Ever since he arrived in Columbus three years ago, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has set about finding the most efficient ways to educate his players about the intricacies of his high-powered offense.

What he hit upon is an approach that is increasingly popular in academic circles, but still mostly unheard of in the hidebound world of football coaching: flipping the classroom.

In academia, flipped learning turns the traditional classroom-teaching model on its head, delivering lessons online outside of class and moving homework into the classroom via individual tutoring or activities. A football team might seem to be an inapplicable environment for this, but Meyer employed a similar approach after taking over the Buckeyes, who went 6-7 the previous season.

In an effort to speed up the installation of his spread-option playbook—an offense that devastated defenses while Meyer was at Utah and Florida—Meyer decided to abandon old-school chalkboard sessions. Instead, he devoted team meetings to hands-on exercises, such as walking through plays and doing situational drills.

Now, three years on, Meyer’s “flipped coaching” technique has helped take Ohio State to the brink of a Big Ten Conference title and a possible berth in the inaugural College Football Playoff. The fifth-ranked Buckeyes face No. 13 Wisconsin in Saturday’s Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis, although Ohio State is a slight underdog now because of the loss of injured quarterback J.T. Barrett.