With Day 1 of Big Ten Media days coming to an end, here is a quick look at what coaches from around the conference had to say on everything from expansion to, well, expansion.
Bill Lynch on the top stars of his roster:
Ben is everything you're looking for in a quarterback.He's a fifth\0x2011year senior. Already graduated from our Kelley School of Business. Working on his master's in accounting. He's the leader of our football team, particularly from the offensive side.
He had a good year last year, threw for a lot of yards, has a chance to break a lot of our records. But more importantly, I think he knows what it takes to win. And guys respond to him.
We've got a very good receiving group to go with him, guys with experience. Tandon Doss and Demarlo Belcher, big numbers last year.
And Terrance Turner, who's the fifth\0x2011year senior, another young man we brought with us here to Chicago, is the leader of the group in terms of what a great kid.
Wisconsin's Brett Bielema on the importance of the continuance of the Badgers rivalries:
We have a longstanding rivalry with Iowa. And also Minnesota. Minnesota, one of the longest in history of football. That's one we'd like to keep intact.But I think because it is a new conference you're going to have new rivalries ... one of the first things I tweeted was if Nebraska is coming to our league, it would be neat to have them maybe as an end\0x2011season rivalry game. Because we don't have that currently. We've kind of rotated between not only my time as a coordinator but as a head coach what our season\0x2011ending game is.
I love the Ohio State\0x2011Michigan game. Before I was playing college football I watched that game. It's what it is. I'd like to have tradition for ourselves, whether it's Minnesota, whether it's Iowa, whether it's Nebraska. If they come up with something else, I'm all game, but let's have something and run with it.
Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald on the Wildcats game against Illinois at Wrigley Field:
It's going to be a once\0x2011in\0x2011a\0x2011lifetime opportunity for our young men to go down there. There hasn't been a college football game there since the '30s, and there's not been a football game at Wrigley Field, if you include the Bears, since the '70s.
Illinois' Ron Zook on expansion and the possibility of a championship game:
I think obviously because of the Big Ten Network, expansion was inevitable. I think it's great when you bring a school like Nebraska into the conference. All it does is make it that much a better conference. Obviously competitive. You bring in a great program, a program that's got a lot of national attention.And I think probably the championship game is inevitable.
Michigan's Rich Rodriguez on the Wolverine's starting quarterback:
Really it's a wide\0x2011open competition. ... I think that competition is going to be healthy. I've said it several times: Our goal is to have at least two guys at every position that we feel we can win with. I think we can have that at quarterback.
Michigan State's Mark Dantonio on returning players
I think we have a lot of players back. I know we said 16 maybe full\0x2011time starters, but when you look at us we have 50\0x2011plus lettermen back and we have 30 players who have started for us or played in and out of the situations throughout the entire year.
Penn State's Joe Paterno on his coaching career:
I'm feeling really good. And as long as I enjoy it, I'll continue to coach, unless I don't think I can do a good job or anybody else doesn't think I can do the job.
Minnesota's Tim Brewster on the Gophers strengthening their non-conference schedule
When I took the job at the University of Minnesota, I made a statement. I said: I want to improve our nonconference scheduling. I want it to help us in recruiting. I want to try to bring the national spotlight to the University of Minnesota.And that's something that through an assistant athletic director, Marc Ryan, Joel Maturi, we were able to accomplish with our scheduling. We're certainly extremely proud that Southern Cal is going to be coming to the Twin Cities playing in TCF Bank Stadium this year.
More to come soon.
