The success that Urban Meyer had against rival Michigan helped to cement his status as one of the greatest Buckeye coaches to ever roam the sideline. Going 7-0 in one of the best rivalries in college football will do that for you.
While you could attribute Meyer's success to a a number of things - coaching continuity, better players, etc. - the Buckeyes going through their first head coaching change since 2012 when Meyer took over could prove to be a significant factor leaving many to wonder if there is a crack in the Buckeyes approach that will allow the Wolverines to get their first win in the rivalry since 2011?
Ryan Day, the new leader of the Buckeyes, has stated publicly many times since taking over that many of the same approaches and process will be carried over from the Meyer era, and yesterday Day explained one of the first key things he learned from Meyer about approaching that rivalry that has likely led to their success in it.
"The thing I learned from Urban as soon as I got there is you've got to work The Game every day, and the way to respect the rivalry is to work it every day - and we do. It's a part of what we do. If it's recruiting or it's periods that we have in practice - we call it "the Team Up North Drill" where we work it in practice," Day shared, via Wolverines Wire.
"It's something that we live every day. It's something that we always have in the back of our minds."
So many coaches are in the "treat every opponent the same way" frame of thinking, and while that certainly makes sense to a large degree, it's hard to not look at the track record of success Meyer has against Michigan and consider using the approach that the rivalry game is a monumental deal.
Head here to read more about Ohio State's workouts directed at the Wolverines and how the Buckeyes staff makes them different.