Helmholdt’s Takeaways: Big Ten Media Days Tuesday

CHICAGO – The comments were still cliché with most coaches still trotting out their company lines, but the personalities and energy from the second half of conference coaches featured on Tuesday at Big Ten media days were noticeably different from day one.

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The difference in personalities of the head coaches who were featured on the second day of Big Ten media days compared to day one was on display early Tuesday morning. Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst kicked off Monday’s session, had no opening statement, took questions immediately and is a soft talker who was difficult to hear at times.

By contrast, day two opened up with the walking can of Red Bull known as Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck, who immediately acknowledged his unique brand of energy with, “I'm not sure if this was by design to make me go first by waking everybody up.” All seven of the coaches who were the focal points of day two took a cue from Fleck and kept the energy high.

Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald and Rutgers’ Chris Ash are football coaches’ football coaches. They command a lot of respect not only from their peers but also from the media, and it’s easy to see why they are effective leading a locker room. Nebraska’s Mike Riley also has some of that textbook football coach in him, but he brings even more of a likable quality to the table. And, in his first Big Ten media days appearance, Purdue’s Jeff Brohm looked comfortable in his new role and projected a very confident, in-command presence.

Day two’s opening media session with the coaches was concluded with Michigan’s
Jim Harbaugh, who has a unique ability to make everyone overreact. He made a fairly benign orange road cone reference when talking about sophomore defensive lineman Rashan Gary, which was then discussed and tweeted about for the next hour straight. Fleck and Harbaugh bookending the opening media session did have some surreal qualities, but it certainly made day two more intriguing than day one.

In talking about the first, full class his staff is recruiting now, Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm noted that the Boilermakers are going to have to show progress on the field this fall to keep those recruits. Rutgers’ Chris Ash concurred, acknowledging the circle where winning affects recruiting and vice versa.

“I don’t think there is a (specific) number of games you have to win to show progress, but I think you do have to win more games and you do have to be more competitive in more games,” Ash said. “That sells the future and shows the plan is working. That is what recruits want to see.”

Conversely, Penn State’s James Franklin is dealing with an entirely different problem that has come about because they were able to win 11 games in 2016, take home the Big Ten championship and play in the Rose Bowl.

“Literally, we have guys on our board where if they called to commit today I don’t know if we could take at certain positions,” Franklin said. “Getting to a place and building a program now that we are going to have to get used to turning down really good players is an uncomfortable and painful thing to do because I remember a couple years ago we were begging guys.”

Penn State currently has a 2018 recruiting class that ranks second nationally and first in the Big Ten. They have had as many five-stars decommit in this cycle as the rest of the conference combined currently has committed. And the on-field success has certainly played a part in that result.

“It probably has had a little bit of an impact regionally, but I think it’s probably had more of an impact nationally,” Franklin said. “There are kids that we are in conversations with nationally that maybe we hadn’t been in years past. I mean, when was the last time Penn State had two players committed from Texas and two players committed from Tampa? That hasn’t really been our history.”

As part of their new television agreement with ABC/ESPN and Fox, the Big Ten planned for six Friday night conference games throughout the course of the year. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany noted during his opening remarks Monday, “I think it's fair to say there's been pushback,” on playing on Friday nights, and several head coaches made their stance about it very clear during Big Ten media days.

When the announcement was first made last November, several conference head coaches, and even one spouse, came out against the decision. On Monday, Indiana’s Tom Allen noted his opinion may not carry a lot of weight yet, but he was also clear about being “very concerned about” the Big Ten playing on a night traditionally saved for high school football.

“I don't like playing games on Friday night. I think that's high school night,” Allen said. “I would like to keep that night special for high school football. That means a lot to me.”

Penn State’s James Franklin noted that each individual school has the ability to opt out of Friday night games and that during his tenure that is something the Nittany Lions will look to do.

“Friday is for high school and Saturday is for college and Sunday is for NFL,” Franklin said. “And it's worked out that way for a long time and it worked out really well. Each level complements the next. It's something we believe in strongly and it's sacred, and that's how we continue to see it going to the state of Pennsylvania and specifically Penn State.”

Delany seemed surprised by the amount of pushback he and the conference have received on the issue, but as long as schools have an option to not play on that night it is likely the plan remains in place.

Among the expectations when the Big Ten expanded East, bringing in Maryland and Rutgers in 2014, was a greater ability to recruit the talented corridor between New York City and Washington D.C. Three years into that expansion, though, conference coaches were having trouble identifying any significant advantage gains in recruiting those areas.

“I don’t feel that all of a sudden something was opened up or accessible now for the first time,” Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst said. “When I was here before the expansion we were able to get a lot of good players from the East Coast. I don’t think it gave us something new that wasn’t there before.”

The concept makes sense: If the conference is on more televisions in that region, if they are being written about more in that region and playing more games at stadiums in that region, then its ability to recruit that region should increase.

Rutgers head coach Chris Ash noted that when he was previously at Ohio State the concept made sense. Now that New Jersey and the East Coast is his home turf, however, he jokingly called it a “stupid” idea. Maryland’s D.J. Durkin is in the same position, but had trouble identifying any tangible difference compared to before his team and Rutgers joined the conference.

“Most schools in our conference recruit that area, but I would assume they probably did before then,” Durkin said. “There’s definitely a strong presence, but I can’t speak to whether it is stronger than three years ago because I wasn’t here three years ago.”

Ash noted that the same conversations are going on in Texas because of Texas A&M joining the SEC. The Big 12 Conference had a near monopoly on state of Texas talent prior to conference realignment, whereas places like New Jersey and the DMV area around the nation’s capitol are, and always were, recruited by several conferences, so the outcomes may look different.