Big Ten Football

Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren announced Monday the conference's creation of an anti-hate and anti-racism coalition:

"I have made the decision to create the Big Ten Conference Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Coalition and invite student-athletes, coaches, athletic directors, chancellors, presidents and others to join me," Warren stated. "... It is critical that our student-athletes possess their rights to free speech, their rights to peaceful protest and we will work to empower them in creating meaningful change."

Warren also announced he and his wife, Greta, will donate $100,000 through the Warren Family Foundation to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

The decision came one week after George Floyd, a black man, was killed. Warren referenced Floyd in the statement, writing "George Floyd's death cannot be in vain."

Derek Chauvin—an officer with the Minneapolis Police Department who has since been fired—was seen pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, per Steve Almasy, Dakin Andone, Faith Karimi and Sara Sidner of CNN.

Former Indiana football player Chris Beaty was one of two men shot and killed in Indianapolis this past weekend, according to David Lindquist and Justin L. Mack of the Indy Star.

"Beaty suffered multiple gunshot wounds in a shooting reported shortly before midnight on Saturday at Talbott and Vermont streets" and was pronounced dead at the scene, per Lindquist and Mack.

Dorian Murrell, 18, was also shot and killed in a separate incident. Police in Indianapolis have made an arrest in connection to one of the shootings, though it was not indicated "which shooting the suspect was involved in."

The 38-year-old Beaty had played defensive line for the Hoosiers from 2000 to 2003.

As Zach Osterman of the Indy Star noted, Beaty remained involved in the football program well after graduation and built a "strong relationship" with current head coach Tom Allen.

He had already been a local hero dating back to high school, helping Cathedral High School in Indianapolis win three state titles.

Beaty returned to Indianapolis after college and was managing night clubs while also founding the company Worldwide Masks, which created masks to help during the coronavirus pandemic.

His impact was felt in social media posts from a variety of local personalities:

Indianapolis was placed under curfew beginning at 8 p.m. local time after violence over the weekend.

The city was one of dozens in the United States with protests this week after the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after since-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Chavin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Jim Harbaugh can neither confirm nor deny the video of him performing a celebratory cartwheel and shouting "Go Blue!" had anything to do with getting the commitment of a big-time recruit. 

The Michigan coach certainly can't say if that particular recruit was linebacker Jaydon Hood out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who committed to the Wolverines on Monday.

Harbaugh can, however, discuss the cartwheel itself, and there is plenty to break down there. 

Speaking on The Rich Eisen Show, Harbaugh noted the act left plenty to be desired.

"I was a little disappointed I didn't get my legs up more to a 90-degree angle," Harbaugh said. "... It was a gymnastics move. I didn't give myself a very high point-grade for that."

Were the coach indeed celebrating Hood, it wouldn't take much explaining. 

A 247Sports 4-star recruit, Hood chose Michigan over offers from Alabama, Florida State, LSU and Miami. At 6'1", 212 pounds, he seems ready to handle the rigors of college football, and as the No. 11 inside linebacker in the country for the class of 2021, it likely won't take much for him to see the field. 

Of course, NCAA rules forbid Harbaugh from saying anything about that just yet. After his disastrous attempt at acrobatics, it may need to institute new rules on cartwheels performed by coaches as well. 

Jim Harbaugh has never even won a divisional crown during his nine years as a collegiate head coach, but he believes his Michigan Wolverines have been right on the cusp of the national championship during his five seasons in charge.  

"I mean, just look back over the last the last years that we've been here last five years," he said, per Zach Shaw of 247Sports. "About as close as you can possibly be. But you got to put it over the top. That's what drives us."

To Harbaugh's credit, he took over the Wolverines at a particularly low point for the historic program and wasted little time putting them on the right track.

Despite going 5-7 in 2014 during Brady Hoke's final season, Michigan went 10-3 in 2015 during Harbaugh's first season. It went 10-3 in Harbaugh's second season, but the final record doesn't tell the entire story.

Those 2016 Wolverines were 10-1 and on track to potentially make the College Football Playoff when they lost a heartbreaker on the road to the archrival Ohio State Buckeyes in double-overtime to end their chances at a Big Ten title. They then lost the Orange Bowl by a single point to Florida State.

