Jim Tressell and Urban Meyer played two very different styles of offensive football during their respective tenures as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Tressell stuck to the traditional “three yards and a cloud of dust” mantra that the Big Ten Conference built its brand on, while Meyer was known the world over for bringing spread packages to the highest levels of college football.
However, if there’s one similarity that links the two of them, it’s that each became too predictable with the basic concepts of their offense as time wore on. Tressell leaned far too heavily on the infamous interior runs affectionately known to Buckeye nation as “Dave,” while Meyer’s steady diet of read options continued to define Ohio State on early downs even after J.