By Brad Allis

It seemed like an odd pairing to me at the time, but who knew it would be a disaster? In the end Terrelle Pryor tarnished the image of one

Terrelle Pryor

 of college football’s elites and possibly ended the career of one of the most recognized coaches.

The tradeoff was this, a program in ruins for 6,187 yards, 57 touchdowns and 33 wins.

Sure Pryor led them to three straight BCS bowl games, but the Buckeyes had been to three straight BCS bowl games the three years prior to Pryor. The only difference is that before Terrelle Pryor the Buckeyes played in a pair of national title games.

I understand the desire for Pryor. He was one of the nation’s top football prospects. He had unique speed and athleticism that the Buckeyes sorely lacked in their lopsided loses in the national title game.

The problem was that it did not make sense. Quarterback was not the problem. The Buckeyes did not come up short because they lacked athleticism under center, they lost because they lacked speed on defense. Troy Smith had plenty of athleticism and he played in a national title game. Todd Boeckman was not as athletic as either player, yet he also led the Buckeyes to a national title game. 

Pryor did not solve those problems, but he created a whole new slew of problems in Columbus. (more…)