{"id":86758,"date":"2025-08-16T08:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T08:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/86758\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T08:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T08:05:11","slug":"why-ohio-state-is-the-most-recession-proof-program-in-college-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/86758\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Ohio State is the most recession-proof program in college football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of the Program Builders<\/a> series, focusing on the behind-the-scenes executives and people fueling the future growth of their sports.<\/p>\n

COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 Urban Meyer always had an idea that he would retire from college<\/a> coaching at 55 years old. It kept him on the lookout for the successor as his time at Ohio State carried on.<\/p>\n

If Meyer didn\u2019t find someone who athletic director Gene Smith and university president Michael Drake could agree on to keep Ohio State winning at a high level with what he called \u201cthe best infrastructure in college football,\u201d he would push back his retirement.<\/p>\n

But then along came Ryan Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t realize until he was on staff how great he was,\u201d said Meyer, now a Fox college football analyst, who originally hired Day as a graduate assistant at Florida 12 years before he brought him to Ohio State as offensive coordinator in 2017.<\/p>\n

Now, six seasons after succeeding Meyer, Day has a 70-10 record. Last January, he became the fifth Ohio State coach to win a national championship, doing so amid intense scrutiny following a fourth consecutive loss to Michigan. Afterward, he stood on the stage in Atlanta with a big smile on his face, surrounded by his family and a group of players who made up his first full recruiting class.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes it all that much more enjoyable when you go through tough times and you stick together when it gets a little dicey,\u201d Day said.<\/p>\n

Of course, the dicey times have been few and far between in Columbus.<\/p>\n

Ohio State made its 1,000th appearance in the AP poll<\/a> this week, 72 more than any other team dating to 1936. Since Woody Hayes took over in 1951, it has had just four losing seasons out of 74, the fewest in the FBS. And after some modest lulls by Ohio State standards in the 1980s and \u201990s, the consistent winning has been taken to another level in the 21st century with national championships won by three consecutive head coaches.<\/p>\n

The Buckeyes have done it all through a period of immense change in college football in which the pressure to win never ceases.<\/p>\n

\u201cMack Brown once said to me, \u2018I have good news and bad news. Good news is you won a national championship. Bad news is you won a national championship,\u2019\u201d Meyer said. \u201cNow everything is, \u2018Why didn\u2019t you win it this year?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

If any team is equipped to handle that pressure, it\u2019s Ohio State, where the high standard of success, statewide enthusiasm, institutional alignment, clear identities and coaching adaptability have combined to build a program that rarely stumbles.<\/p>\n

What has made Ohio State the most consistent winner in college football? We asked the people who brought the Buckeyes here.<\/p>\n

A winning foundation: \u2018You can\u2019t let them down\u2019<\/p>\n

Every day during preseason camp, James Laurinaitis gathers his players and briefs them on another Ohio State All-American linebacker.<\/p>\n

Laurinaitis, an All-American himself, now coaches the unit for the Buckeyes. He gives the history lessons so players gain a greater appreciation for those who came before them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re upholding a tradition and a standard of guys who played the game the right way, played fast and violent,\u201d Laurinaitis said. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes Buckeye Nation so special is that the former players watch and they\u2019re vocal, so you got to make them proud with what they see on film.\u201d<\/p>\n

That standard is a driving force for everybody in Ohio State\u2019s athletic department dating to the days of Hayes, who won five national championships in his 28 years and lost more than three games just four times.<\/p>\n

Most-ranked teams since 1951<\/p>\n

TeamRankedTop 10Losing seasons<\/p>\n

82.5%<\/p>\n

60.5%<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

75.8%<\/p>\n

53.1%<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

73.5%<\/p>\n

53.6%<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

73.3%<\/p>\n

43.2%<\/p>\n

11<\/p>\n

69.1%<\/p>\n

44.3%<\/p>\n

11<\/p>\n

67.3%<\/p>\n

40.9%<\/p>\n

9<\/p>\n

64.3%<\/p>\n

39.4%<\/p>\n

12<\/p>\n

62.4%<\/p>\n

45.2%<\/p>\n

18<\/p>\n

61.2%<\/p>\n

37.1%<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

57.8%<\/p>\n

32.6%<\/p>\n

13<\/p>\n

AP poll data via College Poll Archive<\/a>; losing seasons via Stathead<\/a><\/p>\n

