By Buddy Martin
SouthernPigskin.com

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ESPN analyst Jon Gruden called Ohio State’s national championship “the greatest coaching job of all time”.

What we were all sort of thinking along the way, as Ohio State was blowing through the competition like it was cheap, one-ply tissue paper, was cwhere, exactly, did this team come from and how is this coach pulling it off?d

Or maybe, cwho was that masked man?d

If you say you saw this overnight juggernaut coming, youre lying, because nobody did. Including The Coach himself.

The team came from Columbus and the masked man was Urban Meyer. And for a short two-month period, Meyer coached them up like he was a combination of Woody Hayes, Bear Bryant and Amos Alonzo Stagg.

Remember, the Buckeyes were the same bunch that had lost to a mediocre Virginia Tech team at home in The Horseshoe last September.

Ohio State had appeared in danger of being left out of the Final Four altogether, but in a moment of clarity, the Wise Men & A Woman leaped-frogged the Bucks over the Big 12 duo and Meyer made his Harry Potter magic. Suddenly with nothing but a third-string quarterback that had almost no experience, the 2014 Buckeyes became the 1985 Chicago Bears.

With a heretofore unknown quarterback named Cardale Jones, who was replacing the injured J.T. Barrett, Ohio State rolled up a whopping 1,550 yards total offense and 141 points in three games against the best teams in America.

Big Ten championship: Ohio State 59, Wisconsin 0

CFB semifinals: Ohio State 42, Alabama 35

National Championship: Ohio State 42, Oregon 20

If they had kept going, they probably would have also beaten the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks in a double-header on the same day.

This marvelous transformative coaching masterpiece finally begin to sink in on the experts and the national media, who couldnt to seem find precedence in college football history. It took Jon Gruden to sum it up with this bombastic statement: cUrban Meyer did the greatest coaching job of all time. Winning a national championship with his third-string quarterback, Ive never seen that before.d

Gruden also noted cmaybe the best coach in the SEC went to the Big Ten.d

I find it hard to argue with Grudens assessment.

Meyers third national championship in nine years at two different schools has elevated him to elite status in his profession. In fact, now when you poll the experts on the college game, asking them to name the best coaches — as I have done in recent weeks — they no longer automatically blurt out, cNick Saban.d

Recently I caught up with Meyer, just a few days after hed been crescuedd from a ship that was fogged in off the coast of Florida. Urban and Shelly had raised $2.5 million for cancer research with a charity cruise for the James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State.

Urban said of his adventure at sea: cWe werent lost, but if it went another 12 hours I was jumping overboard and swimming to Tampa. We were right off the coast and stuck with 2,500 Buckeye fans, and the bars were open. It was pretty good.d

It was a give-back.

cI lost my mom and dad to cancer,d said Meyer. cIt was 1987 when I was here at Ohio State when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and it wasnt the James hospital yet, it was just the Ohio State Medical Center. I was low man on the totem poll as a graduate assistant and they treated my mom like she was Woody Hayes mom. It was unbelievable! And she survived 15 years after that.d

Little known fact: During games, Meyer still keeps a memento of his mom from a mass held at Notre Dame in his pants pocket.

There was no gloating about winning national championship No. 3, or no nose-thumbing at critics who lambasted Meyer for leaving Florida under what they considered treasonous terms. But in the quiet moments of reflection, he has found deep joy and satisfaction.

It was a great year for Urban and his friend up in Foxboro. They often texted, but didnt have much time to chat or compare football notes via social media. Urban Meyer and Bill Belichick have been coaching buddies for nearly a decade now. And both have seemed to find their championship groove again in 2014-15. Theyll compare notes and lift glasses high in person soon.

cWe wished each other well and were going to get together this spring and celebrate,d Meyer said of Belichick. cIm really excited for him. And I think hes a big fan of ours. And I know he respects the way we do our business.d

Im not sure weve yet come to grips with the amazing manner in which Meyer and offensive coordinator Tom Herman kept three quarterbacks game-ready at all times.

Think of it: The Buckeyes lost the Big Ten Player of the Year in Braxton Miller before the season. No problem — in stepped J.T. Barrett who was on his way to gaining the same stature when he suffered an injury at the end of the regular season. Then along came Jones and dazzled his way to stardom while lifting the Buckeyes to a championship.

