see that, like most Holy Cross grads, Bill Simmons is just a Boston College fan who is bitter that he couldn't get in.


link

Fixed with Mod34b insights

mod34b said...

Sweet Link Rob. Simmons is a class A bleep.

Scott said...

Bill makes all the right points why an up-and-coming coach would want to steer clear of OSU, for fear the looming sanctions will hurt recruiting and eventually lead to his ouster.

But I think OSU is going to luck out. They'll fire the whole staff to show institutional control. They'll sanction themselves with reduced schoolies and probation for 2 years (so new recruits won't be effected until after their RSF year), and just like UNC, they AD will suspend a dozen bad seeds, subject to the NCAA reinstating the. At that point, the pressure is off the NCAA to go nuts ... even though the new NCAA president has promised to imposed huge, huge penalties to address growing problems.

Anyway, once all that happens, the job is more attractive, especially since no one will expect much in the two probation years due to all the suspensions.

However, I think OSU will use the lock-out to its advantage. The NFL coaches and coordinators have no job right now, so they can all interview, and OSU is the only major college in the market, so they have no competition.

So I predict OSU will land a Saban type

Mike said...

The NFL coaches are still employed and paid by the owners. They are not effected by the lockout. Coaches whose contracts are up in the NFL are a different story, though.

Scott said...

MIke, you are correct that the coaches still have contracts, as do all players who are not already free-agents.

I'm not sure if the coaches get paid salary, or on a "per game" basis (as the players), but regardless, the coaches aren't at camp, they aren't game planning, and they aren't allowed to talk/teach any of their players. Bottom line, it's pretty easy for them to slip out for an interview.

Regardless, NFL coaches can break their contract at any time, and join a college team, subject to the terms of a non-compete, which has to be very narrow in scope, duration, and geography. The only NFL team that could plausibly meet that standard is the Cincy Bengals.