Ohio State football: Ranking Big Ten head coaches
The offseason is well underway for the Ohio State football team. Here is how Ryan Day stacks up with other Big Ten coaches.
The Ohio State football team has received some excellent news as the offseason continues to unfold. Receiver Chris Olave, tight end Jeremy Ruckert, offensive tackle Thayer Munford and defensive tackle Haskell Garrett have all informed head coach Ryan Day that they are returning to the team next fall. All players have a real chance at becoming All-Americans next season.
A good offseason exercise is seeing how head coaches within your conference stack up with each other. Clearly, Day has established himself as top dog in just a few short seasons but who is his biggest competition?
The criteria is simple. Who would you want as head coach of your program? That is how I decided to tackle this. Wins and losses obviously matter most, but if I was in charge of a power-five program and had to hire one of these coaches, this is how I would rank them.
No. 14: Mike Locksley, Maryland
Maryland did some exciting things this season. Locksley proved that he is a competent head coach following a disastrous 2019 campaign. But Locksley has to prove that he can string a few good seasons together before he moves any higher on this list.
No. 13: Scott Frost, Nebraska
Frost has been a major disappointment thus far for the Cornhuskers. After a good stint at UCF, the 46-year old Frost is only 12-20 in Lincoln over three seasons. Another rough season in 2021 could spell the end to Frost at Nebraska.
No. 12: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
Brohm possibly has the biggest win in program history under his belt with the 2018 victory over Ohio State. But Brohm is only 19-25 at Purdue overall and was never able to capitalize on his early success in West Lafayette.
No. 11: Mel Tucker, Michigan State
Tucker was an excellent hire last offseason for the Spartans. It’s going to take a few recruiting classes for him to get Michigan State back to the upper tier of the Big Ten, but beating a much more talented Michigan Wolverine team in 2020 is a good start for Tucker.