Ohio State Football: Why Urban Meyer and Brady Hoke Are Great for the Rivalry

There is no better rivalry in college sports than that of The Game.

Since the two teams' inaugural meeting in 1897, the hate and passion has evolved into a rivalry unparalleled by anything in sports.This annual matchup has everything you look for in a rivalry and then some. No game has more tradition, passion, hatred, following or staying power and these traits are amplified at an all-time high when both teams are at an elite level.

Despite this rivalry's intangibles, Ohio State's recent domination over the Wolverines left most of the college football world bored and ready to write off this game as the greatest rivalry. Michigan's head coach at the time, Rich Rodriguez, failed to stress the importance of beating Ohio State and struggled on the recruiting trail.

The combination of these led to three straight losses to the Buckeyes on top of an already existing four-game losing streak in the annual matchup.

While Michigan was struggling towards the end of Lloyd Carr's career and throughout Rodriguez's tenure, the Buckeyes were dominating under Jim Tressel. During Tressel's time in Columbus, Ohio State was a staggering 9-1 against their archrivals and experienced success on the national stage as well.

However, after several NCAA infractions, Tressel resigned in 2011 and, after a 6-6 season, the Buckeyes looked to be on their way down. 

Meanwhile, things were looking up in Ann Arbor, as the Wolverines had found their new head coach in Brady Hoke, who managed to defeat OSU and win the Sugar Bowl in his first year at Michigan.

Unless Ohio State made a big-time move, the rivalry looked to continue its lopsided ways. It's safe to say the Buckeyes made more than a big-time move with the hiring of Urban Meyer.

Meyer is a two-time national champion head coach who has won everywhere he's gone. Hoke is one of college football's best up-and-coming head coaches who has already put the Wolverines back on the right track. Both these coaches will return their respected teams to an elite level, but they also understand the simple formula to success in college football's greatest rivalry.

This formula is stressing the importance of the rivalry and recruiting at a nationally elite level.

Hoke has irked all of Buckeye Nation by referring to OSU as just "Ohio." He's a Michigan man who has continued to emphasize the rivalry to the media, his current players and his recruits. He understands how important the annual game is and makes sure to constantly remind his team. This stressed importance on the rivalry is vital to his team's success against the Buckeyes.

Also, in his first year as the Wolverines' full-time recruiter, his class finished seventh nationally according to Rivals.

On the other hand, Meyer is an Ohio native with past coaching experience at Ohio State. At Florida, Meyer was 17-2 against the Gators' traditional rivals and understands the importance of The Game as much as anybody. According to Yahoo, the 2012 schedule that Urban Meyer posted in Ohio State's locker room lists their archrival as "That Team Up North"—plain and simple. This of course, was OSU's legendary head coach Woody Hayes' nickname for the Wolverines as he refused to state their real name.

Clearly, Meyer is intent on stressing this rivalry to his players which, like I said before, is the most important thing to do in order to succeed in The Game. With this emphasis on the rivalry, all Meyer needs to do now is recruit at a high rate and, boy, can he ever. In only two months as the head honcho in Columbus, Meyer took the Buckeyes' 2012 class from a mediocre group to the fourth-ranked class nationally and the highest-ranked class in the Big Ten according to Rivals.

Both these coaches understand the vitality of this rivalry and have proven that we can only expect good things from their respected programs on the field. No rivalry is better in college sports—especially when OSU and Michigan are at an elite level and these two coaches are clearly leading their teams in the right direction.

Expect a dynamic and passionate game from these two that will only continue to improve through the years as these two coaches settle in. 

Ohio State and Michigan fans never see eye to eye, but one thing they should agree on is that this great rivalry is getting a much needed revival and, with both these teams at an elite level, nothing is better than The Game.