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LGHL B1G Thoughts: Breaking down Flex Protect Plus, the new B1G scheduling model
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B1G Thoughts: Breaking down Flex Protect Plus, the new B1G scheduling model
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
After a years worth of debates, the Big Ten finally announced its new scheduling model called Flex Protect Plus. So what is it and why should you care?
Every week after the Big Ten slate of games, I will bring you some B1G thoughts on everything that happened! This will include analysis, stats, key players, moments, and maybe a joke. Check out the I-70 Football Show in the Land-Grant Holy Land podcast feed for more in-depth analysis and to preview the next week of B1G games.
On Thursday, June 8, new Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti joined “Big Ten Live” on the Big Ten Network to announce the conference’s new scheduling model and protected rivalries.
For the past year, we’ve known that the conference would almost certainly get rid of divisions and that it would continue a nine-game conference schedule in 2024 after becoming a 16-team league with the additions of USC and UCLA. We did not know, however, which scheduling model the league would choose and which of the various historic rivalries would be protected.
After Thursday’s announcement, we are no longer in the dark. The conference announced a flexible mode called Flex Protect Plus, where each team was able to protect whichever rivalries — up to three — that they valued the most.
So what is the flex-protect model, and what does it mean for fans?
The Who is simple — the Big Ten is now a 16-team conference that spans from New Jersey to California. As of next fall, the conference will consist of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, and Wisconsin.
The Flex Protect Plus is a scheduling model that allows ultimate flexibility... look, no one ever said the name was clever.
Instead of forcing each team to have three protected rivals, the league decided to respect its history and only protect the most important and historical rivalries. The conference has tried to force rivalries before with Maryland, Rutgers, and Penn State, but fans never bought in. They tried again with Nebraska and Wisconsin, but instead, a more natural rivalry formed between Nebraska and Iowa.
The conference decided, even though it makes the scheduling tougher, to make everyone happy and essentially let each school determine which rivalries matter to them and their fanbase. By going this route, the conference trimmed the fat and only put out the best spread it could while taking into account team preferences and traveling for the new West Coast schools.
Ultimately, the Flex Protect Plus model ended with 11 protected rivalries, with every team besides Penn State having at least one protected rival and Iowa with three.
The 11 protected rivalries:
It may be surprising that Penn State and Ohio State weren’t protected, but if you listened to the noise coming out of Penn State, they wanted it to be known that they do not have any rivals in the conference and would be fine with any scheduling model as long as they were not in the East division with Ohio State and Michigan. Fans may consider OSU and PSU a rivalry, but clearly, the two schools do not.
For programs without three protected rivals, the Big Ten will select one to three teams that will play each other in home and homes for a two-year cycle, creating a 3-6-6 scheduling arrangement where each program will play three opponents twice and rotate the other 12 teams during the two-year cycle.
The Flex Protect Plus model will start next year for the 2024 football season, coinciding with the arrival of USC and UCLA and the full commitment of the new television media deal. The media deal technically starts this July, but CBS still has the SEC for the 2023 season and is not a full participant until 2024.
The where is complicated. The Big Ten stretches from New Jersey to California and the conference and teams will have to be mindful of who is playing where and how that will affect their players.
Currently, Big Ten teams leave immediately following games to head home. A team traveling to California or vice versa may have to deal with return trips that don’t see them get home until the early morning. Teams will have to figure out the best schedule to travel home, and how to get their equipment back to campus as well. Generally, a team’s equipment is driven by a semi-truck to away games, but a semi from State College to Los Angeles may not be feasible.
This is something that the conference will constantly have to take into consideration and is another reason for the added flexibility.
So after a year of discussion, why did the conference come up with this model? If you ask them they’ll say a few things.
One is that they wanted to preserve the historic rivalries of the conference. Eight conference rivalries have been played over 100 times, and six of them were kept in this model — only sacrificing Illinois-Ohio State — who will play in 2024 and 2025 — and Michigan-Minnesota.
Illinois-Purdue, Iowa-Wisconsin, and USC-UCLA have all been played over 90 times and were also protected. Even Iowa-Nebraska have played 53 times, making Rutgers-Maryland the only protected rivalry without a real history.
