B1G Coaches - Best group ever?
Part of so called SEC "dominance" has been attributed to strong coaching hires, while the B1G just hired from the MAC it seemed. But the level of coaches in the conference now seems to be so much higher than I can ever remember. Harbaugh, Meyer, Dantonio speak for themselves. Franklin is what he is, but he's respected, he's a good recruiter, and he won at Vanderbilt. Under whatever circumstances there were at Vandy, he won. I'm sold. Chris Ash and DJ Durkin are both excellent coaches, with great track records and I think their success will only be limited by the difficulty in the B1G East.
Fitzgerald might be the best coach/school marriage in all of D1.
Lovie Smith brings NFL experience which has value.
Ferentz is a good coach, Kevin wilson will being me joy when he leaves and takes that offense with him. Riley and Chryst aren't huge names, but are respected and have had success.
Is this the best group of coaches the conference has ever had?
August 2nd, 2016 at 10:36 AM ^
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August 2nd, 2016 at 10:37 AM ^
Cam.
August 2nd, 2016 at 10:42 AM ^
I think that argument can be made. After 1997, play calling became 1st down, run into the left side of the line. 2nd down, run into the left side of the line. 3rd down, TE screen thrown short of the sticks. 4th down, punt.
The only game I saw Michigan play thereafter with any kind of preparation was in Carr's last against Florida.
And let's not even get started about recruiting late in his tenure.
August 2nd, 2016 at 10:44 AM ^
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August 2nd, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^
Was Lloyd a one-time NFL HC and now the OC at an SEC Power??
August 2nd, 2016 at 10:50 AM ^
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August 2nd, 2016 at 10:41 AM ^
I'd have to go with the 90's as the all-time best... But the last few years have seen a dramatic improvement in B1G coaching. I think Riley can pan out at NU, if he gets some breaks they missed out on last year. Chryst is mediocre, and won't move UW anywhere special. A step down from Bert and Barry, for sure... I think Durkin has more upside than Ash (he certainly hired a better staff to start with). Illinois made a slam dunk on the field with Lovey, but his recruiting looks to need some work. That should change some when he fields a half-decent team. I was never convinced he was all that in the NFL, but he should be able to stablize Illinois as a decent team, rather than the train wreck we know and love them as. Purdue is just Purdue, and they want nothing to do with winning...
August 2nd, 2016 at 10:52 AM ^
I don't understand why Purdue has kept Hazel for this long. He's got five total wins in three seasons.
August 2nd, 2016 at 10:54 AM ^
This whole who is the better conference thing is crap. Every conference has its few elite teams. Every conference has its Purdues, Kentuckys, and Iowa States. Every conference has teams in the middle.
Regarding the coaches, we will see how this season, and more importantly, bowl season plays out.
Clearly the B1G is special at the top with JH and Meyer.
Mike Dantoni has gotten more out of 2 and 3 stars than anyone in recent history. The whole chip on the shoulder shtick works well in EL.
By all accounts, Pat Fitzgerald is a good coach given what he has to work with. His teams are respectable and we don't hear much Fulmer Cup type stuff coming out of NW.
After that, it drops a bit
Does Kirk Ferentz still have it? Or has he gotten complacent with that fat contract and a weak division? The Rose Bowl performance hints yes.
Nobody is banging on Darrell Hazell or Chris Ash's door right now.
If we were profs handing out grades, Mike Riley would get an 'I' right now. I hope he does well in Lincoln but that was a curious hire at the time and there's not a body of work to rate just yet.
Lovie Smith and D. J. Durkin are completely unproven running their own programs (and it's not like they slid into cherry jobs either)
... and FUCK JAMES FRANKLIN
August 2nd, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^
Kentucky and Iowa State are not the Purdue's of their conferences, you're looking for Vanderbilt and Kansas. Indiana is our Kentucky in this example, pretty much to a T. Large state school basketball powerhouse with a large-ish football stadium that always comes up just short both in single games and of making the postseason.
Also, look how many teams with Black and Gold are total ass:
Purdue
Vandy
UCF
Idaho (still D1???)
Army
Colorado
Is every team with this color scheme a pile of trash?
August 2nd, 2016 at 12:55 PM ^
Iowa?
I thought that too but perhaps Iowa is yellow rather than gold.
Yeah I mean the gold of the teams I mentioned, the gold gold like "vegas" gold as some would call it.
August 2nd, 2016 at 11:09 AM ^
It's interesting . . . there are a lot of current and past SEC coaches with strong B1G and even MAC connections like Saban, Meyer, Miles, etc.
It's not so much who the SEC hired, it's when they hired them.
While the B1G has been hiring guys directly out of the MAC and mid-majors, the SEC has been able to get coaches with an additional round of seasoning, hiring them out of successful P5 programs.
The B1G has now caught up somewhat, at least at the top, and has been making similar "seasoned" hires in Meyer, Harbaugh, and even Franklin, Chryst, and Riley.
The jury is still out on the success of the assistants like Durkin and Ash.
