Urban Meyer isn't oblivious. He is fully aware of the talent his Ohio State program has walking out the door after the 2015 season either in the form of an early NFL Draft entrant or graduating senior.
"I'm a fan of great players," Meyer said Thursday. "A bunch of those guys are going to play for a while. You have to look at it that way. We recruited very well. The door is open now.
"It is what it is."
Meyer and his coaching staff have recruited very well, boasting the No. 2, No, 3 and No. 7 recruiting classes the last three years. As it stood Thursday night, the Buckeyes are slotted second behind LSU with a touch under a month before National Signing Day.
There's a reason Ohio State was expected to run the table and win its second-straight College Football Playoff National Championship in 2015. The roster was littered with talent, a bulk of which is now gone after a 12-1 finish.
“It's a hunger. It's going to be back to like I said the 2014, a hungry, nasty, mean team. I hope. We're going to name some leaders early on. It's going to be an energy-filled offseason.”– Urban Meyer
The Buckeyes lose a mess of extremely successful players ahead of 2016, but Meyer is already looking forward to the season opener in September against Bowling Green in a similar way as he did the Navy game two years ago.
"I compare it, as I discuss it with our staff, very similar to the 2014 team," Meyer said. "That was a team of development."
That team had an incumbent starter at quarterback — Braxton Miller, pre-shoulder surgery — and budding star on the up front in Taylor Decker offensively. In 2016, J.T. Barrett is already pencilled in as the guy who is set to take snaps from Pat Elflein, who spurned the NFL to play out his final year of eligibility.
On the other side of the ball, Joey Bosa was set to wreak havoc on the way to an All-American campaign at defensive end in 2014 in front of a leader at linebacker, Joshua Perry. Sam Hubbard blossomed into a stud in the trenches this past season and is sure to be a starter this fall, just like Raekwon McMillan will be the perceived quarterback of the defense. Doran Grant was a returner starter at corner, as Gareon Conley is set to be in 2016.
There are more parallels that could be made, but you get it: There were holes then just like there ahead of 2016. And, there are even more young players chomping at the bit to show what they can do to earn playing time come next season.
"That was a team of Eli Apple, Vonn Bell, Darron Lee, guys who either redshirted or didn't play much in the 2013 season," Meyer said. "In 2013, the leading receiver Philly Brown, leading rusher Carlos Hyde and then our leading player Braxton Miller did not play in 2014 and you saw a steady improvement which ultimately culminated in a pretty good finish."
That pretty good finish was three consecutive victories over top-10 teams and a national championship. We still have to wait a while before seeing what 2016 brings, but Meyer and the Buckeye coaching staff feel a similar sense to what they felt after the 2013 season. As long as those in the program develop and want to keep getting better.
"It's a hunger. It's going to be back to like I said the 2014, a hungry, nasty, mean team. I hope," Meyer said. "We're going to name some leaders early on. It's going to be an energy-filled offseason."
