The college football landscape is rapidly changing with college football playoff rankings released weekly.

However it seems that one major storyline has been hastily swept under the rug: the discipline surrounding Ohio State star quarterback J.T. Barrett.

Last week, Barrett pled guilty to an impaired driving charge following an incident the week before.

Ohio State’s coach, Urban Meyer, has been criticized for his questionable recruiting choices, and this incident has only increased the scrutiny surrounding the Ohio State football coach.

Last year, Meyer was highly critical of the lack of punishment opposing star player Jameis Winston received when he was in some lesser legal trouble (Winston was accused of stealing crab legs from a store).

In the Barrett case, Meyer noted that he did not have to, according to school rules, punish Barrett at all, but chose to do so by giving him a one game suspension and removing Barrett’s financial aid for his summer term.

However, Meyer and school officials have made it clear thatBarrett may be able to earn the financial aid back through good behavior.

It is clear that Urban Meyer’s attempts at disciplining his players have been weak and ineffective at best, though he continues to attempt to make himself look “Belichickian,” attempting to emulate the scrupulous authority that New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is known for.

It truly seems that Meyer is not working at all to instill character and discipline in his players as they grow into men.

Take the over 31 arrests of his players during his five year tenure at Florida and the 10 arrests in his three years at Ohio State as examples.

Or take the fact that Meyer’s punishment for an underage DUI incident is the same as a player who was allegedly caught smoking pot right before the season started.

With these actions, Meyer has set a precedent to his team that smoking pot in your house is the same as driving intoxicated and endangering countless lives on the road.

It will be interesting if schools such as UVM use examples of this soft discipline in their argument against power five conference autonomy in college sports.

UVM upholds high standards for its student-athletes using steadfast discipline, even removing players for tardiness and character issues far less disruptive and serious as Barrett’s DUI.