The Big Ten’s 10 biggest offseason moves, from Penn State returnees to key QB additions

Having 18 teams means the Big Ten’s offseasons are bigger, too.

This was a quiet year for coaching changes, as Purdue (Barry Odom) is the only Big Ten program with a new head coach. That doesn’t mean Big Ten teams have been standing still since Ohio State raised the national championship trophy in January. New quarterbacks and new coordinators are prime movers for Big Ten teams hoping to build on last year’s success and those trying to join the College Football Playoff crowd.

Narrowing the list of offseason moves to the 10 most significant is no easy task, but that’s why we’re here. These are the portal pickups, coaching changes and recruiting battles that will shape the Big Ten race in 2025.

1. Drew Allar stays at Penn State

In a down year for quarterbacks, Allar could have been one of the top players drafted had he turned pro after his junior season. His decision to play another year at Penn State cemented the Nittany Lions as a national title contender and the potential preseason Big Ten favorite.

Penn State has cycled through quite a few offensive coordinators before hitting on a combination that worked with Allar and Andy Kotelnicki. In his second season as starter, Allar completed 66.5% of his passes with 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions while leading Penn State to the College Football Playoff semifinals. His shot at a signature drive ended with an interception that propelled Notre Dame into the national championship game, making Penn State the official “Unfinished Business” team for 2025. That worked out well for Ohio State in 2024 and Michigan in 2023.

Players like running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen and defensive linemen Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant also made key decisions to return, while Penn State brought in Devonte Ross (Troy), Kyron Hudson (USC) and Trebor Pena (Syracuse) via the transfer portal to reboot Allar’s receiving corps.

2. Nico Iamaleava transfers to UCLA

The saga of Iamaleava leaving Tennessee and transferring to UCLA would have made the perfect storyline for a Big Ten “Hard Knocks”-style documentary. A quarterback who led his team to the CFP held out for a better NIL deal, ended up in the transfer portal, then signed with the rebuilding Bruins. To complete the quarterback swap, Tennessee signed Joey Aguilar, the Appalachian State transfer who was set to play for UCLA until Iamaleava came on board.

UCLA, which finished 5-7 in DeShaun Foster’s first season, could afford to gamble on a talented quarterback who came with some strings attached. Anyone who tuned out on the Bruins after a 1-5 start missed a 4-2 finish that included wins against Nebraska and Iowa and a competitive loss to USC. Iamaleava should upgrade UCLA’s passing game, though his most recent taste of Big Ten football, a 42-17 loss to Ohio State in the CFP, wasn’t particularly pleasant. Whatever else it accomplished, this move got people talking about the Bruins.

3. Jim Knowles leaves OSU for Penn State

Speaking of “Hard Knocks”-style drama, how about Ohio State’s defensive coordinator joining a conference rival days after winning a national championship with the Buckeyes? Despite Knowles’ success in Columbus, there was an undercurrent of tension that came to a head after the CFP championship game. Knowles did what he was hired to do and delivered a championship-caliber defense for Ryan Day. Now he’s making more than $3 million per year to deliver the same results for James Franklin at Penn State.

It’s not as though Penn State’s defense has been the problem. The Nittany Lions were second in the FBS in defensive yards per play in 2023 under Manny Diaz (now the head coach at Duke) and sixth last season under Tom Allen (now the defensive coordinator at Clemson). Knowles’ job is to maintain that standard of success while finding a replacement for Abdul Carter, the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft.

4. Bryce Underwood arrives at Michigan

Michigan had the Big Ten’s most unstable quarterback situation last season in averaging 129.1 passing yards per game — more than only Air Force, Army and Navy in the FBS. The solution? Sign the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country, who grew up a few miles from Michigan’s campus but originally committed to LSU. Michigan pulled out all the stops to flip Underwood, getting help from Tom Brady and billionaire Larry Ellison. It appears the Wolverines won’t have to wait long for their investment to mature.

With Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene sidelined by an injury, Underwood took starter’s reps in the spring and showed he can lead the team. He’ll have to hold off Keene in preseason camp, but all signs indicate he’ll be on the field sooner rather than later. The pairing of Underwood and new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey will go a long way toward determining whether Michigan can get back to the CFP.

