CHICAGO — Jim Harbaugh arrived to Big Ten media days in game day attire — Michigan hat, Michigan long-sleeved shirt, khakis. Behind his black-frame glasses, he had an old-school, game-day squint when he listened to questions.
The Wolverines aren’t the favorites in the Big Ten East. Not even a trendy pick to win it. They may be the youngest team in the Big Ten.
But Harbaugh expects players to be fueled by close losses to Iowa, Ohio State and Florida State in the last part of the season.
“Maybe that’s going to motivate them even more this year, give them more reason to put all their talent and pour their whole heart into everything that they’re doing,” Harbaugh said.
Though young, Michigan has highly rated talent all over its roster, including defensive end Rashan Gary, the No. 1 recruit in the nation in the 2016 recruiting class.
“He’s had a lot of hype,” Harbaugh said. “He’s had a lot of adulation. And there’s some people that that’s what they live for. They live for approval of others and to be recognized as a hyped-up player. And then there’s other people that they see that hype or that adulation and they go by it like it’s an orange cone on the side of the road. There’s some people that are just aspiring for greater things than just the adulation of somebody. And I think Rashan is that type of guy.”
Harbaugh declined to say Wilton Speight, who started all of last season, will return as starter in 2017. Speight is in a three-man battle for the job with John O’Korn and Brandon Peters.
Harbaugh favors the NCAA’s recent decision to end two-a-day practices. He said the decision “makes all the sense in the world.”
“Residents in hospitals don’t do sleep deprivation anymore,” Harbaugh said. “Pilots have to sleep 10 hours, I think, before each flight. It’s just everybody is doing it that way. Even the military doesn’t have sleep deprivation and three-a-days, et cetera. So I’m all for it.”
Franklin focused on opener
What’s Penn State coach James Franklin want to talk about?
Akron.
Not Pittsburgh — long a rival and one of three teams to beat the Nittany Lions last season. Pitt probably kept Penn State from the College Football Playoff, in fact. But Franklin didn’t want to address the Sept. 9 game right now.
He’s open to discussing the Sept. 2 season opener against Akron.
“I would love to talk about Akron and Akron and Akron and Akron and Akron and not get ahead toward any other games,” he said.
Franklin additionally rebuffed reliving the surprise Big Ten title season in 2016.
“None of those wins are going to transfer over,” he said. “We have to start from the ground up and rebuild this thing. And what we have to do is we have to take all those experiences that we gained from last year, playing on those stages, against the competition we played against, and how we learned and how we grew from those things. That we’re going to take with us.”
Family affair for Alvarez
Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez beamed like a proud grandfather Tuesday, which is what he is entering the 2017 football season.
Alvarez, a former Nebraska player, has two grandsons on the Badgers’ roster: fifth-year senior safety Joe Ferguson and incoming freshman tight end Jake Ferguson.
Joe Ferguson has played in 44 games in his career with one start. He began as a walk-on at Wisconsin. Jake Ferguson is on scholarship, and had an offer from Nebraska.
The Fergusons’ father is Brad Ferguson, a walk-on linebacker and letterman at Nebraska in the late 1980s from Chadron.
Wildcats embrace continuity
A mythological creature and Northwestern football. Yes, coach Pat Fitzgerald said, they have something in common.
Fitzgerald, speaking Tuesday morning at Hyatt Regency McCormick Place just more than 15 miles south of his Evanston campus along Lake Michigan — didn’t take long to list many of the program’s virtues. The Wildcats are coming off a win in the Pinstripe Bowl and are seeking consecutive bowl wins in back-to-back years for the first time in their history. The offense is trending upward. New facilities are under construction.
Also encouraging for the Northwestern head man: The same group of coaches are back yet again with an aim to improve on last year’s 7-6 overall record.
“We’re kind of a unicorn in college football,” Fitzgerald said. “Had the same staff now together going on eight seasons. It’s just been absolutely incredible. Had the same coordinators for 10 years, same strength coach for nine. It’s unheard of. That continuity, I think, is what great organizations, great football programs have.
“You’re able to be able to keep your people, be able to grow and develop. And thankful for the staff’s loyalty, but also incredibly thankful for the university’s loyalty and commitment to the staff.”
Quarterback Clayton Thorson and running back Justin Jackson both return as staples of the offense. Fitzgerald elected to bring both to Chicago for media days for their character as well as for the “star power in your backfield” they offer. Defensively, he said, the squad has to recover from losing second-leading tackler and linebacker Anthony Walker, whom the Indianapolis Colts drafted in the fifth round last spring.
Northwestern — a popular preseason pick to finish second in the West Division behind Wisconsin this fall — plays at Nebraska on Nov. 4.
“I think it’s a really special time to be on our campus,” Fitzgerald said. “When you’ve got kind of your men’s basketball (which qualified for the NCAA tournament) and football I think in a really good place, it really makes things exciting. So I think our guys are so close with the basketball players and to see that, I think all those things are real positives.”
Purdue eager for fresh start
Jeff Brohm acknowledges the hype his potent up-tempo offense is receiving. But the new Purdue coach suggested Tuesday morning that defense might be where the Boilermakers show the most improvement in coming months.
Purdue fired Darrell Hazell last fall following a 9-33 stretch (3-24 Big Ten) in 3½ seasons. Brohm came over from Western Kentucky after the season, bringing with him a balanced and explosive system that made WKU the top scoring team (45.5 points per game) in the nation in 2016.
But the Boilermakers’ defense boasts more options and experience, even if neither is where Brohm and his staff want it to be. The coach said to expect improvement against the run: Purdue ranked 115th of 128 FBS teams by allowing 238.4 yards per game and 5.25 per rush last year compared with Western Kentucky’s No. 2 ranking (97.2 yards per game and 2.98 per rush).
“Can we create more depth, rotate more guys in there, be able to have these guys not only play well but also in the second half, fourth quarter be fresh enough to play at a high level?” Brohm said. “I think that’s going to be important for us. When you look at Purdue last year, the second half things unfolded and for a lot of reasons that was one of them, that the depth was not there.”
Purdue avoids Penn State and Ohio State on its schedule this fall but plays at Missouri and opens Sept. 2 against Louisville at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Nebraska goes to West Lafayette, Indiana, on Oct. 28.
“They understand it’s not going to be easy, but I think that’s what you sign up for when you come to play at Purdue — to play against great football teams and to try to find a way to win a few games maybe that you’re not supposed to,” Brohm said. “And I think if we do that maybe we can ride the momentum and continue to improve.”
Fan session a highlight on Day 2
Purdue Pete snuck up behind Maryland mascot Testudo, poking the turtle in the back before the two began a friendly wrestling match in the middle of a crowded ballroom. Meanwhile, coaches signed autographs for fans as different school fight songs played over the sound system.
Such was the scene at the fan session, whose circus-like atmosphere served as a break between interviews late Tuesday morning.
Nebraska coach Mike Riley stayed busy throughout the hourlong event, though the line for his signature rarely grew beyond a half-dozen people. Some coaches like Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm sported long waits, while others like Indiana’s Tom Allen and Maryland’s D.J. Durkin were able to simply stop and look at their phones for stretches.
All 14 Big Ten coaches posed for a group photo to cap the festivities, with Riley standing in the back row behind Ohio State’s Urban Meyer and flanked by Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Brohm.
Many schools offered free “swag” to fans when they received autographs. Some items were magnets and lanyards (Rutgers), button pins (Maryland), posters (Iowa), coasters (Indiana), banners (Wisconsin), miniature boat oars (Minnesota) and key chains (Purdue). Nebraska had photos of Riley — with Memorial Stadium in the background — available for the coach to sign.
