Even though Iowa Hawkeyes football's Kirk Ferentz is closing in on the Big Ten's all-time wins record as a head coach, Cleveland.com's Jimmy Watkins had to keep it a buck: Ohio State Buckeyes legend Woody Hayes is the real G.O.A.T. coach of the conference, regardless of longevity.
As Watkins pointed out, the conference title-less Ferentz could soon have new fans vouching for his greatness over Hayes's in the same way many claim Michael Jordan's legacy is less than LeBron James's because of competition.
But it doesn't change the fact that Hayes has over half of OSU's national championships and set the stage for sustained greatness in Columbus, Ohio.
"Big Ten coaches are about to crown a new king, even though he’s never actually won the conference. With a win against UMass on Saturday, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz will break the record for Big Ten wins. He will pass former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes (205 wins) for the honor," Watkins wrote.
"And while we all know, instinctively, that Ferentz is not a better coach than Hayes, I still feel the need to say it. Because time has a funny way of muddying the truth."
Undoubtedly, college football coaching will not be viewed through anywhere close to an objective lens in the coming years. Even Nick Saban's championships at the University of Alabama in the 2010s are being questioned now, since many see those Crimson Tide teams as "NIL before NIL existed," with under-the-table payments in the form of luxury vehicles being the old way of doing things in Tuscaloosa.
Hayes had a different job in the 1950s than Ferentz had when he first arrived in Iowa City in 1998, but Ferentz's job has probably changed more since he became the Hawkeyes' head coach than the two decades between Hayes' retirement and Ferentz's Iowa hiring.
Ryan Day is navigating a different minefield than Urban Meyer, who navigated a different minefield than Jim Tressel. Hell, Day and AD Ross Bjork are having trouble navigating the updated NIL rules from last year to this.
Determining the absolute greatest is tough considering all these circumstances, but you know it when you feel it.
Ferentz doesn't feel like the G.O.A.T. because he's been conquered every year in Big Ten conference play.
Hayes does because he has banners all over the "Shoe" from his decades of dominance.
That transcends NIL, the BCS system, and everything in between.