Big Ten Media Day
CHICAGO -- Commissioner Jim Delany expects the Big Ten to hold a championship game next season, when Nebraska joins and brings the league to 12 members.
He also said teams will likely play nine conference games instead of eight in the future to help preserve rivalries.
"I think there's a real consensus among our athletic directors to do that," Delany said Monday at the league's football media days. "How quickly we can do that? We can't do that in the next year or two. I'm hopeful we can make some progress for years three, four. Hopefully, it's not three or four, but it could be depending on the contractual commitments."
Delany expects there to be one next season, although he's not sure where it would be played and if the site would rotate. He also wants to sell naming rights to the game.
Delany said he's spoken to representatives from potential host sites and Chicago is in the running. But he's not sure he'll have time in the next four months to make visits. The conference could choose one for the first game and then tour venues in the spring.
"I just think that selection, the philosophy, the economics around a championship venue may require more focused energy than we have right at this moment," Delany said.
Luring Nebraska from the Big 12 and adding one of college football's traditional powers put the Big Ten in position to add what figures to be a lucrative championship game to the schedule. It also created some issues.
The conference now has to figure out how to align into two six-team divisions while maintaining long-standing rivalries, like Michigan-Ohio State. Delany hopes to have that resolved in the next 30 to 45 days.
AP Photo/M. Spencer Green
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany stands between representatives of the conference's past and future, Penn State coach Joe Paterno, left, and Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne.
While geography will be considered, it's not the top priority. Competitive balance and rivalries trump that.
"I don't know that we'll be able to preserve every trophy game or every rivalry game, but I can tell you that we're going to go through great lengths to make sure the traditions and the rivalries are respected," Delany said. "I've seen other expansions where you expand your conference, you don't increase the number of games and play each other less."
Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said "there's a framework there that's pretty good" for the division alignment, although nothing's been decided.
With the championship game, it's possible teams could meet twice and even in consecutive games. That could mean, for example, back-to-back games for Michigan against Ohio State.
Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez has no problem with that. At the moment, they play on the final week and Rodriguez would like to continue that "just from a tradition standpoint."
The most important thing is they meet, period, whether they wind up in the same division or not.
Further expansion remains a possibility, although Delany said the Big Ten "is not actively involved" at the moment. He said the league will probably decide in December whether to look into it again.
If it does, Penn State coach Joe Paterno hopes the conference looks east.
"It would help us particularly in the recruiting, the television and all those kinds of things, that are pluses that you get when you expand as we have with Nebraska," he said.
And he was in favor of adding the Cornhuskers, calling it "a good move for the Big Ten."
Penn State played them every year from 1979-83 when Osborne was their coach, but Paterno's history against Nebraska goes back even farther.
"I coached, actually, as an assistant coach long before -- not long before, but before even Bob Devaney or Tom did, when Bill Glassford was coaching out there," Paterno said. "They beat us out there and they had a great running back by -- I think [Bobby] Reynolds was his name, one of the best backs in the country."
He was looking forward to seeing Osborne and got a chance to pose for a picture with him and Delany.
For all the talk about maintaining traditions and rivalries, some coaches were looking forward to creating a new one with Nebraska.
Iowa's Kirk Ferentz called it "a home run" and "a great thing for the conference."
Wisconsin's Bret Bielema approached the league about playing Nebraska in the season finale every year and likes the idea of a conference championship game.
"I don't know where it's going to go," he said. "But for me personally I think it would be a very exciting thing."
Big Ten
Osborne Gets Early Big Ten Baptism
CHICAGO -- Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany described Tom Osborne's approach toward this week's league meetings as "less is more."
"He doesn't say a lot," Delany said of the Nebraska athletic director and legendary former Huskers football coach, "but when he speaks, it speaks volumes."
Osborne did speak for a few minutes about his first official appearance at a Big Ten event. Although Nebraska doesn't become a full voting member of the Big Ten until July 1, Osborne is participating in meetings where big-ticket items like divisions, scheduling and a conference championship game are being discussed.
Here are a few points he touched upon:
• Although Delany wants to get a nine-game Big Ten schedule implemented in the next 2-4 years, Osborne thinks it's unlikely to happen until 2015. "For the next three years or so, everybody really isn't in a position where they could get out of some games," Osborne said. But like many of his colleagues, he cited the increasing difficulties of nonconference scheduling and how an extra league game likely will help in the long run.
• Nebraska's move to the Big Ten has received strong support from Huskers fans, even surpassing Osborne's expectations. "I thought it might be 70-30 in favor of the switch, but from what I've heard, it's been more 90-10, 95-5," he said. "Very little opposition."
