Urban Meyer, head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2012 to 2018
Urban Meyer, head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2012 to 2018

The Ohio State Buckeyes college football team represents the Ohio State University in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. The Buckeyes compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 25 coaches since it began play during the 1890 season.[1] The Buckeyes have played over 1,200 games over 125 seasons. In those seasons, eight head coaches have led the Buckeyes to postseason bowl games: John Wilce, Wes Fesler, Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce, John Cooper, Jim Tressel, Luke Fickell, and Urban Meyer. Twelve coaches have won conference championships with the Buckeyes: Albert Herrnstein, John Richards, Wilce, Francis Schmidt, Paul Brown, Carroll Widdoes, Fesler, Hayes, Bruce, Cooper, Tressel, Meyer, and Day. Four coaches led Buckeyes to national championships: Brown, Hayes, Tressel, and Meyer. Hayes is the all-time leader in games coached and years coached with the Buckeyes, while also leading all coaches in victories (205). Meyer currently holds the highest winning percentage of all Buckeye coaches (.901), with a current record of 73–8 in six seasons. David Edwards holds the lowest winning percentage of any Buckeye head coach (.167), going 1–7–1 in the only season that he coached. Of the 24 Buckeye head coaches, Howard Jones, Wilce, Schmidt, Fesler, Hayes, Bruce, Cooper, and Tressel have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The previous head coach of the Buckeyes was Urban Meyer who was hired in November 2011[2] and then announced December 4, 2018, he would retire following the Rose Bowl. Ryan Day then became the new coach of the Buckeyes.[3]

Key

Coaches

# Name Term GC OW OL OT O% COOL CL CT C% PW PL CCs DCs NCs National awards
1 Alexander Lilley 1890–1891 8 3 5 0 .375 — — — — — — — — — —
2 Frederick Ryder 1892–1895, 1898 46 22 22 1 .500 — — — — — — — — — —
3 Charles Hickey[A 7] 1896 11 5 5 1 .500 — — — — — — — — — —
4 David Edwards 1897 9 1 7 1 .167 — — — — — — — — — —
5 John Eckstorm 1899–1901 29 22 4 3 .810 — — — — — — — — — —
6 Perry Hale 1902–1903 21 14 5 2 .714 5 2 0 .714 — — — — — —
7 Edwin Sweetland 1904–1905 23 14 7 2 .652 4 1 1 .750 — — — — — —
8 Albert Herrnstein 1906–1909 39 28 10 1 .731 17 6 1 .729 — — 1 — — —
9 Howard Jones[8]† 1910 10 6 1 3 .750 5 1 2 .750 — — — — — —
10 Harry Vaughan 1911 10 5 3 2 .600 4 1 2 .714 — — — — — —
11 John Richards 1912 9 6 3 0 .667 5 0 0 1.000 — — 1 — — —
12 John Wilce[9]† 1913–1928 120 78 33 9 .688 37 30 4 .549 0 1 3 — — —
13 Sam Willaman 1929–1933 41 26 10 5 .695 14 8 4 .615 — — — — — —
14 Francis Schmidt[10]† 1934–1940 56 39 16 1 .705 30 9 1 .763 — — 2 — — —
15 Paul Brown 1941–1943 27 18 8 1 .685 9 6 1 .594 — — 1 — 1 – 1942 —
16 Carroll Widdoes 1944–1945 18 16 2 0 .889 11 2 0 .846 — — 1 — — AFCA Coach of the Year (1944)[11]
17 Paul Bixler 1946 9 4 3 2 .556 2 3 1 .417 — — — — — —
18 Wes Fesler[12]† 1947–1950 37 21 13 3 .608 13 10 2 .560 1 0 1 — — —
19 Woody Hayes[13]† 1951–1978 276 205 61 10 .761 152 37 7 .793 5 6 13 — 5 – 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, 1970 AFCA Coach of the Year (1957)[11]
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1957, 1968, 1975)[14]
Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1968)[15]
20 Earle Bruce[16]† 1979–1987 108 81 26 1 .755 57 17 0 .770 5 3 4 — — AFCA Coach of the Year (1979)[11]
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (1979)[14]
Woody Hayes Trophy (1979)[17]
21 John Cooper[18]† 1988–2000 158 111 43 4 .715 70 30 4 .692 3 8 3 — — —
22 Jim Tressel[19][A 8]† 2001–2010 128 94 22 — .810 59 14 — .808 5 4 6 — 1 – 2002 AFCA Coach of the Year (2002)[11]
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2002)[14]
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2002)[21]
Woody Hayes Trophy (2002)[17]
Int Luke Fickell[A 9] 2011 13 6 7 — .462 3 5 — .375 0 1 — — — —
23 Urban Meyer 2012–2018 91 82 9 — .901 54 4 — .931 5 2 3 7 1 – 2014 Woody Hayes Trophy (2012)[17]
24 Ryan Day[A 10] 2018 (3 games)

