History of Ohio State Buckeyes Football - 1913-1933: Conference, Stadium, and "downtown Coaches"

1913-1933: Conference, Stadium, and "downtown Coaches"

Ohio State's entry into the Western Conference initially saw a reduction in the number of games played each season but otherwise continued success for the program, with their first three seasons' record 14-5-2 and finishes in conference standings of 6th, 4th, and 3rd place. Coach John Wilce brought a stability to the program not previously experienced, and in 1916 he also brought Charles W. "Chic" Harley, OSU's first "triple threat" (runner, passer, and kicker), to the varsity team. The Buckeyes had their first undefeated-untied season in 1916, and repeated as conference champions in 1917, going 8-0-1. Harley left school for wartime service in the U.S. Army Air Service, and the Buckeyes saw an undefeated streak broken at 22 games as a result. Harley returned in 1919, named an All-American for the third time, but Ohio State finished second in the Western Conference when Illinois, in the season's last game, scored the only touchdown of the year against the Buckeyes, then kicked a field goal on the final play to win 9-7. However 1919 also saw the first Buckeye victory over Michigan (which had re-joined the conference in 1917), 13-3 in Ann Arbor, the first of three straight wins against its rival.

Harley's exploits prompted both a new surge of popularity in Ohio State football and higher attendance figures, with the demand far outreaching the capacity of Ohio Field. Discussion of a new, larger facility at a location away from High Street had begun as early as 1913 but plans took shape when a horseshoe design was presented by alumnus Howard Dwight Smith ('07) in 1918 and a professionally managed public fundraising drive begun in October 1920 that quickly pledged more than $1 million of the $1.34 million cost stipulated in the April 1921 construction contract. Ground was broken on August 3, 1921, and Ohio Stadium opened October 7, 1922.

With the opening of the new stadium, however, Buckeye fortunes on the gridiron also turned sour. Ohio State had won its third Big Ten championship in 1920, losing its only game to California in the Rose Bowl, and a superb 1921 season had been marred by two inexplicable losses to Oberlin (the last Buckeye loss to an Ohio team) and to winless Illinois. The dedication game for Ohio Stadium was against Michigan, which became the first of six straight losses to the Wolverines, and the 1922 season the first of three losing seasons. The Buckeyes rebounded in 1926, losing only to Michigan as a result of a missed extra point with two minutes to play. The game was also notable in that more than 90,000 attended, a "standing room only" figure that exceeded stadium seating capacity by nearly forty per cent.

However Ohio State had otherwise unspectacular seasons and never finished higher than third place in the conference, going 28-21-6 in Wilce's final seven years as head coach. Criticism of Wilce was widespread, particularly from the "downtown coaches" (a term that came into usage in the 1920s to describe vocal businessmen and other influential supporters of the program), for both failing to win the conference and for the extended losing streak to Michigan. Wilce forestalled further criticism and possible removal by resigning on June 3, 1928, effective at the end of the upcoming season, to practice medicine. His sixteen years as coach had brought Ohio State to the forefront of intercollegiate football and his .695 winning percentage remains impressive.

Wilce's assistant and former Buckeye letterman, Sam Willaman, was expected to inherit the head coaching position at the December meeting of the Athletic Board, but Athletic Director St. John refused to publicly commit the program to his succession. During 1928 there had been public speculation that Knute Rockne, famed coach of Notre Dame but enduring a mediocre season and stung by persistent criticisms of overemphasis of football at Notre Dame, might leave the Irish to take the position at Ohio State. At least two sources indicate that St. John and Rockne met in early January in New Orleans and that Rockne accepted the position at OSU contingent on his release by Notre Dame. Whether Rockne was merely trying to gain leverage for a new, larger stadium at Notre Dame and fewer road games, or whether he seriously contemplated coaching the Buckeyes will never be known, for history records that he was "unusually silent on the matter."

Willaman, a reticent, methodical man, was then selected and completely overhauled the coaching staff. Among the new coaches hired were Don Miller, one of Notre Dame's famous "Four Horsemen", and Ernie Godfrey, who went on to coach at Ohio State for 33 years. Willaman's stint began auspiciously with three wins that included a victory over Michigan, but the team finished poorly with an overall 4-3-1, and although the 1930 team had a better record, it lost to its rival and still managed only a fourth place finish in the Big Ten. The situation grew worse in 1932 when an experienced Buckeye team disappointed expectations and the effects of the Great Depression significantly lowered attendance. The 1933 team lost only once, but it was to Michigan and again cost the Bucks a conference title. Heavily criticized within and without the university, Willaman resigned in January 1934 to become head coach at Western Reserve, hounded out of Columbus (according to Time Magazine) by the "downtown coaches".