Live Updates: Day 1 of Big Ten Football Media Days

LAS VEGAS | Three days of Big Ten football talk are underway in Las Vegas, which is hosting the Big Ten Football Media Days for the first time. All 18 Big Ten coaches are in town for the annual preseason festival of commentary.

We'll be updating Day 1 of the event, which begins with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti's state of the conference.

Can't wait to see how @B1Gfootball tops last season 💪 pic.twitter.com/zGSUjEwRHd
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) July 22, 2025

Ohio State's Ryan Day 'fired up' about new DC Matt Patricia

Day took his time replacing former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who left for Penn State soon after the national-championship game. Knowles has praised the defensive culture Penn State coach James Franklin has created. Day on Tuesday praised Matt Patricia, his new defensive coordinator, for embracing Ohio Statre's defensive culture.

"We want to run the Ohio State defense, and Matt was willing to embrace that," Day said. "... He'll have his little changes, but we want to keep the structure. I'm fired up."

Nebraska's Matt Rhule: 'We believe we can play with anybody'

Former Nebraska coach Scott Frost, now back at Central Florida, made some pointed comments recently about his time as the Cornhuskers' coach. Rhule didn't address them specifically at Big Ten Media Days but noted how much he had to unwind in his first two seasons.

"Yes, we have to win more. That’s the deal," Rhule said. "But we came into a program that we knew it was going to take a little bit of time to fix. I think it's close to fixed."

Nebraska went 7-6 (3-6 in the Big Ten last year) but returns an roster that Rhule called fast and explosive. He also praised sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola, who took some hard knocks as a first-year starter but returns with the right callouses.

"We believe we can play with anybody," Rhule said. "We’re going to go make a run at this thing this year."

Maryland's Mike Locksley on losing his locker room in 2024

Locksley made the most blunt self-assessment of any coach, saying that "Coach Locks lost his locker room last season." The Terps went 4-8 overall, 1-8 in the Big Ten, something Locksley said he confronted personally during and after the season. He thought Maryland was better than a four-win team, but money got in the way.

"For the first time, those really strong relationships [with players] were questioned," Locksley said, "because I had to decide whether to pay a freshman coming in or take care of a veteran player. ... It was hard to do both.:

Locksley said he's unsure about what this team will bring but said, "I won't lose my locker room this year." He attributed that in part to revenue sharing and new Maryland Athletic Director Jim Smith, who has offered ways to "help make my job a little bit easier."

Elvis is back in the building! 😂

Mike Locksley brought his best Elvis impression to Vegas.#B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/qtiaTG3pjm
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) July 22, 2025

Indiana's Curt Cignetti: 'We're not looking to sustain it'

The ever-confident Indiana coach took the podium with quite the landmark statistic. Cignetti's staff became the first to produce 10-0 starts in back-to-back seasons at two different schools (Indiana and James Madison). And he's not backing down from the chest-thumping of 2024, when the Hoosiers made the College Football Playoff and had the best football season in Hoosiers' history.

"We're not looking to sustain it," Cignetti said. "We're looking to improve it."

Cignetti also addressed Indiana's decision to cancel a home-and-home series vs. Virginia by referencing the SEC and the number of games its teams play against FCS opponents. "We figured we just adopt the SEC scheduling philosophy," Cignetti said.

Rutgers Greg Schiano: 'I came back to win the league'

Schiano begins the sixth season of his second stint as Rutgers' head coach ready to go beyond rebuilding. Rutgers went 7-6 last season and, Schiano believes, is moving in the right direction. He then made this statement, acknowledging that it "might sound funny" outside the program.

"It was a tough start, but we’ve kind of step-by-step climbed our way back to the middle of the league," Schiano said. "But I didn't come back to do that. I came back to win the league."

Illinois coach Bret Bielema tests BTN's delay

The always-entertaining Bielema tested Big Ten Network's delay with a folksy note about his past and the world in which he coaches now. Bielema was a walk-on at Iowa before earning a scholarship. This month, his players got paid through revenue sharing.

"And now we have a system where, in July, we played our players through PayPal," Bielema said. "Holy s---, the world has changed."

Bielema has one of the more intriguing teams in the Big Ten, coming off a 10-3 season with one of the conference's top returning quarterbacks in Luke Altmyer. But he's embracing those expectations.

"We've gotta have a chip on our left shoulder and our right shoulder," Bielema said.

Commissioner Tony Petitti defends Big Ten's playoff position

Petitti reiterated the Big Ten's position on an expanded College Football Playoff regarding automatic, or allocated, qualifiers. Petitti said that would address the Big Ten's desire to "better conect the regular season and the postseason" and make its proposed postseason play-in format matter. The Big Ten still sits across the aisle from the SEC on playoff formatting.

"We want more conference games to matte in November," Petitti said. "The playoff format should not function as a disincentive to schedule tough non-conference games."

Added Petitti, "To be clear, formats that increase discretion and role of the the CFP selection committee will have a difficult time getting support from the Big Ten."

The Big Ten play-in weekend is tethered to Petitti's playoff plan. In addition to a conference title game, Petitti would like to see games matching the 3-6 and 4-5 seeds, with winners earning allocated playoff spots. "We feel really strongly that fans will gravitate toward a play-in weekend," Petitti said.

Petitti confirmed an ESPN report that he wrote to the NCAA Committee on Infractions asking that Michigan face no further sanctions for the 2023 sign-stealing scandal. He would not go into the letter's contents, citing an ongoing investigation, but did say that the investigations should go more quickly.

"When you think about the [College Sports Commission] and discipline, trying to build an enforcement mechanism that is faster is a priority," Petitti said.

Big Ten's Tony Petitti: "If you're 6-3 in the Big Ten, I would argue that's a good record. If you stumble in the non-conference I don't know why that would disqualify you (from playoff contention)"
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 22, 2025

Big Ten Preseason Honors

In lieu of a preseason poll, the Big Ten releases a players honors list. The conference recognized 15 players, three from Penn State: quarterback Drew Allar, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton and running back Nicholas Singleton. Allar will represent Penn State on Wednesday along with center Nick Dawkins and safety Zakee Wheatley.

Penn State is tied for the most preseason honorees with Ohio State, who is represented by receiver Jeremiah Smith. linebacker Sonny Styles and safety Caleb Downs.

The coaches scheduled to chat on Day 1 are Illinois' Bret Bielema, Rutgers' Greg Schiano, Indiana's Curt Cignetti, Maryland's Mike Locksley, Nebraska's Matt Rhule and Ohio State's Ryan Day.