Secondly, they did not want to box USC and UCLA in by forcing them to have rivals across the country. While it makes scheduling more difficult, this model allows them to be intentional with who plays who, when, and where. USC and UCLA knew what they were getting into by joining the conference, but it was still important to support them and ease their travel.
Lastly, the conference wanted to find the balance between scheduling great games for the three media partners — CBS, Fox, and NBC — while also creating a competitive balance that gives the conference the best chance to get multiple teams in the new 12-team playoff that also starts in 2024. While maybe creating more work on the back end, this model is the best chance at making everyone happy — all 16 teams, including their coaches, players, and administration as well as the television partners.
So you may be wondering, how is the conference going to maintain this schedule and pick the “two-play opponents” for each team.
We may never know exactly how they choose the two-play opponents or why, but I expect them to be teams that either have rivalries that weren’t protected — i.e. Ohio State and Illinois in ‘24 and ‘25 — as well as a combination of the best games. It may not have been fair to make USC or UCLA come into the conference and play Ohio State or Michigan in back-to-back years, but you can be sure they will be two-play opponents eventually, maybe as soon as the next schedule release.
We will get Ohio State-Penn State, Michigan-Minnesota, and other games of importance, but by only committing to two years the conference can closely monitor teams and create the best matchups. Think of it like the NFL. The reason the NFL schedules one year at a time is so that the league can create the best matchups from Super Bowl rematches to rematches of amazing in-season games. They also routinely make the best teams play the hardest schedules, which allows for competitive balance.
The Big Ten should model its scheduling off of that; while not a replica, it would be beneficial. I expect to see the Big Ten announce its schedule around this time every two years, building excitement for future matchups and allowing for teams to plan travel to and from the West Coast.
Continue reading...
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
After a years worth of debates, the Big Ten finally announced its new scheduling model called Flex Protect Plus. So what is it and why should you care?
Every week after the Big Ten slate of games, I will bring you some B1G thoughts on everything that happened! This will include analysis, stats, key players, moments, and maybe a joke. Check out the I-70 Football Show in the Land-Grant Holy Land podcast feed for more in-depth analysis and to preview the next week of B1G games.
On Thursday, June 8, new Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti joined “Big Ten Live” on the Big Ten Network to announce the conference’s new scheduling model and protected rivalries.
For the past year, we’ve known that the conference would almost certainly get rid of divisions and that it would continue a nine-game conference schedule in 2024 after becoming a 16-team league with the additions of USC and UCLA. We did not know, however, which scheduling model the league would choose and which of the various historic rivalries would be protected.
After Thursday’s announcement, we are no longer in the dark. The conference announced a flexible mode called Flex Protect Plus, where each team was able to protect whichever rivalries — up to three — that they valued the most.
So what is the flex-protect model, and what does it mean for fans?
The Who:
The Who is simple — the Big Ten is now a 16-team conference that spans from New Jersey to California. As of next fall, the conference will consist of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, and Wisconsin.
The What:
The Flex Protect Plus is a scheduling model that allows ultimate flexibility... look, no one ever said the name was clever.
Instead of forcing each team to have three protected rivals, the league decided to respect its history and only protect the most important and historical rivalries. The conference has tried to force rivalries before with Maryland, Rutgers, and Penn State, but fans never bought in. They tried again with Nebraska and Wisconsin, but instead, a more natural rivalry formed between Nebraska and Iowa.
The conference decided, even though it makes the scheduling tougher, to make everyone happy and essentially let each school determine which rivalries matter to them and their fanbase. By going this route, the conference trimmed the fat and only put out the best spread it could while taking into account team preferences and traveling for the new West Coast schools.
Ultimately, the Flex Protect Plus model ended with 11 protected rivalries, with every team besides Penn State having at least one protected rival and Iowa with three.
The 11 protected rivalries:
- Illinois-Northwestern
- Illinois-Purdue
- Indiana-Purdue
- Iowa-Minnesota
- Iowa-Nebraska
- Iowa-Wisconsin
- Maryland-Rutgers
- Michigan-Michigan State
- Minnesota-Wisconsin
- Ohio State-Michigan
- USC-UCLA
It may be surprising that Penn State and Ohio State weren’t protected, but if you listened to the noise coming out of Penn State, they wanted it to be known that they do not have any rivals in the conference and would be fine with any scheduling model as long as they were not in the East division with Ohio State and Michigan. Fans may consider OSU and PSU a rivalry, but clearly, the two schools do not.
