7 takeaways from Big Ten media days, including Michigan’s Kyle Whittingham looking to ‘put the drama to bed’

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti was the final coach to take the big stage at Big Ten football media days, walking up in front of a crowded room Thursday at the Hilton Chicago.

“Everybody ready to get out of here and get home?” he cracked.

Big Ten coaches have a busy month ahead as training camps get underway to prepare for a season that starts Aug. 29 for a handful of FBS teams and the following weekend for the rest.

But first the coaches cycled through myriad interviews over three days. They talked about their teams this season but also the state of the conference and other big-picture topics — including what Cignetti did last season with the national champion Hoosiers.

Here’s what the coaches said on that and several other subjects during the event.

1. Illinois’ Bret Bielema called Indiana’s rise ‘the most impressive story that I’ve witnessed in my college career.’

The Hoosiers’ rapid turnaround from longtime Big Ten bottom dweller to 16-0 national champion in Cignetti’s second season was a popular topic. Coaches gave Cignetti and his players their due but also noted that it shows what’s possible in this era of college football thanks to the transfer portal, revenue sharing and name, image and likeness compensation.

“If you look at it in the landscape of college football, it should give every player, every coach, every fan base hope, vision and belief that it can happen,” Purdue’s Barry Odom said. “It’s sped things up for everyone. But you also look at how they pieced it together. It worked for them. It’s not the same for every team and program.”

Bielema, whose team lost 63-10 to Indiana in September, said it was the greatest run he has seen in college football.

“I’m not going to say that Indiana inspired me, but I would say that what they have done shows you wherever we are in college football,” Bielema said. “Don’t get me wrong, it takes an incredibly talented person. Curt is an extremely intelligent coach who surrounded himself with some really gifted people, it looks like.

“And, you know, it is inspiring because you see something that I’ve known forever, right? I’ve been in this conference a long time, and to see Indiana become what they are is pretty impressive. I like those kinds of things. I like people that do things that no one else says they can do, and he obviously just did it.”

2. Michigan’s Kyle Whittingham said he wants to ‘put the drama to bed.’

Whittingham, the coach at Utah for 21 seasons, took over a Michigan program in December that has had a laundry list of scandals in recent years at the leadership level, including the firing of coach Sherrone Moore after an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.

Whittingham is tasked with bringing stability back to the program. He acknowledged his players have been through a lot over the last several years and said it will be “refreshing” for his team to focus only on football and academics.

“There has been a lot of drama,” he said. “We hope that we’ve come to the end of that and we’re ready to proceed just with the business of playing football and winning football games and graduating players and putting the emphasis on things that should have the emphasis.

“There were some unfortunate things that happened. It’s not my place to really speak out on it. I wasn’t there. I was not involved. I can tell you now we have a very hungry and willing group of players that have worked their tail off for the last seven months and are eager to get the season started.”

Whittingham is one of four new coaches looking to turn around Big Ten teams’ fortunes this season, along with Penn State’s Matt Campbell, Michigan State’s Pat Fitzgerald and UCLA’s Bob Chesney.

3. Whittingham said expectations ‘might have been a little high’ for quarterback Bryce Underwood as a freshman.

Underwood was the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2025 and had big expectations on his shoulders in his first season at Michigan. He completed 202 of 335 passes (60.3%) for 2,428 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions as the Wolverines went 9-4.

Whittingham said there’s plenty for Underwood to improve, but he thinks the sophomore’s future is bright.

“He just turned 18 years old, true freshman, thrust into the starting role of the Michigan Wolverines,” Whittingham said. “I don’t know what people did expect, but he was able to win nine ballgames and put up some decent numbers.

“He knows, we know those numbers have to improve. Given the circumstances, I thought he did some good things. What we’ve seen since we’ve been there, since we’ve analyzed the film, first of all physically he’s got everything you want: 6-4, 230 pounds, runs about a 4.6 40. Has a cannon for an arm, throws well on the move.

