Curtis Grant, the Ohio State sophomore linebacker, knows outsiders may have expected the intensity in preseason camp to elevate when full-contact practices began a few weeks ago. But as he was quick to point out, the Buckeyes were barreling into each other even with minimal equipment.

First-year coach Urban Meyer begins most days with his circle drill, where he pits one player against each other in a sumo-wrestling-style contest. The winner either pancakes his opponent or pushes him out of a ring made up of whooping teammates and coaches.

“Even when we just had shoulder pads on, we were getting after it,” Grant said. “Everybody is hungry. Coach Meyer brings out a different beast in everybody. He just makes everything so competitive. You want to compete because if you don’t, you’re going to get embarrassed, and nobody likes to get embarrassed.”

That’s precisely how the Buckeyes felt, though, after going 6-7 last year — their most losses since 1897 — and Meyer is intent on making sure they end the 2012 season, which begins at home Saturday against Miami, with a sense of pride by restoring the program to OSU standards.

Unlike former coach Jim Tressel, who had a kindly, unassuming persona, Meyer has generated respect and maybe even some healthy fear with his direct style of dealing with players and his intolerance for anything done in a slipshod manner.

But the Buckeyes, while perhaps not quite ready to admit they had become soft, were ready for something different after enduring a tumultuous year without the banished Tressel and playing for a staff that most assumed would be gone after one year.

“I couldn’t believe he was going to be our coach, just from the history he had,” sophomore receiver Devin Smith said of Meyer. “He’s done tremendous things at other schools. He’s changed programs, and he’s on a journey now to change this program.”

Asked if he was ready for the boot-camp-like atmosphere that Meyer brings, Smith said: “From what I’d seen, I thought he’d be the same and maybe even harder. He always talks about this place and how much he loves it — growing up here (in Ohio) and coaching here. He really shows a lot of emotion toward it.

“But he’s hard on all of us. These last few days, he’s really been hard on me to make sure I learn my plays and make sure I know the concepts like the back of my hand. With him coaching us and really being hard on us, it’s really going to help us.”

Meyer also dispenses enough uplifting comments that players end up having a bigger vision for themselves than what they thought they could attain, and that mix of tough love and inspiration has worked wonders at all of his coaching stops.

At Bowling Green, he inherited a team that went 2-9 in 2000 and followed that with an 8-3 record in his first season, including wins over Missouri, Northwestern and rival Toledo. In his maiden season at Utah in 2003, he produced the first conference title for the program in 47 years and followed that up with a 12-0 record and a BCS bowl win over Pittsburgh.

Florida went from 7-4 to 9-3 in his first season and would win a pair of national titles before he stepped away from coaching for a year, citing burnout.

But Meyer is rejuvenated by landing his dream job and professing to have found balance in his life. And though OSU can’t play for Big Ten title or go to a bowl, he knows his arrival has generated excitement among the inhabitants of Buckeye Land, and he’s not shrinking from the high expectations.

“There used to be a time where you could go build a program, but you can’t do that anymore. You’ve got to go win. .. That’s why — from Bowling Green to Utah to Florida to here — I’ve tried to always keep the defensive coaches because if you’re going to install a brand new defense, a brand new offense and brand new special teams, that takes time,” said Meyer, who retained linebackers coach Luke Fickell and defensive line coach Mike Vrabel.

“Momentum is such a key in recruiting and with your fan base and your program. If you lose it, it’s hard to get it back. I’ve always been conscientious of that. You’ve got to go win right away.”

The Buckeyes appear poised to do just that with 15 of 22 starters returning plus both kickers. Although the receivers are still unproven, Meyer has raved about quarterback Braxton Miller, who seems to be an ideal fit for the coach’s spread offense. While lean a linebacker, the OSU defense has the pieces to become the miserly unit it was over the previous decade.

And the spirited practices throughout the spring and during preseason camp are evidence the players are embracing Meyer’s straight-forward personality — even if that means digesting truth at times that may be hard to hear.

“For one, you know he’s a serious guy. You know he’s a man of his word,” senior linebacker and co-captain Etienne Sabino said. “If he says something, he’s not saying it to blow smoke up anybody. He’s saying it because he means it and that’s what he feels.

“I think you can’t do anything but respect something like that. When somebody is up front with you, whether it’s good or bad, I think that’s the best approach. With him, there’s no gray area.”

Launching a season with no tangible prize awaiting them at the end may be a new experience for all, but Sabino said: “I don’t think motivation will be an issue. We have a team full of dudes that love to compete and love to win. And we have a sour taste in our mouth from last season. By no means did that season go how any of us wanted. We’re excited and feel like we have something to prove.”