5. Ohio State hires Matt Patricia

This was the corresponding move after Knowles left for Penn State, and it’s a consequential one for the Big Ten race. Patricia is a former New England Patriots defensive coordinator who, like many ex-Bill Belichick assistants, flamed out as an NFL head coach. Hiring him to fill one of the prime coordinator jobs in college football is bound to invite scrutiny.

Detroit Lions fans don’t have many fond memories of Patricia, but Ohio State didn’t hire him to be its head coach. His job is to run a defense that lost some key pieces but returns one of the best players in college football in safety Caleb Downs. The Buckeyes may need their defense to shoulder the load while a new quarterback, likely former five-star recruit Julian Sayin, gets comfortable.

6. Oregon signs the Big Ten’s top portal class

The Ducks are reloading after winning a conference championship in their first season in the Big Ten. They have a lot to replace, especially if top wideout Evan Stewart misses significant time with an injury. The drop-off shouldn’t be too big thanks to a deep portal class that’s been hailed as one of the best in college football.

Oregon beefed up its offensive line with transfers Isaiah World (Nevada), Emmanuel Pregnon (USC) and Alex Harkey (Texas State). Running back Makhi Hughes rushed for nearly 2,800 yards in two seasons at Tulane, and safety Dillon Thieneman is a tackling machine who was the Big Ten’s freshman of the year at Purdue in 2023. Oregon also signed a pair of well-traveled talents in defensive lineman Bear Alexander (formerly of Georgia and USC) and wide receiver Malik Benson, a junior college star who had stops at Alabama and Florida State. The players Oregon added on offense should make life easier on quarterback Dante Moore, one of the top players in last year’s portal class.

7. Bret Bielema’s tweets

It’s not the posts themselves, it’s what they represent. Whether he’s dunking his face in a bowl of cucumber water, needling his rivals or taking jabs at the SEC, Bielema is posting with the confidence of a coach who just signed a contract extension after leading Illinois to one of its best seasons in a quarter-century.

Going 10-3 at Illinois and beating South Carolina in a bowl game is proof that happiness exists outside of the CFP bubble. Illinois has its sights set even higher this season with the return of Luke Altmyer, one of the top quarterbacks in the Big Ten. Whatever happens, let’s hope Bielema keeps posting through it.

8. Iowa finds a quarterback (finally)

If you’ve wondered what Iowa would look like with competent quarterback play, you might finally get an answer. The Hawkeyes have subjected their fans to some brutal offensive football in recent years but took a baby step last season with the hiring of offensive coordinator and Wheaton native Tim Lester, the former Elmhurst University coach. Now Iowa has its quarterback in Naperville native Mark Gronowski, an FCS All-American from South Dakota State.

Iowa’s defense, running game and special teams have been elite, but the passing game has been atrocious. Maybe Gronowski can fix that. A quarterback who threw for more than 10,000 yards and won a pair of national championships at the FCS level should be a clear upgrade. We’ll see if that’s enough to raise Iowa’s ceiling beyond the Citrus Bowl.

9. USC’s S&C shakeup

The ice is getting thinner for Lincoln Riley. The Trojans finished 7-6 in their Big Ten debut, a second consecutive underwhelming season for Riley. In somewhat curious timing, Riley parted ways with strength coach Bennie Wylie after spring practice and hired Trumain Carroll from Kansas State.

Wylie, like ex-DC Alex Grinch before him, was part of Riley’s staff at Oklahoma. Parting with another longtime staffer could be a tacit admission that USC needs to build its team differently to compete in the Big Ten. Losses at Michigan, Minnesota and Maryland took the air out of USC’s season and exposed the Trojans’ issues in the trenches. A partial offseason with a new strength coach won’t make a massive difference, but it should show whether the Trojans are any closer to contending in the Big Ten.

10. Fernando Mendoza to Indiana

Curt Cignetti worked wonders last year with Kurtis Rourke, the Ohio transfer who led the Hoosiers to an unexpected run to the CFP. So what can Indiana do with a quarterback who’s showing up in the first round of the early 2026 mock drafts?

Mendoza flew under the radar at Cal, but draft evaluators like his size and his arm. Plugging him into an offense that ranked No. 2 in the FBS in scoring makes a ton of sense for both sides. The Hoosiers won’t sneak up on anybody this season, but plenty of people viewed Indiana as a Cinderella team that benefited from a favorable schedule before getting smacked with reality in the CFP. Cignetti seems to thrive on that kind of skepticism. Another strong portal class and a big year from Mendoza could put the Hoosiers right back in the CFP chase.

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