Urban Meyer: 5 Changes He Must Make At Ohio State

Urban Meyer is exactly what Ohio State needs.

He’s from Cincinnati, has been an assistant for OSU in the past and has two national championships. What more could you ask for from a coach that is reportedly heading to Columbus?

Here are five things Meyer must do to make sure this honeymoon doesn’t turn into an ugly divorce.

1. Recruit a QB that can run the spread offense

Tim Tebow.

That’s all the proof Buckeye fans need to see what an Urban Meyer-led offense can look like. It was Tebow and Meyer who embarrassed the Buckeyes in the national championship a few years ago.

Grooming a guy that is tailor-made for Meyer’s system is the only way to truly reach the lofty expectations of the fans. With a built-in two-year grace period, Meyer will have plenty of time to find and prepare his guy for greatness.

2. Change the culture around players

Tattoo-gate happened because people in Columbus bow down to the Buckeyes. It’s all they have in Ohio’s capital city and the amount of boosters and yes-men is astronomical.

Meyer can’t completely control it, but he needs to weed out certain people around the program and make sure a stupid scandal like that never happens again. The NCAA is already watching.

3. Schedule SEC teams

There is only one way to beat the best. Play them.

Aside from the recent home-and-home series with USC, Ohio State played mostly cupcakes during the non-conference schedule in the Jim Tressel era.

Why not form a relationship with Florida? Or even a lesser team like Georgia? It would at least get OSU some respect in the south for going out and playing the cream of the crop.

4. Recruit faster players

The old adage “speed kills” has never been truer than when it comes to the Big Ten. Sure, they're big and strong, but if you don’t have speed you can’t beat the best teams in the nation.

Recruiting faster receivers, faster DBs and faster linebackers is going to only benefit the long-term success of the program against the best teams in the country.

5. Beat Michigan

OK, so this isn’t changing anything considering Tressel dominated the Wolverines, but Meyer has to keep it up.

This may be the biggest rivalry in the sport, and the fans get mighty angry when they lose to their most-hated opponent.

Eight or nine wins mean a lot less when the regular season ends with an “L." A few losses to Michigan can turn the fanbase against him in a hurry.