Urban Meyer isn't someone to let any rock, stone or pebble go unturned when it comes to his Ohio State program, no matter the identities of the assistants who roam the sidelines with him on Saturday afternoons.
He's been that way ever since he got his first head coaching job way back in late 2000 at Bowling Green. A maniac of meticulous nature, Meyer's always had his fingers sunk deep in each and every part of the program he presides over.
At Bowling Green and at Utah, in the deep south of Florida and now smack dab in the middle of Ohio, Meyer's stamp on all phases of his teams is evident.
Meyer's teams are tough, well-conditioned, hard-nosed and successful. He builds winners by surrounding them with winners on the coaching staff — people from whom he demands greatness every day.
"The one beauty about Coach Meyer, which he's phenomenal at, is the detail in which he demands from his coaches and his players," Ohio State tight ends coach Tim Hinton said Thursday.
The attention to the finer details has led to Meyer owning a 142-26 overall coaching record and a 38-3 record in Columbus. He expects to win and usually does, because he's so emotionally invested — so much so that it almost killed him in 2009 at Florida.
So when there is coaching turnover on his staff, Meyer wastes no time assuring the fresh faces of what he expects of them. It doesn't matter where they've been, who they are or what they've done in their career prior.
"The one beauty about Coach Meyer, which he's phenomenal at, is the detail in which he demands from his coaches and his players."– Ohio State tight ends coach Tim Hinton
"That’s a tough assignment," Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson said Thursday. "As a new guy, you’ve done something for 18 years one way and then you walk in and it’s all brand new and you’ve gotta start again and refresh yourself trying to figure out the ins and outs."
Johnson prowled Penn State's sidelines for nearly two decades before joining Meyer at Ohio State, methodically pumping out first round NFL Draft picks as if they were pieces on a production line.
Those laurels undoubtedly caught Meyer's eye, but it was back to square one at OSU.
"Once you get a grip of what’s happening, how you do it and how you’re supposed to do it, it’s just full speed ahead," Johnson said.
When Meyer got to campus in late 2011, he made a statement that has forever rung in the ears of Buckeye fans.
"Our objective is simple," Meyer declared at his introductory press conference. "To make the great state of Ohio proud."
He spoke about recruiting the best student-athletes and assistant coaches the country had to offer in order to succeed both on and off the football field. The program's improbable run at the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship is a direct result of what Meyer set out to do from Day One on the job. But he couldn't do it alone.
He had to find the coaches who shared the same vision he does — to win and win a lot, by pushing each other and their players to their limit.
"We have a great relationship because we believe in the same things," newly promoted offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Ed Warinner said March 26. "I didn’t have to change to become a good member of his staff, I just had to understand his terminology and how he wants to do business."
Many consider Warinner to be the most vital member of Meyer's staff, and it's hard to argue when you look at what he's done with Ohio State up front.
Warinner and Meyer are on the same wavelength — just like new assistants Tim Beck and Tony Alford.
"He's involved in every aspect of it at all times," Alford, who replaced Stan Drayton in February, said April 2. "The message is clear, it's very clear and it's articulated every single day a thousand times a day so there's no mistake and I love it."
"You strive for perfection. That's how I am. I'm going to strive for that," Beck said on National Signing Day Feb. 4. "I know Ed is the same way. We're just going to keep pushing our guys and pushing our guys and pushing our guys."
Beck is taking over as quarterbacks coach for Tom Herman, who handed over the keys to the three-head monster that is the Ohio State quarterback room before heading to the University of Houston. Meyer sought out Beck to team up with he and Warinner offensively because of his past relationship with them and because of his mindset.
"Winning. They've got to win," Beck said when asked what it boils down to when choosing the right signal caller. "They've got to make the guys around them better. They've got to not turn the ball over and get the ball to the right guys. Usually that equates to winning."
That's how Beck generates winning. Warinner does it by stacking the blocks on the offensive line into pile driving behemoths, while Alford does it by picking his spots on where to be honest and up front with the guys at his position — even if it hurts.
The same goes for Chris Ash, who joined the staff before last season's run to the college football's zenith. Kerry Coombs has that edge, too, though he shows it through an unfailing energy on the sideline.
Lest we forget about Luke Fickell, the lone guy still on staff Meyer kept in place when he arrived at Ohio State prior to the undefeated 2012 season. He's also the guy the head coach snuck up on and hugged in the closing moments of the team's 59-0 drubbing of Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game last December.
They all share the same passion — and it all stems from the main in charge.
It might take a new coach a week or two to fully understand how Meyer has things running at Ohio State. Sure, he doesn't want it to take that long, but it's the shared vision that keep things humming along at breakneck speed.
"When you walk in right in the door everybody's kind on that page 1. Now you have some coaches that aren't on page 1, they're kind of on page 300," Hinton said. "So you gotta all step back and you all gotta go through that process together and as coaches we're working every day, every day to continue ... it's not the lack of intelligence or whatever, but it's just those little finite details."
Speaking about his new role at the helm of the offense, Warinner added, "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."
Winning breeds winning, and that's all Meyer's done since he's been a coach. He is known as a master motivator and a keen observer who uses his degree in psychology to mold his guys into chunks of toughness who don't falter when the going gets tough, no matter the stakes.
"Somebody asked me what was it like watching the championship game or the game versus Alabama, 'what did you notice?' I noticed how tough Ohio State was," Beck said. "Just physically, mentally tough."
It all stems from Meyer leaving no stone unturned, no pebble stagnant in the water that is taking a hurting program three seasons ago and making it dominant once again.
"I think everybody understands that and I think the further we get removed from that, the initial sting of what happened is over and Ohio State's back to being Ohio State. I just, that I don't feel at all," Meyer said. "I feel the people ... I was even telling our team the perception of the Big Ten and Ohio State you can't run, that's blown away. We can run pretty good and now we gotta keep that going. Some of these guys that could run are going to run a program here in a couple days."
