Urban Meyer is still the head coach of the Ohio State football program, at least for now. Meyer was put on paid administrative leave on Wednesday in response to a report from college football writer Brett McMurphy that he had knowledge of alleged domestic violence by former wide receivers coach Zach Smith on his ex-wife Courtney. Yes, Meyer still remains the head coach. But the Buckeyes reported from summer break on Thursday and began fall camp on Friday with offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day as acting head coach. Ohio State put together a special, independent board to assist with the investigation on Thursday evening. There remains the question of what will and should happen to Meyer. But while that is sorted out, some have begun pondering who would be the next Scarlet and Gray head coach, should Meyer be shown the door. College football and basketball writer Dan Wolken did some digging and found that former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops would likely be Ohio State's top target should a coaching search ensue. Here is what Wolken said: Among several college athletics insiders, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation, the consensus Thursday in analyzing a potential Ohio State coaching search was that Stoops would be in a class by himself as a candidate for the job with a fairly clear drop-off to the next tier of options. Wolken also mentioned Texas' Tom Herman, Washington’s Chris Petersen, Stanford’s David Shaw and TCU’s Gary Patterson as potential candidates should the job come open. Stoops would make a lot of sense for Ohio State. Afterall, he is a former national championship-winning head coach at Oklahoma who was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year six times and twice received the Walter Camp Coach of the Year award. Stoops would be one of a few coaches who could step in and fill the rather large void left by Meyer and, ideally, continue the program's track record of hardly missing a beat following a coaching change -- John Cooper to Jim Tressel to Urban Meyer. Ohio State would also make a lot of sense for Stoop. The former Sooners head coach is from Youngstown, Ohio and a graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School. Taking over the Buckeyes would also present him with a chance to win right away, as Meyer's program was ranked third in the preseason Coaches Poll released this week. What's next for the Buckeyes? Make sure you're in the loop -- take five seconds to sign up for our FREE Buckeyes newsletter now! Want the latest scoops and news on the Buckeyes? Try our 7-DAY FREE TRIAL AND BECOME A BUCKNUTS SUBSCRIBER! It makes sense that Stoops would be Ohio State's top target if Meyer were to leave the Buckeye given his prior success at a major program and his ties to Ohio. The question that there is no answer to at this time is if Stoops would be interested in returning to coaching so soon after retiring. Urban Meyer, also an Ohio native, did just that in order to be the Buckeyes' head coach in 2012. Maybe Stoops would as well.<doc-sep>Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press Former Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops is reportedly Ohio State's desired replacement for Urban Meyer should the school decide to part ways with the latter. According to Dan Wolken of USA Today, several college athletics insiders believe Stoops "would be in a class by himself as a candidate" for the head coaching job at OSU. Ohio State placed Meyer on administrative leave Wednesday to investigate whether he knew about domestic violence allegations against former wide receivers coach Zach Smith in 2015. Smith's ex-wife, Courtney Smith, told Brett McMurphy that she had conversations with Meyer's wife regarding the alleged abuse. In one of those conversations, Shelley Meyer reportedly suggested she was going to notify her husband: "Shelley said she was going to have to tell Urban. I said, 'That's fine. You should tell Urban.' I know Shelley did everything she could." Courtney Smith isn't certain Urban Meyer knew about the situation, but she told Stadium that she believes he had some knowledge: "I do believe he knew, and instead he chose to help the abuser and enable the abuser and believe whatever story Zach was telling everybody." At Big Ten Media Days in July, Meyer said he previously had no idea about the 2015 allegations, per McMurphy: "I was never told about anything. Never anything came to light, never had a conversation about it. So I know nothing about it. I asked people back at the office to call and see what happened, and they came back and said they know nothing." Video Play Button Videos you might like Meyer fired Zach Smith last month after he was arrested for criminal trespassing on his ex-wife's property. If Ohio State moves on from Meyer, Stoops appears to be an ideal replacement due to his experience at the highest level of college football. Stoops, 57, coached the Sooners for 18 seasons from 1999 to 2016 before retiring prior to the 2017 campaign. He had an overall record of 190-48 and won at least 10 games in all but four of the seasons he spent at Oklahoma. While it is possible the 2000 national champion could come out of retirement, Wolken noted that those close to him believe he is done coaching. If Ohio State does land Stoops, it would be hiring one of the top college football coaches of the past two decades. He's a one-time Associated Press Coach of the Year, two-time Walter Camp Coach of the Year and six-time Big 12 Coach of the Year.<doc-sep>Unlike most of college football’s bluebloods, Ohio State has managed for the last half-century to avoid the peaks and valleys that have shaped the history of Alabama, Texas, Southern Cal and the rest. Any downward trend for the Buckeyes has been relatively short-lived, as their last three coaches – Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel and John Cooper – were all able to transition out of potential turbulence and quickly get Ohio State back into the top 10. The Buckeyes’ steadiness as a powerhouse could be tested again soon if the school chooses to part ways with Meyer, who was placed on administrative leave Wednesday as questions arose over how much he knew about domestic abuse allegations made by the wife of his former receivers coach Zach Smith over a period of several years. Though the circumstances are entirely different and the outcome still uncertain, the current drama echoes the sudden collapse of Tressel’s tenure amidst an NCAA scandal in May of 2011. As the Buckeyes played that season under interim coach Luke Fickell, the only story line that mattered was Ohio State’s six-month courtship of Meyer, who was sitting out the season to hit the reset button