Who are the top 10 winningest Ohio State coaches? Woody Hayes is No. 1, but who's next?

Ohio State ranks among the top programs in college football history, with a level of consistency unmatched by any other school. Not since 1922-24 have the Buckeyes had consecutive losing seasons.

Among the biggest reasons for OSU's continuous success has been its long list of ultra-successful coaches. Every coach from Woody Hayes to Jim Tressel has been elected into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Urban Meyer's three national championships, two at Florida and one at Ohio State, make him a near-lock when he becomes eligible. Current coach Ryan Day's 33-4 record has him on pace to join the club, though that's likely a long way away for the 43-year-old.

Here's a list of the winningest coaches in Buckeye history: 

1. Woody Hayes (1951-78, 205 wins)

To this day, Woody Hayes remains the standard by which all Ohio State coaches are measured. His victories are almost double any other OSU coach’s total. Hayes’ teams won 13 Big Ten titles and were consensus 1954 and 1968 national champions in that poll era. Hayes, whose hiring from Miami University was not universally applauded, was a character and often caricatured. His critics decried his conservative coaching philosophy and his temper tantrums. But his players revered him, knowing he cared deeply about preparing them for life and success after football. If Ohio State had a Mount Rushmore, he’s the first one on it.

2. John Cooper (1988-2000, 111 wins)

Yes, we know his dismal record against Michigan (2-10-1) and in bowl games (3-8). But John Cooper racked up a lot of victories in Columbus. Ohio State hired Cooper from Arizona State, and after a subpar first season, the Buckeyes regularly were at or near the top of the polls. He built on what Earle Bruce had done modernizing the Ohio State offense. Cooper recruited and coached Buckeye all-timers Eddie George, Orlando Pace and Terry Glenn, among many others.

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3. Jim Tressel (2001-10, 94 wins)

After the failures against Michigan under his predecessor, Tressel’s embrace of that rivalry made him a fan favorite from the start. His domination of the Wolverines clinched his status as one of the best coaches in Buckeye history. Some derided “Tressel-ball,” with its emphasis on field position and the kicking game, but the results spoke for themselves. He took Ohio State to three national championship games, winning the first one in a major upset over Miami in one of college football’s all-time classics. It looked like Tressel would coach at Ohio State as long as he wanted. Then came the tattoo and memorabilia scandal that cost him his job.

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4. Urban Meyer (2012-18, 82 wins)

Meyer was the first Ohio State coach who was already as big as the program when he arrived. The Ashtabula native coached Utah to an undefeated season and won two national titles at Florida, one coming in a stunning rout of Ohio State. After a year off coaching, a refreshed Meyer led the Buckeyes to wins in his first 24 games. In 2014, he directed Ohio State to an improbable national championship in the first College Football Playoff despite losing two quarterbacks to season-ending injuries. Meyer took OSU back to the CFP in 2016 before stepping down after the 2018 season, which ended with a Rose Bowl victory.

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5. Earle Bruce (1979-87, 81 wins)

It’s a thankless task to follow a legend, but Earle Bruce was the right man for the moment. Bruce was a Hayes protégé and similar in philosophy. He was just as passionate, though not prone to the outbursts his mentor had. Bruce’s first team was his best. Not much was expected of the 1979 team, but it went undefeated in the regular season before being nipped by USC in the Rose Bowl to deny the Buckeyes a national championship. Six straight 9-3 seasons followed, which would be considered successful at most places other than Ohio State. After his firing the week before the 1987 Michigan game, Bruce’s team rallied behind him and pulled off a stunning upset. The lasting image of Bruce as OSU coach is of him wearing a fedora as players carried him off the field.

6. John Wilce (1913-28, 78 wins)

The longest-serving coach other than Hayes, Wilce led the Buckeye program into prominence. He coached Ohio State to its first three conference titles, and its first win over Michigan in 16 tries. That came in 1919 thanks to the heroics of the school’s first real star, Chic Harley. The following season, Ohio State went to the Rose Bowl for the first time. Wilce, who earned his medical degree in 1919, stepped down as coach nine years later to concentrate on his medical practice.

7. Francis Schmidt (1934-40, 39 wins)

Schmidt propelled Ohio State into the modern age of college football. His teams featured an innovative offense featuring plenty of razzle-dazzle. Schmidt won two Big Ten titles. He might be most famous for his quirky personality and his elevation of the Michigan rivalry. Ohio State’s tradition of giving gold pants trinkets to the team following wins over the Wolverines started after he said Michigan’s players put their pants on one leg at a time just like Ohio State’s.

8. Ryan Day (2019-current, 33 wins)

Day had never been a head coach before he arrived in Columbus as quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator. But he impressed Urban Meyer and others so much that when Meyer was suspended for three games in 2018, athletic director Gene Smith bypassed former head coaches Greg Schiano and Kevin Wilson to name Day acting coach. The Buckeyes won those three games, and Smith hired Day to succeed Meyer late that season. Day’s teams have lost only four games. His 2019 team ranked among the most dominant in school history until its CFP semifinal loss to Clemson. The 2020 Buckeyes weathered COVID-19 to reach the national title game. With recruiting and development remaining at a high level, it seems a matter of time before Ohio State under Day wins it all.

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9. Albert Herrnstein (1906-09, 28 wins)

Herrnstein was the most successful of Ohio State’s early coaches, none of whom lasted too long. Herrnstein was a star player at Michigan under Fielding Yost. Ohio State hired him in 1906 and he led the Buckeyes to an 8-1 record, its best season ever to that point. The only loss came to Michigan, and his Buckeyes were 0-4 against his alma mater. For most of the rest of his life, Herrnstein ran a hardware store in Chillicothe.

10. Sam Willaman (1929-33, 26 wins)

Willaman was a star fullback at Ohio State in 1911 and ’13. Hired by John Wilce in 1926 to be an assistant coach and eventual successor, Willaman took over in 1929. His last team was his best one. OSU went 7-1 in 1933, outscored opponents 161-26, and shut out five of them. The Buckeyes’ only loss was a 13-0 loss at undefeated Michigan. But that loss was his third in five games against the Wolverines, and Willaman resigned under pressure after the season to become coach at Western Reserve University in Cleveland. His career and life was cut short when he died following emergency intestinal surgery in 1935 at age 45.

Bill Rabinowitz covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at brabinowitz@dispatch.com or on Twitter @brdispatch.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football all-time winningest coaches: The top 10