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Football
Nuggets From Big Ten Media Day
By The-Ozone Staff

CHICAGO — All 11 Big Ten football coaches took the podium today in Chicago to talk out the state of their respective programs. Here are a few nuggets from each in the order in which they took the microphone.

On Brent Bielma (Wisconsin)...

Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema kicked off the event by saying he plans to be more media friendly this season. Pat Fitzgerald immediately followed him by saying he doesn’t plan on doing the same.

“I’m not going to kill you with kindness,” he said with a smile.

“I'm just going to give you the facts.”

Bielema gave some facts too, including the news that star tailback John Clay would be 100 percent healthy heading into fall camp after undergoing off-season ankle surgery.

Although he was the unanimous Offensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten a year ago (both coaches and media) Clay was not tabbed as the preseason favorite in 2010. That honor went to OSU quarterback Terrelle Pryor for the second straight year, but Clay is coming off a sophomore season in which he ran for 1,517 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Bielema also said that he loves the addition of Nebraska and is very much in favor of a Big Ten championship game. He said he “loves the Ohio State-Michigan game” and stood by his comments that the Badgers would like to play the Cornhuskers in a season-ending rivalry game. He also added that he would also be fine playing either Iowa or Minnesota in that game as long as Wisconsin develops that intense rivalry game at the end of the year.

ON COACH PAT FITZGERALD (NORTHWESTERN)…

The second coach at the podium, Fitzgerald called his 2010 Wildcat team one of the deepest in the conference, stating that they return 30 players with starting experience. They have their top four rushers back, a deep linebacking corps and a defensive front that goes eight or nine deep. They also have a quarterback in Dan Persa who Fitzgerald is “very excited” about.

Because of that, Northwestern is gunning for the “next step” as they look for a record third-straight bowl appearance in 2010. The Wildcats lost their bowl game on a last-second play in overtime where they were forced to go for two after their kicker was injured.

“If it would have gone to the left inside of the right, we’d be bowl champions,” Fitzgerald said of the failed conversion try.

He said that Outback Bowl loss still haunts his team and has motivated them this off-season. He also said he got a lot of calls from high school quarterbacks around the country after throwing the ball 79 times in that game.

Fitzgerald called playing Illinois at Wrigley Field “a once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity and said he was in favor of expansion.

“As long as we expand like we did with the beast from the east, Penn State, I’ll be excited.”

ON RON ZOOK (ILLINOIS) …

Zook started out his time at the podium with an odd statement about his voice being scratchy because he drank too much water yesterday. It wasn’t long, however, before he was asked about the pressure of three straight losing seasons in which the Fighting Illini has won a total of seven games.

“No, I don’t feel more pressure. Everyone who stands up here today has got pressure, some more than others,” Zook said.

“You do the best you can do and you circle the wagons with the players.”

He went on to say that he's more relaxed this year than last few. He water-skied more this summer and is letting his new coaches do their jobs. He wasn’t shy, however, about what it takes to coach in the Big Ten.

“I don’t think there’s any question I have something to prove. It’s about winning and you have to win. Don’t know if we can do a whole lot more than what we’ve done right now.”

Zook went on to say that he was very much in favor of Big Ten expansion and believes a championship game is inevitable.

ON RICH RODRIGUEZ (MICHIGAN)…

From one coach on the hot seat to another, Rich Rodriguez said he’s not at all worried about the pressure to win after back-to-back losing seasons in Ann Arbor and six straight losses to arch rival Ohio State.

“Pressure is what you put on yourself. I feel pressure just to get better every day in practice,” he said.

“I don’t know if a rivalry game ads any pressure except that we need to play better. Go into every season thinking we need to win that game.”

After ducking initial questions, Rodriguez was asked again about keeping the OSU-Michigan rivalry intact.

“Sure. I think we need to keep playing,” he said.

“That rivalry is maybe the greatest rivalry in sports, but when we play is not as important as that we play every year.”

Rodriguez also called the quarterback situation at Michigan “wide open,” saying that true freshman Devin Gardner is going to challenge Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson despite the fact Rodriguez saw a lot of progress from Robinson in the spring.

One other thing he mentioned was that starting fullback Mark Moundros will compete for starting middle linebacker spot at his own request.

ON MARK DANTONIO (MICHIGAN STATE)…

The head coach at the other Michigan school didn’t have as much to say, but said that Ohio State continues to be the benchmark in the Big Ten.

“When you look at any conference you look at the team that’s one most consistently and try to aim for that level. Ohio State has had unprecedented success.”