At Ohio State, mediocre seasons never spiral to rock bottom. Losses never turn into prolonged periods of losing like the dry spells that have befallen every other blue-blood program, from Oklahoma in the 1990s to Alabama in the 2000s to Michigan and Texas in the 2010s. Even Ohio State\u2019s relative down years of the 1980s and \u201990s included high peaks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOhio State has extremely high expectations, and it\u2019s kind of changed even since Jim Tressel took over,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cIt\u2019s been not just high expectations, but almost unfair expectations, but in turn they give you the most incredible support that exists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tressel breathed life into a program that was struggling for championship-level success under former coach John Cooper (who still finished No. 2 twice, in 1996 and \u201998). He made the leap from Youngstown State in the FCS, beat Michigan right away in 2001 and then won a national championship in 2002, the program\u2019s first since 1970. Ohio State has finished in the top 10 in 20 of 23 seasons since then, giving it a case for best program of the 21st century so far<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in my 40s and there\u2019s not a day that goes by when somebody isn\u2019t thanking me or telling me how much they appreciate me, best-night-of-their-life type thing,\u201d said Dustin Fox, an ESPN analyst who played cornerback on the 2002 team.<\/p>\n

Meyer has seen firsthand what separates Ohio State\u2019s statewide interest. Before he won a national championship at Ohio State, Meyer won two at Florida. After one of those, he went on stage at a Jimmy Buffett concert in Tampa, just a couple of hours from Gainesville.<\/p>\n

He was greeted with boos.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do that in Ohio, they\u2019ll take the roof down because they are all Buckeyes,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n

The Gators don\u2019t have a monopoly on fan interest in Florida; there were Miami and Florida State fans in attendance, among others in a transient state. Few, if any, schools can duplicate the combination of school pride, enthusiasm for football and dominant fan interest in a populous state (seventh in the U.S.) that Ohio State has.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ohio State has won at least 10 games in 19 of the past 20 seasons. (Ronald Martinez \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Pro teams in Cincinnati and Cleveland may divide Ohio, but in college, there\u2019s no doubt the Buckeyes are the unifier. Although Cincinnati joined the Big 12 in 2023, its support is narrow. The Buckeyes have the heart of all corners of Ohio. When Ohio Stadium was originally built in 1919, all 88 counties in Ohio chipped in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just something about the setting in Ohio that just lends itself to alignment and long-term success,\u201d athletic director Ross Bjork said.<\/p>\n

Ohio State has long been one of the most valuable brands<\/a> in the sport, and it\u2019s one of the most popular teams<\/a>. The personal and financial investment of fans in the program puts it in an advantageous position.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been an expectation and a tradition that\u2019s been handed down year after year,\u201d Day said. \u201cI think the players that come into the program are very talented and understand what the expectations are and so they come here to be the best, and that\u2019s been going on for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also motivation for those within the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt eases your mind, because you don\u2019t have to generate interest in the program, but the negative is you can\u2019t have a down year,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cThat\u2019s the way my mind was. I wasn\u2019t out speaking around Ohio to encourage people to check us out, but I also had a deep understanding to the point where it gets unhealthy sometimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt occupies your mind: You can\u2019t let them down.\u201d<\/p>\n

University alignment: \u2018Hope is not a strategy\u2019<\/p>\n

Hiring Meyer after Tressel\u2019s ouster was an easy decision by Gene Smith, but getting through the first week of his tenure wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Because of the infamous Tattoo-gate scandal<\/a>, the NCAA took nine scholarships<\/a> from Ohio State and hit it with a bowl ban. It came with another clause, too: Seniors could transfer without punishment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the one time that the country was like, \u2018OK we finally got them,\u2019\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n

Meyer held a meeting with the team he\u2019d been leading for one week. His message was simple: \u201cStay here. Hang in here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nobody transferred. Ohio State went from 12-1 in Tressel\u2019s final season to 6-7 under interim coach Luke Fickell in 2011 to 12-0 in 2012 under Meyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came back and fought their ass off,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cI always liked that team. That was the time there could\u2019ve been the dip, but they wouldn\u2019t let us have it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohio State hasn\u2019t been squeaky clean since then. In 2018, both Meyer and Smith were suspended by the board of trustees after an investigation found they mishandled allegations of spousal abuse against assistant coach Zach Smith. One violation is enough to take some programs down for a few years, but after the suspensions \u2014 including Day\u2019s three-game trial run replacing Meyer as acting coach \u2014 Ohio State went 13-1 with the lone loss coming in an upset at Purdue.<\/p>\n

