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Groton Daily Independent
Tuesday, July 25, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 025 ~ 27 of 38
the coach will have to sort through seven candidates for starting right guard, leaving one rival supporter to grouse that any of the runners-up could start for nearly every other team in the conference.
Meyer’s demeanor re ects the sta- bility he’s brought to the program, and his willingness, nally, to share some of the responsibilities of the job. That’s a far cry from the anxiety-rid- den days that led to his well-publicized burnout after taking Florida to the top of the sport.
That’s probably not a coincidence, either.
“He had a ( rst) grandchild,” center BillPricesaid.“Imean,babies—what dobabiesdotomen?Itellhimthat
all the time. ... (In pictures) he’s hold-
ing that child like he was holding the
championship trophy, and it’s the cutest thing in the world.
Ohio State NCAA college football head coach Urban Meyer speaksatBigTenMediaDayinChicago,Monday,July24, 2017.(APPhoto/G-JunYam)
“I give him a hard time about it all the time,” Price added. “He has become a little bit more, I guess, quote-unquote ‘mild.’”
Linebacker Chris Worley thinks the mellower version of Meyer was mostly for the offseason. He expects the glow to wear off as soon as Meyer steps onto the practice eld later this week.
“When football comes,” Worley said, rolling his eyes, “it’s football time.”
Other developments from the rst day of the Big Ten meetings:
— Like Ohio State, the conference is also on solid footing, at least as measured by TV ratings and expo-
sure. Commissioner Jim Delany essentially pioneered the move by college football leagues to build their own television networks and shows no signs of cutting back.
Delany announced the Big Ten Network will triple its prime-time national TV exposure during football season and add more basketball games in the time slot, thanks to new deals with broadcast partners FOX, ABC/ESPN and CBS.
“College football has never been healthier. It’s also never been more fragile,” Delany said, citing major issues ranging from players’ safety and lawsuits to more minor ones like scheduling con icts on Friday night with high school football games.
The FOX and ABC/ESPN football deals run for six years, as does the basketball agreement with CBS. The conference network extended its joint venture with FOX through 2032. BTN President Mark Silver- man said ratings were up 5 percent last season, when the network showed more live events and studio hours than ever before.
— Kirk Ferentz became the longest-tenured coach in major college football following Bob Stoops’ retire- ment from Oklahoma.
“I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it,” said Ferentz, who will begin his 19th season as head coach at Iowa. “I feel fortunate that, in 1981, I somehow, some way, ended up there as an assistant.”
The Hawkeyes are coming off an 8-5 season and Ferentz has promoted his son, Brian, to run the offense. Former coordinator Ken O’Keefe is back as the quarterbacks coach in hopes of sparking what has been a lackluster offense. Ferentz rst met Stoops, who played at Iowa, in 1981 and they became co-workers for a while and good friends.