The Ohio State Buckeyes were in trouble: after a scandal that forced the resignation of former
head coach Jim Tressel, the team was facing severe NCAA sanctions that would keep it from a spot in the 2012
Big Ten Football Championship game. Fortunately, they had Urban Meyer on their side.Meyer, a two-time BCS
National Championship winning coach at Florida and coach of the Bowling Green State University Falcon
football team in 2001 and 2002, motivated the Buckeyes to a perfect 12-0 record during his first year as
head coach.The definitive account of one of the most unlikely and exceptional seasons in Ohio State history,
"Buckeye Rebirth: Urban Meyer, an Inspired Team, and a New Era at Ohio State" has just been
published by Triumph Books. Its author is award-winning sports journalist Bill Rabinowitz.The book, with a
foreword by former Buckeyes head coach Earle Bruce, includes:• How Meyer used his experience and expertise
to jump-start a floundering program that could have easily buckled under the pressure of sanctions• A
detailed account of Meyer’s life and career before taking the Ohio State job, including how he climbed the
coaching ladder to the top – with a very successful stop at BGSU – and then nearly lost it all• Thorough
depictions of leaders such as John Simon, who overcame numerous injuries until he faced one that not even he
could overcome, despite herculean efforts• The untold personal story behind Kenny Guiton’s stunning rally
against Purdue• The story of "The Golden Door" speech before the Michigan game, details of the
grueling offseason workouts that tested players’ resolve, and the "hands-on" approach Buckeyes
assistant coaches took in saving Meyer’s first recruiting class.The book is for die-hard Ohio State fans and
also any reader interested in a compelling story. It gives readers a rare look inside a football program
poised to return as a national powerhouse.Author Rabinowitz has written for the Columbus Dispatch since 1999
and has been on the OSU football beat since 2011.Earle Bruce was the head football coach at Ohio State from
1979 to 1987, notching up a record of 86-26-1. He was also a Buckeyes assistant coach under Woody Hayes from
1966 to 1971. In the mid-1990s, Bruce joined the broadcast team at WTVN radio in Columbus.