“He has a very high ceiling. I think he’s going to turn out to be a very successful quarterback at Michigan.”

4. Northwestern’s David Braun responded to Fitzgerald’s ‘home-field advantage’ comment.

Fitzgerald, who is back in the Big Ten for the first time since Northwestern fired him, mostly kept it amicable this week as he talked about starting anew. But he did level one shot at his alma mater.

“I’m just excited to have a home-field advantage,” he said while talking about why he’s happy to be at Michigan State. “Never lived that. It’s going to be cool. Really excited about it, not going to lie.”

When asked about the comment, Braun said he hadn’t heard it, but he responded, “I’m excited to have a home-field advantage at new Ryan Field too.”

The new $875 million Ryan Field was of course a topic of conversation among the Northwestern contingent. During his news conference, Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti mentioned the stadium’s opening night Oct. 2, when the Wildcats play Penn State.

Braun offered up the stadium’s opening as one reason for optimism at Northwestern. And the Wildcats players at media days — running back Caleb Komolafe, wide receiver Griffin Wilde and safety Robert Fitzgerald — talked about their excitement after touring the stadium with coaches a week earlier.

“It’s amazing,” Komolafe said. “It’s literally like a gladiator stadium walking out to it, seeing it.”

Wilde expects the stadium to be “buzzing” on that first night.

“Everyone should be excited to open up a new stadium, to be the first game in the stadium,” he said. “Students should be at an all-time high, coming into the stadium for the first time too. For them to take it all in and be there for us, it’s going to be a huge deal.”

5. Illinois has a ‘notable’ new feature at 103-year-old Memorial Stadium.

Illinois installed a 17,300-square-foot video board in the south end zone this offseason and will unveil it to the public Aug. 8 by showing the movie “Air Bud” on it.

Athletic director Josh Whitman said the board, the biggest main video display in college football, commands attention. He also said it “closes off that end of the building nicely” and wondered about the effects it will have on wind and noise in the stadium.

Illinois also has monitors on the back side of the board that faces the street, and Whitman hopes to show the games on those monitors.

Bielema called the video board “crazy” and said fans are in for an upgraded experience. He has been advised that the team should practice with the video board on.

“Because it can kind of be overwhelming to the players almost,” Bielema said. “You think about it, like, you’re running a 15-yard comeback, you’re facing one way, and all of a sudden you turn around and there’s the screen with you maybe on it. There are some factors in there that are unique and different.”

6. Ohio State’s Ryan Day said quarterback Julian Sayin ‘has a different look in his eye.’

For the first time since C.J. Stroud in 2021-22, Ohio State will have the same quarterback starting in back-to-back seasons.

The Buckeyes fell short of expectations in 2025, losing in the Big Ten championship game to Indiana and in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals to Miami. But Sayin and his fellow Heisman Trophy candidate, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, lead a formidable group that could be ranked No. 1 in the preseason.

Day said Sayin is a different person this year, stronger both physically and in how he uses his voice. He also has a new coach to challenge him: former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, who was most recently the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator.

“(Sayin) has liked the challenge of some of the things that Arthur is bringing to the table,” Day said. “When you go from coaching Aaron Rodgers to a college quarterback, you can certainly imagine what that has been like for Arthur.

“Man, Julian keeps up. It’s been fun to watch. Excited to see where this goes this year with him.”

7. Cignetti had the last word (for now) on the SEC-Big Ten debate.

Multiple coaches and even Petitti were asked to weigh in on the debate about whether the SEC or Big Ten is the better conference. The Big Ten has won the last three CFP championships, but SEC pundits have questioned the conference’s depth.

As Cignetti closed out the news conferences on the big stage Thursday, he said he believes the Big Ten is the best conference, noting the high number of physical, well-coached teams with difficult road environments.

“We don’t run a hype machine up here in the Midwest,” he said. “We believe everything is earned, not given. When we fall short, we say, ‘We fell short.’ We don’t cry a river, whine and complain. That’s why we’re the best.”