According to his contract, Urban Meyer makes $1.85 million a year for media, promotion and public relations obligations that he likes to half-playfully lament on an annual basis.
Which is why, with a more-than-just-pivotal bout against eighth-ranked Michigan State in East Lansing looming this weekend, the head coach seemed like he’d give every nickel of it back for some peace and quiet.
“I hope the culture is, here at Ohio State, that the most prepared team will win," Meyer said Monday during his weekly press conference.
"Not the most interviews, not the most conversations you have."
It was as if he was trying to drop a hint at the overflow of cameras, reporters and recorders in the room.
After all, that’s what happens on the eve of what's easily the biggest game in an otherwise desolate Big Ten. And as such, national figures from outlets like ESPN, CBS Sports, Yahoo! Sports and USA Today and more flocked to Columbus to inspect the Buckeyes, whose loss to the Spartans last year denied them a league title and derailed a chance to play for the national championship.
When you couple that and how Saturday's contest could have major implications on college football's big picture, the glare of the national spotlight will beam on Spartan Stadium this weekend. Meyer's doing everything in his power to temper the hoopla.
“I think the most important thing that I have to do and the leaders’ job and the coaches is the immediacy of the task at hand,” Meyer said. “Today's Monday. What's the most important thing on Monday? For (our players) to get their rest and get the treatments. And that's a Monday, and then a Tuesday, a Wednesday, a Thursday."
That's a head coach feeling for a sense of routine and normalcy in a week that'll determine his team's season. It's step one. Step two?
“Try to get as many cameras,” Meyer said before stopping himself. “People want to do interviews in our locker room now and all that.”
He turned to his sports information director and media liaison Jerry Emig and smiled.
"Since now I work for Jerry, I guess we're going to do all that," he said before quietly laughing to himself. "I'm just kidding, Jerry. I think it's all good exposure for our players and coaches, but the immediacy is to get focused."
It's a balance that comes with the territory of primetime bouts. And for Ohio State, of course, it's a chance to notch its first win against a ranked opponent since slipping by Northwestern in Evanston more than a year ago. National attention, after all, yields national respect. And the Buckeyes lost that after losing to an increasingly-bad Virginia Tech team earlier this season.
"I think (we) know that already," Meyer said, "that this is a game to get the respect that Ohio State deserves and has had in the past. You have to go compete and win this game and it's going to be a task. But that's real."
Losses to Michigan State and Clemson in the postseason last year made the Buckeyes look like paper tigers after previously winning 24-straight games under Meyer.
"The thing is, when you come to Ohio State University, is there any reason why you don't want to play in these kind of games? You sign up for this," tight ends coach Tim Hinton said. "And this is what it's all about. National TV, primetime and all that kind of stuff and getting an opportunity to play a great opponent and a Big Ten opponent and all those things are exactly why you signed up to come to Ohio State. Let's go."
Added Meyer: "The most prepared team will win this game."
And if the Buckeyes can do that, they'll reap the rewards of winning a big-time game while the rest of the nation watches.
It's something they haven't done for a while.
