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Fans say Tressel best football coach in Big Ten
By Vince Mullins | August 20, 2008
In our first Fantasy College Blitz Coaching Survey , our very own Matt Ryan ( not the Eagle/Falcon QB) pounded message boards and emailed site admins to get to the heart of whom the fans thought was the best college football coach in the SEC.
He also earned a cease and desist letter, but he chooses not to talk about it.
“The whole thing was meant to measure perception vs reality…a ‘reality check’ to the fan perception of the poll,” said Matt Ryan. “I had counted on the rest of the nation being as gung-ho as the SEC was on the first go-around to participate and it was just not the case.”
Todays poll deals with the Big Ten, the breadbasket of college football (at least that what they told me in Ohio history class in fourth grade). Poll was structured for users to rank each coach in each conference on four variables:
(1) Recruiting
(2) Player Development
(3) Gameday
(4) Program Control
Big Ten had a little less than 300 responses, here are the results (Low numbers are best, random thoughts below):
Fantasy College Blitz Big Ten Coaching Survey
| Rk | Big 10 | Total | Grade | Recruiting | Development | Coaching | Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State: Jim Tressel | 3.14 | A+ | 2.26 | 4.13 | 2.04 | 5.85 |
| 2 | Wisconsin: Bret Bielema | 4.72 | B+ | 5.25 | 4.33 | 4.01 | 5.17 |
| 3 | Illinois: Ron Zook | 4.72 | B+ | 2.51 | 5.78 | 6.43 | 6.93 |
| 4 | Penn State: Joe Paterno | 5.65 | B- | 5.27 | 6.05 | 5.24 | 6.79 |
| 5 | Michigan: Rich Rodriguez | 5.94 | B- | 4.89 | 6.78 | 5.72 | 8.09 |
| 6 | Michigan State: Mark Dantonio | 6 | B- | 6.33 | 5.65 | 5.89 | 5.91 |
| 7 | Iowa: Kirk Ferentz | 6 | B- | 6.59 | 5.03 | 5.65 | 7.26 |
| 8 | Purdue: Joe Tiller | 6.72 | C | 7.82 | 5.71 | 6.46 | 5.86 |
| 9 | Northwestern: Pat Fitzgerald | 7.35 | C- | 8.95 | 6.57 | 7.66 | 2.64 |
| 10 | Minnesota: Tim Brewster | 7.81 | D+ | 6.95 | 8.63 | 8.92 | 6.57 |
| 11 | Indiana: Bill Lynch | 7.96 | D+ | 9.19 | 7.35 | 7.97 | 4.89 |
- Ron Zook holds a huge lead in the recruiting rank, but the only thing Tim Brewster has proven in Minnesota is his ability to recruit yet he is ranked 8 of 11 coaches there.
- Pat Fitzgerald has been widely criticized for being outcoached the last two years, but most give him a pass for the circumstances that led to his taking over at Northwestern. Fans think he has control over his program, perhaps Year Three will be a charm.
- Forbes said Kirk Ferentz was the most overpaid coach in America - so I am surprised he was ranked as highly as this given the social mood against the rich lately.
Topics: Big 10, College Football, Preview, Vince Mullins |



August 20th, 2008 at 9:26 am
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