Sherrone Moore 1-0-0
Ryan Day, 1-4-0
Since 1935, when the Michigan-Ohio State game moved to the end of the Big Ten schedule, the success of a season was often measured by the results of The Big Game. A coach could redeem a poor season by defeating the arch-rival or, an otherwise stellar record could be marred by an inability "to win the big one."
The series began in 1897 under rookie coaches Gustave Ferbert and David Edwards. Rookie coaches would meet two more times. In 1929 Michigan's Harry Kipke faced off against Sam Willaman of the Buckeyes. Both had been star players and and served as assistant coaches at their schools. Ferbert won his only game against the Buckeyes. Willaman won his first game, but would wind up with 2-3 record. The 2011 game marked the third time that first year coaches have taken the field for both teams. Brady Hoke defeated OSU interim coach Luke Fickell. Only Ferbert, at 1-0-0, would post a career winning record in the series.
Fifteen Michigan coaches have squared off against the Buckeyes and seven emerged with winning records - from Gustave Ferbert's perfect 1-0-0 record (1897) to Fielding Yost's 16-3-1 (1901-1926). Three Michigan coaches played Ohio
State even and four suffered a losing record.
Ohio State has sent twenty-one coaches into battle against Michigan - all but one with overall career winning records. Only four, however, have managed winning records against Michigan - ranging from Jim Tressel's 9-1-0 to Woody Hayes' 16-11-1 (1951-1978) and Urban Meyer's perfect 7-0. Wolverine alumnus Albert Herrnstein lost all four meetings, 1906-1909, with his mentor Fielding Yost.
What is remarkable, is how evenly matched the great ones were. Fielding Yost held a slim 5-3 edge over John W. Wilce. Paul Brown, who went on to fame as a professional coach, was 1-1-1 in his matches against Fritz Crisler. "Bo" Schembechler and Woody Hayes both had career winning records in the big game, but "Bo" came out on top, 5-4-1, in head-to-head matches with his former boss.
Lloyd Carr won four of his first five games against the Buckeyes, including two upset victories that ruined the national title hopes of Ohio State teams ranked second in the country. Jim Tressel was the fifth OSU coach to win his first game against Michigan and only the second to hold a 2-0 advantage over the Wolverines. Carr won a national championship in his third season. Tressel did him one better by winning the BCS title in his second. Carr gained his first win over Tressel in 2003. Tressel's Buckeyes salvaged a disappointing 2004 season by upsetting Michigan and depriving the Wolverines of an outright Big Ten title. The Buckeyes came from behind in 2005 to give Tressel his fourth win in the series and assure Ohio State a tie for the conference title. In 2006, the series' first showdown between #1 and #2 rated teams, OSU held on for 42-39 victory. In what would be Lloyd Carr's final game at Michigan Stadium, the Buckeyes clinched a third straight Big Ten title with a 14-3 win, giving Tressel a 9-1 record against Michigan. The Buckeyes 42-7 win in 2008 was their largest margin of victory since 1968's 36 point advantage. In the final game at the "old Michigan Stadium" in 2009, a big contingent of OSU fans saw the Buckeyes roll to a 21-10 win. The 2010 game opened with a scoreless first quarter and Michigan pulled within three at 10-7 in the second quarter. Jordan Hall returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to set a Buckeye series record. OSU ran off 27 unanswered points to secure a dominating 37-7 win.
With the 2010 win, Tressel extended his consecutive win streak to 7 games, three better than Francis Schmidt (1934-1937) and Woody Hayes (1950-1963). Fielding Yost holds the series record for consecutive wins with a nine-year run from 1901-1909. The second longest string for a Michigan coach is three wins: Fritz Crisler, 1938-1940 and 1945-1947; Bo Schembechler, 1976-1978; and Lloyd Carr, 1995-1997.
First year Michigan coach Brady Hoke broke the string of Buckeye victories by defeating interim coach Luke Fickle's Ohio team 40-34. Denard Robinson led the Wolverines to their first win in seven years, accounting for 337 yards total offense and five touchdowns (2 rushing and 3 passing). In the first year of divisional play the rivalry game did not have a direct impact on either the Legends or Leaders championship, but Michigan (6-2) did finish with a better conference record than Ohio (3-5) for the first time since 2004.
