Urban Meyer in a better state of mind after a year away

CHICAGO — The defensive lines in the SEC are more ferocious, the overall speed is a little faster, and the weather is warmer. But Urban Meyer noticed another big difference between the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten at this week's media days: He's no longer a rock star who gets mobbed by fans when he walks through hotel lobbies.

"At the other place," Meyer said of SEC media gatherings while he coached at Florida, "you couldn't take two steps."

Maybe those days and those crowds will come again, especially if he adds to his collection of national championships. This week, though, the new Ohio State coach was oddly overlooked, a sidebar story to all the headlines coming from Penn State. No other Big Ten coach can approach his .819 career winning percentage, or owns two BCS championship rings, or has even played in the national title game.

Yet Meyer's news conferences here drew fewer reporters than Penn State's Bill O'Brien's, than Wisconsin's Bret Bielema's, than Michigan's Brady Hoke's. That's OK, Meyer assured reporters. "I don't seek attention," the 48-year-old coach said. "I think coaches are overrated."

That's not what Buckeyes fans think, not after last season, when interim coach Luke Fickell led Ohio State to its first seven-loss season since 1897. The fan base demanded a winner on the order of Jim Tressel -- who was memorably blown out by Meyer's Gators 41-14 in the 2006 championship game -- and the native Ohioan, who retired from Florida for health and family reasons, was an easy choice. A chance to come home, not to mention a $24 million contract, made it an easy decision for Meyer, too.

But that's about all that will be easy for the new Buckeyes coach, especially this season. Ohio State is coming off its first losing season since 1988, a 6-7 disaster that ended the program's six-year run as Big Ten champion. The Buckeyes ranked 11th in total offense, last in passing and eighth in passing defense. They lost their last four games, and their seven-game winning streak against Michigan was broken.

And less than two weeks after Meyer accepted the job, the NCAA hit Ohio State with sanctions for the Tressel-era tattoo parlor scandal that included a postseason ban after this season, a penalty that Meyer likened to being whacked "with that 2-by-4."

And the sanctions may actually motivate his team, Meyer figures. He has seen it before -- those 2006 Gators played with passion borne of a disappointing 5-3 SEC record the season before. "The '06 team was very angry. It's a coach's dream to coach an angry group of guys. I hope these guys have a chip on their shoulders," he said. "I hope they're intense."

Few people are as intense as Meyer, who turned around programs at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida before the intensity got too much for him. He stepped away for a year to work in broadcasting, but he brought that same fierceness with him to Columbus. His players say they keep expecting him to be fitted for shoulder pads.

"He's got a switch that he can turn on and off. When he's on, like when he's on the field, he's like a player out there," Buckeyes senior fullback Zach Boren said. "Like he could be out there running plays and making tackles. He's one of us. When he flips that switch, you want to compete so hard, because he expects so much out of you."

Said defensive end John Simon, "I've never seen a guy who knows so much about football."

Meyer insists he has made lifestyle changes to insure that he doesn't let his job consume him as it did in Gainesville. But he certainly talks like the same tightly wound coach when he savors the thought of the long season ahead.