Michael Cohen
College Football and College Basketball Writer
There aren’t many times a conference commissioner’s holiday plans raise eyebrows in the world of collegiate athletics, but that’s exactly where Kevin Warren found himself on Dec. 29, 2022, the day he was linked as a potential candidate to become president of the Chicago Bears.
An initial report from ESPN said that Warren, who was then the commissioner of the Big Ten, had interviewed in person and was considered a finalist for the role. It also said Warren wasn’t scheduled to attend either College Football Playoff semifinal despite the fact that his league had multiple entrants for the first time. And while it was later reported that Warren merely chose to abstain rather than appearing to play favorites toward Ohio State or Michigan, the optics were still a touch unusual.
Two weeks later, on Jan. 12, the Bears announced Warren as their new president and CEO to leave vacant one of the most powerful chairs in college sports.
Warren, 59, had bounced back from an uneven start to his tenure by strengthening the Big Ten through conference realignment. His role in securing future membership for USC and UCLA, and then orchestrating the league’s new media rights deal worth more than $7 billion over seven years elevated the Big Ten to the upper echelon of NCAA power brokers. Warren’s replacement will join the SEC’s Greg Sankey as the two most influential conference commissioners.
Who fills that chair remains the league’s biggest storyline as spring football approaches. But here’s what’s happening on the field across the Big Ten:
The experiment at Ohio State
As soon as Ohio State head coach Ryan Day arrived behind the lectern for a news conference on National Signing Day, a reporter asked a question at the forefront of nearly everyone’s mind. Ever since ex-Buckeye quarterback Kirk Herbstreit made a passing reference to the idea that Day could relinquish play-calling duties in 2023, the football world wondered about the validity of that statement.
The decision to promote wide receivers coach Brian Hartline to offensive coordinator lent credence to the idea that there might be a new voice on the headset, that one of the rising stars in the coaching profession would have a significantly larger role following Kevin Wilson’s departure. And sure enough, Day confirmed the possibility of a new playcaller.
“What we’re gonna do is go through the spring and create some environments where we can call it, create an opportunity for Brian to call it,” Day said. “And then we’ll come up for air at the end of the spring and kind of figure out what that dynamic looks like going into the preseason and then into, obviously, the season. We won’t decide any of that now, but [I will] certainly give him an opportunity to call it this spring and see how that goes.”
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When asked why the current offseason might be the right moment to cede play-calling duties, Day referenced the self-assessment he conducts each year. Day’s reflections on 2022 led him to believe time management was an area where he could improve, especially toward the middle and end of the season. He pointed to the tremendous time commitment attached to finalizing a game plan and perfecting a call sheet as things that preclude being more involved with certain aspects of the team. It’s difficult for the most important offensive coach to stay involved with defense, special teams and the daily recruiting grind.
Separating himself from the playcalling duties would afford Day the chance to become a more effective manager of his overall program. He wants to make sure “the head coach has enough presence going around the building late in the season” when games matter most. Alabama’s Nick Saban, LSU’s Brian Kelly and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh are a few examples of prominent coaches who don’t call plays.
“When you’re so caught up in the weeds of what’s [the call on] third-and-4 and what’s fourth-and-2 in the red zone and those types of things, it can pull you away a little bit,” Day said. “Not saying that it won’t happen that way, but just want to make sure I’m thoughtful of that and make sure I’m strong in that area and doing my part.”
Hartline’s trial as playcaller will coincide with the quarterback battle between rising junior Kyle McCord and rising sophomore Devin Brown. The plan is for both players to split reps during Ohio State’s spring practices and work through as many game-like scenarios as possible. McCord and Brown were highly rated coming out of high school but have sat behind C.J. Stroud on the depth chart ever since arriving in Columbus.
The heightened emphasis on scenario-driven practices should also benefit Hartline as he adjusts to calling plays for the first time.
“Looking forward to the opportunity in the spring,” Hartline said. “The more opportunities we get to play [that are] as real as possible for myself and young quarterbacks and everybody else, I think that serves everybody well.”
The mess at Michigan
Over the last two seasons, Michigan has accomplished the following: back-to-back wins over Ohio State for the first time since 1999-2000; back-to-back outright Big Ten Championships for the first time since 1991-92; consecutive trips to the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history. Its head coach was named the AP College Football Coach of the Year in 2021 and Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2022.
