Ohio State has had some great coaches over the years; Jim Tressel and Thad Matta come immediately to mind.

They might not be at the top, however. Vladimir Nazlymov might be the best OSU has to offer.

Ten years ago, fencing at OSU was a joke, to put it bluntly. Now the program is a perennial national championship contender. OSU can thank one of its football legends, Archie Griffin, for that.

In 1999, the two-time Heisman trophy winner was the assistant athletic director at OSU and was the one who hired the world-renowned fencer and coach, Nazlymov.

Nazlymov’s name carries a lot of weight in the fencing world. As a fencer with the Soviet Union, he won six Olympic medals. Nazlymov also served as the USSR National Team coach.

Nazlymov said Griffin wanted to know how long it would take to turn the program around. The program was not a top ten program at the time, which Griffin said was unacceptable. Griffin wanted a top three program, Nazlymov said.

With his strong Russian accent, Nazlymov answered Griffin candidly, saying, “We can build program in three years.”

Nazlymov did indeed turn the program around and in his fifth year he reached the pinnacle. Nazlymov and the fencing team won the NCAA Collegiate Fencing National Championship. OSU again won the National Championship in the 2007-08 season.

How Nazlymov has morphed OSU’s fencing program into a powerhouse is bewildering.

Since 2002, OSU hasn’t finished lower than fifth in the nation.

Along with training national title holders and NCAA champions, Nazlymov has also sent many to the Olympics.

This year has been no different than past years. According the United States Fencing Coaches Association, OSU’s women’s team is ranked No. 6 in the country while the men are ranked No. 3.

Nazlymov’s diverse roster features fencers from all over the country and the world. The teams have athletes from Israel, Germany and Russia, just for starters.

How these fencers come to OSU is obvious to Nazlymov: OSU’s reputation brings them in, he said. Tressel and Matta have to make phone calls daily to get players to come to OSU. For Nazlymov, recruiting isn’t nearly as taxing.

“Junior or seniors in high school send us letter, they will be happy to fence at Ohio State,” Nazlymov said.

The reputation of OSU’s program has allowed Nazlymov to not have to recruit. The athletes come to him.

Nazlymov also credits Steelwood Athletic Training Facility, which is where the team practices.

“I haven’t seen any [other] facilities around here, but compared to club facilities this one is extraordinary,” said Max Stearns, a sophomore from Canada.

Nazlymov said those who come to OSU know the reputation the fencing program has, and also the reputation of all sports at OSU.

Unlike other sports, in which one recruit might receive better treatment than others, this couldn’t be further from the truth for Nazlymov.

Nazlymov said that every person who comes in gets the same treatment as the next person. In some sports, teams will make cuts, but Nazlymov doesn’t have to do that. Nazlymov lets his program cut the players. He said the fencers will find out if they are cut out for fencing at OSU or not. 

As big of a powerhouse the fencing program is, for Nazlymov, fencing isn’t the biggest priority.

“We explain, this is school,” Nazlymov said. “You chose your academics because it is your life.”

A pride and joy of his, to go with his national titles, is the team’s grade point average. The men have a GPA of 3.1 and the women have a 3.15.

Nazlymov puts school first for two reasons: better work ethic in school translates into better work ethic in fencing, and fencing is not like football or basketball in which athletes can go professional after college.

Scholarships help keep the program competitive as well.

“We recruit and then we see result,” Nazlymov said, implying that when someone produces, they become more competitive for a scholarship. The next year, if others are doing better they will lose their scholarship.

The team has a total of 43 men and women on the roster and the maximum number of scholarships given out is 12.

Nazlymov is big on academics, but he doesn’t allow his team’s fencing skills to wane. For him, second place isn’t an option.

Nazlymov understands fencing might not be as popular as other sports, but he expects to carry the OSU colors proudly.

OSU’s fencers are no less Buckeyes than the football or basketball team to him. Walk into their practice facility and there is a giant picture of Ohio Stadium with two fencers on the field.

On the other wall is a picture of Green Bay Packer legend Vince Lombardi who once said, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” Lombardi said this statement, but Nazlymov echoes it.

The one area where Nazlymov doesn’t talk much is how much his coaching plays a role.

“You look at the athletes from when they came in to when they leave, they always improve,” Stearns said.

With his accent and soft-spoken voice, Nazlymov is hard to hear. But when he speaks, his athletes listen. The success of the OSU fencing program isn’t perceived by most Buckeyes, but around the country and world it is known. Nazlymov has taken the program and put it on the map.