The Buckeyes were back in the College Football Playoff the next year under Day.<\/p>\n

Smith, who was the athletic director through both scenarios, credited Ohio State\u2019s alignment with getting through both periods of scandal without a permanent dip in performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was fortunate to have trustees who got it,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI had conversations with many of them, sometimes collectively, about certain things that had to be done during those times and they never wavered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ohio State had a 106-22 record in Jim Tressel\u2019s 10 seasons. (David Maxwell \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Ohio State has had three full-time head coaches, three athletic directors and six university presidents this century. Whether it was Tressel with Andy Geiger, Smith with Meyer and Day or even now Bjork with Day, the relationship between the head coach and athletic director has been crucial to navigating adversity and change in the sport.<\/p>\n

Smith was known for showing up at Day\u2019s office each Friday morning to chat. Sometimes the conversations would be light about family or the upcoming game. Other times they were serious. The two had constant conversations about NIL, the transfer portal, the board of trustees and even the expectations at Ohio State.<\/p>\n

For instance, there was a time when a vocal portion of Ohio State\u2019s fan base was upset about the Buckeyes not covering point spreads or winning big enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were like, \u2018We can\u2019t worry about that, we got the win,\u2019\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe would have conversations about that, alignment and the pressure of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a balance between an athletic director overstepping into a program but also keeping enough contact to make sure everybody is on the same page about the future. Ohio State found that. After it watched Michigan win the national title in 2023, Smith, Day and donors got better aligned on the NIL front, helping Ohio State to win the offseason<\/a> by retaining and adding top-tier talent before going on its own championship run.<\/p>\n

Smith, who played football at Notre Dame from 1973-77, subsequently had a message for the trustees when he retired last year: Never let football falter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gave them a speech about what needed to be done, that alignment was so critical,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt\u2019s about transparency. It\u2019s talking to the coaches and players and talking to the right people. You have to have a plan \u2014 and hope is not a strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adapting to the times: \u2018Change is inevitable\u2019<\/p>\n

Fox is a Canton native who has a long family legacy at Ohio State.<\/p>\n

He has two uncles who were on the 1968 national title team, and he was ready to continue that when he was a high school recruit. Then, Cooper was fired.<\/p>\n

Fox, whose brother, Derek Fox, went to Penn State, thought about flipping until he turned on the TV and saw Tressel, addressing a basketball arena full of Ohio State fans, saying that he couldn\u2019t wait to go beat Michigan.<\/p>\n

Moments after Tressel left the court, Fox\u2019s phone rang. It was the Buckeyes\u2019 new coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me he wanted me to be his No. 1 recruit in his first class,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n

Tressel put together a recruiting class of 17 players in 2001 and Fox was one of 10 Ohio natives in it. Tressel is an Ohio native himself. He wanted to close Ohio off to the rest of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you looked at some of the great programs, they had sprinkles of Ohio guys,\u201d Tressel said. \u201cSo that became a focal point for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strategy worked. Ohio State won at least 10 games in eight of Tressel\u2019s 10 seasons, with at least a share of six Big Ten championships.<\/p>\n

Most-ranked teams since 2000<\/p>\n

TeamRankedTop 10Wins<\/p>\n

92.7%<\/p>\n

75.5%<\/p>\n

273<\/p>\n

88.8%<\/p>\n

57.8%<\/p>\n

261<\/p>\n

82.8%<\/p>\n

56.6%<\/p>\n

259<\/p>\n

80.6%<\/p>\n

41.3%<\/p>\n

242<\/p>\n

76.5%<\/p>\n

65.8%<\/p>\n

261<\/p>\n

74.0%<\/p>\n

44.4%<\/p>\n

237<\/p>\n

71.4%<\/p>\n

31.1%<\/p>\n

216<\/p>\n

68.9%<\/p>\n

37.6%<\/p>\n

214<\/p>\n

68.7%<\/p>\n

41.7%<\/p>\n

226<\/p>\n

65.0%<\/p>\n

36.9%<\/p>\n

223<\/p>\n

AP poll data via College Poll Archive<\/a>; total wins via Stathead<\/a><\/p>\n

Getting the most out of Ohio talent was a strength of Tressel\u2019s, but Meyer, an Ohio native too, brought in a different mentality that proved prophetic for the transition to the Playoff era, in which the sport has evolved from regional to national and population trends have placed a greater concentration of high school talent in the South.<\/p>\n

