The media asked and the coaches answered. Here are some snippets from around the conference. Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald on Penn State and Ohio State's conference dominance: "At the end of the day, I think we're all competing to improve.
With kickoff only a little over a month away, IU coach Bill Lynch said his team is ready. Eighty-four starts return to the offensive line while the defense boasts the best sack tandem in the country with Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton.
Purdue coach Danny Hope likes his chances in 2009, despite what the critics say. "We think we can field a very good football team in 2009," Hope said, As for the IU-Purdue rivalry, which was dominated by the bad guys last year, Hope said it's one of the best of the year and one of the best rivalries in college football. "We don't like them and they don't like us, and that's what makes it fun," he said.
For Glass, football's success is about more than winning games and going to bowls. "(Football) drives everything else," Glass said.
Hello to all! Today and tomorrow, Stephanie Kuzydym and I will be bringing you coverage Big Ten Football Media Days talking with coaches and players from across the Big Ten about the upcoming season's prospects and about the conference and their respective teams as a whole. We're hoping to have some audio from Fred Glass, the athletics director of IU, and several coaches and players (including more from Bill Lynch). Also, if we're allowed to, we'll get you some video of the scene and what went on, as well.
The pressure is on Jim Tressel and his Ohio State Buckeyes in the upcoming season. The Buckeyes have been announced as the preseason favorite for 2009.
IU assistant Bennie Seltzer turned some heads last year when he hit the recruiting trail wearing IU's famed candy-striped warmup pants.
A bit of research led me to MGoBlog, a University of Michigan sports blog, which in turn led me to a post on Hoops & Scoops, the Columbus Dispatch's Ohio State basketball blog. What I found out is that, according to this report from the Dispatch, Penn State and Michigan State are IU's "one-plays" on this year's schedule.
I interviewed Coach Lynch this morning about the upcoming season. This off season has been filled with many changes: Kellen Lewis leaving, 4 WRs moving to the defensive side of the ball, as well as numerous other players switching roles. But as for the upcoming season, Lynch said, "We are always going to be competing to win the Big Ten Championship," and that the team is always aiming to go to a bowl at the end of the season. Lynch said one of the biggest changes was the implementation of leadership development and team building, and he believes that is the most important thing the team has done, in the off season. Check out the rest of the interview audio below! Do you think the Hoosiers will be a contender for the Big Ten championship this year?
Bill Ivan is the latest to verbal commit to IU. Ivan is the thirteenth verbal commit for the 2010 class.
The Hoosiers 2010 recruiting class just keeps on growing. Two more players have verbally committed in the past three days. Cody Evers, OG.
According to the Indianapolis Star, 2010 prospect Dominique Ferguson will not return to Indianapolis Lawrence North for his senior year. The former Wildcat and Kentucky committ evidently stuggled both in the classroom and with off-court basketball issues.
I posted this as a comment on the previous post, but figured it would be better to have it as an actual post.
This is not easy, but I feel it's necessary everyone should know. Effective immediately, I will not longer be the IDS football columnist for the 2009 season. Instead, I accepted an offer from the IU Athletics Department to become a broadcaster for a variety of sports.
Tom Crean has nearly 9,500 followers on Twitter now. That's not what this is about, though. Crean follows several people on Twitter.
The Hoosiers got their tenth verbal commit today. Here's a little more about him: Harrison Scott, DE.
It's a slow news day, but here's a story that may make you chuckle. Remember Jordan Crawford, the former IU player who transferred to Xavier?
Spent the afternoon at the It Takes 5ive Classic at the University of Cincinnati. Check the following six posts for interviews and a little bit of what and who I saw.
IU commit Matt Carlino wasn't thrilled with his performance in the opening game of Indiana Elite One's first day in Cincinnati.
