Urban Meyer got Ohio State to the College Football Playoff this past season but a woeful performance on offense doomed the Buckeyes in their 31-0 loss to eventual national champion Clemson. It also forced the head coach to make changes to his offensive staff.
Tim Beck left for Texas, Ed Warinner moved on to Minnesota and Meyer filled those voids by hiring Ryan Day and former Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson as his quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. The school made Wilson's hire official on Tuesday, the same day Meyer attended the American Football Coaches Association awards ceremony in Nashville.
He spoke briefly with USA TODAY and The Tennesseean about how he felt the Buckeyes lost their balance following the 2014 national title run and how he plans to fix that in 2017.
The full transcript:
“We made some changes and we're going to be better next year. Our players deserve that,” Meyer said.
“You watch that championship game, those are two great teams but it just leaves a little bittersweet [taste], you know, that you were that close. But we just didn't play well. But congratulations to Dabo Swinney — he's a great friend and great coach.
“In 2014 we were one of the most balanced teams in college football, run-pass. We went one dimensional. We're going to open things up and let J.T. Barrett play, get the skill guys more involved. Really anxious to open things up a little bit.”
Ohio State averaged 247.1 passing and 264.5 rushing yards in 2014, terrific balance under former coordinator Tom Herman on the way to capturing the first-ever championship of the College Football Playoff era. The rushing totals the last two years remain in the same ballpark but passing fell to under 200 yards per game in 2015 and 213.9 yards per game this past season.
Meyer made changes and seems confident with where the staff's alignment stands in January, along with noting that he looks forward to seeing J.T. Barrett be the one to lead an offensive resurgence in 2017.
The Buckeyes open their 2017 slate at Indiana on Aug. 31.