on his health and career after “retiring” from Florida. More:Ohio State must fire Urban Meyer if he was protecting serial abuser More:New contract provisions could pose problem as Ohio State's Urban Meyer is placed on leave Likewise, should history repeat itself with the Buckeyes playing in 2018 under interim coach Ryan Day, all eyes in the coaching industry will be on another retired national championship coach with ties to the state of Ohio: Bob Stoops. Among several college athletics insiders, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation, the consensus Thursday in analyzing a potential Ohio State coaching search was that Stoops would be in a class by himself as a candidate for the job with a fairly clear drop-off to the next tier of options. What’s less certain is whether the 57-year old Stoops, who somewhat surprisingly walked away from Oklahoma last summer, has any desire to coach again. Those who know Stoops best tend to believe he’s done, but he’s careful not to close the door. “Sometimes you get in life something you don’t like … you have to do something different,” he told USA TODAY Sports in December. “But I don’t see that happening with me.” If Stoops had any inclination at all to come back, Ohio State could have more allure than any other job given his family’s roots in Youngstown, where his father was a high school coach, and the potential to win big right away given the strong construction of the roster for the foreseeable future. Of course, there could be more factors in play than just whether Stoops wants to coach again, including whether athletics director Gene Smith gets caught up in the controversy. Smith, who has been at Ohio State since 2005, is highly respected across college athletics and would have a much better chance of landing someone such as Stoops or another big name due to his gravitas and understanding what it takes to win at a championship level. But if Meyer doesn’t survive, this would be the second major scandal under his watch that would take down a national championship winning coach. In that event, Smith’s job could very well be jeopardy, at which point a coaching search could take on an entirely different tenor. Though Texas coach Tom Herman’s name would be widely associated with an opening at Ohio State, there’s skepticism across the industry that he’d be a real candidate for a variety of reasons including timing, having just entered his second year at Texas. Other notable names such as Washington’s Chris Petersen, Stanford’s David Shaw and TCU’s Gary Patterson come up in every high-profile coaching search, but they have remained unmovable to this point. The good news for Ohio State is that its competition on the marketplace projects to be light if it had to do a search. With a mass of high-profile programs turning over recently, the only other elite-level jobs that would even have the potential to open this year are USC and LSU barring a scandal, surprise retirement or someone jumping to the NFL. But the flip side of that is the pool of younger coaches who are established enough for a job like Ohio State and moveable from their current situations is relatively small. Virginia Tech’s Justin Fuente would have the temperament and coaching chops to thrive in the Big Ten and South Carolina’s Will Muschamp could put himself back on the map for a blueblood job if the Gamecocks have the kind of season they expect. Baylor’s Matt Rhule and Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck showed big-time potential in turning around Group of Five schools but haven’t had time to show they can do it yet in the Power Five. Among that tier, the name that makes the most sense is Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, the 38-year old from Massillon, Ohio, who played at the storied Division III powerhouse Mount Union and emerged as a hot coaching prospect by going 35-15 at Toledo. Leading Iowa State to 8-5 last year, including a victory over Oklahoma, was a coaching achievement that would certainly put him on Ohio State’s radar. The other X-factor would be how Day performs as the interim coach. The 39-year old offensive whiz from the Chip Kelly tree has a low profile nationally but a good reputation within the industry. Frankly, not knowing much about him may be to Ohio State’s benefit in the near term. If he took over a uniquely chaotic situation and made the College Football Playoff anyway, it would certainly say a lot about his future as a head coach whether in Columbus or elsewhere.<doc-sep>
Ohio State isn’t currently going through a head coaching search, but it seems like one could happen in the future, with Urban Meyer being placed on administrative leave following the report from college football insider Brett McMurphy. OSU, which hired Urban Meyer before the 2012 season, is now being led by interim coach Ryan Day, who’s in his second year with the program. Ohio State may very well end up keeping Urban Meyer and he’ll continue to lead the Buckeyes’ program for several years. Or, maybe, Ohio State will fire Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes will have to look for a new head coach. Of course, in today’s social media age, there is already rampant speculation about who Ohio State’s next head coach could be. Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, an Ohio native, is being mentioned. Multiple rumors hitting us that Iowa State coach Matt Campbell would be frontrunner for Ohio State job if it became open. — Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) August 2, 2018 Another coach being mentioned: Bob Stoops. Stoops, who retired from Oklahoma last year, is also an Ohio native. He grew up in Youngstown, Ohio and has been linked to the OSU job before. USA TODAY’s Dan Wolken addressed the possibility of it happening: Among several college athletics insiders, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation, the consensus Thursday in analyzing a potential Ohio State coaching search was that Stoops would be in a class by himself as a candidate for the job with a fairly clear drop-off to the next tier of options. What’s less certain is whether the 57-year old Stoops, who somewhat surprisingly walked away from Oklahoma last summer, has any desire to coach again. Those who know Stoops best tend to believe he’s done, but he’s careful not to close the door. *** If Stoops had any inclination at all to come back, Ohio State could have more allure than any other job given his family’s roots in Youngstown, where his father was a high school coach, and the potential to win big right away given the strong construction of the roster for the foreseeable future. You can view the full story here. Ohio State, meanwhile, is set to open its season on Sept. 1 against Oregon State.