{"id":662003,"date":"2026-05-24T08:51:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T08:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/662003\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T08:51:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T08:51:20","slug":"anonymous-coaches-talk-michigan-big-ten-sec-opponents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/662003\/","title":{"rendered":"Anonymous coaches talk Michigan Big Ten, SEC opponents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Athlon Sports spoke to Big Ten coaches and ensured anonymity<\/a> so they could speak openly about conference foes. We broke down their comments on Michigan in an article earlier this week<\/a>, and now it\u2019s time for a look at what coaches said about the Wolverines\u2019 eight Big Ten opponents and Oklahoma, which was anonymously broken down by fellow SEC staff members.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma \u2014\u00a0Sept. 12<\/p>\n

SEC coach: \u201c[Quarterback John Mateer<\/a>] has a ridiculously high ceiling.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEC coach: \u201cThat offense has answers for everything. They don\u2019t do a ton, but everything they do complements the other thing. When he just executes and then makes splash plays here and there, they complement their elite defense very well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

SEC coach: \u201cI was impressed with how [head coach] Brent [Venables<\/a>] and [general manager] Jim Nagy structured the team, and it feels like they finally hit on what the recipe is to be successful there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

SEC coach: \u201cDefensively, it\u2019s so many multiples. Week to week, they won\u2019t do the same pre-snap look again, so whatever you prepare for, you\u2019re not gonna get. Obviously, you want to create indecision with young quarterbacks or new quarterbacks in the system, and they do that at a really high level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iowa \u2014\u00a0Sept. 26<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cI heard that at Wake Forest, [former transfer quarterback] Jeremy Hecklinski<\/a> struggled a bit there. Struggled to put on weight, struggled to buy into the intensity of college football a bit. I\u2019m interested to see how he progresses at Iowa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cIt\u2019ll really be interesting to see with them the new philosophy of adding more transfers. What they\u2019ve been doing has been working. It\u2019s been developmental, but in this day and age, you can\u2019t do that anymore. You have to adapt and make the right choices in the portal. I would still bet a lot of money that they\u2019re going to be really good, and the culture of their team will still be intact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minnesota \u2014\u00a0Oct. 3<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cThey\u2019re so consistent. I would anticipate them staying at the level they\u2019ve been at, probably not competing for the conference. I wouldn\u2019t call them a dark horse. They won\u2019t be in the bottom half [of the Big Ten].\u201d<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cThey evaluate really well. They\u2019re just like Illinois. Their GM [Gerrit Chernoff] is awesome. They have a really, really good personnel staff. They know exactly what their wheelhouse is, and they strike really well in it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cIt\u2019s funny because P.J. Fleck<\/a>\u2019s thing is \u2018Row the Boat,\u2019 which is so fitting for them because in college football, whether the decision is right or wrong, as long as everybody is in it together, you\u2019re usually gonna do something good. That\u2019s what they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penn State \u2014\u00a0Oct. 17<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cI don\u2019t necessarily know that they\u2019re gonna be immediately good in Year 1, but I thought the three big guys who followed [former defensive coordinator] Jim Knowles<\/a> to Tennessee went for way more money than I would\u2019ve paid them if I were Penn State. I thought they made a couple of really good adds. I also thought they kept a couple of really good players that could\u2019ve left, like [linebacker] Tony Rojas<\/a>. That\u2019s a really good player that probably could\u2019ve gone anywhere for a lot more money than what he got at Penn State.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cI thought they did really well with their personnel. They obviously took a lot of Iowa State players. That made sense. They took pretty much that whole offensive staff and brought a lot of defensive players from Iowa State. That brings continuity throughout that roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indiana \u2014\u00a0Oct. 24<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cThe biggest glaring thing is the production they lost in the receiver room. They\u2019ve got some young guys coming in, and they paid a s\u2014 ton for [Michigan State transfer receiver] Nick Marsh<\/a>, so we\u2019ll see how he does. They\u2019re just gonna be very young there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cDefensively, they still return most of their production. But to me, it\u2019s hard to replicate what [Fernando] Mendoza<\/a> did. [TCU transfer quarterback] Josh Hoover<\/a> is a good player. I think he\u2019s got some turnover