Sorry Ohio State fans, your dream of bringing Urban Meyer back to the sidelines in Columbus was just shot down by Meyer himself. After getting the rumor mill in a tizzy with some thinly veiled shots at his old program, the former coach made clear he has no intentions of returning the Buckeyes to glory in the one game Ryan Day can’t seem to win.
This from @CoachUrbanMeyer pic.twitter.com/JgxxVrhrGA
— Tim May (@TIM_MAYsports) December 5, 2024
You can understand why fans had latched on to the pipe dream of a Meyer reunion in recent days. Meyer posted a perfect 7-0 record against Michigan and spoiled an already entitled fan base with sheer dominance over their bitter rival. Day came in and for one season carried on that winning legacy in The Game, but he's yet to defeat the Wolverines since, with his fourth straight loss the most embarrassing of all.
At this point, it seems like Day simply doesn't have what it takes to get the Buckeyes over the most important hump of all. So who would be the best replacement now that Meyer is out of the picture? It’s a short list, because taking the Ohio State job comes with more than just stable success in the College Football Playoff, winning 10-plus games a year and running rampant in the transfer portal.
It means winning The Game above all else, and thanks to Meyer’s success and now Day’s demise, whoever takes over that job will have even more heat on them than Day does now.
3. Chip Kelly could be elevated within and return Ohio State to its dominant ways in The Game
Former Heisman winner and Michigan alum Desmond Howard floated this idea around, and it’s honestly not as crazy as it sounds. Kelly won at Oregon, appearing in BCS bowl games in every season. He won 10 or more games every year and took the Ducks to their first national championship game in 2011.
Kelly can win at the collegiate level. While he eventually wore out his welcome at UCLA, he dominated at Oregon. And even more importantly than his overall record, regardless of the fact that he hasn’t won a national championship (nor has Ryan Day), Kelly didn’t lose a single game to any of the Ducks’ rivals, going undefeated against Washington and Oregon State.
Clearly he can win the big games. While Day can beat most of Ohio State’s rivals, he can’t get past the biggest one. Kelly has proven he can and that should be enough to at least entertain giving him the head coaching job.
2. Curt Cignetti wins. Google him.
Sure, Cignetti couldn’t quite beat Ohio State in his first year in the Big Ten. But he did take Indiana from an afterthought in the conference all the way to an 11-1 record and the College Football Playoff in one season.
And if I were the Ohio State administration, I would keep a close eye on Cignetti. If he leads Indiana to another historic season next year, and if Day loses again to Michigan, Cignetti wouldn’t be a bad replacement at all.
If there’s one thing Cignetti knows how to do, it’s ignite a fan base. And win. If there’s one game Cignetti would care more about than anything if he was at Ohio State, it’s taking down Michigan every year. While he did lose his head-to-head to Day, after one year in the Big Ten, Cignetti has as many wins as Day does against Michigan. That’s got to be worth something, right?
1. No one would want to beat Michigan as much as Mike Vrabel
Mike Vrabel has been taking it easy after he was canned by the Tennessee Titans following the 2023 season, currently serving as a consultant with the Cleveland Browns. He’s either the coach-in-waiting as Kevin Stefanski continues to pour gasoline on his fiery seat, or he could be waiting for Day to continue to coach himself out of a job and swoop in to save the day. One thing Jim Harbaugh had was his affinity to Michigan. He was always going to be a saint in Ann Arbor no matter how long it took him to beat the Buckeyes.
Ohio State has no loyalty to Day. But they’d die on the Vrabel hill if they had to. Vrabel probably wants the job at Ohio State. And Day is doing everything he can to give it to him. If Michigan beats Ohio State next season, consider Vrabel one of the first calls.