Around the 'Shoe

Agree. I like to bounce around different boards just to see what's going on. You see a ton of hate but that's normal. You don't ever see much hate towards Purdue, Illinois, etc.

It is interesting to see what they say. I usually stick with Michigan or Penn State sites and their comments are predictable. We pay our players, we cheat in recruiting, low academic qualifications, etc. A lifetime of being around Michigan fans, I've come to expect that, but Penn State fans with their "holier than thou" attitude are really grating. They still play the JoePa did things the right way card and simply refuse to admit even the possibility of Paterno covering things up way back in the holler, where Penn state is located. I haven't sensed the begrudging respect that your speaking of from those two fan bases so maybe I need to read other schools sites to get that perspective.

You are absolutely correct on the State Penn subject. I worked in Pa. for several years and believe me when I say they are the most delusional fans in football. I truly believe that they are dumb enough to believe what they say. Forgive them, they know not what they do.

To that point, I've seen on a number of UGA, TENN and FLA boards the respect (and in some cases fear) they have for Urban Meyer -- to the extent that they frequently mention that they think OSU is a serious Nat'l Title contender. Your average SEC fan won't give a team outside the SEC credit for ANYTHING, so when you see comments like "he's a coach trying to reach the likes of Saban and Meyer" or "he (Bell) went to OSU because he wanted the shot to play for Championships, he can't get that here" you know they see OSU doing big things.

Also just worth mentioning, after the OSU All-Access ran last year, the next day on 1st Take every panelist (Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith, Christian Fauria iirc) said that they thought Meyer would win a championship by either 2013 or 2014. Meyer is respected nationally unlike anyone other than Saban. OSU has had a tremendous history prior to Meyer, and it'll only continue. These two things combined are making people wake up and take notice.

I'm beginning to get some of the same sense as well.

Meyer had a gargantuan task ahead of him when he took over some 15 months ago. Not because the team had just come off its worst season in 23 years and 115 years respectively. But rather because the team overall was out of shape, unmotivated, lacking fire, lackadaisical and overall leaderless. And one other reason was the growing "uncool" factor that had developed here during the latter half of Tressel's tenure.

We were the only perennial top 5 team that seldom if ever had any ESPN highlights, flashy on-the-field play, playmakers, etc. We had become just another of those solid, consistent teams that won lots of games. Nothing more. We didn't jump off the screen in any way and as a result we were no longer seeing multiple players get drafted in the first round as was the case up through '06 and not again until '09. And since '09 we've only had two total go in the first round. Not good. Not good from a perception standpoint with fans and potential recruits who're wowed by the swag and on-the-field exploits by top ranked teams. That and the number of players that particular program sends to the pros.

It seems now on the surface that Meyer is beginning to steer this ship that Tressel had going back to the '50s and '60s toward the latter '90s and 2000s and soon beyond.

Herman takes over.

this is it. i can't help but wonder how long will urban be with us? and who will replace him?

the bar will be very, very high, especially when it comes to his mach 10 with your hair on fire recruiting style. he said in his nsd presser than coaching is always easier when you start with great talent.

As Mel Brooks once said, "It's good to be the King!"