Friday, December 16, 2011

Ohio State Football: Examining Urban Meyer's First 2 Hires to Buckeye Staff

Urban Meyer's first two weeks as the head coach at Ohio State have certainly helped to lift the dark cloud that surrounded the program for the past 12 months.

In those two weeks, Meyer has flipped two stud defensive line recruits, Tommy Schutt and Se'Von Pittman, from rival Big Ten schools to come to Ohio State this year and has generated a great deal of interest from a stunning number of prospects.

That's not all he's done so far.

He has also started to assemble what he hopes will be the best coaching staff in the country.

Meyer kept Stan Drayton and Luke Fickell on board, however, the status of other Buckeye coaches like John Peterson, Mike Vrabel and Taver Johnson still up in the air.

As for the newcomers to Columbus, one name is one some people know, the other hardly anyone knows.

Former UNC defensive coordinator Everett Withers has reportedly accepted the job as Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach, according to ESPN.com.

The other new coach is QB coach and offensive coordinator Tom Herman, who has put together a pair of strong offenses at Rice and Iowa State with lesser personnel.

Starting on the defensive side with Withers, the hire of a guy who was in a similar position as Fickell with defenses that are somewhat similar will be pretty interesting to see.

The Ohio State defensive coaching staff has not really been much of an issue most years, but the retirement of criticized coordinator Jim Heacock opened the door for Withers to step in.

Withers has experience coaching defensive backs and linebackers, including six seasons in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans. He will have a chance to get his hands dirty quickly with a group of young defenders that has seen some action, but definitely need plenty of refining.

Moving to the other side of the ball, to say that Ohio State's prior offensive coaching staff was unqualified for their job would be an understatement.

Meyer has decided not to bring back the trio of Nick Siciliano, Jim Bollman and Dick Tressel who have all been part of the blame for bland offenses.

With the hire of a young rising star like Tom Herman, that all can change.

Herman was credited for bringing an explosive offense to Rice in the mid-2000s before moving to Iowa State with coach Paul Rhoads. In 2011, the Cyclone offense finished No. 35 in rushing and No. 75 in passing with two inexperienced QBs in Steele Jantz and Jared Barnett.

If he can dial up solid spread attacks with personnel that pales in comparison to that at Ohio State, imagine what he can do with some of the best young talent in the Midwest.

Meyer's staff remains to be filled, but there is already some excitement around the hiring of Herman and Everett Withers as assistants at Ohio State.

The beginning of what promises to be a talented staff with a lot of prove is very appealing to Buckeye fans and it should get them excited to see who else will fill this group out.

 

Follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim for the latest college football news and updates.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/985486-ohio-state-football-examining-urban-meyers-first-two-hires-to-buckeye-staff

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