For programs without three protected rivals, the Big Ten will select one to three teams that will play each other in home and homes for a two-year cycle, creating a 3-6-6 scheduling arrangement where each program will play three opponents twice and rotate the other 12 teams during the two-year cycle.
The When:
The Flex Protect Plus model will start next year for the 2024 football season, coinciding with the arrival of USC and UCLA and the full commitment of the new television media deal. The media deal technically starts this July, but CBS still has the SEC for the 2023 season and is not a full participant until 2024.
The Where:
The where is complicated. The Big Ten stretches from New Jersey to California and the conference and teams will have to be mindful of who is playing where and how that will affect their players.
Currently, Big Ten teams leave immediately following games to head home. A team traveling to California or vice versa may have to deal with return trips that don’t see them get home until the early morning. Teams will have to figure out the best schedule to travel home, and how to get their equipment back to campus as well. Generally, a team’s equipment is driven by a semi-truck to away games, but a semi from State College to Los Angeles may not be feasible.
This is something that the conference will constantly have to take into consideration and is another reason for the added flexibility.
The Why:
So after a year of discussion, why did the conference come up with this model? If you ask them they’ll say a few things.
One is that they wanted to preserve the historic rivalries of the conference. Eight conference rivalries have been played over 100 times, and six of them were kept in this model — only sacrificing Illinois-Ohio State — who will play in 2024 and 2025 — and Michigan-Minnesota.
Illinois-Purdue, Iowa-Wisconsin, and USC-UCLA have all been played over 90 times and were also protected. Even Iowa-Nebraska have played 53 times, making Rutgers-Maryland the only protected rivalry without a real history.
Secondly, they did not want to box USC and UCLA in by forcing them to have rivals across the country. While it makes scheduling more difficult, this model allows them to be intentional with who plays who, when, and where. USC and UCLA knew what they were getting into by joining the conference, but it was still important to support them and ease their travel.
Lastly, the conference wanted to find the balance between scheduling great games for the three media partners — CBS, Fox, and NBC — while also creating a competitive balance that gives the conference the best chance to get multiple teams in the new 12-team playoff that also starts in 2024. While maybe creating more work on the back end, this model is the best chance at making everyone happy — all 16 teams, including their coaches, players, and administration as well as the television partners.
The How:
So you may be wondering, how is the conference going to maintain this schedule and pick the “two-play opponents” for each team.
We may never know exactly how they choose the two-play opponents or why, but I expect them to be teams that either have rivalries that weren’t protected — i.e. Ohio State and Illinois in ‘24 and ‘25 — as well as a combination of the best games. It may not have been fair to make USC or UCLA come into the conference and play Ohio State or Michigan in back-to-back years, but you can be sure they will be two-play opponents eventually, maybe as soon as the next schedule release.
We will get Ohio State-Penn State, Michigan-Minnesota, and other games of importance, but by only committing to two years the conference can closely monitor teams and create the best matchups. Think of it like the NFL. The reason the NFL schedules one year at a time is so that the league can create the best matchups from Super Bowl rematches to rematches of amazing in-season games. They also routinely make the best teams play the hardest schedules, which allows for competitive balance.
The Big Ten should model its scheduling off of that; while not a replica, it would be beneficial. I expect to see the Big Ten announce its schedule around this time every two years, building excitement for future matchups and allowing for teams to plan travel to and from the West Coast.
Continue reading...
LGHL Buck Off Podcast: Big Ten TV’s deal, Ohio State ‘What Ifs,’ brutally honest recruiting roundup
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Buck Off Podcast: Big Ten TV’s deal, Ohio State ‘What Ifs,’ brutally honest recruiting roundup
Chris Renne via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The guys are back to discuss some major sports stories and their biggest ‘What ifs’ in Ohio State history
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about asking “What If?”. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”What If?” articles here.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
On today’s episode of “Buck Off with Christopher Renne,” I’m joined by Jordan Williams to discuss all the news surrounding Ohio State football, the Big Ten, and the wide world of sports.