• Osborne didn't give much thought to joining the Big Ten when the league announced its expansion study Dec. 15. He listened in the winter and spring as Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez, a Nebraska alum, and Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel both told him that the Big Ten was interested in adding the Huskers. But it wasn't until the Pac-10/Big 12 melodrama that Osborne really thought about making the move.
• Regarding Nebraska's place in division alignment, Osborne identified Iowa and Minnesota as two schools that share links with the Huskers, Iowa through a state border and Minnesota through on-field history (51 games, most with any Big Ten team). "Any alignment where Nebraska wouldn't play Iowa would not be as well received by our fans," he said. "It doesn't mean they're going to revolt."
Paterno Plans to Keep Coaching
By Mark Schlabach
ESPN.com
CHICAGO -- Joe Paterno, who is set to begin his 45th season as Penn State's coach, insists the health problems that caused him to miss several public appearances this summer were "nothing very serious."
"The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated," Paterno said. "I feel really good. As long as I enjoy it, I'll continue to coach unless I don't think I can do a good job or unless somebody else doesn't think I can do a good job."
Paterno described his ailment as something "a little below the intestines." He said the illness prevented him from making public appearances, but he was able to handle the day-to-day operations of the team he has coached since 1966.
Paterno, who goes into the 2010 season with 394 victories, most among major college coaches, said he hasn't even considered retirement.
"Right now, I have no plans whatsoever about going another one year, two years, five years, whatever," he said.
Paterno said he hasn't talked to Penn State officials about a succession play, but hoped they would come to him for input.
"I think they would," Paterno said. "I don't expect to name it. If I decide to get out of coaching, I would hope when they starting looking at somebody to succeed, if they did nothing but throw something out, I would hope there's some kind of dialogue, but there's no commitment."
For now, Paterno said he's focused on getting ready for the 2010 season. He is only six victories away from becoming only the third coach at any college football level to win 400 games. John Gagliardi, coach at Saint John's, a Div. III school in Minnesota, has 471 victories; late Grambling coach Eddie Robinson won 408 games at the NCAA FCS level.
"When I'm down and looking up, are they going to put 399 on top of me or 401?" Paterno joked. "Who the hell cares? I won't know."
Ron Zook and Rich Rod on the Hot Seat
By Adam Rittenberg
ESPN.com
CHICAGO -- Ron Zook and Rich Rodriguez took very different approaches to the summer before their season of reckoning.
Zook, who managed to escape a disastrous 2009 season with his job at Illinois intact, appeared uncharacteristically relaxed Monday at the Big Ten media sessions. Despite hiring seven assistant coaches and overseeing a roster filled with more questions than answers, Zook still enjoyed the offseason.
I've [water-skied] more than I can remember," Zook said. "My wife had me buying appliances this summer, which I've never done in my life and I'll probably never do again."
Zook typically operates with pinball-like energy, but he seems to be taking a step back and letting his assistants do their jobs.
"I really do," he said when asked if he felt more relaxed than a year ago. "And I don't have a reason why."
Maybe Zook's ability to merely escape 2009 has reduced the pressure just a bit, even though his seat remains white-hot.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, can't wait for the summer to end. He endured another rough offseason that included news about the NCAA's investigation into Michigan's program.
"There's probably no one more excited in the country to coach football than I am," he said. "The last two years, there's been a lot of drama."
Rodriguez will appear before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions in Seattle on Aug. 14, when Michigan was supposed to hold its first two-a-day session. The practices have been moved to Aug. 15, so Rodriguez won't miss a minute on the field.
"I'm really anxious," Rodriguez said, "to get into the football part of it."
Purdue Hopes Miami Transfer Marve can Make it a Breese
By Mark Schlabach
ESPN.com
CHICAGO -- Danny Hope was Purdue's offensive line coach when Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees played quarterback for the Boilermakers.
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Doug Benc/Getty Images
Miami transfer Robert Marve will direct the Boilers in 2010.
Hope, now the Boilermakers' head coach, believes new quarterback Robert Marve might end up being just as good as Brees.
"Robert Marve is the most talented quarterback I've ever been around," Hope said. "He and Drew have a lot of similarities. Robert's arm strength is better than Drew's. He's faster, too."
Purdue fans will finally get to see what Marve can do this coming season. After transferring from Miami in May 2009, Marve tore the ACL in his left knee in July 2009 and missed the entire season. He would have been ineligible to play in Purdue's games because of NCAA transfer rules anyhow.
Marve redshirted at Miami in 2007 after breaking his arm in a car accident, and then split playing time with Jacory Harris in 2008, throwing nine touchdowns with 13 interceptions. He left the Hurricanes a few months later.
"The hardest thing for me has been feeling like I'm starting over again," Marve said. "Knowing the situation for me down in Miami didn't work out, but I have a better situation for me personally at Purdue."
Hope named Marve his team's starting quarterback last month. The Boilermakers finished 5-7 in Hope's first season as coach in 2009.
