The two men above coached against one another during their respective team's final game of last season, a postseason affair at the Cotton Bowl. They meet again in six months, in the final regular season matchup of 2017.
The only difference is that P.J. Fleck has a new job; he is now the head football coach at the University of Minnesota. Paul Chryst led Wisconsin to its second double-digit win season in as many tries in 2016, finishing 11-3 overall and losing to Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game before besting Fleck's Western Michigan Broncos in Dallas, 24-16.
Fleck isn't the only new name in the head coaching ranks of the Big Ten's West Division. Purdue made a splash in early December when it hired former XFL "Football Guy" Jeff Brohm in place of Darrell Hazell. Even deeper, there are three new offensive coordinators and four new defensive coordinators — namely Bobby Diaco at Nebraska and Jim Leonhard at Wisconsin — in the division alone. Clearly second-fiddle in the Big Ten, the West appears it is at least trying to be better.
Wisconsin, Minnesota and Northwestern all won bowl games to close out the 2016 season, while Lovie Smith slogged his way to an ugly 3-9 campaign in his first year at Illinois. Mike Riley's Nebraska Cornhuskers started 7-0 but then lost back-to-back road games at Wisconsin and Ohio State on the way to a 9-4 finish.
Here is a look at what each West team has as its top concern this summer before the 2017 season. You can see what worries the teams in the East have over here.
Wisconsin Badgers
Chryst's team led Penn State 28-14 at halftime of the Big Ten Championship game, then only mustered a field goal over the final 30 minutes as Trace McSorely started throwing bombs all over the field behind Wisconsin's defensive backs.
That is where the concern lies for the Badgers. Leonhard received a promotion from defensive backs coach to coordinator when Justin Wilcox took the head job at Cal. His secondary loses safety Leo Musso and his team-leading five interceptions, as well as corner Sojourn Shelton, who picked off four and started for what felt like forever. Pass rushers T.J. Watt and Vince Biegel are now in the NFL, so finding new bodies who can get the quarterback is also essential.
But Wisconsin gave up way too many huge plays through the air toward the end of the season. Suring up the secondary should be priority No. 1 this summer.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Career starts for departed starting quarterback C.J. Beathard: 27.
Career passes thrown for returning quarterbacks Nathan Stanley and Tyler Wiegers: 12.
Get the point of summer for the Hawkeyes? Kirk Ferentz even announced in February that 2015 quarterback commit Ryan Boyle is moving back to the position after spending last season at receiver. It all writes the same story for Ferentz and his son, Brian, whom he hired as offensive coordinator in January: somebody needs to establish himself as Beathard's replacement.
via Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Wiegers didn't play in 2016 as a sophomore while Stanley served as Beathard's backup. Neither made it clear he was the guy during spring practice, so the battle continues ahead of training camp.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Like Iowa, Nebraska has to find someone to step in for a stalwart at quarterback. Tommy Armstrong Jr. is finally out of eligibility after eight seasons, and backup Ryker Fyfe also graduated.
Armstrong Jr. started 44 games in college and though he was at times erratic, Nebraska's chances to win increased exponentially with him in the lineup. Mike Riley welcomes Tulane transfer Tanner Lee to the fold after redshirting Patrick O'Brien in 2016. Riley also signed Tristan Gebbia, who enrolled in January to partake in spring practice.
Lee is the only one of the three with college experience, albeit at the American Athletic Conference level, and looked to have the edge in the spring game. Riley has recruited pretty well at the skill positions in recent years, signing Keyshawn Johnson Jr. and one-time Ohio State commit Tyjon Lindsey at receiver. That position needs a facelift but won't get it if it doesn't have a worthy quarterback leading the offense.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota elected to fire Tracy Claeys a year after promoting him from his post as interim coach. Moving on from Claeys angered some in the program and players moved on. Fleck also said on the Big Ten Spring Teleconference that due to 22 offseason surgeries, spring practice essentially turned into 7-on-7 drills due to a lack of readily available bodies.
Fleck has to find a new quarterback after Mitch Leidner graduated but Conor Rhoda elected to stick around for his senior season after the change in leadership. The Gophers desperately need more from the recruiting trail moving forward as well. According to 247Sports, Goldy's recruiting classes finished ranked 13th, eighth and 12th in the Big Ten the last three years. Not great. Culture change? You bet. Welcome to Fleck's mission, and the biggest issue for him this summer. Getting everyone to buy into what he is selling, both coaches and players.
“I'm not for everybody,” he said this spring. “So the last thing I'm going to do is hire somebody that doesn't work with me well and I don't work well with them because if you do that, you have to adjust later on.”
Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern has plenty of issues defensively after finishing last in the league against the pass and 10th in total defense. Not to mention stars Ifeadi Odenigbo and Anthony Walker Jr. both now play in the NFL.
Pat Fitzgerald's biggest concern, however, is finding someone to replace 2016 Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year Austin Carr. Clayton Thorson shrugged off a slow start to throw for more than 3,100 yards and a school-record 22 touchdowns last season, 12 of which landed in Carr's hands. More than just a safety net, Carr shredded defenses all year and posted six games where he had more than 100 yards receiving.
Thorson will lean heavily on Andrew Scanlan and Flynn Nagel in 2017 but the two combined for only two touchdowns last fall. Fitzgerald is a defensive-minded coach after back-to-back All-American and award-winning seasons at his alma mater but has to wonder who is going to make plays for the Wildcats on the outside in Carr's absence.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois decision to hire Lovie Smith after an ugly divorce from Tim Beckman caught plenty of eyes. But after a 3-9 season, many on the outside of Champaign only saw more of the same.
How soon Smith's recruits can acclimate themselves to the college game and make an impact will determine his fate for the next two seasons. The roster he inherited was so depleted of talent that it actually came as a surprise to see Illinois win a pair of Big Ten games in 2016.
It helped that Illinois had a strong, senior-laden defensive front (combined 22 sacks) that Smith must now replace. He has his guy at quarterback in Chayce Crouch, so now the question becomes how much the members of his first two recruiting classes can produce. They weren't very highly ranked, so it could be another long year for the Illini.
Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue's roster has holes everywhere but quarterback. Jeff Brohm has a track record of lighting up the scoreboard through the air — his quarterbacks at Western Kentucky the last two seasons averaged 46 touchdown passes — but is there anything else for him to work with in Year 1?
Not really, so Brohm's concerns this offseason revolve around finding ways to keep David Blough's jersey clean and finding some semblance of skill at receiver and running back. Leading receivers DeAngelo Yancy, Bilal Marshall and Cameron Posey (combined 16 touchdown grabs in 2016) are all gone. It'll be a long year for Brohm as he tries to recruit talent to West Lafayette. Putting together ways this summer to move the ball will at least make the Boilers interesting.
