Why are Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas? A Joe Paterno reference, and more Day 1 takeaways

LAS VEGAS — Big Ten Media Days are underway at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The action kicked off Tuesday morning with an opening news conference with commissioner Tony Petitti. From there, coaches from various schools, including Ohio State, Maryland, and Illinois, among others, took the stage to field questions on BTN before they and their players did the same in off-camera round tables.

Penn State will take the stage on Wednesday. Here are some top takeaways from Tuesday.

Jeremiah Smith is in the spotlight

To the surprise of absolutely no one, star Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith was the talk of both the town and the third-level conference room floor, where this year’s Big Ten talking season is taking place. He is one of the nations’ most electric players, the Big Ten preseason offensive player of the year via two media voting panels, and a favorite to win this year’s Heisman Trophy.

“If you look at him, you’ve seen him where he’s gotten bigger and stronger and faster than he was last year,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said. “He was at workouts the other day, and Mick constantly says during our warmups, he’s the first guy every time we run through and we’re warming up. The first guy every single time. He just sets such a standard.

“You don’t need to motivate Jeremiah. What he did as a freshman speaks for itself, and like you said, he may not be an older guy, he may not be really vocal in terms of his leadership, but what he does on the
field speaks for itself, and the work ethic he’s brought into this year has been exceptional. I think that deserves an opportunity to be here today, and that’s why he’s here.”

Why are Big Ten Media Days in Vegas?

That’s a question that is on the mind of many this week. This event has been in Chicago and Indianapolis previously. So why is it Vegas now, beyond the obvious conference expansion tie-in?

“To be candid, this was a logistics thing,” Petitti said. “Some things were going on in Indianapolis. We have brought our media days to Indy, and it’s worked really well for us. It just wasn’t possible this year. Then we had to make some decisions about where to go.

“We’re bringing our men’s and women’s basketball tournaments here in the next couple of years, so it made sense. The city has been great in terms of providing us the resources we need to do this. I think obviously we are a conference that goes coast to coast, so having some presence closer to our West Coast members is not a bad thing.

“It started with logistics, to be really candid.”

Who had a Joe Paterno reference on their 2025 Big Ten Media Days bingo card?

It came courtesy of Illinois coach Bret Bielema. He was asked: “At times on social media you have stood up for your program, stood up for the Big Ten, pushed back against some SEC narratives at times. The Big Ten has to win on the football field. Do you think the Big Ten also needs to fight that perception battle at times, and why are you maybe the right guy to do it?”

Here’s what he said verbatim, per ASAP Transcripts:

“I’m not the right guy to do it. I may do it. My wife will tell you she gives me a couple of slow your roll deals once in a while when I’ll get going.

“I will tell you this, I learned early in life, right, if you don’t stand up for yourself, no one else will. Sometimes that’s a little bit driven on what I believe in, but I will tell you, I stand here as a head coach that has been very fortunate. I was an assistant coach. I played and coached under Hayden Fry. I worked for Kirk Ferentz and Bill Snyder and Barry Alvarez, Bill Belichick. Those first four guys, in college football, those guys are all first-ballot Hall of Famers.

“I today represent a lot of what they taught me. I also remember being at my first Big Ten spring meeting, and Lloyd Carr and Jim Tressel pulled me aside, and I was 35, 36 years old, and they basically said, hey, from what Barry has told us, you’re going to be a really good football coach. You’re at an age right now that as you move forward in your career, you’re going to have to be a voice for this game when we need it the most.

“I think about that all the time. I was just sitting there, oh, Lloyd is a pretty good dude. Jim Tressel, he’s got the sweater vest and all, but he’s a pretty cool dude. I didn’t realize the impact of what those guys put in me as a young coach.

“I sat in there and listened to Joe Paterno and Delany get in fights. Like, I was like, This is awesome. Right? They’re going back and forth on debates. And the part that’s been so awesome for me in my career is, like, what’s right is right, what your opinion is great to express on your own, but you have to listen to others, right? You said right away, like, I don’t go after the SEC. I like making points or re-tweets, but I want to make college football great. I want all of us to get to a place that everybody can have success.

“When this gentleman mentioned earlier about capping it at four and why should those four teams have to play another game, I would say why the hell would you not want to play another game? Keep everybody going in the right direction. College football is at a world where the depth that you can acquire and attain however you want to do it, some people believe in if you pay somebody a lot of money, they’re going to play really well.

“I don’t believe that’s the case. I think kids play well when they’ve been coached, developed, and treated the right way. They’ll make their money when they make their money.

“It’s just I know that I get labeled at that a little bit, but I will tell you there’s several coaches in the SEC that I consider very great friends. Mark Stoops and I used to share a hotel together in spring recruiting when we both made $50,000. We split a Motel 6 for $36 a night so we could keep our per diem money. When he got his big contract — I know I got a little one too, but I said come a long way since Motel 6, right?”

Some of those guys are my best friends, and respect the hell out of who they are and what they are.