2019–present

51 45 6 — .882 31 2 — .939 2 2 2 3 — —

Notes

  1. ^ A running total of the number of coaches of the Buckeyes. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is counted only once. Acting head coaches are not included in the count.
  2. ^ The Big Ten began divisional play in 2011. From 2011–2013 they were in the Leaders division, from 2014 on they have been in the East.
  3. ^ Ohio State did not join a conference until 1902.[4]
  4. ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[5]
  5. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[6]
  6. ^ The Big Ten Conference began a conference championship game during the 2011 season and the results are included in the calculation of postseason wins and losses.
  7. ^ Charles Hickey was hired part-way through the 1896 season and student coached the team in several games.[7]
  8. ^ Ohio State finished the 2010 season with an overall record of 12–1 and a conference record of 7–1. Ohio State voluntarily vacated all victories during the season, as well as the conference championship and Sugar Bowl victory, as a result of NCAA infractions.[20]
  9. ^ Luke Fickell was named interim head coach in May 2011, following the resignation of Jim Tressel.[22]
  10. ^ Ryan Day was named acting head coach during the three-game suspension of Urban Meyer at the beginning of the 2018 season. His statistics include these three games.[23]

References

General

Specific

  1. ^ "Ohio State Buckeyes Coaching Records" (PDF). Ohio State Buckeyes. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  2. ^ "Ohio State football: Meyer signs contract". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  3. ^ "Urban Meyer Announces Retirement Following Rose Bowl, Ryan Day To Take Over As Ohio State's Next Head Coach". Eleven Warriors. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  4. ^ "Ohio State Records – Head Coaching Records" (PDF). Ohio State Buckeyes. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  5. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (2006-08-25). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2010-09-06. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  6. ^ Finder, Chuck (1987-09-06). "Big Plays Help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  7. ^ "History of Ohio State Football" (PDF). Ohio State Buckeyes. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  8. ^ "Howard Jones". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  9. ^ "John Wilce". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  10. ^ "Francis Schmidt". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  11. ^ a b c d "AFCA Coach of the Year Award – Past Winners". American Football Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2010-12-05. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  12. ^ "Wes Fesler". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  13. ^ "Woody Hayes". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  14. ^ a b c "Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award Winners". SR/College Football. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  15. ^ "Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award Winners". SR/College Football. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  16. ^ "Earle Bruce". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  17. ^ a b c "Past Touchdown Club Trophies :: Touchdown Club of Columbus". www.tdccolumbus.com. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  18. ^ "John Cooper". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  19. ^ "Hall of Famers: Jim Tressel". USA Today. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  20. ^ "Ohio State vacates all 2010 victories". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  21. ^ "Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award Winners". SR/College Football. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  22. ^ "Luke Fickell Named Interim Ohio State Football Coach". 10TV.com. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  23. ^ Gardner, Steve (August 1, 2018). "Who is Ohio State interim football head coach Ryan Day?". USA Today. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
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