issues. But other than that, they reloaded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rutgers \u2014\u00a0Oct. 31<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cI get the sense that the school thinks they\u2019re actually going to make this investment and give [head coach] Greg Schiano<\/a> a chance to get it done because they have not done that yet. The people there know that he\u2019s basically been fighting that fight with a hand tied behind his back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cSchiano is an excellent coach. He works incredibly hard. But at some point, it\u2019s a results business, so I would imagine that the rubber meets the road in the next year or so if they can\u2019t make a turn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cBut they were just not talented on defense last year. You turn on the tape, and they didn\u2019t have anybody that could do anything. That\u2019s a program problem. If you\u2019re in the Big Ten, and you\u2019re unable to recruit good players into your program, it\u2019s gonna be tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michigan State \u2014\u00a0Nov. 7<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cTheir entire staff of position coaches made me go, \u2018Oh, s\u2014. Interesting.\u2019 They brought in a lot of good coaches, so I think they\u2019ll be a good team this year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cI don\u2019t think they added a lot of players that change the game for them, but you could tell from the outside that the culture wasn\u2019t great. Maybe them losing a bunch of players and talent and completely hitting the reset button is actually a good thing. I\u2019m pretty bullish on them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cI thought picking up [offensive line coach] Nick Tabacca was really smart. And [safeties coach] James Adams, he is absolutely unbelievable. He\u2019s the best I\u2019ve ever been around in terms of a coach, an evaluator, a recruiter; he makes his guys want to run through a brick well every day. Any staff that he\u2019s on, stock up big time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oregon \u2014\u00a0Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cThat might be the best roster in college football, with the returners they have on the D-line and the back end, with the addition of Koi Perich<\/a> from Minnesota \u2014 and then offensively, they basically return everyone but Malik Benson<\/a>, Kenyon Sadiq<\/a> and a couple running backs, but they played three running backs all year. They lose a couple O-linemen, but I think they feel fine about it. [Dante Moore<\/a>] was the best quarterback we faced last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cWith them, the key is going to be how their coordinators put their guys in position to make plays because at no point did I think what they did on defense was super complicated, but it was just so sound and everyone was doing their job at a high level. When you watch them on tape, they look like a team with a lot of 5-stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCLA \u2014\u00a0Nov. 21<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cIf I was going to defend [QB Nico Iamaleava<\/a>], I would do some things to stop him from running and make him throw the ball \u2014 particularly downfield. He\u2019s a playmaker. But without his feet and without his ability to scramble, I\u2019m not sure he can sit in the pocket and carve you up. It\u2019ll be interesting to see what the NFL guys think of him. He\u2019s a good player and can take a hit, but he just didn\u2019t seem like he could kill you with his arm.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cI was blown away with what their NIL budget was a few years ago. It was unfathomably low. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019ve gotten that ramped up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cI\u2019ve heard they\u2019ve been kind of arrogant on the road with following the [Curt] Cignetti model. Like, \u2018Look who we are,\u2019 instead of saying, \u2018We\u2019re gonna do this the right way.\u2019 I\u2019m interested to see how [new head coach Bob Chesney<\/a>] does, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohio State \u2014\u00a0Nov. 28<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cI thought the [defensive coordinator] Matt Patricia<\/a> hire was awesome last year. What made them so good was they were super simple. They\u2019d let you take something super short and run your base stuff, and then not budge to that. Then the second you get out of your stuff, they\u2019re ready for it. They were mentally tougher than you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Big Ten coach: \u201cIt was so innovative what they did with their coordinators because in today\u2019s game, coordinators are being taken out of their college stuff. They thought, why not bring in two NFL guys [as coordinators] who might not \u2014 from the outside looking in \u2014 be known for their relatability to players and all that other BS who are just known for being schematic dudes that know what the f\u2014 they\u2019re doing from a scheme standpoint, and they\u2019ve executed that really well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Athlon Sports spoke to Big Ten coaches and ensured anonymity so they could speak openly about conference foes.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-662003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}