August 2nd, 2016 at 11:14 AM ^
I kindly submit to you for your perusal some of the coaches roaming the sidelines during the 1984 & 1985 Big Ten seasons:
- Bo Schembechler
- Lou Holtz
- Hayden Fry
- Earle Bruce
- George Perles
- Bill Mallory
- Dennis Green
August 2nd, 2016 at 11:24 AM ^
August 2nd, 2016 at 11:48 AM ^
Not sure if sarcastic, but didn't Hoke win one (Sugar) and Dantonio has two (Rose, Cotton)?
August 2nd, 2016 at 12:08 PM ^
August 2nd, 2016 at 12:20 PM ^
It's basically the equivalent of a BCS game. Pretty much everyone considers the NY6 Bowls to be major.
August 2nd, 2016 at 12:20 PM ^
Ditto... the only reason the Cotton Bowl has had an resurgence in cachet is because of the $$$ Jerry Jones has put into it.
The Cotton Bowl wasn't a BCS bowl or anything.
August 2nd, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^
Well, that's irrelevant. If they took the Rose Bowl out of the NY6/Playoffs games and replaced it with the Pizza Pizza Bowl then the Pizza Pizza Bowl would become a "major" bowl. It would have the same quality of teams in it as the Rose Bowl did. Not really sure how this is an arguable point...
I mean, did Alabama not win a "major" bowl last year when they defeated MSU in the Cotton Bowl which was a national playoff semi-final?
August 2nd, 2016 at 11:48 AM ^
And also as many playoff appearances as Urban Meyer, Jimbo Fisher, and Bob Stoops.
August 2nd, 2016 at 12:34 PM ^
Mork is a douche, but he has taken a thoroughly mediocre Michigan State program and made them into a perennial top 10-15 team. He's a very good coach.
Dantonio has a convincing Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl win. Hoke has a Sugar Bowl win that Michigan had zero business winning, and yet somehow the football gods decided to cut us a break after years of misery.
Come on, man. I hate Dantonio too, but Hoke does not belong in the same sentence as Dantonio.
August 2nd, 2016 at 11:28 AM ^
August 2nd, 2016 at 11:28 AM ^
August 2nd, 2016 at 11:31 AM ^
1984
Bo Schembecler
Earle Bruce
Hayden Fry
George Perles
Lou Holtz
Dennis Green
Bill Mallory
1981
Bo Schembecler
Earle Bruce
Hayden Fry
George Perles
Sam Wyche
Dennis Green
Mike White
1998
Lloyd Carr
John Cooper
Joe Paterno
Barry Alvarez
Gary Barnett
Joe Tiller
Nick Saban
Glen Mason
Hayden Fry
Cam Cameron
Ron Turner
August 2nd, 2016 at 12:08 PM ^
1981 also had Lee Corso at Indiana. But Jim Young, Muddy Waters, Joe Salem, Dave McClain...the bottom was baaaaaaad. Disqualified.
1984 Was considered a down year for the conference. Ohio State lost to Purdue and Wisconsin and won the Big Ten. Michigan was injured to hell. You've got Mike White on the list for '81 but not '84, when they finished tied for 2nd in the Big Ten, and were coming off the 10-2 year when they swept the conference. I would count him for '84. However on the downside Purdue was in its third (and only bowl eligible) year under Leon Burtnett. And McClain is still dragging the conference down from Madison. So '84 is ahead of '81 but still not great.
Plus fuck George Perles. He was a career .500 coach who ran the dirtiest program in the conference and left State 0-11 and under sanctions. His "legacy" with the Steel Curtain was just teaching defensive backs to hold and get away with it. His one true skill was keeping guys who should be in jail on the football field. One of the most overrated coaches and underrated dickheads in state history.
1998 still wins so far.
August 2nd, 2016 at 12:36 PM ^
The bottom of the SEC recruits far, far better than the bottom of the Big Ten. Look at what Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, and Rutgers regularly pull in and compare to Vanderbilt, Miss St, Kentucky, and Mizzou get.
Mizzou isn't the bottom of the SEC. They'd kick the shit out of any of the B1G team you mentioned on a regular basis.
I wish we would have got Mizzou and Texas instead of Rutgers and Maryland.
Sigh.
2 NFL Head Coaches that have been to the Super Bowl are coaching in the B1G Ten
Not that I remember, but, with Purdue's first, and Indiana's only, Rose Bowl appearances in the 1960s, and the no repeat rule, there were lots of different Rose Bowl Big Ten teams before Woody and Bo took over starting in 1968.
1960 in order of finish:
Iowa - Evashecki, their #1 all time coach
Minnesota - Warmath, their #1 all time coach
Ohio - Hayes
MSC - Daugherty
UM - Bump Elliot
Illinois - Pete Elliot (I know, probation after)
All of the above won Rose Bowls
Northwestern - Ara Parseghian their #1 all time coach
Purdue - Jack Mollenkopt their # all time coach (check record v ND & Purdue) also won Rose Bowl
Wisconsin - Milt Bruhn lost two Rose Bowls, but ended up rated #2 in the country after 1962 season, highest ever for Bucky
Indiana - Phil Dickens
August 3rd, 2016 at 11:14 AM ^