Tag: Buckeyes

Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer takes aim at ‘idiots on social media’ after Buckeyes win national title

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day was under considerable pressure entering the inaugural 12-team edition of the College Football Playoff.

Despite ending the regular season with a 10-2 record, Day was on the sideline in late November for a fourth consecutive loss at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines, the Buckeyes’ top rival.

The disappointing end to an otherwise solid season prompted a contingent of Ohio State fans to question whether Day should be removed from his head coaching post. However, Day seemed to quiet most of those critics by guiding the team to an unblemished December and January.

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Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer laughs while answering a question during a press conference at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 4, 2018. At the press conference, Meyer announced his retirement and offensive coordinator Ryan Day was tapped as the next head coach. (Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)

After knocking the Tennessee Volunteers out in the first round, the Buckeyes blew out the top-seeded Oregon Ducks in the quarterfinals. Ohio State then defeated the Texas Longhorns in the semifinal to advance to the national championship game in Atlanta, where they prevailed with a 34-23 victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Amid the Buckeye faithful’s national title celebration, Day’s predecessor called out fans who previously used social media to express their displeasure with the program’s current head coach. Urban Meyer, who served as Ohio State head coach from 2012-18, described the fans who previously criticized Day via social media as “idiots.”

OHIO STATE’S EMEKA EGBUKA REFLECTS ON HOW BUCKEYES RALLIED FROM MICHIGAN LOSS TO WIN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

“I coached a long time, and a lot has been made of it and Coach Day and the pressures of coaching at a place like Ohio State,” Meyer said during a recent appearance on the “Triple Option” podcast. “I made the comment that that’s not going to change. The thing that has got to change and has changed is the idiots on social media that don’t sign their name to stuff.”

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day looks on after defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Monday. (Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Reaction to the loss to Michigan prompted Day to hire security to protect his home. Meyer also said the reported poor treatment that Day’s children encountered as they attended school was a step “too far.”

“When you start involving families, you’re pushing it too far,” Meyer added. “Booing because you don’t get first downs and you lose to the rival, that’s part of the game. That’s all fair. But you’ve got to keep the families out of it.”

Meyer then compared Day’s situation to what he faced during his coaching stint at Florida.

Urban Meyer looks on during the CFP National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Monday. (Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)

“When I first [went] to Florida, you know they wanted [Steve] Spurrier. I’d want Spurrier, too. He was a Heisman Trophy winner there, won the national championship,” Meyer said. “But it was Coach Spurrier went, I think, to the [Washington] Redskins, he got fired and left. He was available. The contingency wanted him back, and they hired me from Utah.

“I really didn’t understand the dynamic until I got there, and I got there and I’ll never forget — he goes to South Carolina — we lose to South Carolina, which you don’t do that at Florida. I walk in to do my radio show on a Thursday, and I am the most miserable human being. I’m a stranger in a strange land down South there, and I come walking in and they boo me. I’m 7-2, I think, at the time.”

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Meyer and Day have history, with the latter serving as the offensive coordinator under the former from 2017-18. Meyer retired following the 2018 season, and Day was later introduced as Ohio State’s next head coach.

Meyer coached the Buckeyes to the national title following the 2014 regular season, making Ohio State the winners of the inaugural College Football Playoff. A decade later, Day got them back to the mountaintop.

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Chantz Martin is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

January 23, 2025
Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka reflects on how Buckeyes rallied from Michigan loss to win national championship

Two days after Thanksgiving, Ohio State’s national championship hopes seemed all but over.

The Buckeyes, ranked second in the nation at the time, were three-touchdown favorites at home against bitter rival Michigan.

Despite the Wolverines being the reigning national champions, this year’s squad was not close to last season’s team. So, it should have been an easy win for OSU.

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Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, left, with the national championship trophy after a game against Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Jan. 20, 2025. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

But they lost, calls for Ryan Day to be fired grew louder and there were serious doubts about what the Buckeyes would be able to do in the College Football Playoff.

They got over it quickly and dominated every team in their path en route to a national championship earlier this week.

Emeka Egbuka went 0-4 against the Wolverines in his career. He admitted in a recent interview with Fox News Digital he’d “have to think about” trading his new national title for a sweep of the Wolverines, considering those games are “almost as big as” the championship.

If the playoff remained at four teams, the loss would have ended the Buckeyes’ hopes of a title, and they would have been playing, in Egbuka’s words, “another meaningless bowl.” But, with the expansion to 12 teams, the Buckeyes had a chance at revenge and took it.

“It was definitely tough to be able to walk into the building the next day and look at my brothers in the face and look my coaches in the face knowing that we hadn’t achieved what we set out to achieve,” Egbuka said.

“But, you know, in that moment, we had a choice to make, because we knew we were going to be in the playoffs. We could have just rolled over and died, or we could have said, ‘We have the opportunity to be able to finish this the right way.’ So we all gathered together as brothers, and we were like, ‘We’re gonna do this thing.’”

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (2) against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the CFP national championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)

The anger of the loss lingered after the game, when members of both teams brawled after Michigan players planted a UM flag at midfield. The pressure was on Day, but Egbuka admitted that the short memory came from players-only meetings, not necessarily from anything Day did.

“It wasn’t too much what coach Day said. To be honest, we did a lot of player meetings. Just the leadership on our team and our seniority really shined through,” said Egbuka.

“When you look at some of the greatest teams in college football history, they all have great leadership. They all have great seniors, and that’s really who you remember being on the team. We really took that to heart.

“We knew that the team was gonna run through us. Coach Day is a phenomenal coach, but he can only do so much. We’re the ones on the field. We have to go out and play. And we just needed to permeate our mindset throughout the rest of the team because that’s what great leaders do, and that’s what we tried to do in that moment.”

OHIO STATE NATIONAL CHAMPION JACK SAWYER LEANING ON FAITH AS HE GEARS UP FOR NFL: ‘KEEP TRUSTING HIS PLAN’

Egbuka was part of Celsius’ Essential Six. The energy drink partnered with Egbuka, Travis Hunter and four other college stars as part of a stacked roster before the season began. Egbuka said his record-setting season, during which he became OSU’s all-time reception leader, wouldn’t have been possible without his daily 200 milligrams of caffeine in the morning.

“Ever since our partnership, the product is great. It’s energizing and fueling me all the time. The fuel that I got from it and everything and just helping it start my days. I mean, this has probably been the most intense season of my life.

“When it comes to meetings and practice, I’m waking up every day early in the morning, and I don’t get home till, you know, 9, 10 p.m. That’s hard to do with low energy, so I think Celsius has really helped me with that.”

There isn’t much time for celebration, though. After a parade Sunday, Egbuka will be in NFL Draft mode and will have to start training for next month’s combine.

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (2) celebrates after defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the CFP national championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)

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It’s practically a nonexistent offseason for him, but Egbuka is ready for it.

“I am. I’m ready for this next chapter in my life. It is important to take breaks and take rests. So, I have a couple days where I’ll spend with loved ones leading up to training for the NFL. But it’s the life I signed up for.

“So, can’t complain about it too much. I’m just grateful to be in this position.  A lot of people aren’t able to get here.”

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January 23, 2025