Big Ten coach rankings for 2021: Can anyone catch Ryan Day at Ohio State?

Bill Bender

Big Ten coach rankings for 2021: Can anyone catch Ryan Day at Ohio State? image

The Big Ten coaches are tougher to rank than any other Power 5 conference.

The coaching talent is there. Seven Big Ten coaches ranked in the Top 25 in SN's 1-130 coach rankings, the most of any conference. 

Ohio State's Ryan Day is the top choice after leading the Buckeyes to a pair of Big Ten championships in first two seasons. Where do you go from there? Penn State's James Franklin and Michigan's Jim Harbaugh continue to chase Ohio State in the Big Ten East, and Indiana's Tom Allen is building a winning culture in an unlikely place. 

Wisconsin's Paul Chryst and Iowa's Kirk Ferentz continue to produce steady results in the Big Ten West, and Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald has maintained a winning culture in an unlikely place. It's a loaded group, and Bret Bielema, who won three Big Ten championships at Wisconsin, is back with Illinois. 

Here's a deeper look at our Big Ten coach rankings (overall record in parentheses):  

2021 Big Ten coach rankings 

RANK COACH SCHOOL W L PCT OVR
1 Ryan Day Ohio State 23 2 .920 6
2 James Franklin Penn State 84 43 .661 11
3 Pat Fitzgerald Northwestern 106 81 .567 12
4 Jim Harbaugh Michigan 78 43 .645 15
5 Paul Chryst Wisconsin 75 38 .664 17
6 Kirk Ferentz Iowa 168 106 .613 20
7 Tom Allen Indiana 24 22 .522 21
8 P.J. Fleck Minnesota 56 41 .577 27
9 Scott Frost Nebraska 31 27 .534 49
10 Jeff Brohm Purdue 49 35 .583 58
11 Greg Schiano Rutgers 71 73 .493 61
12 Mel Tucker Michigan State 7 12 .368 62
13 Mike Locksley Maryland 8 43 .157 63
14 Bret Bielema Illinois 97 58 .626 64

Quick reads   

— Aside from Day, Fitzgerald had the most top-10 votes in our staff poll. Fitzgerald has led the Wildcats to a pair of Big Ten West championships the last three seasons, and Northwestern has won its last four bowl games. Expecations might be higher at other Big Ten programs, but Fitzgerald earned this spot. 

— Michigan's Jim Harbaugh is always a polarizing pick. Everyone knows the Ohio State record, but he's 3-3 against Penn State and 2-3 against Wisconsin after last season's losses to both schools. One could flip Harbaugh with Chryst, but you could also flip the divisions for both coaches and arrive at the same close-to-call answer. Franklin, Harbaugh and Chryst are a combined 1-15 against the Buckeyes. That's everyone's problem.

— Minnesota's P.J. Fleck slipped out of the Top 25 after a 3-4 season, but the bounce-back potential with the Gophers is real. Minnesota returns starting quarterback Tanner Morgan, but Fleck has a 15-19 record in conference play the last four seasons.

—Don't fret about Bielema's spot at the bottom. We noted the three Big Ten championships at Wisconsin, and now the challenge of rebuilding Illinois looms. The Illini haven't had a winning season since Ron Zook's final season in 2011, and Bielema hasn't coached in college since 2017. He's bunched up with Rutgers' Greg Schiano, Maryland's Mike Locksley and Michigan State's Mel Tucker, at least for a year. 



 

Bill Bender

Bill Bender Photo

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.