Akron’s new architect, Terry Bowden, certain that Urban Meyer wi... http://blog.cleveland.com/livingston_impact/print.html?entry=/201...
Akron's new architect, Terry Bowden, certain that Urban Meyer will win fast at Ohio State: Bill Livingston
Published: Thursday, January 05, 2012, 2:10 AM Updated: Thursday, January 05, 2012, 2:12 AM
Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer By
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Terry Bowden, the master rebuilder, said he never had a "get out of jail free" card.
His Auburn players already possessed everything they needed a generation ago to overcome NCAA probation and the loss of hope it can foster.
"There was a lot of pride and hunger in the older players, who remembered the teams of the 1980s, when Auburn produced NFL players and was in the top five in the country year after year," said Bowden, the new coach at Akron, of the 1993 Auburn Tigers.
In 1991, Auburn had a 5-6 record. In 1992, the Tigers were 5-5-1. The team began the Karen Schiely, Akron Beacon-Journal 1993 season on NCAA probation because of View full size "Jim Tressel was the perfect coach for Ohio State," says new Akron boosters' violations under the administration head coach Terry Bowden when asked to assess the situation in of coach Pat Dye. The Tigers were ineligible Columbus. "That said, Urban (Meyer) will win there. And sooner rather than later." for a bowl bid or for the Southeastern Conference championship.
Bowden was in his first season as coach. The Tigers went 11-0 and finished fourth in the country. They remain the top example of coping with probation.
Bowden said Ohio State has all the same pieces in place for a strong season under new coach Urban Meyer despite the NCAA probation the Buckeyes face. It makes them ineligible for the Big Ten championship in 2012 and a bowl bid.
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"It was just an ugly, ugly situation when I got to Auburn. Coach Dye had been barred from any contact with the program for two years. The players bought into the program I had because they wanted to get back to winning," Bowden said.
Dye was, along with Shug Jordan, the most-beloved coach in Auburn history. In 2005, a dozen years after the probation season, Auburn named the playing surface at Jordan-Hare Stadium "Pat Dye Field."
Jim Tressel was, along with Woody Hayes, the most-beloved coach in Ohio State history. The football offices are named after Hayes now. Some day, something important will be named after Tressel, too.
Meyer also does not have to follow the immensely successful Tressel directly, with Luke Fickell's interim 6-7 season serving as a buffer. That was not the case with Bowden at Auburn.
"Jim Tressel was the perfect coach for Ohio State," said Bowden. "He's from Ohio. View full size He knows what makes people tick here. He had been a coach here forever [at Lynn Ischay, PD Youngstown State and OSU]. That said, Urban will win there. And sooner rather "The only thing that will stop Urban Meyer is Urban than later." Meyer, if he wears Urban down," says Terry Bowden. Meyer, an Ashtabula native, won two national championships at Florida. He is not untested in the big-time ranks as was Bowden when he moved up from Division II Samford to Auburn.
The whole Bowden family, however, seems to have the knack whenever and wherever they get the chance. Along with Terry's perfect season in 1993, his brother, Tommy, went undefeated at Tulane in 1998, and his father, Bobby, ran the table in 1999 at Florida State.
"You don't want to go to a place that was 11-0 the previous year, like I did at [Division II] North Alabama. How do you go up then?" said Bowden, who was so eager to get back into coaching that he took that job anyway, before moving to Akron.
Up is the only direction Meyer knows, the only direction Ohio State fans recognize.
"The only thing that will stop Urban Meyer is Urban Meyer, if he wears Urban down," said Bowden. "He goes at such intensity in everything in his life. He had that anxiety attack and pain [at Florida], and he had to get away for a while. But he got right back in."
Meyer became obsessed by what he perceived as illegal recruiting by the Gators' rivals. It was difficult for a coach who controlled his program as tightly as Meyer did to cope with his feelings of powerlessness in improper recruiting. Bowden hopes Meyer has learned to let go of what he cannot control, as he said he has at his first
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news conference.
"He has a plan, and if you follow it, you will win. If you don't, you won't be part of the plan anymore," Bowden said.
"Second year at Bowling Green," added Bowden, "Urban had the biggest turnaround in college football. Second year at Utah, he went undefeated and went to a major bowl. Second year at Florida, he won the national championship. You watch what he does his second year at Ohio State. He is just extremely driven. In his motivational talks, you can hear the urgency Urban feels in life."
The turnaround at BG actually occurred even quicker than Bowden said, taking place in Meyer's first season as head coach there in 2001. Buckeyes fans will expect a lot, but no more than Meyer expects of himself.
His clock is ticking.
On Twitter: @LivyPD
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