Ed Warinner is a simple man. After all, he spent 15 seasons coaching at military institutions in the Army and Air Force Academy. His love for service academies is palpable.
"I have a great love and respect for the Naval Academy. My favorite player of all time is Roger Staubach, who won the Heisman trophy at the Naval Academy, so when I got to meet him at an Army/Navy game that was a big thrill for me even though I was coaching," Warinner said the Wednesday before Ohio State took on Navy last August. "I wore No. 12 because of him when I played."
Warinner credits the simplistic, yet opportunistic approach he mentored the young men at Army and the Air Force to his coaching success and move up the ranks. His rise includes stops at Kansas, Illinois and Notre Dame before finally halting in Columbus.
He's moved his way up even in his three seasons at Ohio State under Urban Meyer, earning a promotion to offensive coordinator following the exit of Tom Herman to the University of Houston this past winter.
With the bump in rank comes more responsibility for Warinner on top of his usual offensive line coaching duties, but he said he doesn't foresee much changing with the offense. Especially considering he'll remain on the sidelines this fall.
"I'm not going to steer this thing in a different direction, I'm going to steer it down the path that he wants which has been a real successful path and my thing is, I guess my deal is always like perfection and toughness will be the two things that I've always harped on and will continue to do that."– Ed Warinner
"My job is to make sure we continue to operate at a high level and then to enhance the offense as we move forward," Warinner said March 26. "So I'm not going to try to do anything other than continue to carry the banner of execution."
The offense is Meyer's to begin with, but Warinner's newly acquired power as offensive coordinator along with new quarterback coach Tim Beck's input will undoubtedly exhibit some sort of adjustments in terms of calling plays this fall.
After all, simply not having Herman's magnificent offensive mind available is bound to be a hefty change itself.
"He's the same guy, but when we're in team, we just have to take a little more responsibility for coaching up the young guys and stuff like that," left tackle Taylor Decker said this spring of Warinner. "Because he's obviously got to oversee the whole offense. He's the same guy in individual, he's the same guy when we're in pods and inside drill, but in team he just has a little bit more responsibility."
Warinner could vie for more power running plays to be called this fall for Ohio State's offense, especially considering the toys he's got to work with both on the offensive line and in the backfield.
As 11W's Nicholas Jervey wonderfully pointed out in March, once Mark Mangino gave the keys to the Kansas offense to Warinner in 2007, the Jayhawks had a record-setting season. That year, Warinner utilized the bruising style of Brandon McAnderson (5-foot-10, 235 pounds) meshed with the quick first step of Jake Sharp (5-foot-10, 190 pounds) perfectly to tally nearly 2,000 rushing yards between the two of them.
No offense to McAnderson and Sharp, but Warinner's got even better personnel lined up for 2015 at Ohio State.
Ezekiel Elliott is a Heisman Trophy candidate and Curtis Samuel burst onto the scene with a solid freshman season one year ago. More backfield talent is on its way with freshman Mike Weber and let's not forget Bri'onte Dunn and Warren Ball, either. And, we're not even counting who gets the nod at quarterback for the Buckeyes.
A year ago, Ohio State quarterbacks threw the ball 406 times in 15 games. At Kansas in 2007, starting quarterback Todd Reesing chucked it 446 times in 13 games. Quite the disparity considering average pass attempts per game between the two seasons.
Again, however, Warinner's got more talent on the outside in the form of Michael Thomas, Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson and others than he did at Kansas. It makes what he and Beck did with the Jayhawks in 2007 that much more impressive.
The spread looks will remain the same from Ohio State this fall with Warinner as offensive coordinator, but tipping the scales a bit toward the side of power rushing seems like it'd be in the cards of consideration.
After all, Elliott ran for 696 yards in the post-season against Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon.
A lot depends on who plays quarterback for the Buckeyes, but Warinner's always giving off the impression that keeping things simple is the key to gaining yards on offense. Use the weapons you have where you have them, get them the ball in the easiest ways possible and let the talent show through. No need to make it difficult with unneeded fanciness.
"We're based on toughness, execution, fundamentals, Warinner said. "We want to continue to do that, we want to be able to find who are playmakers are and all within the confines of Coach Meyer. He sets the tone for that. He's in a lot of offensive meetings.
"I'm not going to steer this thing in a different direction, I'm going to steer it down the path that he wants which has been a real successful path and my thing is, I guess my deal is always like perfection and toughness will be the two things that I've always harped on and will continue to do that."
