When Jim Tressel took over as Ohio State head coach six years ago, he remembered it to be a hectic time.
Every concern, no matter how small, crossed his mind before the Buckeyes opener that season
.
"I remember that first week trying to figure out how we were going to come out of the locker room, or align ourselves on the sideline," Tressel said on yesterday's Big Ten coaches' teleconference. "Whenever you take on a new group of people it just seems like there's so much to do and so many things that need to be explained for the first time."
This weekend, three Big Ten head coaches will likely share similar feelings -- if they haven't yet already -- when they lead their teams on the field for the first time.
Tim Brewster is Minnesota's new coach after spending the past five seasons in the NFL, the last two as the Denver Broncos tight end coach. The Gophers job is his first collegiate head coaching position.
Mark Dantonio replaced John L. Smith at Michigan State, and brought eight assistants from his staff at Cincinnati, where he was head coach the past three years.
And Bill Lynch took over Indiana's program under difficult circumstances following the passing of Terry Hoeppner in June.
Tressel, who has led Ohio State to four BCS Bowl games and one national championship since 2001, has some advice for all three.
The pace of the game and "the grandeur of it all," Tressel said, are the hardest things for a first-year Big Ten coach to adjust to.
"You need to spend some time, take a deep breath and slow the whole world down so you can do your part," he said.
Brewster anticipated doing that anyway after spending 21 seasons as a college and pro assistant, working under the likes of Mack Brown at Texas and Marty Schottenheimer and Mike Shanahan in the NFL.
"I was an assistant with the intent of being a head coach," Brewster said.
"This week is going to go very, very slow."
Wisconsin, OSU find QB
Wisconsin lost only two offensive starters after last season: Joe Thomas and John Stocco.
But finding a man to replace Stocco was no small task.
Tyler Donovan is that man. Not only will he be charged with Stocco's 2,185 passing yards and 17 touchdowns, but he'll be a counter balance to the rushing attack led by P.J. Hill.
Donovan is a fifth-year senior who beat out Allan Everidge for the starting job.
"What I basically said to our kids from last spring is everyone from the outside world is going to view this as controversy," Wisconsin coach Brett Bielema said.
"I refer to it as quarterback competition."
That competition "allowed the players to get better every day," Bielema said, and Donovan emerged with the job.
At Ohio State, Todd Boeckman, a redshirt junior, will start at quarterback. Over two years, he played in a total of six games and went 7-for-10 for 86 yards passing and a touchdown.
Great expectations for Benn
As a much-ballyhooed recruit last year, Arrelious Benn created a stir in Illinois long before he arrived. And he arrived early.
Benn, a 6-foot-2 freshman wide receiver, enrolled at Illinois in January. That, Illinois coach Ron Zook said, has made a big difference.
"He's almost like a redshirt freshman," Zook said.
Benn was named a first-team All-American out of high school. However, Zook was quick to caution about Benn.
"He's still a freshman," Zook said. "The one thing we have to remember is he is a frosh. He'll be a lot better player next year. He's a big guy; he's a strong guy; he's a great athlete.