And yet — as ever — the offseason discussion surrounding the Wolverines has focused far less on football than it has on everything else for a program that should be enjoying its best on-field stretch since winning the national title in 1997. There have been plenty of headlines to come out of Ann Arbor in the wake of Michigan’s loss to TCU in the Fiesta Bowl, and very few of them were positive.
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Here’s a rundown:
— The annual game of chicken between Harbaugh and NFL teams searching for a new head coach kicked into gear in early January when an NFL Network report said several front offices were “doing homework” on the ex-San Francisco 49ers coach as a potential candidate. Harbaugh had at least one phone call with Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper before the Denver Broncos interviewed him over Zoom. Even after Harbaugh announced his intention to stay at Michigan for the 2023 season, if not longer, Broncos owner Greg Penner flew to Ann Arbor for a second meeting, though nothing materialized.
— As Harbaugh’s latest NFL dalliance unfolded, the athletic department received a draft Notice of Allegations from the NCAA detailing a series of potential rules violations. Reports indicated the Wolverines are facing four Level II violations and one Level I violation, with the latter being the most serious and a charge directed specifically at Harbaugh for his alleged misleading and/or failure to cooperate with NCAA investigators. The Level II violations are related to impermissible contact with recruits during a COVID-19 dead period and on-field coaching from one of the staff’s analysts.
“We have cooperated and will continue to cooperate with this investigation,” athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement. “Out of respect to the NCAA’s enforcement process, we will not offer further comments.”
— The pending NCAA investigation has complicated negotiations between Harbaugh and Michigan over a contract extension that would move his compensation closer to the top of college football. Manuel halved Harbaugh’s salary prior to the 2021 season but then gave him an extension after the Wolverines finished 12-2 overall and won the school’s first Big Ten title in 17 years. The new deal paid Harbaugh a base salary of $7.05 million for 2022 with slight increases for the remainder of the contract, which runs through the 2026 season. Negotiations between the two sides are ongoing, but reports indicate that Manuel and new university president Santa Ono prefer to wait until after the NCAA investigation concludes before finalizing the deal.
— Michigan’s stunning run to the 2021 CFP led to coordinator changes on both sides of the ball. Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach, accepted the same position at Miami ahead of the 2022 season but was fired less than a year later. Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who transformed the Wolverines into the No. 8 scoring defense in college football, returned to the Baltimore Ravens after just one season in Ann Arbor. Those high-profile departures reinforced pointed questions about the stability of Harbaugh’s program sparked by his decision to interview with the Minnesota Vikings, and the impact on Michigan’s recruiting for both 2022 and 2023 was decidedly negative.
But Harbaugh’s shrewd decision to replace Macdonald with fellow Ravens alum Jesse Minter while swapping Gattis for a co-coordinator pairing of Sherrone Moore and Matt Weiss — another Ravens import — facilitated a relatively seamless transition from one season to the next. The Wolverines would have loved to enter 2023 with all three coordinators returning on a staff whose members spoke openly about the strong levels of cohesion and teamwork.
That idea took a left turn in mid-January when Weiss was suspended and, ultimately, terminated amid an investigation by university police into alleged “computer access crimes” at Schembechler Hall, the team’s practice facility. Harbaugh eschewed an outside hire in favor of promoting analyst Kirk Campbell to quarterbacks coach — which left Moore as the lone offensive coordinator — but the perception of turmoil seeped out of Ann Arbor during a critical recruiting period for the second consecutive year.
As of Tuesday, the Wolverines’ recruiting class ranked 18th nationally in the 247Sports Composite and lacked a signing or commitment from any of the top 150 prospects.
Status quo at Iowa
It’s hard to imagine any Power 5 offensive coordinator keeping his job after a season like the one Iowa endured in 2022 under the direction of Brian Ferentz. The Hawkeyes finished 8-5 overall (5-4 in the Big Ten) despite ranking 130th out of 131 FBS teams in total offense (25.16 yards per game), 123rd in scoring offense (17.7 points per game), 124th in rushing offense (94.9 yards per game), 123rd in passing offense (156.7 yards per game), 129th in third-down conversion percentage (27.8%) and 124th in red zone touchdown percentage (44.4%).
