Pat Forde has 5 from B1G in 'most intriguing coaches' list
Each year, Yahoo’s Pat Forde makes lists, as college football writers typically do when it’s August.
Last week, he named the 25 most intriguing college football coaches going into 2019. Five from the Big Ten made the list and two sit within the top four. Of course, you don’t have to scroll down far to find Ohio State and Michigan’s head coaches here.
2. Ryan Day — Ohio State
4. Jim Harbaugh — Michigan
17. Scott Frost — Nebraska
19. P.J. Fleck — Minnesota
25. Mark Dantonio — Michigan State
RELATED: Forde has 4 B1G QBs he would pay to see
Here’s what Forde said about each of the B1G coaches:
Ryan Day — “The last time Ohio State hired a permanent head coach who had not previously been a permanent head coach at the college level was 1946. His name was Paul Bixler, elevated from offensive coordinator just like Day, and he went 4-3-2 in one season before downsizing to Colgate. Suffice to say, expectations are set for a longer and more successful tenure for Day. Is he Lincoln Riley 2.0, or will the shadow of Urban Meyer swallow him?
Jim Harbaugh — “Has a four-year losing streak to Ohio State and a three-year bowl losing streak taken some of the sass out of Harbaugh? Aside from churning out a weekly podcast, he stayed off-radar for a long time — fewer stunts, fewer Twitter barbs — and then pointed out that former nemesis Urban Meyer is a controversy magnet. So maybe Sassy Harbs is back. With Meyer cleared out and the Buckeyes coming to Ann Arbor, it would seem a perfect time to win the Big Ten. Anything less would be a disappointment.”
Scott Frost — “A lot of people think the Cornhuskers are next to rise to the top of the Big Ten West power vacuum. If Frost’s year-over-year improvement at Central Florida is an indication, they’re right — the Knights went from 6-7 his first season to 13-0 and some dubious “national champion” talk. Year One in Lincoln was pretty much a bust, with an 0-6 start and 4-8 overall record. But the foundation for better days may have been built.”
P.J. Fleck — “Fleck combined hokey sloganeering and stunning results at Western Michigan, including a 13-1 season and a New Year’s Six bowl bid. Through two seasons at Minnesota, it’s mostly been hokey sloganeering — the Gophers are 12-13 under Fleck. But this team has the pieces to challenge in the wide-open Big Ten West and could make a third-year breakthrough.”
Mark Dantonio — “He rearranged deck chairs on a titanically awful offense, moving assistants around but not firing the key guys. Will it work? And will he keep his job if it doesn’t? One potential factor in State’s decision making, if the Spartans sputter again: Dantonio has a $4.3 million retention bonus coming his way if he’s still the coach on Jan. 15, 2020.”
Forde wrote that three other B1G coaches just missed the list (Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern, Jeff Brohm at Purdue and Kirk Ferentz at Iowa).
