Coaching stability separates Big Ten from other conferences

Updated Nov. 23, 2021 5:06 p.m. ET

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Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck sees the rampant coaching turnover going on this season and feels grateful about his relative security.

“There are a lot of things going on around the country, coaches who had great years last year that don’t have jobs now a year later,” said Fleck,

Coaches across the Big Ten have reason to feel thankful on this holiday week.

The Big Ten is the only Power Five conference that hasn’t had at least one head coaching change already this season. That follows an offseason in which only one Big Ten school fired a coach, with

“I think there’s a little bit of an old-school mentality from the administration at a lot of these universities,” ESPN analyst and former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit said. “I think that they pride themselves on prioritizing the importance of athletics. And they’re obviously very, very important, but people can roll their eyes all they want, but how a guy runs his program, is he graduating his players, are they good citizens, those things add up.”

Only three of the 14 Big Ten coaches (Bielema, Rutgers’ Greg Schiano and Michigan State’s Mel Tucker) are in their first or second season on the job.

“I just think that the intensity of social media, especially in that middle tier of the Big Ten, I just don’t think it’s as rabid as you might find in some other regions,” Herbstreit said. “Most notably the SEC, where it’s win a championship today. Win every game.”

Ten of the 14 Southeastern Conference members have interim coaches, lame-duck coaches or coaches in their first or second seasons running their teams.

next year, even though

By contrast,

Big Ten network analyst and former Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo says the expectations are the same at any of the schools that have what he describes as “national championship or bust programs,” regardless of conference.

But there’s a big difference.

“In the Big Ten, there’s only one national championship or bust program,” DiNardo said in reference to Ohio State. “In the SEC, there’s probably five.”

three of the 14 member schools have fired their coaches since the start of this season (

Other Power Five programs to change coaches during the season include TCU,

ESPN analyst and former Penn State quarterback Todd Blackledge is the son of Ron Blackledge, a longtime college and NFL assistant who was Kent State’s head coach from 1978-80. He sees a difference in the way Big Ten schools are handling things.

“I think the Big Ten wants to consider themselves more civilized in that their mission is more than just football,” Blackledge said. “Maybe that’s why they show more patience.”

Blackledge then adds this caveat.

“Make no mistake,” Blackledge said. "Football still drives the train at every Big Ten school just the way it does at all the other Power Five schools. Being successful in football is very, very important for all the universities.”

Indeed, Nebraska essentially put Frost on notice even while keeping him. Nebraska is hoping it can match the success of Michigan, which

Frost and Harbaugh are former quarterbacks coaching their alma maters, which may help explain why both schools were patient with them.

DiNardo notes that the lack of recent coaching changes in the Big Ten also is cyclical to a certain extent because many of the coaches with the league’s tougher jobs haven’t been there quite long enough to be evaluated fully.

At Minnesota, Fleck understands what’s expected of him. He just likes being at a place where he has a good working relationship with his bosses and in a conference that often rewards patience.

“I’m sure at some point you don’t win enough games at some point, people get fired,” Fleck said. “I’m no different than that. I’m not exempt to that. But I think when you look back on it, at the end of the day, I’ve always said: ‘Did we make it better? Was it better when we left it than when we found it?’ Somehow, some way.

“That is not comparing it to anybody else. That is just, ’Did you make it better and make your players better somehow? That is all you can do in a world that we are living in right now where it’s just win at all costs.”

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AP Sports Writers Dave Campbell and Larry Lage and AP College Football Writers Eric Olson and Ralph D. Russo contributed to this report.

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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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Danny Mullen