Hoge: 12 Things I Learned At Big Ten Media Days
By Adam Hoge-
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Big Ten Media Days have come and gone and, in about a week, training camps will open across the revamped Big Ten.
With Nebraska joining the conference and Ohio State continuing to dominate the national headlines, this year's media event had some brand new storylines, a little more excitement and a lot more people (the Buckeyes are covered like the Yankees and apparently the Cornhuskers are covered like the Red Sox).
It's rare for any major stories to emerge from conference media days, but if you ask the right questions, you can learn a lot. Friday's two hour session is set up in a casual format with coaches and players each getting their own round table to interact with the media. Instead of getting grilled by reporters in a press conference setting with cameras flashing and live television coverage, coaches and players are treated to much more comfortable atmosphere on Friday and while everything is still on record, they tend to open up a little more with the relaxed setting.
So, after listening to hours and hours of Big Ten conversation, I figured I would share 12 things I learned at Big Ten Media Days (one on each team):
1. Illinois head coach Ron Zook believes the 2008 Rose Bowl actually set his program back. How do you figure? Zook said the Illini got to the Rose Bowl too quickly, which led to a sense of over-confidence or complacency. Basically, success came too easy that year and most coaches will tell you dealing with success is harder than having success.
2. Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa, who is coming off a ruptured Achilles, is hoping he won't have to run as much this year. The Wildcats struggled to run the football last season and Persa's ability to scramble left most of the offense -- passing and rushing -- in his hands. Persa said running less and learning to check off underneath is part of the natural progression of a quarterback, but the team is also hoping the running backs are a lot better this season.
3. Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini is mellow and boring. Seriously. Here's a guy who appears to be yelling and screaming every time he is on a football field, but in person, he appeared to be half asleep. I almost reached over to check his pulse. Meanwhile, running back Rex Burkhead told me the greatest challenge of joining the Big Ten will be playing a full schedule against unfamiliar teams.
4. New Ohio State head coach Luke Fickell appears to be a little unsure of himself. Look, it's not easy to be a new head coach and it's not easy to take over for a guy like Jim Tressel. This is a very unique situation and I'm not sure anyone would be completely comfortable, but -- and this is completely my own opinion -- he appeared to have some wide eyes the last two days in Chicago. With that said, he talked about how much support the Buckeyes are still getting back home in Columbus and I have a feeling things will slow down a little bit once camp gets underway. We shall see.
5. New Michigan head coach Brady Hoke still won't say "Ohio State". I think it's hilarious. He calls the Buckeyes "Ohio" when he has the courtesy to use a noun instead of a pronoun. He's also going to stick with his pro style offense, which I think long term will be good for Michigan. In the short term, however, Denard Robinson is their best player and they need to put him the best position to succeed. Hoke emphasized that there are elements of their new offense that will fit Robinson well.
6. Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema said recruiting has been a lot easier since the Rose Bowl. He said he's had kids contact the program from places he's never recruited and said in some situations they've had three guys and only one scholarship so they just picked the guy with the best GPA. Meanwhile, safety Aaron Henry said he's 10-for-10 when it comes to recruits he's hosted committing to the school and said the coaching staff calls him "The Closer".
7. New Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson has not watched any film on the Hoosiers from last season. He said he caught one pass play while one of his assistants was watching tape, but he hasn't sat down to watch one minute. He said he might watch some tape from last year when Big Ten season comes around.
8. It was harder for new Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill to leave Northern Illinois than one might think. Leaving behind a MAC school in the middle of nowhere for a Big Ten school in the middle of Minneapolis seems like a no brainer, but Kill knew the Huskies were going to be very good this season and he was unsure if he had the energy to work another rebuilding project. He told me he had every intention of staying in DeKalb until he retired until the Minnesota opportunity presented itself and he said he had to make his decision in a matter of hours.
9. Purdue head coach Danny Hope loves the fact that the Big Ten Championship Game will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium. It's right down the road from West Lafayette, which is great for recruiting he said. He's not solely committed to having the game played indoors though. "If they want to play in the snow or in the desert, we're all for it," he said.
10. Penn State head coach Joe Paterno is feeling a lot better physically than he did a year ago. He specifically mentioned his knee injury at Wisconsin in 2006 (when UW linebacker DeAndre Levy hit PSU tight end Andrew Quarless into him on the sideline) and throwing his hip out while kicking a football as incidents that set him back. But the last two years have specifically been "tough years" for him.
11. Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio hates Twitter. He had Troy Vincent come talk to the team about the dangers of Twitter and the importance of portraying who you are as a person. He said Vincent showed them a negative tweet and positive tweet and then showed them that they both came from the same person. "So who are you?," Dantonio said. "Be who you are."
12. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is excited about their new rivalry with Nebraska. The two schools announced Friday that their annual rivalry game would be called the "Heroes Game" and Ferentz is looking forward to the border battle. He recalled a game in 1981 against the Cornhuskers at Iowa and said Nebraska had more fans than they did. He added: "Hopefully that's changed a little bit."
Adam is the Sports Content Producer for CBSChicago.com and specializes in coverage of the White Sox, Blackhawks and college sports. He was born and raised in Lincoln Park and attended St. Ignatius College Prep before going off to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned a Journalism degree. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHogeCBS and read more of his columns here.
