Ohio State vs. Michigan: Head coaching records since 2000

Since the start of the new millennium, there have been a combined eight head coaches and one interim head coach for the Ohio State and Michigan football programs.

The previous 20 years? 

The two programs from 1980-2000 had just five in Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr for Michigan and Earle Bruce and John Cooper for Ohio State.

From 1980 to 2000, those three Wolverines coaches owned the Ohio State-Michigan series, going 13-6-1, including a run in the 1990s that was 7-2-1.

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But since the year 2000, when Michigan beat Cooper for the final time, Ohio State has won 17 times and is 17-3 in "The Game."

Here's a look at how each head coaching match-up has panned out since 2000, starting with that final game for Cooper

Michigan's Lloyd Carr vs. Ohio State's John Cooper

Cooper was the head coach of Arizona State from 1985-1987. He was a popular coaching candidate -- think Tom Herman of the 1980s -- as he was being considered by Texas at one point. The Longhorns went with David McWilliams and a year later Ohio State hired Cooper, who was 25-9-2 in three season with the Sun Devils.

Cooper was 0-5-1 against Schembechler and Moeller. He and the Buckeyes bested Michigan 22-6 in 1994 to change the tide.

Then Michigan hired Carr.

Carr had been a Wolverine assistant since 1980 and was the defensive coordinator under the two previous Michigan head coaches.

He went 5-1 against Cooper, helping drive the College Football Hall of Famer into retirement.

Cooper lost the 2000 game 38-26. He finished with a 111-43-4 record at Ohio State and a 70-30-4 record in the Big Ten. But he was 2-10-1 against Michigan.

Carr's record against John Cooper: 5-1

Cooper's all-time record against Michigan: 2-10-1

Ohio State's Jim Tressel vs. Michigan's Lloyd Carr

As dominant as Carr was against Cooper's Ohio State teams, the exact opposite can be said of Jim Tressel's Ohio State teams.

Tressel was an FCS legend at Youngstown State when he was hired in 2001. He had been a former assistant under Bruce in the 1980s and he become obsessed with beating Michigan.

And he did.

Against Carr, Tressel was 6-1, including memorable games in 2005 and 2006.

Tressel's record against Carr: 6-1

Carr's all-time record against Ohio State: 6-7

Michigan's Rich Rodriguez vs. Ohio State's Jim Tressel

Carr and Michigan parted ways after the 2007 season. Michigan went 9-4 in 2007 and was 11-2 in 2006, but the five-straight losses to Ohio State couldn't be tolerated.

Enter: Rich "RichRod" Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was  60-26 at his alma mater of West Virginia from 2001-2007. He ran an innovative, tempo-focused offense that was supposed to modernize the Michigan football team.

It lasted just three years.

Rodriguez was 0-3 against Tressel, though officially he was just 0-2, as the 2010 game was vacated.

Under Rodriguez, Michigan was outscored by Ohio State 100-24 in three games.

Tressel's record against Rodriguez: 3-0

Rodriguez' all-time record against Ohio State: 0-3

Tressel's all-time record against Michigan: 9-1 (officially 8-1)

Michigan's Brady Hoke vs. Ohio State's Luke Fickell

A scandal broke out at the end of 2010 for the Ohio State when quarterback Terrelle Pryor and other Ohio State players were caught trading memorabilia for tattoos. Tressel lied to the NCAA about the issue and was fired.

Defensive coordinator Luke Fickell, an Ohio State alum, was made the interim head coach for the Buckeyes.

Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor, Michigan hired a former long-time assistant Brady Hoke, who had found success both at Ball State and San Diego State as a head coach. Hoke was considered a "Michigan Man" by the program.

He won his first game against the Buckeyes 40-34. Fickell would return to his role as defensive coordinator after the season. He went 6-7 in his one season leading the Buckeyes.

Hoke's record against Fickell: 1-0

Ohio State's Urban Meyer vs. Michigan's Brady Hoke

Urban Meyer was out of football for just a season when he ended his second retirement. At Florida, Meyer won two national championships, including beating Ohio State for the title in 2006.

At Ohio State (spoiler alert), Urban Meyer never lost to Michigan. He was 7-0 from 2012-2018.

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Against Hoke, Meyer was 3-0 and outscored his teams 110-90. Michigan lost the 2014 game 42-41.

Hoke lost his final OSU-Michigan game 42-28 before the program made a change.

Meyer's record against Hoke: 3-0

Hoke's all-time record against Ohio State: 1-3

Michigan's Jim Harbaugh vs. Ohio State's Urban Meyer

Michigan hired its former quarterback turned head coach Jim Harbaugh at the end of the 2014 season. Harbaugh had led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012 and his hiring at Michigan was viewed as a watershed moment for the program that gone 31-20 in four seasons under Hoke.

Harbaugh enters the 2021 Ohio State game 59-23 at Michigan. He has won at least 10 games four times in seven seasons.

But he is 0-5 against the Buckeyes.

Meyer's 2018 team beat Michigan 62-39 to close out the regular season and his career against Michigan. He is the only coach since 1924 in the series to go undefeated in "The Game."

Michigan coaches George Little (1924) and Gustave Ferbert (1897) were both 1-0 against Ohio State.

Meyer's record against Harbaugh: 4-0

Meyer's all-time record against Michigan: 7-0

Ohio State's Ryan Day vs. Michigan's Jim Harbaugh

Meyer retired at the end of the 2018 season and handed the reigns over to offensive coordinator Ryan Day. 

It didn't take long for the New Hampshire native to engross himself in the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.

Harbaugh and Day faced off in 2019 and Ohio State won 56-27 for Day's first win in the series.

The rivalry became inflamed in 2020 before the season when Harbaugh reportedly accused Ohio State of breaking practice restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Day was reported to have told his players they were going to "hang 100" on Michigan. 

But they never got the chance. Michigan canceled its game with Ohio State after a COVID-19 outbreak within the program. It was the first time the game wasn't played since 1917.

Michigan beat Ohio State 42-27 in 2021 for Harbaugh's first win in the rivalry as head coach.

Day's record against Michigan: 1-1.

Harbaugh's all-time record against Ohio State: 1-5

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State vs. Michigan game head coaching records