Ranking the Big Ten head football coaches

1. Ryan Day, Ohio State: OK, we get it. Day has coached all of one full season at Ohio State, which makes it eye-opening to put him at the top. But it was an impressive season, as the Buckeyes won 13 games before a debatable call helped derail things in the national semifinals. Since then, Day has managed to create an uptick in what was already impressive recruiting and shows no signs of a drop-off as he continues to transition the program from the days of Urban Meyer.

2. James Franklin, Penn State: Franklin did well to get the Nittany Lions bowl eligible his first two seasons as they waded through the post-Jerry Sandusky days of limited scholarships and postseason bans. Since then, he’s taken the program back to a championship level, winning 11 games three of the last four seasons and taking home the conference title in 2016. He continues to recruit at a high level and will be pushing Ohio State each season to win the East.

3. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin: Like the Badgers program, Chryst sometimes gets overlooked. Maybe he’s not as flashy or outspoken as some, but he leads one of the most consistent programs in the country. In five years at Wisconsin, Chryst has failed to win at least 10 games only once and has won the Big Ten West three times. The only knock is the Badgers have yet to win the conference title game under Chryst, but odds are he’ll get a few more cracks.

4. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern: Considering Fitzgerald has been to nine bowl games, won 10 games in a season three times and has played in a Big Ten title game is impressive enough. That he’s done it at Northwestern is even more remarkable. There have been a few bad years sprinkled in, but with Northwestern’s commitment to upgrading its facilities, it would be wise to believe Fitzgerald is just getting started.

5. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan: It’s hard to look at Harbaugh’s record and find too much to complain about. In five seasons leading the Wolverines, he’s 47-18 with three 10-win seasons. Yet, that’s not why Harbaugh was hired at Michigan. The former quarterback was supposed to lead the Wolverines back to the top of the Big Ten and be a player nationally. That hasn’t happened, as Harbaugh has yet to win a division title, something that’s hard to ignore, even in the Big Ten East.

6. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa: If there’s a prize for consistency over a long period of time, Ferentz is at the top of the list. We might be a little tough on him on this list, especially for a guy who has just four losing seasons in 21, but it’s worth noting the Hawkeyes haven’t won a Big Ten title since 2004. They came close by making the conference title game in 2015 and Ferentz has a better than .500 record in bowl games, but 7-8 wins a year lands you right here on this list.

7. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota: The high-energy style of Fleck might rub some the wrong way, but he’s proven to be a winner. After leading Western Michigan to 13 wins and a spot in the Cotton Bowl in 2016, he had the Golden Gophers in a bowl game in Year 2 and in 2019 had Minnesota on the verge of a division title while winning 11 games and picking up a victory in the Outback Bowl.

8. Tom Allen, Indiana: Building momentum in football at Indiana is no simple task, as the Hoosiers have had a winning season only twice in the last 25 years. But one of those was last season when Allen led Indiana to eight wins and a top-25 ranking for the first time in a quarter of a century. The key will be maintaining the success, no simple task when the likes of Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan are on the schedule every season.

9. Jeff Brohm, Purdue: The first two seasons couldn’t have gone much better from Brohm, who quickly turned the Boilermakers from a bottom-feeder in the Big Ten to a team that qualified for two straight bowl games and seemed to be an up-and-comer in the West. Injuries helped derail that momentum in 2019, and it will be interesting to see of Brohm can right the ship heading into 2020 and become a threat to win the West.

10. Greg Schiano, Rutgers: This one falls into the difficult-to-judge category, as Schiano returns to Rutgers after leading the program to new heights from 2001-11. After two poor seasons leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Schiano resurfaced in 2016 as the defensive coordinator at Ohio State. That run prepared him for his second stint with the Scarlet Knights, a team that has won just 13 games over the last five seasons.

11. Lovie Smith, Illinois: Smith has twice coached in the Super Bowl, once as a head coach and once as a coordinator, but that sort of success has been hard to come by in four seasons with the Fighting Illini with a 15-34 overall record. There were signs last season, though, that things are starting to turn as the Illini won six games and reached a bowl game for the first time under Smith.

12. Mel Tucker, Michigan State: Judging a first-year coach is difficult, a task made even harder by the fact Tucker has been a head coach for a grand total of one year, going 5-7 at Colorado in 2019. It will be a tough transition for Tucker, who takes over for the winningest coach in program history — Mark Dantonio — and does so playing in the Big Ten East, one of the toughest conferences in college football.

13. Scott Frost, Nebraska: There was plenty of buzz when Frost was hired after leading UCF to a perfect season in 2017. The former Cornhuskers quarterback finished his first season in Lincoln on a positive note, winning four of the final six games. But after some were picking the Huskers to win the West in 2019, they failed to qualify for a bowl game and finished at 5-7.