This all started with Alabama’s hands.
OK, it started a little before that, when Urban Meyer took the job at Ohio State in November 2011 and began building the program into the monster that is today. But things really started to crystalize for Meyer when he watched the way Alabama’s players were using their hands during pregame warmups before the BCS National Championship against Notre Dame in January 2013.
“He’s a lunatic,” former Buckeyes linebacker Joshua Perry said. “He sent us a text about Alabama as he was watching them in pregame warmups. He was down by the defensive line. He said that their defensive line was the best in America at shooting their hands inside, gaining inside leverage, and that the reason Alabama was so much better was because of the details. He said they’re the best inside hands team in America, and we don’t do it like Alabama. We’re way behind. It became a point of obsession, just that one…
