While I'm sure Meyer would have no problem beating UC badly (although I don't think they can) and I'm not sure he's open to scheduling UC, I don't buy the theory that some around here have that he's out to get UC for some never explained reason (pics @ link). I have no problem or issues with Meyer or Coombs or Hinton for that matter and I'd be fine if any of them somehow ended up back at UC in some capacity. That said, of course I'd love to give them a major whippin' this Saturday:
Quote:Ohio State, Cincinnati football connection runs deep
September 22, 2014
Tim Moody
moody.178@osu.edu
While 109 miles of interstate and city streets separate Ohio Stadium from Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium, there are deep ties connecting the programs that play in each arena.
From Ohio State coach Urban Meyer to junior defensive lineman Adolphus Washington, there are numerous Buckeye coaches and players who have, or could have, spent time on the Bearcats’ sidelines.
After a brief stint in minor league baseball, Meyer played defensive back at Cincinnati before graduating in 1986. OSU cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs was on the Cincinnati staff from 2007-11, tight ends coach Tim Hinton was an assistant with the Bearcats from 2004-09 and Washington — one of four Cincinnati natives on the team — received his first collegiate scholarship offer from the Bearcats as a freshman in high school.
Meyer described his ongoing connection to Cincinnati as a “very strong, emotional attachment,” even beyond his own experience at the school.
“My sister is associate provost at Cincinnati, my other sister was a homecoming queen there,” he said Monday. “Obviously my dad, my grandfather, just a strong history at UC.”
While he played college ball at Nippert Stadium, Meyer never spent time on the sidelines as a coach like Coombs and Hinton.
Coombs said the personal and professional connections he and his wife have to Cincinnati led to his turning down offers from other major college football programs before Meyer came calling.
“When we had the opportunity to go to Notre Dame, we were staying in Cincinnati,” Coombs said. “Cincinnati is our home.”
The Colerain, Ohio, native said he and his wife, Holly, grew up within miles of each other and added the draw of coaching at OSU under Meyer was the only thing that could have torn him away from Cincinnati.
“When Urban called, I called my wife and said ‘Hey, I just wanted to let you know I got this phone call today, and kind of before I tell him no I just wanted to let you know that,’” Coombs said. “She said ‘Don’t you tell him no,’ and I said ‘Is that right?’”
Coombs said his wife told him “let’s go do this, we can make it work,” with the simple reasoning that Columbus is less than two hours away from their lifelong home in Cincinnati.
While his wife made the decision easier, Coombs called the conversation “terrible” that he had with then-Cincinnati coach Butch Jones to tell him he was leaving for OSU. He said conversations with others were just as bad.
“It was hard for me to tell anybody,” he said. “I mean, that’s my hometown, and I grew up on the Reds and the Bengals and the Bearcats.”
Coombs said growing up with exposure to the Buckeyes made his transition easier, but added that telling the players he recruited to Cincinnati was the hardest part about leaving. He said some of the players he recruited still play for the Bearcats, but one player he tried to get to Cincinnati is set to be on the OSU sidelines when the two teams play on Saturday.
Washington said he took an official visit to Cincinnati and had the Bearcats just behind the Buckeyes on his final list.
“It actually was my second choice,” he said. “Coach Coombs, when he was there, did a great job of recruiting me, but I just felt like Ohio State was the best place for me.”
Like Meyer and others around the OSU program, Washington’s connection to Cincinnati goes beyond recruiting letters and official visits.
“I went to basketball games (at Cincinnati), because my granddad worked there for like 35, 40 years,” Washington said. “He was a janitor and he would get tickets and we would go to basketball games there.”
Just like Coombs said the draw of coaching under Meyer was a key to his decision to move to OSU, Washington said the chance to play for the two-time national champion was too much to pass up.
“Didn’t know a lot about him (Meyer), but I knew he had won two national championships (at Florida),” Washington said. “So I figured I could probably get one under my belt in the four years he was there.”
While the draw of potentially winning titles contributed to Washington’s decision to pick OSU, Hinton said he was fortunate to be at Cincinnati — which has yet to win a national championship — for some of the program’s most successful seasons.
“It was a phenomenal run, you’ve got an Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl,” Hinton said of his time with the Bearcats. “And how special was that when you’re a UC guy? It was very, very special.”
Whether Washington will win the national championship he hoped for is yet to be seen, but he is set to at least have a shot to win one game against the school he nearly attended on Saturday.
Coombs said the matchup will be fun for him, but because of his deep-lying connections with the Bearcats, he said the game will be more difficult than his average Saturday on the sidelines.
“Football is always fun, I don’t have any days that aren’t fun,” Coombs said. “But it’s harder, for all those reasons, I think it’s harder.”
The Buckeyes and Bearcats are set to kick off at 6 p.m. at Ohio Stadium.
Bearhawkeye- I have no issues with Meyer, always liked him as a coach. My issues with Coombs extend only so far as I think he was a very poor defensive backs coach at UC. I have no feelings on Hinton.
Looks like this press conference was the source for a lot of the Meyer quotes in the article above.