Dantonio loves the depth and talent at linebacker, led by preseason Defensive Player of the Year Greg Jones. In fact, he loves them so much the Spartans will play more 3-4 defensively this season. One guy who could benefit from that is freshman William Gholston, the cousin of former Buckeye Vernon Gholston. Dantonio said he expects the 6-foot-7 Gholston to play the Viper position similar to what Vern and Will Smith played at Ohio State.

ON BILL LYNCH (INDIANA)…

Lynch made an interesting comment today, saying his team was very close to being a bowl team a year ago, which is why his team’s theme this off-season has been to finish.

“I thought we made great strides. We were 12 plays away from having an outstanding season and playing in a pretty good bowl game,” he said.

For that reason, Lynch said the Hoosiers must be better on third down in 2010. He thinks the defense can be even better, and said he “can’t wait to see them play.” He also said he loves returning quarterback Ben Chappel, calling him “everything you want in a quarterback.”

“He is definitely our team leader,” Lynch said.

“We have a very good receiver group to help Chappel. So much depth at wide receiver that we’ve been able to move some wide receivers over to defense to help out.”

ON DANNY HOPE (PURDUE)...

Hope said that a number of team leaders emerged over summer. He's excited about the upcoming season and his team's prospects.

"Obviously we open up with Notre Dame, and that's exciting," said Hope.

"It created a great sense of urgency for our football team's preparation throughout the course of the summer. 

The Boilers lost a number of close games last year. Hope and his staff have identified some things that may help them win some of those games.

"Obviously ball security," said Hope of his team's turnovers that cost them games in 2009.

"It was a nemesis to our football team particularly early in the season.  If we had done a better job of taking care of the football from a ball security standpoint, we probably would have been one of the great success stories in college football.

"It was a huge emphasis for our football team in the spring, ball security and ball disruption.  I don't think that we tackled well early in the fall last year.  The early games, we tackled poorly.  And we certainly need to do a better job emphasizing the tackling in the two‑a‑day practices preparing for the season coming up.

"So ball security on the offensive side.  Ball disruption on the defensive side, and we need to tackle better, for sure."

Hope is very high on incoming transfer, QB Robert Marve.

"Everything about Robert Marve excites me," said Hope.

"He's, I think, the most talented quarterback I've been around from a total package.  He's got outstanding arm strength.  He has great arm strength.  Very accurate.  Has a lot of velocity on the ball.  He's a great athlete.

"He runs very fast, runs between a 4.5 and 4.6.  He has the ability to beat you with his arm or beat you with his legs.  He can make plays outside the system.  If things break down around him, he can take off, get outside the pocket and make a big play."

Hope says Purdue's late-season success, particularly against teams like Ohio State and Michigan, have had a positive impact on his team.            

OSU win and Michigan win had positive impact on team and on recruiting, especially OSU win.

"We had a strong finish.  Created some momentum for our football team that will carry over to the 2010 season.  But it's certainly got the attention of a lot of recruits," Hope said.

"The Ohio State game was a big game.  We had a lot of recruits in for that game.  To see us play well and win and see the fans charge out on the field, it was huge in the recruiting process.  Those guys got a great feel.

"I think it's an indication not only to the recruits but to all of the football world the direction of the program and the potential that we have at Purdue."

ON JOE PATERNO (PENN STATE)...

Joe Paterno got the obligatory question on his retirement plans to which he gave the standard "No plans" answer. He did admit to having a digestive ailment but corrected a reporter who asked if he had had an intestinal issue. Said "intestinal issue" was

"It was a little bit below the intestine," quipped Paterno drawing a big laugh from reporters. Paterno went on to explain that the problem was a "control issue". You fill in the blanks.

Paterno seemed pleased with addition of Nebraska to the Big Ten.

"I have tremendous respect for Tom Osborne and Nebraska," said Paterno. "We played Nebraska before we got into the Big Ten and had some great, great games with them."

He was non-committal on further expansion, but would like to think conference would look east due to TV and recruiting considerations if more expansion occurs.

"It would help us particularly in the area of recruiting, the television and all those kinds of things," Paterno said.

Paterno is said he is looking forward to his season-opening game with defending national champion game Alabama.

"It's a good game for us," Paterno said. "I have a young team. We've got some growing up to do. To go down there with a bunch of kids and play the defending national champion on the road before a hostile crowd and you don't have a quarterback that has played much. It's going to be interesting. Hopefully we'll play well and learn from it."

Though Paterno has no immediate plans to retire, he hopes to be included in discussion of who his successor at PSU will be, but doesn't expect to make the decision or make nominations.

"I would hope there would be some kind of dialogue," he said.

ON TIM BREWSTER (MINNESOTA)...

Brewster characterized quarterback Adam Webber one of the most experienced QBs in nation.

"He's basically taken every snap for us the past three years.  I think Adam is poised to have a great season," Brewster said.

