Just a little historical perspective...the other notable Buckeye coaches, and some coaches of note's first five years....
Francis A. Scmidt tOSU 1934-38
7-1, 7-1, 5-3, 6-2, 4-3-1= 29-10-1 (.744)
Paul Brown tOSU (3 yrs) 1941-43
6-1-1, 9-1, 3-6= 18-8-1 (.692) 1 Nat'l Title
Woody Hayes tOSU 1951-55
4-3-2, 6-3, 6-3, 10-0, 7-2= 33-11-2 (.750) 1 Nat'l Title
Earle Bruce tOSU 1979-83
11-1, 9-3, 9-3, 9-3, 9-3= 47-13 (.783) 1 Near Miss
John Cooper tOSU 1988-1992
4-6-1, 8-4, 7-4-1, 8-4, 8-3-1= 35-21-3 (.625)
Bo Schembechler scUM 1969-73
8-3, 9-1, 11-1, 10-1, 10-0-1= 48-6-1 (.889)
0 Nat'l Titles
LLoyd Carr scUM 1995-99
9-4, 8-4, 12-0, 10-3, 10-2= 49-13 (.790) 1 Shared Nat'l Title(3rd)
Mack Brown Texas 1998-2002
9-3, 9-5, 9-3, 11-2, 11-2= 49-15 (.766) 0 Nat'l Titles til '05(8th)
Bob Stoops OU 1999-2003
7-5, 13-0, 11-2, 11-2, 12-2= 54-11 (.831) 1 Nat'l Title(2nd)
Steve Spurrier Florida 1990-94
9-2, 10-2, 9-4, 11-2, 10-2-1= 49-12-1 (.803) 0 Nat'l Titles til '96(7th)
Bobby Bowden FSU 1976-80
5-6, 10-2, 8-3, 11-1, 10-2= 44-14 (.759) 0 Nat'l Titles til '93(18th)
Tom Osborne Nebraska 1973-77
9-2-1, 9-3, 10-2, 9-3-1, 9-3= 46-13-2 (.779) 0 Nat'l Titles til '94(22nd)
Pete Carroll USC 2001-2006
6-6, 11-2, 12-1, 13-0, 12-1= 54-10 (.844) 1 Nat'l Title (1 Shared, first 3rd year)
Joe Paterno PSU 1966-70
5-5, 8-2-1, 11-0, 11-0, 7-3= 42-10-1 (.808) 0 Nat'l Titles til '82(17th)
Vince Dooley Georgia 1964-68
7-3-1, 6-4, 10-1, 7-4, 8-1-2= 38-13-3 (.745) 0 Nat' Titles til '80(17th)
Paul "Bear" Bryant Alabama 1958-62
5-4-1, 7-2-2, 8-1-2, 11-0, 10-1= 41-8-5 (.837) 1 Nat'l Title in 4th Year
Jim Tressel tOSU 2001-2005
7-5, 14-0, 11-2, 8-4, 10-2= 50-13 (.794) 1 Nat'l Title(2nd)
Just a brief perspective of how JT has done compared to some of the prominent coaches of our time and throughout history. Him and Bobby Stoops both won titles in year two. A great deal of credit to both coaches. Stoops was taking over a moribound OU program that had suffered through a decade of mediocrity, and JT took over our beloved Buckeyes after the Cooper era had bottomed out. JT deserves some special recognition for leading his squad to the only
14-0 record in Division 1 history. Bo's record through his first five years is truly remarkable, but he won zero National titles, and would remain without one after 21 years at _ichigan. Carr won a shared title in his third season with an undeniably fantastic scUM team, but has not been competitive since. Mack Brown developed a rep for losing the big one until this season (his eighth). Spurrier and Bowden both had significant success down there with that "Florida Speed", but Spurrier took seven and Bowden
eighteen years to win a national title . Osborne took 22 years to get a ring, and put together a string of 9-3 type seasons to start his career. You can't deny what Pete Carroll has done in LA. He has awakened a sleeping giant. His detractors could argue that "anyone can recruit in LA', and that may be true, but several failed before him. Finally a couple of legends in Georgia's Vince Dooley and 'Bama's "Bear" Bryant. JT compares favoriably to both. Bryant has him in win percentage, but took two additional seasons to win a national title.
The bottom line of this post is that you can see that JT is comparable to some of the greats of all time. Not just at Ohio State, but in all of CFB. He has taken our beloved Buckeyes to new heights, and he does it without shying away from top notch competition. All of these coaches listed above have a place in history, and I can say with confidence that JT will be mentioned with the greats one day. We have witnessed over his five years in Columbus a stoic presence on the sidelines, and a remarkable ability to step up in the big games. I can't wait to see what the next five years hold for Buckeye football, because I have a feeling it just might surpass the past five. Is it September Yet? GO BUCKS!