To get the show started, we get into two of the biggest stories in the sports world. Lionel Messi is coming to America and this is a generational story that changes American sports. Then we talk about the LIV/PGA merger, and how the overarching story is indicative of all the decisions made in the sports world.
After that, we turn our attention to some Ohio State football news. We talk about the five best offensive linemen, who they might be, and why there is a history of the best five not actually working. We then turn to predicting the Big Ten TV schedule – sorry about the time traveling on this one.
We return from the break with a discussion about the biggest ‘What ifs’ in regard to Ohio State. This talk gets into Troy Smith in a modern offense, the potential replacements of Urban Meyer, and more fun looks back at Ohio State.
To close out the show, we finish with a brutally honest recruiting round-up.
Connect with the Show:
Twitter: @BuckOffPod
Connect with Chris Renne:
Twitter: @ChrisRenneCFB
Connect with Jordan Williams
Twitter: @JordanW330
Continue reading...
Chris Renne via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The guys are back to discuss some major sports stories and their biggest ‘What ifs’ in Ohio State history
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about asking “What If?”. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”What If?” articles here.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
On today’s episode of “Buck Off with Christopher Renne,” I’m joined by Jordan Williams to discuss all the news surrounding Ohio State football, the Big Ten, and the wide world of sports.
To get the show started, we get into two of the biggest stories in the sports world. Lionel Messi is coming to America and this is a generational story that changes American sports. Then we talk about the LIV/PGA merger, and how the overarching story is indicative of all the decisions made in the sports world.
After that, we turn our attention to some Ohio State football news. We talk about the five best offensive linemen, who they might be, and why there is a history of the best five not actually working. We then turn to predicting the Big Ten TV schedule – sorry about the time traveling on this one.
We return from the break with a discussion about the biggest ‘What ifs’ in regard to Ohio State. This talk gets into Troy Smith in a modern offense, the potential replacements of Urban Meyer, and more fun looks back at Ohio State.
To close out the show, we finish with a brutally honest recruiting round-up.
Connect with the Show:
Twitter: @BuckOffPod
Connect with Chris Renne:
Twitter: @ChrisRenneCFB
Connect with Jordan Williams
Twitter: @JordanW330
Continue reading...
LGHL ‘What if’ Jim Tressel never resigned?
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- 0 Replies
‘What if’ Jim Tressel never resigned?
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Benjamin Solomon/Getty Images
‘The Vest’ left Ohio State under unfortunate circumstances. But what if things had gone differently, allowing Tressel to exit on his own terms?
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about asking “What If?”. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ‘What If?’ articles here.
On May 30, 2011, as a result of the infamous TatooGate scandal, Jim Tressel resigned from his head coach position at The Ohio State University. Long story short, it was determined that Tressel had been less than forthcoming with his knowledge of unpaid college athletes (his players) exchanging autographs and memorabilia – related to their name, image, and/or likeness(es) – for tattoos...
Shameful! And for those egregious and malicious actions, he deserved a punishment more severe than some handed out to other coaches who had willingly turned a blind eye to much, much worse.
In reality, Tressel’s ‘crimes’ were minor and laughable now, especially considering the current NCAA environment. But rules is rules, I guess, and The Vest broke them. As a result, the third-winningest coach in Ohio State football history was forced to resign, tarnishing an otherwise tremendous legacy.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24706919/120943062.jpg)
Photo by Gene Lower/Getty Images
Since Tressel’s resignation, he has moved on to administrative roles, recently retiring as the president of Youngstown State University. But something tells me that we have not heard the last of this coach-turned-president, because teaching, leading, and mentoring seem to be of the utmost importance to Tressel. Those things – the ability, empathy, and/or desire to help others – they’re in his bones, his very nature. So I have a hunch that his story is not yet (fully) written.
But what if Tressel’s story was just different? What if he never resigned as head coach of the Buckeyes, and instead chose to force the hand(s) of others? Would he have been fired anyway? Would a harsh, season-long penalty have been levied against him? Ultimately, we will never know. But I have a few guesses as to how things would have (or could have) played out.
