By now, unless you are living under a rock, everyone should have heard about the very damning accusations against Urban Meyer and Ohio State. Obviously this is an issue, and will continue to be for Ohio State. This will be the fourth scandal at a major school in the last ten years. While not on the widespread level of Michigan State, Penn State or Baylor, what Urban Meyer has been accused is a huge deal, not just for Ohio State, but college football as a whole. This begs a question to fans too. Why do we continue to support this, when we are continuously shown the worst that people have to offer?
In 1961, Ohio State declined a Rose Bowl. Why did they do this you ask? Not because of sanctions. The administration was afraid. They saw how powerful the football program was, and were worried that football was taking precedent over the school’s academic reputation. So the administration called a vote, and declined the invitation. Ohio State was 8-0-1 that season, and with a win, would have likely been named national champions. The move was wildly seen as a power struggle between the university president and Woody Hayes. Hayes, largely seen as the most powerful man on campus, was shown up by the president. Years later, the president would resign following increased criticism of the decision.
This story is told to show that, perhaps, we have always given coaches too much power. Everyone who reads this site loves college football. Most of us would probably go crazy without it. But there really does seem to show the culture problem with college football. If you can cover up a systemic abuse of power, such as has been shown to happen in the past scenarios, then what can’t you get away with?
This is not to say Urban Meyer is guilty, and no one should crucify him before the recently announced investigation is over. But the fact that he was able to sit on this over nine years raises questions. It is quite possible that he and the entire staff knew about this since it happened. His wife obviously knew, and has been quoted as saying he uses her advice on everything. And if he didn’t know, oof…. that’s even worse.
In reality, the school’s reputation should never take precedent over the football team. You can always replace a coach. In the event that Urban Meyer is fired, it’s not like Ohio State will fall off a cliff. They will hire a good coach, possibly one already on staff, and be a national power still. This is a much more preferable outcome, as opposed to national shame upon the school.
Ohio State has a chance here to do what the previously mentioned schools didn’t: the right thing. All of these schools care about their brand. What many fail to realize though, is that your brand is not a coach. It is about your school, your students, and your athletes. Coaches come and go all the time, with fleeting success.
The morality of college football will forever be in question, this is true. Player safety and compensation, as well as coaching salaries, will likely continue to be debated topics for a long time. If the accusations levied against Urban Meyer are true, Ohio State has a chance to change many people’s view on one. As a flagship university, don’t let one man be bigger than an entire program, you can still be a force change here, and a good one.
I’ll end with this. In the wake of the Michigan State scandal, I had someone ask me, knowing how big of a football fan I was, a simple question: “How can you still enjoy the good things about football when there is so much bad?”. It would have been easy to have a cop out answer such as “it is not my school”, or “because I enjoy it”. Instead I tried for something a little more profound. “Because I think there is more good in this sport than bad”, and only now am I starting to doubt that.