How long will Tom Herman stay at Ohio State?

I woke up this morning to a link to an Eleven Warriors article, The Rise of Tom Herman, from the TeamMash email list.

For those of you who don't know, Tom Herman is entering his second year as Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He was a Wide Receivers Coach at Texas Lutheran), graduate assistant at Texas (1999-2000), Wide Receiver Coach at Sam Houston State (2001-2004), Offensive Coordinator at Texas State (2005-2006), Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach at Rice (2007-2008), and Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach at Iowa State (2009-2011) before being offered and accepting the same position at The Ohio State University.

Urban Meyer wanting to bring him to Ohio State because his football philosophies are very similar to his own and because he is an excellent recruiter with strong roots in Texas, a very fertile recruiting ground. His offenses are fast paced, which Urban Meyer likes. While at Iowa State, he was the QB Coach for one of the  best quarterbacks in school history.

The article brought up the question, how long will Tom Herman remain the OC for the Buckeyes. Because successful programs, especially ones with highly successful offenses, often lose assistant coaches at quite a high rate. And at the top of the list of coaches that could be poached from Ohio State, I would put Tom Herman. He's young, only 38 years old. He's got one of the best young minds in college football according to Urban Meyer. Another year of success, especially a National Championship, would bring other programs who have fired their head coaches to at least want to interview Herman.

In the Eleven Warriors article, the very first comment was this:

"Herman hopefully can be coaxed into staying a long time with well timed, large raises along the way. He is the type of coach who can take a large load off Urban's plate and extend Meyer's career for extra years. Lets keep Herman happy."

While money is very, very nice, nobody gets into coaching with dreams of simply being an offensive coordinator as the highest level the achieve. Every single graduate assistant wants to one day be a head coach. Herman has climbed the ladder from grad assistant to offensive coordinator, the final rung he must climb is taking over a program himself as the Head Coach.

I don't see this happening at Ohio State, simply because I think Urban Meyer is hear for the long haul, he won't be leaving after the 2013 season. Matter-of-fact, he won't be leaving anytime soon, so there won't be an opening in Columbus, OH in the near future if I am right.

Now, I don't think that Tom Herman would jump onto any offer of a HC job. I don't think he'd take over a program that hasn't been good in decades, if ever, just to be a head coach. I think he would wait for what he would feel is the right opportunity. One that he feels he could come in, and wouldn't be gone in three years if it's a rebuilding project for the next coach to reap the rewards of all his hard work.

That chance might not come after the 2013 season. But don't be surprised to see him interviewing for jobs, to at least prepare himself for the next offseason. I really feel that's when he will leave for a head coaching job in one of the big time conferences. I just hope it's not a Big Ten school, I wouldn't want to have to face one of his teams on even an almost-every-year basis.

Buckeye Nation, be ready. This coaching staff could change dramatically over the next few seasons as position coaches leave for coordinator positions and coordinators get head coaching gigs. But I trust Urban Meyer to bring in coaches just as good to replace those who leave.

And remember, if coaches are constantly being interviewed and offered promotions at other schools, that's a good thing. It means we are winning a lot of games, Big Ten titles, and hopefully Nation Championships.

O-H! I-O!

2013 Defensive Playmakers

Last season, there were times where many of us wondered what was going on with the defense. They let Purdue and Indiana score basically at will. Couldn't stop a pebble from rolling down a driveway at the beginning of last season. And then, all of a sudden, the defense started to play very well. They finally played to the level most of us felt they were capable of.

After the season, the Buckeyes lost the following players on defense:

John Simon, DE
Jonathon Hankins, DT
Zach Boren, LB
Travis Howard, CB
Orhian Johnson, S
Etienne Sabino, LB
Nate Williams, DB

There are some very talented players on that list that are going to have to be replaced. Simon was a beast; Hankins could stuff the run and put pressure on the QB; Boren was a surprise at LB and played very well, making one of the most memorable plays of the season against TSUN last season.

So who's going to step up this season and help take the Silver Bullets to the next level, to a championship caliber defense?

Bradley Roby, CB - He was the best defensive back on the team last season, and he's back and should be even better this season. Expect him to be playing at a near-shutdown level.

Armani Reeves, CB - Reeves has a lot of hype behind him, and I think he's going to win the starting CB spot across from Roby. If he does, I think it's going to give is a very good tandem at corner. Reeves, I believe, could end up being one of the best corners in Ohio State history when his college career is over.

Noah Spence, DE - He's listed as just DL on the roster, but he should be playing end exclusively. He's got a great speed rush, and after a year and a summer in the weight room, he should have added some more strength. I expect him to lead the team in sacks, and likely the B1G.

Adolphus Washington, DE - Also listed as a DL, I expect him to play mostly DE and maybe DT in the nickel. He's bigger than Spence, and should be very strong against the run. I also expect his sack numbers to be surprising because I think QB's will be running away from Spence and right into his arms.

Tommy Schutt, DT - He's also listed as a DL, he'll be lining up at tackle for the most part. At 6-2 and 303, he should be a run stuffer. I don't think you'll be able to run up the middle on the Buckeyes.

Ryan Shazier, LB - I am expecting Shazier to be an absolute beast this season and not only lead the team in tackles, but also be towards the top of the nation in tackle numbers.

C.J. Barnett, SS - I think this is the season Barnett really shows that he has the talent to be a top back-end defender in college football, too bad it's his senior and likely final season.

I truly feel that this group of players is what's going to make Ohio State's defense one of the top in the nation, a championship caliber defense. They will need to play that way to become National Champions.