Ohio State Buckeyes

Meyer recalls pre-playoff motivational tactic that worked for Buckeyes

Published May. 12, 2015 3:40 p.m. ET

foxsports

Urban Meyer's belated appearance at the University of Findlay on Monday night included the type of story that generally makes attending such an event worthwhile: One that explains even a small part of how the Buckeyes won the national championship last season.

In this case, Meyer told attendees how a World War II battle inspired one of his motivational tactics.

Per the Toledo Blade, Meyer said he gave the players clickers and explained that such tools were used by Allied soldiers during the Battle of Normandy to be able to tell who was friend and who was foe. They proved essential for soldiers landing on foreign beaches in the dark.

"There was stuff going on and you couldn’t see, so you simply clicked," Meyer said. "If you clicked and got a click, click back, that’s us, that’s a friend. If you don’t get a click, click..."

You can probably guess the next part, but Meyer explained the point of the exercise was to drive home the importance of togetherness and relying on each other.

"I still think about that moment," Meyer said. "Here we are getting ready to play in the Sugar Bowl, and those kids are going, ‘Click, click, click.’ ... It became a feeding frenzy because they love each other so much.”

And the rest is history -- not to mention inspirational speech fodder.

(H/T Toledo Blade)

Photo credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports