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Kirk Ferentz: Where Does He Rank Among Big Ten Coaches?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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A ranking of every head football coach in the Big Ten

The Big Ten is not short of great coaches. The longest tenured coach in the nation, Kirk Ferentz, is in the conference, and four of the top-15 highest paid head coaches in 2016 come from the Big Ten, as well. It has led to the conference making the College Football Playoff in each of its first two seasons and also having four top-11 teams in the AP Poll this year.

The conference has a chance to get even stronger, though. Purdue fired Darrell Hazell a couple of weeks ago and might be interested in long-time LSU coach Les Miles. It might be a long shot, however it would be a great addition for the Boilermakers and make the coaches in the Big Ten even stronger as a whole.

That being said, the Big Ten continuously has some of the best coaches in the nation. Plus, there are less experienced coaches starting to make their mark in 2016 and showing that they might be considered among the elite coaches in the nation very soon.

There are currently 13 head coaches in the Big Ten and one interim coach. Here’s a definitive ranking of every coach in the conference.

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No. 14 – Gerad Parker, Purdue Boilermakers (0-1)

Gerad Parker technically isn’t a head coach, but he’ll represent Purdue as long as he mans the sideline. Darrell Hazell took over a 6-7 team and went just 9-33 in three and a half seasons. He left the Boilermakers a mess for Gerad Parker, who was the wide receivers coach under Hazell.

Parker will try to take an underwhelming roster and prove he has what it takes to turn this program around. He only has five more games, all against teams Purdue will be underdogs against, but it’s more about establishing a new environment and feel around the program than instant success.

Granted it was only his first week, but he showed a glimmer of hope for Boilermakers’ fans. Purdue held a halftime lead over a top-10 Nebraska team. While Purdue ended up losing 27-14, the players responded well to Parker and didn’t fold like many people expected after changing head coaches halfway through the year.

When it comes down to it, Purdue will have a long list of candidates, which will include Les Miles. Although, Parker has the first stab at the job in the second half of the season.

He’s not going to turn the program around in 2016, and no incoming recruits are his, but showing that he’s capable of leading them and having players respond to his coaching like last week will be important to see. This is his audition, and his team looked strong in the first week.

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No. 13 – Tracy Claeys, Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-6)

After taking over for Jerry Kill, Tracy Claeys simply hasn’t done much. He led Minnesota to a mediocre 2-4 finish in the second half of 2015 and the Gophers’ 5-2 record in 2016 isn’t as impressive once you start to dig into the numbers.

Minnesota is in line for a possible eight-win season, but they’ve been unable to beat good teams under Claeys. Sure, it’s a small sample size, but wins over Central Michigan and Maryland are the only times Minnesota has won against a team above .500 under Claeys. The Gophers have been able to barely squeak out wins against lesser competition but fold against better teams.

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Part of it is that Minnesota has dealt with injuries to key players. Also, this is Claeys’ first full season as head coach, but Minnesota hasn’t seemed to respond as strongly to the new leadership as one may have hoped.

The Gophers rank outside the top-40 in scoring offense and scoring defense and almost lost to a struggling Rutgers team. Jerry Kill turned Minnesota around from a three-win team to an eight-win team in just a couple of years, but now they need a coach who can get them over the next hump.

Considering Minnesota’s 2017 recruiting class ranks 70th in the nation, and has no four star commitments, getting over the next hump might be a couple of years away. Tracy Claeys is still trying to implement his system and make his mark after Jerry Kill’s success, but the Gophers have seemed to regress under his leadership and that’s not a good sign for a young coach.

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No. 12 – Chris Ash, Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-6)

The former Ohio State defensive coordinator Chris Ash has had a rocky start to his head coaching career at Rutgers, but to no fault of his own. Sure, the Scarlet Knights lost their first four conference games by a combined score of 174-14, but Ash coached without his top playmaker Janarion Grant on an already underwhelming roster.

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Besides, Rutgers only lost by seven to Iowa and were a late field goal away from beating Minnesota. Rutgers is a long ways from being relevant, but its way too early to have an honest opinion on Chris Ash.

Rutgers’ roster is extremely underwhelming with very few standouts on either side of the ball, and we have yet to see one of his recruiting classes.

The class of 2017, his first recruiting class as Rutgers head coach, is already proving why Rutgers has so much confidence in him. He has three-four star commitments, compared to none in 2015. It’s the most four star recruits Rutgers has landed since 2013 when they landed four, and that came after back-to-back 9-4 seasons.

With Michigan and Ohio State poaching New Jersey players, it makes it harder on Rutgers. That being said, Ash has still put together the 24th best class in 2017, ahead of Washington and Nebraska, and top recruits will start giving Rutgers more consideration when they start winning.

Rutgers handed Chris Ash a mess and he’s just trying to get through the first couple of years before his recruits start to come in. Rutgers is the laughing-stock of the Big Ten this year, but the Urban Meyer product will have plenty of success in the near future. He’s ranked this low because he hasn’t had enough time to prove himself yet.

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No. 11 – Lovie Smith, Illinois Fighting Illini (2-5)

Lovie Smith had a good run in the NFL, which included a Super Bowl appearance with the Chicago Bears. Although his transition to the college game has not gone as smoothly. Illinois has been hit hard with injuries and are just 2-5 in Smith’s first season, likely going to finish the year 2-10.

To be fair, Illinois is on their third-string quarterback, and four of their five losses have come against teams who have been in the AP Poll top-25 at least once this year. A home loss to Purdue shouldn’t sit well with fans, but no one expected Smith to instantly fix the Illini.

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Still, after a sub-par first season, he transformed the defense into a top-15 scoring defense for the first time since 2010. Plus, he’s gotten more out of Tommy Armstrong Jr in 2016 than ever before and has continued to win despite key injuries.

Not to mention Riley got his signature win late in 2015 when Nebraska upset #6 Michigan State 39-38. In fact, Riley is 2-1 against ranked teams at Nebraska, and winning in big games is a big part of being a great head coach.

With another strong recruiting class, Riley should continue to build Nebraska over the coming years. He has the track record at Oregon State to prove he’s capable of bringing Nebraska back to where they once were. At Oregon State, he coached one of the most successful stretches in school history.

Now, he has one of the more storied programs in college football history and is trying to get over the hump Bo Pelini never could. Riley has a chance to cement himself as one of the better coaches in the Big Ten over the coming weeks with games against Wisconsin and Ohio State. Still, the drastic improvement from 2015 to 2016 is impressive, either way.

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No. 5 – Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern Wildcats (74-59)

It’s crazy to think that the former All-American linebacker, Pat Fitzgerald, is in his 11th season as Northwestern’s head coach. He’s turned one of the lesser thought about teams in the nation into a perennial contender in the Big Ten. He’s led the Wildcats to five straight bowl games for the first time in school history and a 10-win season in 2015.

Northwestern got off to a slow start in 2016, but Fitzgerald’s job was never really in jeopardy. He’s brought the Wildcats to heights they have never seen before. At one point, ESPN’s College Gameday even went to Evanston, Illinois when Northwestern hosted Ohio State.

Even though it might not be seen this year, Northwestern has built one of the strongest defenses in the nation. Recruiting classes continue to get better, and as previously mentioned, Northwestern is consistently relevant in the Big Ten and nationally.

While this season has been a bust after a slow 0-2 start, Fitzgerald will have an experienced defense with Clayton Thorson and Justin Jackson back on offense for their senior seasons in 2017. There will once again be hefty expectations for the Wildcats, and no one would rather bring them there than a former Northwestern player.

There have been ups and downs for Northwestern during his tenure, but the fact remains true that Northwestern has not been this good for this long any other time in their history, and that’s a testament to Pat Fitzgerald.

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No. 4 – Paul Chryst, Wisconsin Badgers (15-5)

Out of Paul Chryst‘s five losses as Wisconsin’s head coach, four have come against ranked teams and the other was against Iowa before the Hawkeyes were ranked. Plus, Chryst has beaten two ranked teams. A 2-5 record against ranked teams isn’t ideal, but neither is the dreadful schedule Wisconsin threw at their new head coach.

After a coaching carousel for a couple of years, the Badgers finally found their man, unless he decides to leave too. He led the Badgers to 10 wins during his first season and has a legitimate chance to top that mark in 2016. While winning is impressive, the fashion Wisconsin has done so in is even more impressive.

Wisconsin owns arguably the best defense in the nation and almost upset Michigan and Ohio State in back-to-back weeks. Sure, Wisconsin’s offense has struggled under Chryst, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that Wisconsin owned the top scoring defense in 2015 and fifth best scoring defense in 2016.

Chryst has had one of the hardest first two seasons of any new coach in recent memory, and he hasn’t fared terribly. In fact, Wisconsin still has an outside chance of making the College Football Playoff and winning the Big Ten West. A lot would have to go right, but it’s fitting considering how close they have come to being undefeated this year.

Despite the constant success every year, Wisconsin still doesn’t recruit extraordinarily well and are often forgotten in the Big Ten. It makes what Chryst has built over the past two years even more impressive since he doesn’t constantly have a stream of five-star recruits coming to Madison.

Chryst might actually be a lot better than fourth in the Big Ten, but he doesn’t have the track record to back it up yet. It’s hard to argue with the results and he’s very close to bringing Wisconsin back to the level Bret Bielema had them at when he brought Wisconsin to three straight Rose Bowls.

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No. 3 – Mark Dantonio, Michigan State Spartans (89-38)

Forget the dreadful season Michigan State is having in 2016. There aren’t a lot of coaches you would take ahead of Mark Dantonio. The once little brother to Michigan has pulled even in past years, and even passed them under Dantonio recently.

If the Spartans fail to make a bowl game this year, that would be the first time a Dantonio-led team has failed to do so. He took over in 2007 and right away ended a three-year streak of failing to become bowl eligible.

Of course, his success did not stop there. In 2015, the Spartans made the College Football Playoff and in 2014 they were one spot away. In 2013, the Spartans were one spot away from competing for a national championship but ended up winning the Rose Bowl.

Even though the Spartans aren’t overlooked often anymore, it’s crazy that success shocks the nation considering how they have fared under Dantonio.

Michigan State will probably end their six-year streak of finishing above .500 and their three-year streak of 10 wins has already ended. It’s the worst stretch a Dantonio-led team has gone through, with Michigan State ranking outside the top-85 in both scoring offense and defense.

Although, considering Dantonio has failed to win fewer than nine games in back-to-back seasons at Michigan State, I wouldn’t be too worried about them in 2017.

As disappointing and surprising as their season has been, there is no denying the program Mark Dantonio has built there. He’s easily the best coach in school history, and seven straight seasons of being ranked in the AP Poll top-10 at least once proves it.

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No. 2 – Jim Harbaugh, Michigan Wolverines (17-3)

Jim Harbaugh is great for college football, and the Michigan Wolverines being good is great for college football. That makes this duo a match made in heaven. Harbaugh was beloved while at Stanford and for a short time with the San Francisco 49ers, and he quickly turned Michigan back into the national powerhouse they are.

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In his first season with the Wolverines, he led Michigan to #12 in the AP Poll, delivering the team their first bowl win and 10-win season since 2011. If that’s the transition period for a new coach then the rest of college football should be very worried about what’s in store once Harbaugh really gets going.

Harbaugh has led Michigan to a 7-0 start in 2016 and only Ohio State and the Big Ten Championship Game pose any threat to ending their undefeated season before the College Football Playoff. Michigan has had some good seasons since Lloyd Carr retired, but Harbaugh has brought them back to their glory days in just a matter of two years.

Besides, who wouldn’t want to play for him?

His khakis and glasses are iconic, he’s in rap videos and he just seems like a fun guy in general who really knows their football. Not to mention Michigan has cool looking Jordan jerseys and are historically one of the best football programs in the nation.

It’s shown as Michigan’s 2016 recruiting class ranked fourth in the nation and they rank 11th in the nation in 2017. Although, Harbaugh is definitely not happy with those results since Ohio State finished ahead of them both years.

Still, Harbaugh will be with Michigan for as long as he wants. He knows how to coach and get the most out of his team. He recruits extremely well and wins wherever he goes.

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No. 1 – Urban Meyer, Ohio State Buckeyes (56-5)

Urban Meyer wins. It’s as simple as that. He’s in his sixth season as head coach of Ohio State and he only has five losses. Plus, the Buckeyes have started in the top-three of the AP Poll every year, he led them to a national championship, and Ohio State went 12-0 in his first season when they were bowl ineligible.

Ohio State going undefeated in a season that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things says a lot about Meyer’s character and his ability to keep his players focused. His team could have easily folded knowing they weren’t going to a bowl game, but they fought and beat three ranked teams.

In fact, Urban Meyer won his first 24 games as Ohio State head coach and didn’t lose his first regular season game until his third season — 26th regular season game.

The fact of the matter is Meyer knows college football as well as anyone. Ohio State is once again in contention to make the College Football Playoff, and with the third ranked recruiting class in 2017, it wouldn’t be surprising if they continue this level of success.

Plus, Meyer is a proven winner wherever he coaches. In 15 seasons as a head coach, Urban Meyer only has 28 losses. He has only finished with fewer than nine wins twice (eight with Bowling Green in 2001 and Florida in 2010), and has won 12 or more games in eight seasons. Not to mention winning three national championships and going 10-2 in bowl games.

When it comes down to it, Urban Meyer keeps his team focused better than any coach in the nation. He’s won at mid-majors, in the SEC and now is dominating the Big Ten. His recruiting genius paired with his football genius doesn’t just make him the best coach in the conference, but he’s one of the best coaches in the nation, as well.

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