When he arrived, the SEC was dominating college football, winning seven consecutive national titles (including two against Tressel\u2019s Buckeyes). It was obvious to Meyer the Big Ten was lagging behind. So he went to his assistant coaches and told them, \u201cI need you to go recruit the best five players at your position, no matter where they are from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meyer mixed what Tressel did in Ohio with his national philosophy. It took off quickly, and the wins piled up again, including a national title in the first year of the four-team Playoff in 2014 to end the SEC\u2019s title streak.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started going into those power states of Georgia, Texas and Florida and beating the flagship schools,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s ever happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Urban Meyer went 83-9 in seven years at Ohio State. (Kevin C. Cox \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Under Meyer and Day, 11 of 13 Ohio State recruiting classes have finished in the top five of the 247Sports Composite team rankings.<\/p>\n

Day\u2019s football mind has never been at question. It\u2019s his personality that has made a difference in the era of the transfer portal and NIL. Smith felt like the team needed somebody who could relate with the players and their parents, and Day has proven him right.<\/p>\n

\u201cChange is inevitable, but you have to have somebody who can manage change, whatever it is,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHis personality was perfect for what we were going through. \u2026 I needed somebody who knew how to relate to parents and players and, frankly, how to relate to donors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building an identity: \u2018You have to find your own voice\u2019<\/p>\n

Photos of Jeremiah Smith\u2019s third-and-11 catch against Notre Dame that sealed Ohio State\u2019s ninth championship have been sold since January. But there\u2019s a black-and-white one, shot from the end zone facing Smith as he turned around for the ball, that has become especially popular.<\/p>\n

Above Smith\u2019s head is an Ohio State fan standing up with his hands in the air signaling for a touchdown because he thought Smith was going to score. It\u2019s former offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson.<\/p>\n

He was sitting next to Gee Scott Sr., the father of tight end Gee Scott Jr., a player Wilson coached while he was the tight ends coach and offensive coordinator from 2017-22. Knowing Day well, Wilson turned to Scott before the play and said, \u201cThey\u2019re going to throw this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two minutes later, Ohio State was celebrating inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.<\/p>\n

Wilson was one of many familiar faces in the building watching as Day hoisted the championship trophy. Meyer, Tressel and Smith were all there too to watch Day put his own stamp on the program\u2019s championship tradition.<\/p>\n

Coaches like Hayes and Tressel were known for physical, conservative approaches. Day is a quarterback guru with years of NFL experience. While he knows recruiting is important, he loves getting into the weeds of dissecting film and figuring out how he can get an edge each game. With that came an emphasis on the passing game and building what is now consistently one of the deepest quarterback and wide receiver position groups in the country.<\/p>\n

The key for every coach to have success is leaning on their strengths without forgetting the culture that was set before them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe positives are that there was a structure in place here, but the negative was that there was already a structure in place,\u201d Day said. \u201cYou have to find your own voice, and that can be tricky because you want to continue all the things that have been successful, but also make it yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

For years, Day fell just short of his championship moment, losing to eventual champion Georgia by a field goal in 2022, losing in the 2020 championship to Alabama and losing in a heartbreaking 2019 semifinal against Clemson. But finally, on Jan. 20, 2025, he got it done, responding to the pressure of losing to Michigan by winning four consecutive games against top-10 teams by double digits.<\/p>\n

Still, although his legacy has been bolstered by winning the first 12-team CFP, little changes for Day now. When kickoff arrives on Aug. 30 against No. 1 Texas, the expectations will be the same: double-digit wins, beat Michigan, win the Big Ten and go on a Playoff run.<\/p>\n

To maintain their status as the most recession-proof program in college football, the Buckeyes continue to look forward, not back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make sure that we\u2019re looking ahead in the next five to 10 years,\u201d Day said, \u201cto figure out what is the formula at Ohio State that keeps us a leader in college football.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Jamie Squire \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Program Builders is part of a partnership with Range Rover Sport. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of the Program Builders series, focusing on the behind-the-scenes executives and people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1607,399,398,396,397,1776,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-86758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}