Urban Meyer took over the OSU reins in 2012 and led the Buckeyes to an undefeated (but bowlless) season, capped by a 26-21 win over Michigan at Columbus. Meyer moved to 2-0 against Michigan and Brady Hoke in 2013 by holding on for a 42-41 win when the Wolverine's two-point conversion attempt failed with 30 seconds left in the game. An underdog Michigan team played OSU to 14-14 first half tie in the 2014 game. The Buckeyes scored on the first drive of the second half. Michigan responded with a score on the ensuing possession, but Ohio then pulled away for a 42-28 win. The Buckeyes then demolished Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game and went on to win the national title. Jim Harbaugh started to turn Michigan's program around and brought lots of excitement to his first match up with the Buckeyes but couldn't break Meyer's streak as Ohio State cruised to a 42-13 win. It was #2 Ohio State vs. #3 Michigan in 2016. In the first overtime game in series history, Meyer extended his streak to five games. He joined Fielding Yost as the only coaches to win their first five rivalry games. Meyer continued his winning ways with a 31-20 victory in Ann Arbor in 2017, giving the Buckeyes an undisputed division title, capped by a another conference title with an easy win over Wisconsin. Meyer closed his tenure at OSU with a dominating 62-39 win at Columbus in 2018, making him the first coach with more than one season to go undefeated in the series. His seven wins matched Tressel for the longest OSU winning streak, still two behind Fielding Yost.
In 2019 Ryan Day joined the list of head coaches who won their debut rivalry game, though he had shared in two as an OSU assistant coach, handing UM its 8th straight loss with a 56-27 thrashing. Jim Harbaugh got his first win in 2021 as the #6 Wolverines dominated in a 41-27 win in Ann Arbor. In 2022 an undisputed division title was on the line in Columbus as #2 OSU and #3 U-M were both undefeated. OSU was a slight favorite and took a 20-17 lead at half-time, holding Michigan to just ten yards rushing. Michigan's scores came on a pair of J.J. McCarthy to Cornelius Johnson TD passes covering 69 and 75 yards. McCarthy scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter and connected with tight end Colston Loveland for a 45-yard score. Donovan Edwards sealed the game with TD runs of 75 and 85 yards. Jim Harbaugh was not at the 2023 game at Michigan Stadium (serving out a three-game suspension for a sign stealing violation), but assistant coach Sherrone Moore led the Wolverines to a third straight win. Blake Corum ran for two TDs, Roman Wilson caught a disputed TD pass and James Turner hit three field goals for a 30-24 win. The Wolverine defense held TreVeyon Henderson to 60 yards rushing and limited All-American receiver Marvin Harrison to one TD.
Sherrone Moore, in his first rivalry game as official head coach, led the 2024 Wolverines to one of the biggest upsets in series history. The Buckeyes came into the game with a 10-1 record and a #2 national ranking. The unranked Wolverines had struggled to 7-5 record and were 23-point underdogs. OSU scored on a 29-yard field goal on its first possession. In the 2nd quarter UM capitalized on an interception by Aamir Fall on the Buckeye 13-yard line and 11-yard return. Kelel Mullings scored on a 1-yard run. Dominic Zvada added a 54-yard field goal to give UM a 10-3 lead. OSU drove 75 yards with just over 2 minutes remaining to tie the score at the half. That would be the end of the scoring until Zvada's 21-yard field goal with 45 seconds on the clock gave Michigan the win. Michigan's defense held the explosive Ohio offense to just 252 total yards. Ryan Day's rivalry record slipped to 1-4.