Regardless of how hard Tressel fought or argued, he was always going to be in hot water. His actions, while far from deplorable, were deliberate. He misremembered certain things, failed to share pertinent information, and essentially made a bad situation worse. But if he had continued to fall on the sword, and then pushed for a harsher, non-termination penalty, I believe that he could have remained at Ohio State and continued his coaching career... at some point.
Because let’s be honest here: Plenty of coaches have done worse and (still) stuck around for a long, long time, despite their seedy behavior. Hell, some coaches have made a living out of toeing the proverbial line, crossing it constantly but never making a huge, obvious leap to the punishable side. Tressel was squeaky clean to this point in his career. He was respected and revered as a man, a coach, and a leader, without a past blemish on his resume. Sure, his actions throughout TattooGate were difficult to defend, but his character was not.
So what if Tressel does not back down and instead decides to ‘fight the power’ in a nod to Chuck D? As I said earlier, I believe that the coach of the 2002 national champions could have retained his job. It may have led to a messy situation with lawyers and whatnot involved, but were Tressel’s actions any worse or any more deserving of termination than those of other past offenders? I think not. Instead, I think that Tressel had a legitimate leg to stand on.
Say he (The Vest, The Senator) does pursue legal action and eventually accepts a six-game suspension... Then what happens? Or what if, right? In this hypothetical scenario, I think Tressel would have stuck around Columbus for a few more seasons, experiencing success but ultimately coming up short in his and the Buckeyes’ pursuit of another championship.
Because the game, especially on offense, had begun to evolve beyond what he preferred and what he was used to. ‘Tressel ball’ would have become dated and archaic. To reach another level, OSU needed speed, style, and innovation, which is what Urban Meyer eventually brought to Columbus. And speaking of...
What happens with Meyer and others if Tressel sticks around for a bit longer? Well, what if I tell you that I think things play out very similarly!? It might sound crazy, but consider this: Tressel was in his late fifties when he resigned. He had spent a decade at Ohio State, recently lost three consecutive bowl games (including back-to-back title games), and was involved in TattooGate.
So who’s to say Gene Smith and THE university are not ready to move on a year or two, or three, after the scandal? Guess who would theoretically be available around this time... That’s right, Urban Meyer! The former Florida Gators coach came out of early retirement to take the OSU job in 2012, but was previously thought to be perfectly content at ESPN.
In this sliding glass door scenario, Tressel could have retired after 2012 season and still given Meyer one full season to acclimate in Columbus. He only needed two before winning the 2014 national championship.
Another possibility is that Tressel remains at Ohio State for a handful of years, before deciding to hang it up in 2014 or 2015. By that time, Meyer is probably elsewhere. Or he is beyond comfortable at ESPN and five or six years removed from coaching. Then what does the post-Tressel era look like? I think the answer is clear and obvious.
In this scenario, Luke Fickell officially succeeds Tressel and is probably still coaching the Buckeyes today. I truly believe that. Because Fickell was and always will be a Buckeye. He bleeds scarlet and gray. And he stuck around until the end of 2016, likely waiting for his dream job to come available.
But the stars never aligned, and he became a coaching star elsewhere. If the former defensive coordinator and linebackers coach had received an opportunity in Columbus – without the shadow of a scandal hanging over OSU – then I have no doubt in my mind that he would have been successful under different circumstances.
Which means what for Tressel — again, in this last scenario? Well, how does Ohio State Athletic Director Jim Tressel sound? Perhaps another hair-brained idea from yours truly, but we watched him transition to admin life. Quite seamlessly, in fact. Gene Smith has been great as the (current) AD, but maybe he would have decided to pass the baton to Tressel and pursue other opportunities once The Vest was ready for “civilian life”. I guess we will never know.
And that is the point here, right? Asking what if but knowing the question lacks a real answer. That impossibility (of coming up with a definitive answer) is what makes this exercise fun! You or I could go in any direction, using our wildest imagination, and nobody gets to say we’re wrong!
So although we will never know or find out the alternate ending to Jim Tressel’s Ohio State story, I choose to believe it would have been a good one... Or a better one, at least.
Continue reading...
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Benjamin Solomon/Getty Images
‘The Vest’ left Ohio State under unfortunate circumstances. But what if things had gone differently, allowing Tressel to exit on his own terms?
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about asking “What If?”. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ‘What If?’ articles here.
On May 30, 2011, as a result of the infamous TatooGate scandal, Jim Tressel resigned from his head coach position at The Ohio State University. Long story short, it was determined that Tressel had been less than forthcoming with his knowledge of unpaid college athletes (his players) exchanging autographs and memorabilia – related to their name, image, and/or likeness(es) – for tattoos...
Shameful! And for those egregious and malicious actions, he deserved a punishment more severe than some handed out to other coaches who had willingly turned a blind eye to much, much worse.
In reality, Tressel’s ‘crimes’ were minor and laughable now, especially considering the current NCAA environment. But rules is rules, I guess, and The Vest broke them. As a result, the third-winningest coach in Ohio State football history was forced to resign, tarnishing an otherwise tremendous legacy.
Since Tressel’s resignation, he has moved on to administrative roles, recently retiring as the president of Youngstown State University. But something tells me that we have not heard the last of this coach-turned-president, because teaching, leading, and mentoring seem to be of the utmost importance to Tressel. Those things – the ability, empathy, and/or desire to help others – they’re in his bones, his very nature. So I have a hunch that his story is not yet (fully) written.
But what if Tressel’s story was just different? What if he never resigned as head coach of the Buckeyes, and instead chose to force the hand(s) of others? Would he have been fired anyway? Would a harsh, season-long penalty have been levied against him? Ultimately, we will never know. But I have a few guesses as to how things would have (or could have) played out.
Regardless of how hard Tressel fought or argued, he was always going to be in hot water. His actions, while far from deplorable, were deliberate. He misremembered certain things, failed to share pertinent information, and essentially made a bad situation worse. But if he had continued to fall on the sword, and then pushed for a harsher, non-termination penalty, I believe that he could have remained at Ohio State and continued his coaching career... at some point.
Because let’s be honest here: Plenty of coaches have done worse and (still) stuck around for a long, long time, despite their seedy behavior. Hell, some coaches have made a living out of toeing the proverbial line, crossing it constantly but never making a huge, obvious leap to the punishable side. Tressel was squeaky clean to this point in his career. He was respected and revered as a man, a coach, and a leader, without a past blemish on his resume. Sure, his actions throughout TattooGate were difficult to defend, but his character was not.
So what if Tressel does not back down and instead decides to ‘fight the power’ in a nod to Chuck D? As I said earlier, I believe that the coach of the 2002 national champions could have retained his job. It may have led to a messy situation with lawyers and whatnot involved, but were Tressel’s actions any worse or any more deserving of termination than those of other past offenders? I think not. Instead, I think that Tressel had a legitimate leg to stand on.
Say he (The Vest, The Senator) does pursue legal action and eventually accepts a six-game suspension... Then what happens? Or what if, right? In this hypothetical scenario, I think Tressel would have stuck around Columbus for a few more seasons, experiencing success but ultimately coming up short in his and the Buckeyes’ pursuit of another championship.
Because the game, especially on offense, had begun to evolve beyond what he preferred and what he was used to. ‘Tressel ball’ would have become dated and archaic. To reach another level, OSU needed speed, style, and innovation, which is what Urban Meyer eventually brought to Columbus. And speaking of...
What happens with Meyer and others if Tressel sticks around for a bit longer? Well, what if I tell you that I think things play out very similarly!? It might sound crazy, but consider this: Tressel was in his late fifties when he resigned. He had spent a decade at Ohio State, recently lost three consecutive bowl games (including back-to-back title games), and was involved in TattooGate.
So who’s to say Gene Smith and THE university are not ready to move on a year or two, or three, after the scandal? Guess who would theoretically be available around this time... That’s right, Urban Meyer! The former Florida Gators coach came out of early retirement to take the OSU job in 2012, but was previously thought to be perfectly content at ESPN.