Brewster feels there is great competition for playing time at almost every position. He also feels that the competition has made his team better.

"One common attribute that every football team in America has today is great competition.  And we feel like for the first time in my three years at the University of Minnesota going into our fourth year, that we've got great competition across the board," he said.

Brewster mentioned that James Laurinaitis was one of the participants in a camp organized by former Gopher Larry Fitzgerald in Minneapolis in which about 30 NFL players came and interacted with high school kids, etc.

"What an amazing experience for our players to be on the practice field with players like Larry Fitzgerald and another local man, James Laurinaitis, those type players in the National Football League, rub shoulders with them and learn from them," said Brewster.

Like all the other Big Ten Coaches, Brewster was intent on the preservation of existing rivalries during the Big Ten expansion process.

"I think it's vital to the Big Ten.  It's what the Big Ten is all about, the traditions, the rivalries, playing for the Floyd of Rosedale, playing for Paul Bunyan's Axe is important to those states, to the state of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota," He said.

Brewster was disappointed that Texas backed out of game with Minnesota four years from now. Minnesota is still maintaining aggressive approach to scheduling and is close to replacing Texas with another high profile BCS non-conference opponent.

ON KIKK FERENTZ (IOWA)...

Ferentz reported that the Hawkeyes must replace two good linebackers and a corner, but defensive line returns four starters. He expects the d-line to be the strength of defense. The defensive secondary is also very experienced.

Offensively, the wide receivers very experienced, the o-line solid and he expects his tailbacks to also be deep. Special teams will be strong. The punter returns, but competition for place kicking spot will continue into fall.

Ferentz is not sure Nebraska addition will improve recruiting base but loves the addition of Huskers to conference. He also admits to being somewhat of a Luddite when it comes to current communication technology.

"I can read texts, but can't send them. I'll work on that next summer," he said.

Ferentz feels the Big Ten seems to be getting more respect nationally. Perceptions of the league seem on an upswing. He feels Ohio State still "the standard" in Big Ten with success over last five years. To win BT championship you have to beat OSU.

"Ohio State has done a tremendous job the last five years, and, really, since I go back to 1981, ever since I've been really paying attention to the Big Ten.  And I know there's more than 13 years prior to that.

"But they've traditionally been an outstanding program.  And one thing for sure, if you're going to try to win a Big Ten Championship, you're going to have to find a way to compete with them and beat them.  And not many people have had much luck doing that."

Ferentz expects all games to be very tough this year. The conference is tough and Arizona on non-conference schedule. He hopes his running backs will remain healthy this year. That was somewhat of a problem last year.

ON JIM TRESSEL (OHIO STATE)...

Jim Tressel let it be known he likes having 25 seniors and a large junior class.

"Our 2010 Buckeyes are an older group than we've had," Tressel said."I feel good about the maturity and leadership, and I think our rising junior class has really grown quite a bit."

The junior class interesting because about 50 percent from out of state, which is unusual for OSU. Many of those players were highly regarded and had to cope with meeting expectations, but that class seems to be progressing very well on all fronts.

Tressel reported that in addition to those veterans, most of freshman class was in this summer and did well in class and in summer drills.

"I've heard good things from the academic and strength people," Tressel said of his freshmen. "I'm anxious to see them out on the playing field."

OSU has been picked at the league's preseason favorite, a position that will put a target on their backs as the season unfolds.

"I know we'll be a team that's targeted and we'll always get everyone's best shot. With that in mind, we better make sure our best shot is ready every Saturday."

Much of the expectation level for OSU is based on the development of quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

"I thought he learned a great deal throughout the regular season his sophomore year and I thought it really started to crystallize in his mind during bowl practice," Tressel said.

"I thought he performed very well in the Bowl game, and then I thought he did the same thing in the spring."

The Big Ten is getting more respect this season nationally than it has in recent season. Tressel feels that is at least in part due to a good showing last Bowl season.

"I think you're only thought of as your most recent performance," Tressel said.

"Then if you look and see how many people are coming back from those teams, I think this will be as veteran and tough and as excellent a Big Ten in the ten years I've been here."

With expansion, there is some talk of jeopardy for the traditional rivalries. Tressel is not at all worried about the OSU vs. Michigan game.

"I can't imagine that thee would ever be a change from the fact that Ohio State and Michigan are going to square off and it's going to be exciting and meaningful," he said.

Tressel was outspoken about his opposition to a nine-game Big Ten schedule, something conference commissioner Jim Delaney wants to implement. What troubles Tressel is that on alternating seasons teams will be required to play five conference road games instead of four. That will make scheduling of home and home non-conference games difficult and will put the teams with five road games at a competitive disadvantage in league play.

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