| Coach | Years | Overall | vs OSU | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [No Coaches] | 1879-1890 | 23-10-1 | 
Gustave Ferbert  Fielding Yost  Fritz Crisler |
||||
| Frank Crawford | 1891 | 4-5-0 | |||||
| Frank E. Barbour | 1892-1893 | 14-8-0 | |||||
| William McCauley | 1894-1895 | 17-2-1 | |||||
| William D. Ward | 1896 | 9-1-0 | |||||
| Gustave Ferbert | 1897-1899 | 24-3-1 | 1-0-0 | ||||
| Langdon "Buff" Lea | 1900 | 7-2-1 | 0-0-1 | ||||
| Fielding H. Yost | 1901-1923, 1925-1926 |
165-29-10 | 16-3-1 | ||||
| George Little | 1924 | 6-2-0 | 1-0-0 | ||||
| Elton E. Wireman | 1927-1928 | 9-6-1 | 1-1-0 | ||||
| Harry Kipke | 1929-1937 | 46-26-4 | 3-6-0 | ||||
| Herbert O. "Fritz" Crisler | 1938-1947 | 71-16-3 | 7-2-1 | ||||
| Bennie Oosterbaan | 1948-1958 | 63-33-4 | 5-5-1 | ||||
| Chalmers "Bump" Elliott | 1959-1968 | 51-42-2 | 3-7-0 | ||||
| Glenn "Bo" Schembechler | 1969-1989 | 198-48-5 | 11-9-1 | ||||
| Gary Moeller | 1990-1994 | 44-13-4 | 3-1-1 | ||||
| Lloyd Carr | 1995-2007 | 121-40-0 | 6-7-0 | ||||
| Rich Rodriguez | 2008-2010 | 15-21-0 | 0-3-0 | ||||
| Brady Hoke | 2011- 2014 | 29-19-0 | 1-3 -0 | ||||
| Jim Harbaugh | 2015-2023 | 89-25-0 | 3-5-0 | ||||
| Sherrone Moore | 2024- | 7-5-0 | 1-0-0 |
| Coach | Years | Overall | vs UM | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander S. Lilley | 1890-1891 | 3-5-0 |
 John Eckstorm  Albert E. Herrnstein  Francis Schmidt  Paul Brown | ||||
| Jack Ryder | 1892-1895, 1898 |
22-22-2 | |||||
| Charles Hickey | 1896 | 5-5-1 | |||||
| David F. Edwards | 1897 | 1-7-1 | 0-1-0 | ||||
| John B. Eckstorm | 1898-1901 | 22-4-3 | 0-1-1 | ||||
| Perry Hale | 1902-1903 | 14-5-2 | 0-2-0 | ||||
| E.R. Sweatland | 1903-1905 | 14-7-2 | 0-2-0 | ||||
| Albert E. Herrnstein | 1906-1909 | 28-10-1 | 0-4-0 | ||||
| Howard Jones | 1910 | 6-1-3 | 0-0-1 | ||||
| Henry Vaughn | 1911 | 5-3-2 | 0-1-0 | ||||
| John R. Richards | 1912 | 6-3-0 | 0-1-0 | ||||
| John W. Wilce | 1913-1928 | 78-33-9 | 4-7-0 | ||||
| Sam S. Willaman | 1929-1932 | 26-10-5 | 2-3-0 | ||||
| Francis A. Schmidt | 1934-1940 | 39-16-1 | 4-3-0 | ||||
| Paul E. Brown | 1940-1943 | 18-8-1 | 1-1-1 | ||||
| Carroll C. Widdoes | 1944-1945 | 16-2-0 | 1-1-0 | ||||
| Paul O. Bixlar | 1946 | 4-3-2 | 0-1-0 | ||||
| Wesley E. Fesler | 1947-1950 | 21-13-3 | 0-3-1 | ||||
| Woody Hayes | 1951-1978 | 205-61-10 | 16-11-1 | ||||
| Earle Bruce | 1979-1987 | 81-26-1 | 5-4-0 | ||||
| John Cooper | 1988-2000 | 111-43-4 | 2-10-1 | ||||
| Jim Tressel | 2001-2010 | 105-22-0 | 9-1-0# | ||||
| Luke Fickell (interim) | 2011 | 6-7-0 | 0-1-0 | ||||
| Urban Meyer | 2012-2018 | 83-9-0 | 7-0-0 | ||||
| Ryan Day | 2019-2024 | 66-10-0 | 1-4-0 | ||||
| # - Tressel's 12 wins in 2010, including a 37-7 win over U-M at Columbus, were vacated for NCAA violations | |||||||