It’s been a tumultuous season in relationship to head coaching jobs in the Big Ten.
From interims becoming permanent coaches to interims in lame duck costumes, from firings to academic scandals, it’s all led to a season of hot seats brighter than a thousand suns in many locations. Two temporary Help Wanted signs have been taken down in Minnesota and Illinois, and it appears as though sneaking into the bowl party at midnight may have bought Kevin Wilson more time at Indiana.
All of that still leaves two open positions. Kyle Flood was let go over the weekend in Piscataway, and despite the token interview Mike Locksley was given, there’s no way he’s not turning in the keys to the media room in College Park soon.
Rutgers and Maryland will always be joined at the hip because of their entrance into the Big Ten at the same time, and both have some similarities with the Eastern Seaboard culture, but they both also offer two starkly different opportunities. Here’s a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of both coaching opportunities:
Maryland
The Good: The recruiting vines should be ripe for picking in the footprint of Baltimore and Washington D.C., but the best of the best talent has been making its way to other programs. If you can get the right coach with the right mentality, that talent can be mined close to home and provide a base and pipeline of talent. There’s also the wild card Under Armour money. With the kickbacks the Terp program will be getting from Jim Delany and company in combination with the Under Armour contract, there’s a real opportunity to have the same type of marriage Oregon and Nike enjoy.
The Bad: There’s a lack of tradition, facilities, and focus on the football program. It’s a basketball school first and foremost, and the focus on football in the area goes to the Redskins and Ravens, not a Terrapin program that hasn’t been able to get out of its way.
The Ugly: The athletic department is a dumpster fire. The money issues led a proud ACC member to become a mercenary for hire, jumping ship to the Big Ten in order to bring the program back in the black. Want further proof? Randy Edsall was given a contract extension in late January only to be fired less than nine months later. Not enough? You saw the press conference announcing the firing of Edsall, right? Would you want to work for athletic director Kevin Anderson?
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Rutgers
The Good: Recruiting potential? Check. Huge television market? Check. Piscataway is in the shadow of all the action. No city loves a winner more than New York, and when Greg Schiano was doing his thing, the Big Apple started to turn its attention to New Jersey. Turn Rutgers into a winner, and the adulation of the most coveted television market will follow. Endorsements and recognition will also flow from success; so will big booster money. Follow the bread trail of more money, and there will usually be more wins at the end.
The Bad: There’s a reason why Rutgers’ claim to fame is being a participant in the first ever college football game. There hasn’t been much to write home about since. There’s a definite lack of tradition, winning, and all-out competitiveness that has set a losing culture in motion. It’ll be a Mount Everest expedition to get it all turned around.
The Ugly: The entire athletic department has endured scandal after scandal. From player arrests, to mistreatment of players on the basketball team, to smoke brewing amidst an academic scandal, the hits just keep coming. It all seemed to coincide with news of entering the Big Ten and beyond, and there seems to be an inferiority complex that’s led to some bending of the rules to try and keep up with the Joneses. Firing Julie Hermann was a good start, but that’s part of the point: Rutgers is starting over; that might be good for a coaching candidate several years from now, but should a coach want to handle this program over the next three or four seasons under Hermann’s unproven replacement in the athletic director’s chair?
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Phil Harrison is a contributor to The Student Section. He is also the founder of Big10news.com and featured contributor to collegefootballews.com, talking10.com, and occasionally campusinsiders.com. You can follow him on twitter @PhilHarrisonCFB or email him at pharrison28@gmail.com. If that doesn’t work, you can find him in the doghouse at home.
