Coaches pay tribute to innovative Tiller

Rich Rodriguez got it half right.

With the way one Big Ten coach after another had something to say about outgoing Purdue coach Joe Tiller, Thursday's Big Ten media day felt like a roast -- just as the first-year Michigan coach opined.

The part Rodriguez got wrong? Unlike the good-natured ribbing at most roasts, Tiller's colleagues had nothing but nice things to say.

"I'm very, very fond of Joe Tiller," said Penn State's Joe Paterno. "I think he's somebody you like to see in college and I am sorry he is going."

As revered as Tiller is at Purdue -- he's poised to end his career as the school's all-time winningest coach before turning things over to new associate coach Danny Hope -- he's done just as much to change the image of the Big Ten.

When Tiller brought the spread offense to West Lafayette, Ind., in 1997, much of the conference relied on the ground game. This year eight Big Ten teams will use some version as its base offense.

"I think Joe Tiller will always be looked at in the Big Ten as an innovator on the football field," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said.

Tiller's impact at Purdue is easy to measure: taking a program that had one winning season in the 12 years preceding his arrival to 10 bowl games in his 12 seasons.

It's just as easy to gauge how he's helped change the Big Ten's identity. Three yards and a cloud of dust has given way to five wides and some offensive shootouts.

"Joe came in and he started to open up offenses and created a lot of problems," Paterno said. "And we in coaching are all people who are mimics."

Besides the legacy of high-octane offenses, Tiller will be remembered for his sense of humor, which made him popular with coaches and media alike.

Tiller, 65, was at it again Thursday, describing the spread's impact.

"To me, it's almost a reflection of our society in that things can be instant in the spread offense," Tiller said. "And I often times refer to our society as being an instant-gratification society, so the spread offense fits right in. We've just done our part to make America better."

Delany speaks: Though slowed slightly by a lingering flu, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany's brain was just as sharp and consistent as ever.

He said there's no expansion on the horizon. He thinks there might be a nice bidding war during the next round of BCS/television negotiations.

And he's still adamantly against the "Plus One" format, which would give college football a four-team playoff.

"Because I think there's a belief that a four-team (playoff) becomes an eight-team, an eight-team becomes a 12 (team) ..." Delany said.

"Every basketball tournament, every baseball playoff, every NFL playoff has started small and grown and become sort of a dynamic structure.

"Give me one piece of evidence that any playoff that was at two (teams) and went to four teams stayed at four. You can't."

Whup Zook? Some Illinois players play an ongoing game where they size up a person and decide if they could take head coach Ron Zook. That explains why Illini senior linebacker Brit Miller's gaze lingered on Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald on Thursday afternoon at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

"Coach 'Fitz' is the only coach in the Big Ten who could beat up Zook," Miller said.

But Fitzgerald, who'll soon be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame after twice being named the national defensive player of the year, claimed otherwise even though he's 21 years younger than Zook.

"False," Fitzgerald said. "No way. I don't work out anymore. I just run."

Fitzgerald, who played at 235 pounds for NU, weighs 200 today. Zook, meanwhile, works out like a fiend and can bench 300 pounds and squat 500.

Brewster enthusiastic: Minnesota coach Tim Brewster -- make that the University of Minnesota, a phrase Brewster used 10 times in his media session -- is excited about the Sept. 12, 2009, opening of TCF Bank Stadium.

"It will just be an amazing place for the Big Ten teams to come play," said Brewster, a tight end on Illinois' 1983 Big Ten championship team. "It will be a tremendous advantage for us in recruiting, helping us with our game-day experience."

The Golden Gophers finished last in the Big Ten last season at 0-8 (1-11 overall) ,but they might have the coach with the most enthusiasm.

"You don't realize the University of Minnesota has won six national championships and 18 Big Ten championships," Brewster said. "The University of Minnesota is truly one of the top schools in the Big Ten. Now it's been a long time since we've won a championship, but without question we believe that we can make an impact in the Big Ten, and that's why we're here."

No surprise here: The media selected Ohio State, which is bidding to become the first team in the 113-year history of the Big Ten Conference to win three straight outright titles, the preseason favorite ahead of Wisconsin and Illinois.

Buckeyes running back Beanie Wells and linebacker James Laurinaitis swept the preseason offensive and defensive players of the year.

"Among the Ohio State faithful we're expected to win the conference every year and just like the other coaches are at their places. I don't know that that adds anything," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.

"I think had our guys come to play at Ohio State or come to coach at Ohio State they understand that the expectation is that we want to deserve to be the Big Ten champions, and that's what it is. And just because a poll said so before the year, I don't know if that adds anything."

The Buckeyes play perhaps the most marquee nonconference game in the country this year when they play at Southern California on Sept. 13.

Former USC star and now Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer created a stir in Ohio when he told an Los Angeles radio station: "I cannot stand the Buckeyes. It's amazing to hear what those guys think about that university and what they think about that football program and (OSU coach Jim) Tressel and all the crap I gotta put up with being back there. ... I'm really getting sick of it."

Tressel brushed off Palmer's comments.

"It just tells you one thing: he's proud of the place he played and he lives with us in Ohio and I'm sure he gets to hear a lot about the Buckeyes," Tressel said.