CHICAGO — Kevin Wilson’s job is on a new hot seat — the powderkeg of the Big Ten’s East Division.
No, Wilson’s job is fully secure, but the difficulty of his job has ramped up because the division where the Hoosiers reside.
Elite, championship level teams are above IU and the teams beneath the Hoosiers are on their way back, thanks to smart coaching hires.
It’s a precarious position for Wilson, whose program is on solid footing coming off its first bowl appearance in many years. Wilson sees the elite competition as a blessing.
“It’s helped recruiting,” Wilson said. “It is what it is and if you were to name the dominant teams in our league, we’ve added Maryland and Rutgers to them. It’s Big Ten football.”
Two of the dominant teams — Ohio State and Michigan State — have represented the Big Ten in the College Football Playoff so far. Michigan won 10 games in the first year of the Jim Harbaugh tenure and looks to be a consistent threat to win the division.
Those three programs are serious national challengers every single year — and should be for the next decade.
Redshirt senior offensive lineman Dimitric Camiel sees that competition as a motivating force.
“We want to be one of those teams,” Camiel said. “Everybody wants the prize so for us to be watching those guys and seeing how successful they are becoming, it makes us want to go take it.”
Camiel said just little things separate IU from the championship-level teams
The other three teams in the division also have great potential.
Penn State is coming off sanctions and finally has their full 85 scholarships in year three of the James Franklin era.
Maryland and Rutgers both hired coaches with high-level pedigree, coming from Michigan and Ohio State respectively.
“I truly believe the Big Ten brand and football is at a all-time high right now,” new Rutgers Coach Chris Ash said. “I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Ash is building his program back up, while Durkin looks to finally awaken from being a sleeping giant. With the fertile DMV recruiting turf, he should have his pick of players to go along with the program’s fruitful partnership with Under Armour. Many have speculated that Maryland grad and Under Armour founder Kevin Plank could transform Maryland into another Oregon.
“It’s a natural bond and allegiance with one another because it’s easy,” Durkin said. “What we hold in high regard in our program, he holds in high regard in his program, in his business as well. They’re huge for us and have put our program on the map in many ways and we’ll continue to do that and help us.”
The Big Ten East is stacked with championship level teams and teams with coaches that could get to their teams to that level. You won’t see the division structure change, even if the chasm between the East and the West grows.
“The word ever is a long word and could it ever change?” Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney said. “I guess there could be a discussion, but there’s no present discussion to make that change.”
The East will continue to be strong, for many years to come. Wilson knows that and embraces it.
“If you didn’t want play in competitive games, then why did you choose this place because that’s what you are going to match up against,” Wilson said. “We’ve embraced the challenge and the team looks forward to it.”
Residing in the East division is difficult, but so was rebuilding the IU program and getting it to the Pinstripe Bowl. IU is at the big boy table now, and it’s not going to get any easier.