Just how did they do it?

cWell, it was a case study in selfless play,d Meyer said of the juggling act with the quarterback threesome. cId never experienced anything quite like this one. You hear the term 8man up or 8next man ready and everyone says that. Weve certainly been a part of situations where that hasnt been the case 3 the next man isnt ready.

cThe credit goes to the player first. The player staying engaged constantly and consistently, working to get better. Thats rare. You have to have rare qualities.d

Part of the credit, says Meyer, has to go to Herman in what Meyer calls cThe Power of the Unit.d Herman has since left to coach SMU, but did an outstanding job of keeping his quarterbacks on ready. However, it was bigger than that, said Meyer.

cThis is the most selfless group of players Ive ever been around.d

In a day of over-entitled athletes and spoiled players, thats refreshing to hear.

As to what the future holds for each quarterback and who will start, there is no clue next. Although others keep suggesting Miller will leave after spring graduation and transfer elsewhere, Meyer doesnt necessarily see that happening.

When I repeated that Gruden quote cgreatest coaching job everd to Meyer recently, he was a little embarrassed. And all he could think of to say was, cI dont know how to respond to that. There have been a lot of great coaching jobs xa6 But I appreciate that high praise from a good friend.d

As a matter of fact, Ohio State lost very little talent and will be back in contention for another title in 2015 3 because quarterbacks are certainly plentiful. And, by the way, the coach aint bad either.

OK, so the Buckeyes delivered for the coach with an incredible performance. And wasnt there something about the coachs promise? That if they won the championship hed get a tattoo?

cThats the word on the street,d Urban admitted. cI did open my mouth and I didnt think it would catch, but it did. So I think its going to happen. But it hasnt happened yet.d

Ive got an idea for that tattoo : How about QB III?

* * *

How successful was the first college football playoff? Everybody wants to host the championship. After all, its colleges Super Bowl.

Next up after Jerrys World in Arlington, Texas will be Glendale, Ariz. and Tampa.

Seven cities are bidding and seven more are considering hosting it following the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Bids are almost certainly coming from Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Miami, Minneapolis and San Antonio.

Also considering a bid: Arlington (again); Houston; Indianapolis; New York/New Jersey; New Orleans; Orlando; and Pasadena, Calif.

Yep 3 you heard it right. New York City!

* * *

In case youre saving the dates for spring football, here are a few key one for games:

Saturday, March 28

Miami

Saturday, April 11

Florida State

Florida

Georgia

South Carolina

Friday, April 17

Georgia Tech

Saturday, April 18

Alabama

Auburn

Saturday April 25

Tennessee

* * *
In case Nick Saban gets too busy, theres a little voice help now for vocal commands.

The Alabama coaching staff will have two people who sound like Saban now.

The second will be former Alabama wide receiver Rob Ezell, who was hired as a member of the coaching staff after spending two years as a graduate assistant at Colorado State, who was well known for his Saban impression during his playing days at Alabama.

If he can only coach like Saban xa6

* * *

Not sure this matters in rankings, but somebody at Bleacher Report ranked the Ten Best-Looking Coaches in College Football. Kevin Sumlin of Texas A&M was No. 3, Urban Meyer of Ohio State was No. 2 and Texas Techs Kliff Kingsbury was No. 1. Not so much Kingsburys record, however 3 he was 4-8 last season. Im thinking Meyer looks better than anybody right now, considering his three-year record at Ohio State: 38-3.

* * *

These are the stories that not only make us sad, but leave us puzzled as to why it happened.

Chris cJuiced Johnson played high school football at Ocala Trinity Catholic and for two years at Florida where he was a passionate special teams player.

He was such an upbeat, bright young man with a big smile and a chiseled physique 3 living his lifetime dream to play for the Gators.

And he seemed to have such a bright future.

Until that fateful night in the Sugar Bowl. Juice was known as a kid who did everything right. And then in the Sugar Bowl on a kickoff, he threw a punch at a Louisville player and was tossed out of the game. What happened next was he left the team 3 either of his own volition or because he was invited to do so.

Its not clear.

Chris transferred to Duquesne near Pittsburgh to join a couple of his friends, where he played two years. And suddenly for some unknown last week, just days before his Pro Day to try out for the NFL, police say he turned a gun on himself. And took his life.

Like the rest of us, his former Trinity coach John Brantley was stunned. cI spoke with his grandfather, who raised him,d he said. cHe still has a hard time believing Chris would take his own life. Its a mystery as to what happened.d

Johnsons former Trinity defensive coordinator, Justin Wentworth, now head coach at Williston, just couldnt grasp what happened and why.

“Nobody will ever know,d said Wentworth. cWhen I texted with him on Wednesday, it was all good. You wouldn’t have known anything. You ask 8how everything’s going. How’s life? How are classes going?

“He said everything was going good 3 typical upbeat, Juice stuff. Getting this news hurts deep. It’s a knife to the heart.”

Funeral services will be held at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church in Ocala on Saturday March 14.

Chris cJuiced Johnson was 22.