The Big Ten needs good coaching hires at Michigan and Nebraska

This year’s edition of the coaching carousel may be one of the more important ones for the state of the Big Ten in some time. Perhaps even more important than when Ohio State and Penn State were conducting job searches at the same time, with Ohio State landing Urban Meyer and Penn State hiring Bill O’Brien, two of college football’s blueblood programs are looking for new head coaches this week. Nebraska decided to change things up on Sunday by parting with Bo Pelini. Michigan looks for a fresh start after firing Brady Hoke on Tuesday.

You can win at just about any program with the right leadership in place. I have no doubt Michigan and Nebraska can be legitimate powers once again with the right hires this year.

Bo Pelini proved to be a good coach. There is nothing inherently wrong with winning nine games for seven straight seasons. Many programs would trade for that kind of success in an instant, but Nebraska has the bar set higher. This is a good thing for Nebraska, and for the Big Ten. Nine wins and a decent bowl trip are not acceptable at Nebraska, nor should they be. That is the message that was sent with moving on from Pelini as head coach. I have doubts Nebraska can recapture the glory days of the 1990s and 1980s, but if the school is going to try something new in order to do just that, that is fantastic for the Big Ten.

Michigan is a different story.

The Wolverines carry the Big Ten banner for better or worst, this cannot be denied. The image of the Big Ten on a national scale is typically judged by how good Ohio State and Michigan. Ohio State has held up its part of the bargain to a certain extent, but Michigan has been dragging the entire conference down with it. It is unfair for the Big Ten to be judged solely on Ohio State and Michigan of course — it should also be judged by how Penn State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Iowa perform etc. — but the Big Ten needs Michigan to reverse the downward trend in Ann Arbor. Brady Hoke, probably a good coach under different circumstances, guided Michigan to a lower win total three straight seasons since leading a Rich Rodriguez-constructed program to the Sugar Bowl in his first season. Hoke has proven capable of recruiting talent, but developing that talent has been a significant concern. As a result, Michigan’s image took a hit, and public relations and business-oriented decisions about branding did little to help. As Michigan went down, so too did part of the Big Ten’s perception.

If the Big Ten is going to change its image, it needs more of a supporting cast behind Ohio State. Instead of relying on Michigan State and Wisconsin to carry the banner, the Big Ten needs some of its other well-known programs to become relevant once again. It needs Nebraska to be good. It needs Michigan to be good. It benefits from having Penn State good again. This is not that far off from becoming a legitimate expectation. Penn State should improve once recruiting catches up. Michigan has plenty of resources and can turn things around quickly with the right hire. Nebraska just needs a little nudge to get back on the national stage as well. Again, the right hires at Michigan and Nebraska can do just that, and Franklin has done his best to provide a spark on the recruiting trail.

The Big Ten is more fun when Michigan and Nebraska and Penn State are good. And the respect for the Big Ten is higher when these programs are worthy of competing on the same stage as Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State.

Be sure to follow this year’s coaching carousel on No 2-Minute Warning.