The 2023 football season is now upon us and fans are chomping at the bit for football to start and to see their favorite team’s take the field. It is also the last year fans will see the Big Ten as we now know it, with 14 teams, before the incoming additions of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.
Taking a look at this upcoming season, the conference may be the most competitive it has been in a long time from top to bottom.
In this series, we have ranked the top offenses in the Big Ten, HERE, the top defenses, HERE, now we will rank the head coaches of the conference:
14. David Braun (Northwestern)
This is slightly unfair, given the circumstances that Braun had to take over the head coach position, but for the purpose of the rankings Braun has no head coaching experience and no FBS coaching experience.
13. Ryan Walters (Purdue)
While I believe Walters will eventually be a really good hire for Purdue, this is a list for 2023, and Walters has no head coaching experience, so I am going to have to keep him here.
12. Tom Allen (Indiana)
Tom Allen was able to have a magical season in 2020 at Indiana, a season that doesn’t happen often in Bloomington. The problem is that he has gone 6-18 in the two seasons after and is firmly on the hot seat heading into 2023.
11. Greg Schiano (Rutgers)
Schiano had a very good first run in Piscataway and it was looking like he was building a solid roster this time around. Unfortunately, things have not gone to plan thus far and Schiano has gone just 12-22 so far in his return to Rutgers.
10. Mel Tucker (Michigan State)
2021 was great, Tucker went 11-2 and looked like he was going to be a special hire in East Lansing. The problem? He followed it up with a 5-7 campaign and needs to have a strong 2023.
9. Mike Locksley (Maryland)
Locksley has been steadily building Maryland into a solid program and there is high expectations in 2023.
8. Matt Rhule (Nebraska)
Rhule is an interesting candidate, he is very highly thought of in the football world. The thing is, he is only 47-43 in seven seasons as a college football head coach. So he will stay in the middle of the pack.
7. Bret Bielema (Illinois)
Bret Bielema is a solid coach that has started to build Illinois into a respectable program, along with a solid career coming into his latest stop.
6. P.J. Fleck (Minnesota)
Fleck’s time at Western Michigan is well documented, but he has taken over Minnesota and has been very solid.
5. James Franklin (Penn State)
Franklin has been steady and solid as Penn State’s head man, but he can’t be ranked higher for me. Franklin is one coach in the conference who has been gifted with so much talent, but has always disappointed.
4. Kirk Ferentz (Iowa)
Longevity and consistency, that’s what Kirk Ferentz has been at Iowa. If there is one team you can almost always expect to win 8+, its Iowa.
3. Jim Harbaugh (Michigan)
This may cause some anger, but Harbaugh comes in at No. 3. While Michigan has been the team to beat the last two years, there has been some past uncertainty with Harbaugh.
2. Luke Fickell (Wisconsin)
What Luke Fickell was able to do at Cincinnati was outstanding and expectations are very high in Madison upon his arrival.
1. Ryan Day (Ohio State)
In four seasons, Ryan Day is 45-6 with three playoff and one national championship game appearance, the resume speaks for itself.
