To advertise go to thelantern.com 2 | The Lantern | Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022 thelantern.com @TheLantern Past and present Ohio State coaches’ MENTALITIES AND approaches to ‘The Game’ Rivalry games are circled on the calen- dars of college football programs every year. For Ohio State-Michigan – which mul- tiple former Buckeyes coaches and play- ers called the greatest rivalry in sports – is circled, highlighted, written in bright shiny marker and given all the attention year-round. Different coaches have taken different approaches to “The Game,” but no mat- ter the strategy, victory was always on the minds when playing the Wolverines. Here’s how each of the past seven Ohio State coaches felt and approached coach- ing for the Michigan game. Woody Hayes (1951-78), record against Michigan: 16-11-1 Before Woody Hayes arrived at Ohio State in 1951, the Buckeyes totaled just 12 wins against Michigan in 47 tries. After Hayes’ departure in 1978, the program had more than doubled its win total against the Wolverines. Former linebacker Arnie Jones said a reporter asked Hayes at Ohio State’s weekly media availability what he was going to do to energize the players for the Buckeyes’ matchup against Michi- gan. “Woody turns around, looks at him and goes, ‘Son, if you have to fire anybody up for the Michigan game, they shouldn’t be playing,’” Jones said. Former quarterback Burdette Schnei- der said Hayes treated “The Game” like it “was any other week.” He said he didn’t have animosity toward the Wolverines, but “knuckled down” for the rivalry matchup at the end of the year. Jones, a team captain in 1974, said Hayes always told the team he didn’t want “Wednesday All-Americans” — a player who didn’t play as well on Satur- day as he did in the last tough practice of the week on Wednesday. Jones remembers rivalry week prac- tices under Hayes being not as physical- ly intense compared to other weeks but more mentally demanding. “If we’re playing Northwestern — I think our average score against them the three years I played was 60-0 — but we could have tough practices that week be- cause it was just basically so obvious that we were going to win,” Jones said. “Mich- igan was kind of the other way around. You want to save as much physical ener- gy as possible, but go over the stuff men- tally, so that you are as sharp as possible.” Hayes was one of the pioneers in fo- cusing on Michigan year-round, but Jones said it came with the offensive schemes of the time. He said most teams ran “I-formation, I-right, I-left with a slot back,” so despite the opponent that week, it was like the Buckeyes were preparing for Michigan. The Buckeyes coach of 28 seasons had a stretch in which the rivalry was argu- ably at its best: “The Ten Year War.” Hayes and former Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler, who Jones said were like “father and son,” squared off in a string of games from 1969-78 in which all but one game had both teams ranked in the AP Top 25 and some sort of cham- pionship or postseason implications. Hayes went 4-5-1 in “The Ten Year War” with the 10-10 tie going to a com- mittee vote that sent Ohio State to the Rose Bowl over Michigan. CASEY SMITH LTV Sports Producer Earle Bruce (1979-87), record against Michigan: 5-4 Earle Bruce was tabbed as Hayes’ successor in 1979, but took a similar ap- proach to “The Game” as his predecessor. Bruce worked under Hayes from 1966- 71 as an offensive line coach, then later a defensive backs coach. Former Buckeyes offensive lineman Jim Lachey said Bruce had “a lot of the Woody stuff” in his approach to the ri- valry. “There’s always a lot of pressure that game, but I think it all came from Woody,” Lachey, who color commentates Ohio State football games on 97.1 The Fan, said. “Just the way he kind of had that tradition, the way him and Bo went and fought during the ’70s.” When Lachey arrived to the program in 1981, he said the importance of the ri- valry was emphasized “on day one.” He said Bruce would have each game written on the calendar with a “capital letter for the first one,” but Michigan was written in “all bold letters.” The Cumberland, Maryland, native knew the importance of the rivalry and made it a point of focus throughout the year, Lachey said. “There probably wasn’t a day gone by that we didn’t talk about that rivalry, and what we had to do and how we had to be ready to win that,” Lachey said. Lachey said Bruce knew that “if coach- es lost three in a row to Michigan, you’re getting fired,” and in his tenure he never did. In 1979, Bruce stepped in, and in his debut against Michigan, led the Buck- eyes into Ann Arbor and emerged victo- rious, 18-15. After a fast 3-1 start against Michigan, Bruce lost three of the next four games before a best-of-nine finale in his Ohio State coaching career. Bruce led the Buckeyes to a 23-20 vic- tory at Michigan Stadium, following in Hayes’ footsteps and ending his career against the Wolverines above .500. The Buckeyes coach had a proposition for his players every year. “He always talked about, ‘Hey, you can lose some games, but if you beat Mich- igan, you can walk down High Street when the game is over,’” Lachey said. “‘If you lose, you got to go down Pearl Alley.’” John Cooper (1988-2000), record against Michigan: 2-10-1 The John Cooper era against Michigan was one most Buckeye fans would like to forget, as the Powell, Tennessee, native landed just two wins in 13 tries — but only three losses by more than 10 points. ABC and ESPN analyst and former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit said Cooper and his staff tried different tactics in their approach to Michigan week. “It became like a helmet game for us even when we had a better team,” Herb- streit said. “Sometimes we tried to real- ly make it a special week and make it its own season, and that didn’t work. Other times they would downplay it like, ‘Oh, it’s just another game.’” Herbstreit said Cooper even tried to take a philosophical approach. “He read a Francis Schmidt, ‘They put their pants on just like us,’ about the gold pants,” Herbstreit said. Despite Cooper’s struggles against the Wolverines, he understood the impor- tance and history of the rivalry, as well as the implications on postseason play. “If you coach at Ohio State, it’s got to be the biggest rivalry in sports. There’s no question about it from our stand- point,” Cooper said. “Now, most other people around the country, there’s a lot of big rivalries. USC-UCLA’s a big rivalry — those teams are 15 miles apart — Ari- zona-Arizona State’s a big rivalry, Okla- homa-Oklahoma State’s a big rivalry, Auburn-Alabama’s a big rivalry. There’s a lot of big rivalries, but none bigger than Ohio State-Michigan.” Cooper said Michigan was a weekly focus, but he didn’t want to “overlook an opponent just because you’re playing Michigan at the end of the year.” “We put a lot of emphasis on the Mich- igan game. A lot of people didn’t believe we did,” Cooper said. “Now we didn’t have a clock saying how many hours it’s going to be before you play, because the next game you’re playing is the most im- portant game.” The 13-year head coach said there was never a bad Michigan team he lost to, and in order to defeat the Wolverines, “You got to play your butt off and don’t beat yourself.” After every game — win or lose — Coo- per said he would invite the assistant coaches and their wives over to his house that night to bask in the victory or rehash why the Buckeyes came up short. Cooper recalled the night following his first victory over the Wolverines in 1994. “We celebrated. Let’s put it that way, we celebrated,” Cooper said with a slight chuckle. Jim Tressel (2001-10), record against Michigan: 8-1 Following Cooper’s tenure of strug- gles against Michigan, Ohio State turned to Jim Tressel who, at the time, had just completed a 15-season tenure at Youngstown State. The Mentor, Ohio, native’s first speech came Jan. 18, 2001, at St. John Arena, and he wanted to make a statement. Tressel gave a speech assuring Buck- eye Nation they would be “proud of our young people” in “310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field.” “I grew up in Ohio, so I know the im- portance of that game, and I wanted to make sure that everyone around here knew that I knew the importance of that game and that we were going to do well,” Tressel said. “And we did.” Prior to the 2001 matchup, Ohio State was on a two-game losing streak to Mich- igan and had lost five of the last six to the Wolverines. But Tressel led the Buckeyes to Michigan Stadium and delivered on his promise, scoring a 26-20 victory — a win that would flip the script on the state of the rivalry. CONTINUES ON PAGE 3 LANTERN FILE PHOTO Former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel waves to the fans during a game against Michigan Nov. 24, 2012, at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 26-21.