Marve will take center stage when the Boilermakers open the season at Notre Dame on Sept. 4.
And Marve's coach expects nothing less than brilliance.
"If you've been around him a lot, you'd see the same thing," Hope said. "He loves football and has unbelievable passion to play the game. He loves to win. His teammates and coaches are the most important things to him. He has unbelievable arm strength. He can run and make plays out of the system. He's everything you want your quarterback to be."
One Good Thing
Illinois: Starting middle linebacker Martez Wilson has been fully cleared for contact after missing all but one game last season with a herniated disk in his neck that required surgery. Wilson participated in just about everything in spring practice but will finally get to hit again when the Illini open camp Thursday. Coach Ron Zook said Wilson had been playing as well as any middle linebacker he's been around before suffering the injury in the opener against Missouri last September.
Indiana: After losing leads in four Big Ten games last season, Indiana will spend much of preseason camp emphasizing game-specific situations. Coach Bill Lynch identified third-down play on both sides of the ball, goal-line play and red zone offense as areas that need to be upgraded. Despite a loaded receiving corps, Indiana finished 10th in the Big Ten in red zone offense a year ago. "We were about 12 plays away from playing in a really good bowl game [in 2009]," Lynch said.
Iowa: Kirk Ferentz is less concerned with identifying a starting running back than finding healthy ones. Iowa struggled to keep its running backs on the field last fall as projected starter Jewel Hampton missed the entire year with a knee injury and both Adam Robinson and Brandon Wegher were banged up at times. Hampton is suspended for the season opener following a June arrest, but all three backs should be ready for the start of preseason camp.
Michigan: Rich Rodriguez said his team's quarterback competition is wide open heading into preseason camp, but it sounds as though sophomore Denard Robinson made more progress this summer. Sophomore Tate Forcier took most of the snaps last season, throwing for 2,050 yards with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. "I'll be able to tell the first couple of weeks who retained what from the spring and developed," Rodriguez said.
Michigan State: The Spartans might not officially brand themselves as a 3-4 defense, but they're definitely heading in that direction. Led by Big Ten Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Greg Jones, Michigan State is loaded at linebacker and a bit thin along the defensive line. The Spartans practiced the 3-4 throughout the spring with veterans Jones, Eric Gordon, Chris Norman and Jon Misch, and Dantonio expects two heralded true freshmen, William Gholston and Max Bullough, also to play at linebacker this fall. "We'll try and transition a little more toward [the 3-4]," Dantonio said.
Minnesota: Head coach Tim Brewster is still ticked at Texas for backing out of a home-and-home series against Minnesota in 2015 and 2016. The series was canceled because of a contract impasse relating to video rights. "In talking to [Big Ten commissioner] Jim Delany, there's no question we could have helped them get what they needed as far as postgame video highlights," Brewster said. The good news? Minnesota is "very close" to replacing Texas with another BCS-conference opponent.
Northwestern: Pat Fitzgerald doesn't seem too concerned about junior Dan Persa taking over at quarterback. Persa attempted only 34 passes last season, but Fitzgerald said he's made quite an impression during summer conditioning. For the second year in a row, Persa is expected to win the team's "Iron Cat" award. "Pound for pound, he's our strongest and best-conditioned athlete," Fitzgerald said.
Ohio State: Coach Jim Tressel continues his support of former running back Maurice Clarett, who has returned to school at Ohio State after serving time in prison for robbery and weapons charges. Tressel said Clarett is "welcome to stop by" Ohio State's football offices, but he doesn't expect him there too often. "One of the first things he said when he came back, was, 'Well, the biggest intention I have is to not disrupt this 2010 football season that's coming up,'" Tressel said. "So he wants to be in the background."
Penn State: Nittany Lions running back Evan Royster said he wasn't concerned about whether Joe Paterno would return for his 45th season as Penn State's coach. As the media speculated about Paterno's health this summer, Royster said he was confident Paterno would be back. "Joe's a soldier," Royster said. "I knew all along he'd be back and as good as ever."
Purdue: Danny Hope hopes that leading rusher Ralph Bolden will return sometime this season from a torn ACL in his right knee. Bolden, who was injured in March, ran for 935 yards with nine touchdowns last season. "He's ahead of schedule, but that's the one injury that's the least forgiving for that position," Hope said. "I'm optimistic he's going to come back fully healthy. We just don't know when."
Wisconsin: John Clay's weight is always a popular topic (read: concern) among Badgers fans, but head coach Bret Bielema didn't sound too concerned about the junior running back on Monday. Bielema acknowledged that Clay, who underwent offseason surgeries on both ankles, got "a little bit big" but has since slimmed down. Bielema wants to see the 2009 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year at 253-255 pounds for the start of the season.