But Brian Ferentz is the son of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, and that has afforded him a longer leash than most based on the terms of a revised contract the athletic department announced last week. Brian Ferentz signed an agreement that lowered his base salary from $900,000 to $850,000 and includes “Designated Performance Objectives” that will determine his future in Iowa City. If the Hawkeyes average at least 25 points per game and record a minimum of seven wins — which includes a potential bowl appearance — Brian Ferentz will receive a bonus, a raise and have his contract restored to the athletic department’s traditional two-year rolling terms.
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“It’s not going to look radically different,” Kirk Ferentz said in a news conference when asked about potential changes to scheme or coaching personnel for 2023. “I don’t predict anything wild or absurd there. I think we’ve been pretty consistent in our approach really for 24 years. We own it. We own the stats.
“I think we have the right coaches in place, history would prove that. I think we’ve seen success with this coaching staff, and plan on moving forward. I think we’re prime to have a good year.”
Kirk Ferentz deflected any criticism of his son by offering a laundry list of reasons why the offense underachieved last season. He pointed to an inexperienced offensive line that suffered an “inordinate amount of medical issues” and was forced to rely on players who weren’t ready to contribute at the Division I level. He cited an undermanned wide receiver room that was besieged by injuries and damaged by the transfer portal. He explained how difficult it was to evaluate the play of much-maligned quarterback Spencer Petras given all the issues going on around him. Then he expressed optimism for what Michigan transfer Cade McNamara can do for the offense this season.
Yet even if 2022 resembled a complicated nadir for Iowa, there is little in the Brian Ferentz era (2017-present) that suggests he’s a high-level offensive coordinator. The offense’s best performance under Brian Ferentz came during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season when the Hawkeyes ranked 87th nationally and eighth in the Big Ten for total offense. Iowa has finished outside the top 100 in that category during three of his six seasons as coordinator.
And the incentives attached to Brian Ferentz by athletic director Gary Barta, his direct supervisor, are far from strenuous. There were 85 teams that averaged at least 25 points per game last season and 39 teams that finished with at least seven wins. The numbers suggest offensive mediocrity is perfectly fine in Iowa City.
The 5-star QB at Penn State
These days, it’s easy to draw comparisons between Michigan and Penn State.
In 2021, the Wolverines finished 12-2 with a solid veteran quarterback (McNamara) fending off a five-star recruit (J.J. McCarthy) while a first-year defensive coordinator (Mike Macdonald) put together a unit ranked among the top 10 in fewest points allowed.
In 2022, the Nittany Lions finished 11-2 with a solid veteran quarterback (Sean Clifford) fending off a five-star recruit (Drew Allar) as a first-year defensive coordinator (Manny Diaz) put together a unit ranked among the top 10 in fewest points allowed.
The transition from McNamara to McCarthy turned out just fine for Michigan, which won its second consecutive Big Ten title last season, and Penn State fans are hoping for a similar level of success with Allar now that Clifford has exhausted his eligibility. Allar, who was the No. 32 overall prospect and the No. 4 quarterback in the 2022 recruiting cycle, will enter spring practice atop the Nittany Lions’ depth chart.
Head coach James Franklin’s decision to stick with Clifford from start to finish last season agitated a portion of the fan base that has become infatuated with Allar’s upside. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 238 pounds, Allar already has the frame of an NFL quarterback. His arm strength and talent were viewed among the best in the country for his recruiting class, and Allar also ran for 406 yards and nine touchdowns during his senior season at Medina High School in Ohio.
There were glimpses of Allar’s ability during his 10-game, 148-snap cameo as Clifford’s primary backup. He completed 35 of 60 passes for 344 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions to compile an NFL passer rating of 96.8 that was only a few points behind McCarthy’s mark of 102.4 at Michigan in 2021.
Now he’ll try to replicate the leap McCarthy made last season.
“In a perfect world you’d love to have, obviously, a little bit more experience and a little bit more age in that room,” Franklin said in a news conference last week. “But at the end of the day, you know, it’s about talent. And I think we’re talented in that room.”
Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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