Three writers that can’t quite agree on anything are ready to sling mud at one another once again in a weekly roundtable series. It’s time for Phil Harrison, Bart Doan, and Terry Johnson to solve the world’s problems one first down at a time in the heartland. It’s the weekly B1G Uglies series, with discussion about the Big Ten Coach of the Year Award, now that all the shouting has stopped.
*
Question: Who REALLY deserves the Big Ten Coach of the Year award?
Last week I would have said “Mark Dantonio,” but I would have made one of those faces you make when you pick up your clothes to smell them to make sure they’re wearable, and are completely on the fence of “throw this in the laundry, ASAP” and “I can get a few hours out of this, easily.”
Now, there is no such face. It’s Dantonio with a bullet. It really couldn’t be a whole lot more obvious. He’s also the national coach of the year (at least as I voted it, which means he has at least one vote). “Hype” isn’t a reason to vote a coach, but he was leading a team that was in the most top-heavy division in college football with resurgent Michigan and defending champ Ohio State wandering around in the East.
No matter. Dantonio led the Spartans to wins on the road against both, including at Ohio State, their first regular season Big Ten loss since Urban Meyer was hired. That’s frigging insane, by the way. What makes it more insane is that it was done with a backup quarterback replacing Heisman candidate Connor Cook, out with injury, in the game.
Even more impressive, Dantonio always seems to have the Spartans packing a massive chip on their shoulders, them against the world, even when their accolades keep piling up to the point where at some point you’d think they’d take a look at them. Nope. Dantonio and staff get all the blood out of the turnip, every year. It might lead to a College Football Playoff championship this season, but the award should be his long before that.
Without question, it has to be Kirk Ferentz.
Make no mistake about it: only Hawkeye players and fans thought this team was capable of winning the Big Ten championship. Iowa was picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten West in the preseason media poll, and did not even appear in our own Preseason Top 50, finishing behind “mid-major” programs like Northern Illinois, Toledo, and Colorado State.
Man, were we all dead wrong on that. Although they didn’t necessarily win every game with style points, the Hawkeyes finished the regular season 12-0, and were one goal line stand away from the College Football Playoff. Had the field expanded to eight (as Phil argued that it should), Iowa would be playing for the national championship.
Of course, since the field is still at four (as Bart made the case for), the Hawkeyes will have to “settle” for playing in the Rose Bowl. That’s quite a step up from the “do drop in” bowl many thought Iowa would be headed to this winter.
Let’s be honest: there’s no way that the Hawkeyes would have accomplished this feat without great coaching. Sure, the players deserve all of the credit for the team’s success, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the coaching staff. Instead of changing things up after a few “so so” seasons like some schools do, Ferentz stuck with his system and continued to believe in his players. As a result, Iowa enjoyed a magical season.
It’s time that college football starts rewarding patience rather overreacting when things don’t go well (yes, I’m calling you out, East Carolina).
Before I get started on trying to break down the staring contest between Terry and Bart, let me first get on my soapbox. The reason we wait to call this whole coach of the year thing here on TSS is because you have some really, really big games after the conference and media personalities place their votes. That’s like giving Donald Trump the Republican nomination before he actually does anything (ahem). You think Dantonio would get some more votes after winning the whole darn thing? Um, yes.
Secondly, this is really a “coach who wore the headset for the most improved team” award. Want proof? Name the last Ohio State head coach to win this popularity contest: John Cooper? Nope. Jim Tressel? Wrong again. Yeah, not even Urban Meyer was voted as Big Ten Coach of the Year last year despite winning the Big Ten and national championships. THE last time a head honcho won Big Ten Coach of the Year at THE Ohio State University was Earle Bruce in 1979. There’ something wrong with that, don’t you think?
But I digress and will step off the soapbox now, hopefully without tripping all over myself.
Terry and Bart both nominate some fine choices with Kirk Ferentz and Mark the glare Dantonio. Certainly Dantanio gets credit for guiding his team to the doorstep of greatness amid injuries and suspect play in the secondary, but c’mon, Iowa going all the way to the Big Ten Championship Game as an undefeated team and coming within a whisker of getting into the College Football Playoff? That’s crazy talk at the beginning of the season.
The Hawkeyes came out of nowhere for their best season since the wheel was invented, and nobody gave them a chance to get out of bed in the morning, let alone be competitive enough to make any noise in the league. To take this team where it went, all while being on a bit of a hot seat at the beginning of the year gets my vote. It’s Kirk Ferentz. Tie broken.
Also, kudos for Terry starting a fight between Bart and I with our conflicting stories on the number of playoff teams. Like we needed another reason for debate.
*
Have a question you’d like Phil, Bart and Terry to discuss? email at the above links or send us a tweet and we’ll think about multiple ways to disagree on the answer. Follow Phil on Twitter @PhilHarrisonCFB, Bart @TheCoachBart, and Terry @SectionTPJ
