We've all heard by now that Ohio State has hired Urban Meyer as their next head coach. That story is getting plenty of coverage, so the only thing I want to add to it is a look at what it will mean for the Spartans. Folks, I'll just come out and say it, I don't like it.
This move by OSU is particularly bad for the Spartans in defensive recruiting -- right away. The timing couldn't be worse for the Spartans. 5-star defensive end, Adolphus Washington, had been seriously considering committing to MSU, but he just committed to Ohio State and he mentioned that Urban Meyer was a big reason why. OK, people may say that a guy like Adolphus Washington was never going to end up at MSU, fine; but now there are rumors that the Spartans' top recruit, Se'Von Pittman, is now seriously considering joining Washington in Columbus. So instead of seeing my fantasy fulfilled of the Spartans landing the top 2 defensive ends in the Midwest, suddenly we're in danger of ending up with bubkes -- nothing, zilch, nada -- while one of our opponents is loading up on what was almost ours. Ooo, that smarks.
With respect to offensive recruiting, the damage is supposed to be more limited because Urban Meyer runs a spread offense while the Spartans run a pro-style offense. So supposedly, they should be going after different kinds of players. I don't know if I buy into that completely. First of all, I don't think the distinction between spread and pro-style matters that much to offensive line recruits. So I think OSU will still compete directly with MSU for O-line recruits. Second of all, Meyer's version of the spread is more like Brian Kelly's than Rich Rodriguez's was at Michigan, meaning that OSU will still go after big receivers and tight ends. They'll probably also go for a mix of big running backs and smaller, faster running backs, which is what MSU has been going after for the last few years.
Quarterback is probably the one position the Spartans won't have to compete for directly with OSU, not so much because of Meyer's spread offense but because for the last decade at least, OSU and MSU have not really competed for quarterbacks. OSU discovered with Troy Smith that the way to beat Michigan is with a running quarterback, and they have been going after running quarterbacks ever since (e.g., Terrelle Pryor and Braxton Miller). On the other hand, MSU's latest 2 recruits (Connor Cook and Tyler O'Connor) appear to be quarterbacks that can run, so maybe even the Spartans are headed in that direction and therefore will be competing with OSU for quarterbacks.
As for actual "on the field" battles, I am expecting OSU to get better with Meyer at the helm. At least, they will be better than they were this year. I don't think Meyer will have the same kind of success at OSU that he had at Florida. It's rare to see a coach win a national championship at two different schools -- I can't think of anybody who's done it, off the top of my head. Nevertheless, OSU will probably average 10 wins a season under Meyer and that means the Spartans will have to continue to improve, if they want to have a chance to beat OSU in the next few years. The good thing is that I think the Spartans will actually be better next year than they were this year, if the wide receiver unit doesn't turn into a nightmare.
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