Quiet Offseason Great News for Ohio State's Championship Repeat Hopes

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Officially, Ohio State's chase for a national title in 2013 came to an end with the Buckeyes' loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship Game.

But for all intents and purposes, Ohio State's championship quest two years ago was cursed before the calendar had even turned to August.

Even though the Buckeyes were coming off a 12-0 debut season under the new direction of Urban Meyer and were preparing to face a regular-season schedule they would prove to overmatch from a talent standpoint, Ohio State's immaturity that year had already caught up to it.

That much was evident when in July 2013, Meyer found himself suspending two star players—running back Carlos Hyde and cornerback Bradley Roby—as well as freshman tight end Marcus Baugh, in addition to dismissing offensive lineman Tim Gardner for off-the-field incidents.

And while Hyde wasn't charged for an alleged assault and Roby had his charge reduced to disorderly conduct, the distractions—including a three-game suspension for Hyde and an inconsistent junior season from Roby—followed the Buckeyes well into their 2013 campaign.

Eric Gay/Associated Press

Meyer, of course, is no stranger to discipline-related issues, with the New York Times' Greg Bishop reporting that 31 players were arrested under his watch as the head coach at Florida from 2005-10. But so far, aside from the occasional first pitch there and ESPYs appearance here, it's been a relatively quiet offseason for the Buckeyes in 2015, especially as far as the police blotter's concerned.

And for that, Meyer credits a "Power of the Unit" culture that's been established at Ohio State.

"If you're making decisions, if you have self-discipline and self-respect, you'll be fine. If you don't—which a lot of kids don't at this age—then there has to be a bigger purpose and there has to be something bigger than you and that's the unit," Meyer said. "Texts are always going out that where contact's made—whether it's contact on the football field or contact on High Street—where contact's made, make the right decision. And we train them for those decisions."

As Meyer mentioned, that's typically easier said than done, as evidenced by the steady stream of bad news that's emanated from Tallahassee and Florida State's apparent issues with player discipline in the past year, including two high-profile cases this offseason. But to their credit, the Buckeyes have managed to avoid the spotlight—at least for the wrong reasons—throughout this offseason, which is perhaps all the more impressive given their current spot atop the college football world.

Because between Cardale Jones' social media following, Ezekiel Elliott's status as one of the preseason Heisman Trophy front-runners, Joey Bosa's unique personality and the fascination surrounding Braxton Miller, there isn't a team in the country with a bigger collection of high-profile players than Ohio State.

Collectively, the Buckeyes have a larger target on their back and arguably more to lose than any other football team yet remain just a few weeks away from entering fall camp without any off-the-field incidents.

Bill Haber/Associated Press

And perhaps the biggest reason for that is the hard lessons Ohio State learned just two years ago.

"We talk about it every day. This is the time of year where things can get out of hand," senior linebacker Joshua Perry said. "Coaches aren't around as much because they're taking vacations and there's a lot of free time because you're in one class and it's warm out, so everybody's out on campus. You really have to keep an eye on that. That's where it comes back to leadership."

That type of focus—perhaps more than anything—bodes well for the Buckeyes' shot at repeating as national champions, with linebacker Darron Lee taking to Twitter on Tuesday to officially turn the page on the 2014 campaign.

"

Attention #BuckeyeNation! 2014 is over. Stop talking about it. I do not care which means we do not care anymore. Turn the damn page.

— D Lee (@DLeeMG8) July 22, 2015"

It's also indicative of the culture Meyer has cultivated at Ohio State as he enters his fourth season in Columbus, which has grown by leaps and bounds since 2013's rough summer.

"It's incredible right now," Meyer said of the state of his program earlier this month. "You wish you could bottle it because it's a fight to stay there. Every school wants this culture."

It's that kind of culture that Meyer will continue to rely on, as the Buckeyes will be tested by an unprecedented quarterback competition in the coming months and all that comes along with being the defending national champions. Right now, no news is good news for Ohio State football, but with Big Ten media days kicking off in Chicago next week, it won't be long before the Buckeyes once again pop up in the headlines.

But for now, silence is more than golden when it comes to Ohio State's quest for a second straight national title.

As the Buckeyes learned the hard way two years ago, it may be essential.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.