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Urban Meyer highlights 5 B1G coaches after stellar performances

Mark Schipper

By Mark Schipper

Published:

Urban Meyer saw so much coaching excellence across the country last weekend he had to expand his top performances list for Fox College Sports.

“There were so many great coaching performances I had to bump my usual top three to top four,” Meyer said.

Amongst those eight total slots, four for each of the coordinators and head coaches, the Big Ten managed to fill five of them for the old ball coach, an impressive feat for the league in its dilatory return to play. 

Three of the four head coaching slots were Big Ten program chiefs, while conference coordinators comprised two of the top four spots. 

Two offensive coordinators, Wisconsin’s Joe Rudolph and Michigan’s Josh Gattis, made the list at numbers one and two, respectively. Both teams blew out their opposition in high-scoring fashion, with the Badgers obliterating Illinois, 45-7, and Michigan leaving no doubt against Minnesota in a 49-24 road beat down.

On the head coaching side, Purdue’s Brian Brohm earned a nod for the expanded fourth after coaching his older brother’s team in their upset 24-20 win over Iowa in West Lafayette. Jeff Brohm, the team’s contractual head coach, had tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in the week and was forced by the league to cease all contact with his squad ninety minutes before kickoff. The Boilermakers found a way to win under the direction of Brohm the Younger, and Meyer took notice.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano made the list at number three after snapping Rutgers 21 game Big Ten losing streak. The Scarlet Knights clobbered Michigan State 38-27 in East Lansing in the first games for both Schiano and Spartans’ head coach Mel Tucker. 

And finally Tom Allen, Indiana’s head coach, topped out the list at number one after the Hoosiers upset favored Penn State in Bloomington in front of an empty expanse at Memorial Stadium. The win boosted the Hoosiers to number ten in several AP polls and marked the highest ranking for the program since the late 1980’s. 

 

 

Mark Schipper

Mark Schipper is a reporter, sportswriter, and aspiring novelist living in Chicago, Illinois.