Going into the season, Ohio was a difficult team to predict. Every one of the team’s skill positions on offense featured a new starter, and the team lost its captains and All-MAC players on defense.
Ohio was slated to finish fifth in the Mid-American Conference’s preseason coaches poll. Now, just a few days away from Championship Sunday, Ohio is in contention for its first MAC Title in over 50 years.
Ohio coach Tim Albin deserves credit for the position Ohio has found itself in.
Albin hasn’t been at the helm long, taking over for legendary head coach Frank Solich in 2021. In his four years as head coach, Albin has led Ohio to a MAC Championship game appearance and Bowl game victory in 2022, a second consecutive 10-win season and Bowl win in 2023 and a chance to win a MAC title with a third straight 10-win season in 2024.
With all of Albin's success in his coaching career, 2024 has put Albin in a spot well above many Group of Five head coaches.
Albin took a team full of inexperienced talent and turned them into one of the most competitive teams in the conference. How’d he do it? By never losing hope.
When The Post spoke to Albin in June at MAC Media Day, it was evident Albin wasn’t worried about what they lost, he was just fired up to play some football.
Albin assembled a coaching staff that can lead anyone to the top of the MAC standings. Ohio has proven it will be a contender in the MAC every season if Albin remains in charge.
With the ever-changing environment surrounding college football, there will always be turnover with rosters and coaches. However, there is no cause for concern that Albin will leave Athens anytime soon, even when he inevitably becomes a two-time MAC Coach of the Year later this week.
Albin has a passion like no other for the culture and history of Ohio football, and he uses it to lead his players to victory every week. Being a pupil of a Hall of Fame coach in Solich, Albin makes sure his players understand the winning culture Solich brought to the program.
Albin’s admiration for Solich is a big reason Ohio has only lost once at home on Frank Solich Field in the last three seasons.
No one in the MAC comes close to being more deserving than Albin for the conference's Coach of the Year in 2024. Ohio’s opponent in the championship game, Miami, was a unanimous favorite to win the conference after returning almost the entirety of its 2023 championship team.
Miami coach Chuck Martin, who won MAC Coach of the Year in 2023, is an incredible coach for the RedHawks but hasn’t had a challenging task this season, leading the best roster in the conference to a championship appearance.
Albin has completed a task that almost no one thought was possible, no one but himself and his coaching staff; for that reason, he is an easy choice for the MAC Coach of the Year.