In this sliding glass door scenario, Tressel could have retired after 2012 season and still given Meyer one full season to acclimate in Columbus. He only needed two before winning the 2014 national championship.
Another possibility is that Tressel remains at Ohio State for a handful of years, before deciding to hang it up in 2014 or 2015. By that time, Meyer is probably elsewhere. Or he is beyond comfortable at ESPN and five or six years removed from coaching. Then what does the post-Tressel era look like? I think the answer is clear and obvious.
In this scenario, Luke Fickell officially succeeds Tressel and is probably still coaching the Buckeyes today. I truly believe that. Because Fickell was and always will be a Buckeye. He bleeds scarlet and gray. And he stuck around until the end of 2016, likely waiting for his dream job to come available.
But the stars never aligned, and he became a coaching star elsewhere. If the former defensive coordinator and linebackers coach had received an opportunity in Columbus – without the shadow of a scandal hanging over OSU – then I have no doubt in my mind that he would have been successful under different circumstances.
Which means what for Tressel — again, in this last scenario? Well, how does Ohio State Athletic Director Jim Tressel sound? Perhaps another hair-brained idea from yours truly, but we watched him transition to admin life. Quite seamlessly, in fact. Gene Smith has been great as the (current) AD, but maybe he would have decided to pass the baton to Tressel and pursue other opportunities once The Vest was ready for “civilian life”. I guess we will never know.
And that is the point here, right? Asking what if but knowing the question lacks a real answer. That impossibility (of coming up with a definitive answer) is what makes this exercise fun! You or I could go in any direction, using our wildest imagination, and nobody gets to say we’re wrong!
So although we will never know or find out the alternate ending to Jim Tressel’s Ohio State story, I choose to believe it would have been a good one... Or a better one, at least.
Continue reading...
LGHL I-70 Football Podcast: Instant Reaction - Reviewing the Big Ten’s Flex Protect Plus
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- 0 Replies
I-70 Football Podcast: Instant Reaction - Reviewing the Big Ten’s Flex Protect Plus
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
Dante and Jordan give their instant reaction to the Big Ten’s new scheduling model.
Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Holy Land’s I-70 Podcast. On this show, we talk about all things Big Ten football and basketball. After every week of action, we will catch you up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players you should be paying attention to next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
The Big Ten announced its new scheduling model — the Flex Protect Plus — which starts in 2024. Under this new scheduling model, all 16 teams had the opportunity to protect which rivalries meant the most to their schools and their fanbases.
In this episode, Jordan and Dante discuss the new scheduling model and their likes and dislikes. Dante thinks that the schedules should have been more challenging, as outside of USC and Wisconsin the top schools got seemingly easier opponents. Is Iowa ducking smoke by choosing three rivals and less flexibility, or are they just protecting rivals for their fanbase?
The guys try and figure out why Penn State didn’t protect a rivalry, and which rivalries they wish would have protected as well. While they disagree on who has the easiest rivals for the two-year stretch, they both agree that this model is much better than the divisions and can’t wait until 2024.
Connect with us on Twitter:
Jordan: @JordanW330
Dante: @DanteM10216
Continue reading...
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Dante and Jordan give their instant reaction to the Big Ten’s new scheduling model.
Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Holy Land’s I-70 Podcast. On this show, we talk about all things Big Ten football and basketball. After every week of action, we will catch you up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players you should be paying attention to next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
The Big Ten announced its new scheduling model — the Flex Protect Plus — which starts in 2024. Under this new scheduling model, all 16 teams had the opportunity to protect which rivalries meant the most to their schools and their fanbases.
In this episode, Jordan and Dante discuss the new scheduling model and their likes and dislikes. Dante thinks that the schedules should have been more challenging, as outside of USC and Wisconsin the top schools got seemingly easier opponents. Is Iowa ducking smoke by choosing three rivals and less flexibility, or are they just protecting rivals for their fanbase?
The guys try and figure out why Penn State didn’t protect a rivalry, and which rivalries they wish would have protected as well. While they disagree on who has the easiest rivals for the two-year stretch, they both agree that this model is much better than the divisions and can’t wait until 2024.
Connect with us on Twitter:
Jordan: @JordanW330
Dante: @DanteM10216
Continue reading...
