Urban Meyer has outlined the immense challenge Ohio State faces in securing back-to-back national championships.
The Buckeyes clinched a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship, marking their triumph in the first-ever 12-team tournament. Despite trailing 7-0 after the opening quarter, Ohio State dominated the remainder of the game, outpacing Marcus Freeman’s squad with a 34-16 run.
As Ohio State revels in its title win, the 60 year old shared insights on what lies ahead for Ryan Day’s team as they approach the 2025 season. Meyer recounted to Colin Cowherd on ‘The Herd’ his conversation with ex-Chicago Cubs skipper Joe Madden about the trials of defending a championship.
“I think it’s the staff – I think the staff and then that leads to your players, everybody changes,” Meyer told Cowherd. “In 2016, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Joe Madden is a dear friend of mine. I went up to visit him in spring of 2017.
“He is absolutely miserable. … And he said, ‘This team is they’re hard to coach. They’re hard to be around. I’m just, I’m really struggling with this team.’ The percentage to repeat is very extremely low. I don’t know the number of, I want to say it’s single digits.”
Meyer opened up about the challenge of clinching back-to-back national titles, leaning on his own stints as head coach at Ohio State and Florida. He reflected candidly on the strength and talent of certain squads that didn’t secure a championship.
“My ’09 team was better than the ’08 national champion, Florida Gators,” Meyer confessed. “My ’15 team – when I say better, more talented – my ’15 team at Ohio State was more talented than the ’14 Ohio State team, but we didn’t win it. Why? Because it’s different. It’s just different.
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“There’s always issues there. It just seems like when you’re climbing a mountain, it takes energy and passion. When you’re on top of the mountain, it just, you’re just taking arrows. So energy and passion versus taking arrows.”
Highlighting another hurdle for reigning champions, he noted the inevitable changes in the team roster and coaching staff due to departures for greener pastures or higher ranks. Specifically, at Ohio State, they will be feeling the loss of three key contributors to their championship team: Chip Kelly, Jim Knowles, and Justin Frye are all moving on.
Kelly and Frye have taken their expertise to the NFL, with Kelly joining the Las Vegas Raiders while Frye heads to the Arizona Cardinals. Knowles is embarking on a new journey with Penn State. Recognizing such losses as part and parcel of success, head coach Ryan Day acknowledges these exits as the cost of victory.
Head coach Ryan Day shared some words of wisdom during a conversation, mentioning: “I think maybe it was (Bill) Belichick or somebody said they’re champagne problems, you know, you win one (national championship), there’s a lot that comes with that,” as he recounted to Urban Meyer.
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