It's pretty rare for Urban Meyer to make it through an entire season without at least once bringing up his early days as the head coach of Bowling Green.
The Falcons took a chance on the then-36-year-old Meyer to reboot their football program. He did that quickly in his first head coaching job, winning 17 games in his two seasons in Northwest Ohio before leaving for Utah. But the success at Bowling Green didn't happen without a focus on various extracurriculars, all revolving around the student body.
Attendance was so bad at football games that he and his staff went and spoke with every student organization. He even had to teach them the Bowling Green fight song.
“That stadium started to fill up at the end of our first year,” Meyer said in September, two days before his Buckeyes throttled Bowling Green 77-10 to kick off the 2016 season.
Obviously, Meyer and Ohio State don't have to worry about fans and students showing up to Ohio Stadium to watch the football team play. But in what has become an annual tradition like the spring game, Meyer and his staff plan to welcome students to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Saturday for an open practice, other activities and a chance to take photos with trophies, players and coaches.
“I hear about other schools worried about their students coming to games and we don’t,” Meyer said on Tuesday. “I sent out an email to all the students, we’ve inviting them and doing fastest student [races].”
He added that he asked to try and do it on a Friday night in an attempt to avoid the event from becoming "old news" but because it is SIBS weekend at Ohio State that couldn't happen.
“We’re very conscientious of our most important group of people and that’s our students so we try to do as best we can,” he said.
Doors at the WHAC open at noon. Practice is scheduled to begin around then and end at approximately 2 p.m. Only students with a valid BuckID and their registered siblings (with a proper wristband for SIBS weekend) can gain access.
Other perks:
- CABS buses are scheduled to start running to and from the WHAC at 11 a.m. to pick-up and drop off students at various locations. See those locations here.
- Free food and drink from Roosters and Meijer for students and siblings will be provided
- A live DJ will provide music
- After practice, photo opportunities with players and coaches will take place on the field just like years past
- A new bit for this year, per Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch, who spoke to assistant operations manager Quinn Tempel, is guided tours for students to usual off-limits sections of the facility.
- Eleven Warriors will provide on-site updates and photos of the event upon its completion. Media cannot take video or photos of the practice plays and intrasquad scrimmage, however, but we will write observations and provide other necessary #content.
