Urban Meyer was admittedly upset when he found out his team was left out of the 2017 College Football Playoff.
Meyer said he sank in his chair as he watched the selection show at home, before heading into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on just a few short hours of sleep.
The Ohio State head coach, who has put his team in two of the first four playoffs since its inception in 2014, was in a surprisingly upbeat mood as he addressed the media Sunday afternoon. Meyer said his motivation to send his veterans out with a win was the main reason for his optimism just hours after being left out of the CFP.
"It's a genuine, sincere love for my guys that they've done everything right. And I want to make sure they continue to do everything right," Meyer said. "We're going to find a way to go get the next win against a great team."
Ohio State's senior class is one of the more accomplished groups during Meyer's tenure in Columbus. The 2013 and 2014 classes have experienced a pair of Big Ten titles, a national championship and a Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame to cap the 2015 season. Those classes also never lost to Michigan, and experienced double-digit regular season win totals each year.
Meyer said the disappointment surrounding the team right now is fresh and stings, but added that the best way to deal with it is to surround themselves with family and each other.
"You have to understand they're not kind of disappointed. They're probably devastated. But that's one thing families do, how do you handle devastation, get around those you love and let's go back to work," Meyer said. "The way that I've learned and the way we've tried to teach our team because it's a family approach here is how to handle disappointment. Get together, man, let's go. Let's go. We'll be fine."
Meyer's current mindset is not necessarily one that he would have had when he was coaching. He said Ohio State's current group of seniors help give him a renewed sense of perspective ahead of the 2017 Cotton Bowl, which will pit the Buckeyes against USC.
"The younger Meyer guy, (got) to the point where I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't do this, couldn't do that," he said. "I can't ask Chris Worley for something else. I can't say, hey, I need you to do this. He's done – and that goes to where I can start listing the names. At this point in my life, my career that's all I want; I want to coach guys I like, I want to be around guys I like."
While Meyer believes his team was worthy of making the playoff, he made no mistake Sunday that the focus now shifts to playing the Trojans, a team the Buckeyes have not defeated since 1974.
"Do I think this is a national caliber team? Absolutely. We had a bad loss. That happened. So move on. We're not going to look backwards," Meyer said. "I promise you this, we're going to look forward."
