Urban Meyer: Why It's Fair To Give Meyer a Break in His First Year as Coach

Buckeye fans seem to have gotten a new spark that the program desperately needed since last December, as Urban Meyer took the helm as head coach Monday.

The two-time national championship head coach is back home in college football after a year away from the game, and he appears to have recharged his batteries and reevaluated his priorities, which should make him a more balanced coach.

Ohio State needed a spark of life after finishing the regular season 6-6, with their postseason life out of their hands and in those of the NCAA.

While we will have to wait until the spring at the earliest to see what the new-look Buckeyes could look like this season, it's a good time to remind fans not to go overboard with expectations in this first year.

Meyer and his coaching staff will have to work on their chemistry together before they prepare to face teams they haven't seen on film before as a collective unit.

In addition, the road schedule for Ohio State does them very few favors, with road trips to Michigan State and Penn State followed by a late November game at Wisconsin, which has been a house of horrors for the Buckeyes in recent seasons.

Add that to  a team that looked mentally fragile at times and is lacking depth at some key positions, including LB and OL, and you have a recipe for a team that is a year away from being national title contenders again.

Will they be better? That's almost a given.

The reason—Meyer's coaches will run a competent offensive gameplan, something rarely seen at Ohio State since the middle of the John Cooper years.

Meyer will have the time to assemble his coaching staff and hit the recruiting trail hard while learning more about his team.

In fact, in just the first 24 hours of his tenure, he has already got five-star DE prospect Noah Spence, a Pennsylvania product, to move the Buckeyes to the top of his list, according to his Twitter account. He may be the first of many players to fill the limited spaces in Meyer's first recruiting class, which will bring even more talent to Columbus.

Recruiting in college football is the most important factor for success, and Ohio State has always done that well. Meyer is as good as they come at recruiting, especially with players from southern states that he has familiarities with.

Without a doubt, he has a plan for bringing OSU their first national championship since the magical 2002 season, although he will obviously need time to work his magic, especially with QB Braxton Miller. It may take time for this offense to learn Meyer's spread system, although he has said he will try to add traditional power elements as well.

The good news is that the Big Ten appears ripe for the taking.

Can the Buckeyes win the Big Ten in Meyer's first season? Absolutely.

Will they? It's a tough call to make.

The point is that fans expecting a national championship in year one should pump the brakes a little bit. 

A national title should come in time, but year one is the time for Meyer to set his plan into action and begin turning Ohio State back into an elite power.

Follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim for more college football news and updates.