For those that prefer to read, he goes into much more detail here in this 24/7 freebie with many great things to say about UC as a program and and as a school that go well beyond the typical praise for this week's opponent stuff:
My dislike of Meyer was cemented in the Sugar Bowl. He could have taken it easier on us much earlier than they did. I know it wasn't his responsibility as Florida's coach but if he felt as strongly about UC as the article indicates he could have done that.
(09-23-2014 12:00 PM)RealDeal Wrote: [ -> ]My dislike of Meyer was cemented in the Sugar Bowl. He could have taken it easier on us much earlier than they did. I know it wasn't his responsibility as Florida's coach but if he felt as strongly about UC as the article indicates he could have done that.
Even if you accept the notion that it wasn't his responsibility but that he "should have taken it easier on us" anyway (and I don't think I do), what exactly did you want from him? We lost by 27 - how many points constitute time to take it easy v. running the risk of a comeback? UC outscored UF 14-7 in the 4thQ and I think their TD was on a run by their 3rd string RB. Don't forget, and I'm sure none of us have, that we were an undefeated team just coming off a pretty impressive 21 point comeback road win against a #14 ranked Pitt team ourselves. And it wasn't as if UC couldn't move the ball at all - we had 19 1st downs and a strong armed QB who had a great season.
Our head coach quit on us (forcing the coaches he left behind to combine job searching with game prep) before we played what many considered one of the best teams in recent history coming off an embarrassing loss in their record-setting QB's final game during a very emotional timeframe for their coach and thus the entire team. A perfect storm in a lot of ways. It happens...
I have no problem with Urbs. I think he is happy that UC is doing well. He wrote a good forward for the book Bearcat's Rising. I believe he spoke to our team, prior to the 2009 season, where he praised them.
I was not too happy with Coombs coaching, so his departure did not bother me one bit. His family has ties to osu. I wish the article did touch on the Coombs decision a little further. He was unhappy Butch was not going to consider him for the DC opening. Especially when Butch sent out feelers to guys, such as Harlon Barnett at msu.
(09-23-2014 12:00 PM)RealDeal Wrote: [ -> ]My dislike of Meyer was cemented in the Sugar Bowl. He could have taken it easier on us much earlier than they did. I know it wasn't his responsibility as Florida's coach but if he felt as strongly about UC as the article indicates he could have done that.
I don't like the guy. His well-documented history of loose morality makes it easy to view him as a scumbag. That said, what he claims to feel for UC off the field and what he does on the field are easily separated in my mind.
If you ask me, all 4 of them gave a ringing endorsement of UC. Sounded to me like they really spoke highly UC's program. Some of it may be coachspeak hyping up your opponent, but if some of you conspiracy theorist are correct that OSU hates all things UC, they could have easily took jabs at the program, saying UC isn't there yet, or they are small time, etc. But, they did not.
I don't really care for Meyer either, but I don't know about you, but I will take a 2 time National Champion coach saying that UC belongs in the Power 5.
(09-23-2014 12:00 PM)RealDeal Wrote: [ -> ]My dislike of Meyer was cemented in the Sugar Bowl. He could have taken it easier on us much earlier than they did. I know it wasn't his responsibility as Florida's coach but if he felt as strongly about UC as the article indicates he could have done that.
I don't like the guy. His well-documented history of loose morality makes it easy to view him as a scumbag. That said, what he claims to feel for UC off the field and what he does on the field are easily separated in my mind.
This. Even if he views UC fondly and roots for the school, his primary loyalty should always be to his players, his team, and his school.
I thought he just got so obsessed with football he forgot about his health and family. That happens to everyone with their profession at some point in their life.
There's an interesting tenor of respect this week that I haven't heard in past games against Ohio State. You're hearing things like "battle for Ohio" creep into the conversation, and more than a bit of unease from Buckeye fans. We've come a helluva long way......
(09-23-2014 12:00 PM)RealDeal Wrote: [ -> ]My dislike of Meyer was cemented in the Sugar Bowl. He could have taken it easier on us much earlier than they did. I know it wasn't his responsibility as Florida's coach but if he felt as strongly about UC as the article indicates he could have done that.
I don't like the guy. His well-documented history of loose morality makes it easy to view him as a scumbag. That said, what he claims to feel for UC off the field and what he does on the field are easily separated in my mind.
This. Even if he views UC fondly and roots for the school, his primary loyalty should always be to his players, his team, and his school.
Exactly...he's being paid to beat us. In fact, he's being paid to get his team in the best possible position, and in college football blowouts help so he's also getting paid to put his foot on throats and push down hard. I have no issue with this...it is what it is. If we were in a spot to beat OSU and to run up the score in the process, it would get my vote. It is what it is.
Nothing personal but F'em! I don't give a shite about past connections running deep. I don't want them back at any future capacity at UC. They chose the osu and now they are the enemy. That goes for Bourbon, Perry, Hinton and Adolphus. They can say what they want about "emotions" and "feelings" and "home" but they will gladly kick our ass if we let them. Remember, this isn't just about the football game on Saturday, it's about bragging rights and their superiority complex that has been fed from not losing to another Ohio school since 1921. We have a decent shot to not only play them tough but to actually beat them in their house. Like I said...F'em!
