Ohio State football had heated team meeting after stunning loss to Michigan

Things got heated after Ohio State lost to Michigan last month.

And not just among Buckeyes fans.

Inside the walls of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, frustration with what just happened in the Horseshoe led to calls for explanation and accountability among players and coaches.

Did it get intense?

“No,” quarterback Will Howard said, before immediately flipping to “Yes.”

There was plenty to be frustrated about, from disappointing special teams play to lack of offensive production, due in large part to a patchwork offensive line and stubborn, head-scratching play calling that saw the Buckeyes repeatedly run between the tackles with little success.

Mixing testosterone with competitive passion is a combustible cocktail, and it boiled over in a team meeting after the loss, during which players communicated their dissatisfaction with how The Game went down.

“You have to talk. You have to work the issues out, and I think we did,” Howard said, addressing the anger of players and coaches in the immediate aftermath of the 13-10 loss to the Wolverines. “We came in (to the team meeting room) and we hashed some things out.”

Did the hashing include some bashing of the play calling?

“No comment,” sophomore safety Caleb Downs said Tuesday.

Minutes before, Downs had said no one inside the program is beyond reproach and that holding everyone accountable, including himself, is essential to team success.

“At the end of the day we’re a team,” Downs said, explaining that one individual failing at his job impacts everyone. “You have to go (fix) that specific thing that caused us to not get the job done. You have to make it right and find a way to grow from that and make decisions and play the best game possible, based off your strengths and weaknesses and what we have right now.”

What the Buckeyes have at the moment is a fractured offensive line, a dangerous passing game featuring Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, and a B+ QB in Howard who sometimes grades an ‘A’ and sometimes, like against Michigan, sinks to a C-minus. Ohio State also has a top-five defense that is good enough to win a national title, as long as the offense does its part and scores more than 10 points in five trips inside the red zone, which is what happened against the Wolverines.

Downs hinted that he said his peace after the Michigan loss.

“I was the person I was the whole season,” Downs said. “I wouldn’t say I did anything more or less (after Michigan) than I did all season, in terms of leadership. But, yeah, everybody had to step up in terms of trying to get the team back on track in terms of where we need to go.”

Players pointing fingers at each other, or the offense calling out the defense, and vice versa, is nothing new to college football.

Former Ohio State lineman Tim Anderson got in teammates’ faces

Former Ohio State defensive lineman Tim Anderson (2000-2003) recalled yelling “play better” at teammates.

“I coach high school wrestling now, and I’ve told them this story multiple times, that if our offensive line wasn’t playing well, we were up in their face,” Anderson said. “And if we weren’t playing well they were in our face. It was not personal. It was an expectation that ‘You’re better than this, so get your head out of your butt and get out there and play the way you can.’ The outside world assumes that is negative, but it’s more holding each other accountable.

“That’s why our teams were as good as they were. I didn’t let (center Alex) Stepanovich or (guard Bryce) Bishop have a bad day at practice, because they knew if they did I was going to beat you up.”

It is more unusual for players to call out coaches in team meetings, but several players said that is one way the player-coach relationship is different at Ohio State.

“We’ve had tough conversations throughout the year,” Egbuka said. “Coaches challenge us in ways, like ‘How can I get better?’ And we give them feedback. It’s not really any different than the way they criticize us. It’s important for coaches to be able to handle what players have to say, because in turn it makes them better coaches. That relationship is very special and I think it is unique to our program.”

Safety Lathan Ransom agreed.

“That’s what is so special about our team,” Ransom said. “Obviously, when you say holding a coach accountable, there is no disrespect in that matter. They’re looking for ways to make us better and we’re looking for ways to make them better.”

It all comes down to trust and tone. If not careful, criticism can simmer into resentment and bitterness. But if done correctly, having feet held to the fire can ignite and unite players and coaches toward accomplishing a goal.

Holding coaches accountable is more positive than negative

“If senior players are allowed to hold coaches accountable, having those open talks is not a negative thing,” said former OSU defensive end Matt Finkes (1993-96). “Getting that stuff out is important. It’s how you move forward. You can’t bottle it up and harbor animosity. I had times where I had words with coaches in the heat of battle, and no one takes it personally. It’s passion. It expresses a feeling and at the end of the day you love each other and move on.”

Whatever happened in that meeting room after the Michigan loss, it may have bonded the “brotherhood” even closer.

“What was so powerful was when we came together as a team and everybody was able to pour out their hearts and encourage and motivate each other,” running back TreVeyon Henderson said, adding that the meeting ended with players praying together.

That certainly beats the alternative, when a heated verbal back-and-forth splinters team chemistry. We shall see what came of the accountability lesson when the Buckeyes play Tennessee Saturday in the first round of the 12-team playoff.

My view? I like the idea offered by former OSU tailback Jeff Logan, who suggested that after losing to Michigan the Buckeyes affix mirrors to the doors and lockers of the football facility.

“Then you wouldn’t have to explain to the coaches and players (who was at fault),” Logan said. “Just look in the mirror.”