It’s a vicious cycle. You have to win to get the right recruits, and you have to get the right recruits to win. That’s the merry-go-round the Big Ten conference is currently on, and depending on who you ask, recruits have varying opinions on the conference.
Prospects from the North tend to believe the conference is still in the upper echelon, while a good amount of Southern recruits would say quite the opposite.
The Big Ten has an overall record of 24-14 with only two undefeated teams left, compared to the SEC with eight undefeated teams. The Big Ten also has the lowest winning percentage (63 percent) this season for any Power 5 conference, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
You could argue that there is a direct correlation to those wins and losses when comparing the number of big-name commitments as well. The SEC currently has 87 ESPN 300 prospects committed where the Big Ten has 27.
An ESPN 300 prospect from the South who wished to remain anonymous believes part of the Big Ten’s problems on the field and recruiting have to do with geography and coaching.
“The recruiting areas from the North and Midwest aren’t really a hotbed for recruiting. Plus, other than Ohio State or maybe Michigan, there’s not really any big cities or things you can sell recruits on outside of the university,” he said. “Like what does a kid from Florida do at some of those places? Plus, getting a well-known coach like Urban Meyer is a big reason why kids down here like Ohio State.
“They know he can turn things around there and they’ll win. They need to get bigger-name coaches where kids can say, 'Yeah, I know him and I know he’ll get me ready for the NFL.'"
That isn’t the sentiment for every prospect, but plenty of other Southern ESPN 300 recruits agreed with this thinking.
The Northern prospects interviewed did believe the conference is top-heavy with a few teams in the national championship conversation every year, but they had different thoughts on the outlook as a whole.
“As a recruit, conference wasn’t important to me, it was more about the specific school. The SEC is probably the most dominant conference, but I think the Big Ten is fine,” one ESPN 300 prospect from the Midwest said. “In my opinion I don’t think the Big Ten is down. I know Ohio State had the Braxton Miller injury, but I think they would have been competitive and Michigan State played Oregon tough.”
A thought that was consistent with most recruits, regardless of location, was that the Big Ten focuses on bigger linemen than other conferences. Of the recruits interviewed, the majority felt as though the Big Ten was slower in the trenches than the SEC or Pac-12.
One recruit said he thinks the conference as a whole hasn’t adapted as well as other programs to recruiting faster, more athletic prospects on offense and defense.
“I don’t think the defensive linemen are as talented in the Big Ten, just speaking from observing. Looking in the trenches, the 3-techniques in the SEC have more of a pass rush aspect where in the Big Ten it’s more of a run-stopper,” one ESPN 300 recruit said.
“Imagine Josh Sweat coming off the edge in the Pac-12, where he knows they’ll be passing the ball most of the time. Whereas in the Big Ten they want to strap it up and pound it, so they need more big linemen.”
The same recruit went on to say that scheme can play into which programs recruits choose. The prospect said that fast, electric wide receivers want to play in an up-tempo offense, which isn’t typically perceived to be in the Big Ten.
No matter whom you talk to, prospects admit that the conference play on the field needs some work. The problem is there isn’t one answer on how to fix that, or what the teams can do in the future.
Recruiting is a chess game that requires all the right pieces and moves to ensure success. Every team has challenges, so it’s on the coaches to figure out how to overcome them.
Prospects have taken notice, and they themselves don’t know what the definitive answer would be to help fix what ails the conference.
“I guess recruiting is the best answer. If you’re getting the best players, then they’re going to be producing,” an ESPN 300 recruit said. “It’s tough, though, because when someone gets an offer from one of the smaller Big Ten teams and then gets an offer from one of the better teams in the conference, I don’t know the numbers, but I’m willing to bet most go to the bigger school. I don’t know if there is one way to fix it.”