Big Ten football coaches answer preseason questions

Illinois football head coach Ron Zook speaks to members of the media at the annual Big Ten Media Days at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago on Monday.
Alex Iniguez The Daily Illini

CHICAGO — On the first day of the Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, the conference's head coaches addressed the media in consecutive press conferences. Here are tidbits from all 11 of them.

Northwestern

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald began by wishing the media industry well during a difficult economic period, saying "I know it's tough times right now in the media industry, and I hope the situation improves, obviously, for all of us."

The Wildcats will enter the 2009 season without a returning starter at any offensive skill position, an issue that Fitzgerald addressed in his opening statement.

"We've got as good a competition as we've ever had in our skill positions, and that's a credit to our coaches and it's a credit to our players in the recruiting efforts that we've had," Fitzgerald said. The recent College Football Hall of Fame inductee signed a seven-year extension to extend his contract to 2015. Did he splurge on anything with the new found financial security?

"I bought a couple wiffle balls from Target for my boys. We had knocked too many into a couple yards over, so that was about the biggest splurge," Fitzgerald said.

Illinois

A busy offseason for the Illini included three new coaches to the coaching staff: offensive coordinator Mike Schultz, offensive line coach Joe Gilbert and defensive line coach Keith Gilmore.

"(The players) received them with open arms, and just the transition was unbelievably smooth," head coach Ron Zook said.

After leading the Big Ten in rushing in both 2006 and 2007, the Illini running game tailed off last season, finishing fifth in the conference.

"It goes to show you, you have to be able to run the football in this league— and for that matter, any league— to be a successful program," Zook said.

Zook also acknowledged the Illini need to get junior receiver Arrelious "Rejus" Benn even more involved in the offense after he finished with only five touchdowns in 2008.

"There's no question with Rejus that we need to get the ball in his hands as much as possible," Zook said.

Wisconsin

Despite the sustained popularity of the spread offense, the Badgers will continue to run a pro-style, run-based offense under head coach Bret Bielema, who used to play football at power-football haven Iowa. The traditional offense, Bielema said, has been a major asset in recruiting quarterbacks.

"They wanted to go to a school that lined up, threw the football like NFL teams do within the league, and have an opportunity to showcase their skills," Bielema said. "I think that's a recruiting advantage for us, which hopefully turns into a playing advantage as well."

Michigan

Head coach Rich Rodriguez acknowledged the different look to the Michigan defense that will be brought on by new defensive coordinator Greg Robinson.

"There's some different coverage packages, some different blitz packages that everybody (has). So there will be some subtle differences," Rodriguez said. But Rodriguez's focus will be on the offensive side, where the team finished last in the Big Ten in yards, passing, passing efficiency and scoring in 2008.

"I hope in every way (we get better)," Rodriguez said. "We need to."

Purdue

First-year head coach Danny Hope will be attempting to overcome the shadow of legendary coach Joe Tiller, who retired last season as Purdue's all-time winningest coach, but it's a task that Hope said he is ready for.

"We have our own plan, and you have to be your own man," Hope said.

Minnesota

Head coach Tim Brewster spoke highly of the new additions to his coaching staff, namely offensive line coach Tim Davis, who Brewster said the players have taken a liking to.

"They've taken on his personality and more of my personality in the offensive line, and I like it," Brewster said. Brewster also mentioned new transfers Matt Carufel from Notre Dame and junior college transfer Jeff Wills.

"We're going to obviously need to run the ball better," Brewster said. "With those guys, I think we will."

Ohio State

The Buckeyes received the most preseason accolades from the media, with Ohio State named the preseason conference favorite and sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor nabbing the preseason Offensive Player of the Year.

Head coach Jim Tressel discussed Pryor's development after his freshman year, saying that "For a freshman, he was pretty careful with the football and grew to learn from every experience he had. There were some tough experiences along the way."

Indiana

Despite finishing 3-9 in 2008, including a 1-7 conference record, head coach Bill Lynch spoke with optimism about the Hoosiers' upcoming season. Citing returning experience on the offensive line and in the secondary, Lynch said that "there's a new face to Indiana football." Lynch called the linebacking corps the strength of the team, with seniors Matt Mayberry and Will Patterson both returning.

Michigan State

Head coach Mark Dantonio said one of his main objectives is to ensure that the Spartans don't fall short of high expectations, as they have done historically.

"I think it's very, very important to recognize that we've been in this situation before at times where the Spartans have sort of raised up a little bit on very high expectations and fell a little bit flat. We've won very, very few games just going away," Dantonio said.

The Spartans, who boast the media's preseason Defensive Player of the Year in junior middle linebacker Greg Jones, will rely on the experience of their upperclassmen.

"I think that our older players hopefully pass along some of that wisdom to our younger players. I say sometimes to our younger players that they haven't experienced the pain. I think one of the things that you have to do before you can grow is experience a little bit of pain," Dantonio said.

Penn State

Jovial head coach Joe Paterno declined to give an opening statement, instead choosing to take questions right away. The first question pertained to his decision to continue on coaching, to which Paterno replied, "Oh, I missed you guys." After drawing a raucous laughter from the room, Paterno continued fielding questions, most revolving around his possible retirement and his new surgically-replaced hip.

"I'm working up to where I can do what I used to do," Paterno said. "But I don't have any pain. There's no reservations on it."

Iowa

The only Big Ten school to win a bowl game last season, Iowa returns 14 starters, including four offensive linemen. Returning are prized NFL prospects left tackle Bryan Bulaga and right tackle Kyle Calloway, but head coach Kirk Ferentz warned that there is still work to be done with the line.

"We think we're going to be okay, but we're certainly not there yet. We've got a lot of work to do in this next four to five weeks," Ferentz said.