Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer cemented his place in Buckeye lore by achieving a perfect record this year, but his family measured him more by the contract he signed with them promising he’d retain balance in his life despite the pressures of the job.

He may have achieved perfection in that realm, too — although it wasn’t always easy.

“I’ll give you an example: Every Sunday I busted out of here at noon and went to go watch my son play football. That would have never happened before,” he said during his season-closing press conference Monday. “I missed one game, and that’s because we got back late — I can’t remember why. That’s just an example. I saw that (clock), and I knew there’d be heck to pay if it got back to some people.

“I got two running-stoplight tickets, too, because I was late for one. There’s those camera things. … I was getting texts from my wife, ‘You’d better get here.’ So I went through a couple red lights.”

Meyer and the Buckeyes will be barely tapping their brakes as they transition into the offseason, looking to build on only the sixth unbeaten, untied campaign in school history.

One of the consequences of the bowl ban is they’ll lose 15 postseason practices, but Meyer and the staff are trying to figure out a way to lessen the impact.

Players will be expected to conduct high-intensity workouts on their own at least until winter conditioning in January.

“Our offseason started (Monday) morning,” Meyer said. “The guys who didn’t play in the (Michigan) game were in at 6 a.m. lifting and running.”

Although they’ll have to replace several prominent players, the Buckeyes will likely be a preseason top-five team next year. They return star quarterback Braxton Miller and all but right tackle Reid Fragel and receiver Jake Stoneburner on offense.

The defense will be harder hit. Defensive linemen John Simon, Nathan Williams and Garrett Goebel, linebackers Etienne Sabino and Zach Boren, cornerback Travis Howard and nickelback Orhian Johnson will all have to be replaced, as will punter Ben Buchanan. Junior defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins and third-year sophomore cornerback Bradley Roby also are considering a jump to the pros.

“I’ve been thinking about that (turnover) since the final whistle Saturday,” said Meyer, who plans to bring back all of his assistants. “The linebacker position has to get right. That’s the weakest area of our team. And I’m not talking about Ryan Shazier. I think he’s an excellent football player right now.

“There’s some very good players coming back, but I worry about losing a guy like John Simon and what he means to this program.”

Meyer has made an instant impact at every coaching stop he’s made, but he’s always had his best results in his second season.

Utah finished 12-0 in year two under Meyer, and Florida went from 9-3 in his maiden season to 13-1 and a national title.

Reminded of his history and asked what that might mean for the Buckeyes in 2013, he grinned and said, “Next question please.”

Meyer pointed out the 2012 Buckeyes were a hungry bunch, bent on making amends for a 6-7 record the year before. He’s already plotting to make sure they approach next season with the same passion.

He said of the 2006 national title run at Florida: “I had a very angry team, a team with a chip on their shoulder. They went to work every day kind of (ticked) because they came to that school for that — the same reason they come here, to win championships. And the best thing they ever did was win an Outback Bowl.

“My concern here is complacency. We have to make sure that doesn’t take place. We need an angry team next year. If we have to manufacture that, we will.”

Meyer knows what he’ll tap into for fuel: being the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten but not having a conference crown to show for it.

“Something was taken from them. We’re going to use that. We’re going to use a lot of things. We’re going to try to push the right buttons to get an angry team. If we’re not angry and we’re complacent, this team is as average as dirt, just like any team,” he said.

“You see it across the country. There’s teams that are highly ranked and have a bunch of NFL prospects, and they’re losing three, four, five, six games. I know exactly why — and so does every coach — it’s because you have a team that doesn’t have an edge.”