That 2016 campaign was the closest Harbaugh has come to competing for a national championship, but he still would have needed to win the Big Ten Championship Game and two CFP games to lift the trophy.

He went 8-5 in 2017 and 9-4 in 2019, but the 2018 season was another in which Michigan had an opportunity to play its way into the national picture.

It was once again 10-1 and in position to make the CFP heading into the final regular-season game when it was embarrassed by the Buckeyes. Ohio State didn't need double-overtime to dispatch the Wolverines this time and instead unleashed a 62-39 blowout before Michigan lost the ensuing bowl game to Florida by 26 points.

And therein lies the rub with Harbaugh.

Until he can find a way to beat the powerhouse Buckeyes, he cannot be taken seriously as a national championship contender. He is 0-5 against Ohio State and lost the last two rivalry showdowns by a combined 52 points, underscoring the vast difference between the two programs at this point.

That difference could only get bigger. The Buckeyes have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for 2021, although Michigan is an impressive No. 5, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

Only when Harbaugh finds a way to parlay his recruits into a victory over Michigan's archrival and then postseason success will he finally be able to call himself a champion. Until then, he will continue searching for his first division title in the collegiate ranks.

Had Penn State's spring training camp gone on as planned this year, the Nittany Lions might have had a familiar face holding a clipboard on the sidelines.

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley was in talks with his alma mater to join the coaching staff for the offseason workouts before the coronavirus pandemic changed the sports landscape. 

Penn State head coach James Franklin confirmed the plan to the New York Post's Ryan Dunleavy:

"Saquon reached out to me and his plan was to come and spend spring ball with us as a coach. He wanted to sit in all of the coaches meetings to see how we came up with the game plan, how we watch film and all the things we discuss.

"He wanted to be able to learn football and view it through a different lens because he thought that would help his growth, and he'd be able to go back and have a bigger impact with the Giants. He could see how coaches assess things and why."

Franklin says he wasn't the least bit surprised after Barkley reached out. 

Following back-to-back seasons with more than 1,000 rushing yards, the running back is looking to take the next step in his career and help bring the Giants back to the postseason for the first time since 2016.

"He is very curious about a lot of different things," Franklin told Dunleavy. "Throughout Saquon's college experience and afterwards, he is very observant. He is asking a lot of questions. Whenever your best player is also your strongest culture-driver behind the scenes, it's a recipe for success."

As much as Barkley could have gained from working the sidelines in State College, the current Penn State players could've learned just as much from him.

In three years at PSU, the tailback ran for 3,843 yards with 43 touchdowns while catching 102 passes for 1,195 yards and another eight scores. He was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017 before becoming the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft and then the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year. 

Perhaps the best part of the arrangement would've been the on-site gyms and fields available to the NFL star. 

"He could've worked out in our facility, and it would've been great for our program and our players to be around him," Franklin told Dunleavy. "He wanted to really attack and approach football from a different perspective thinking that would help him be a better player but also have a bigger leadership impact with the Giants." 

Penn State's camp was scheduled to run from March 18 to April 18, but it was canceled because of the pandemic.  

Regardless of what happens with the University of Illinois football team this season, its biggest loss won't come on the field. 

It already happened in the home Lovie Smith when the Illini head coach shaved off his beard. 

Here's what Smith's beard looked like:

Here's what he looks like now: 

It's truly an incalculable loss for the program. 

In the world of college football, where tensions run high and consensus comes along as often as a postseason without Alabama, Smith's beard was one of the few things football fans could agree upon. 

It was luscious, full of life and mystifying. Now it's gone and college football won't feel the same again. 

On the other hand, Illinois hasn't finished with a winning record since the Ron Zook era. After going 6-7 in 2019 with a loss in the Redbox Bowl, Smith has the program ready to take a step forward in 2020. 

If he's able to produce to season above .500, he may never be allowed to grow facial hair again. If the program goes backward, he may have to bring it back immediately. 

Inside linebacker and 4-star recruit Jaydon Hood committed to Michigan on Monday, and Jim Harbaugh is pretty excited about it. 

The Wolverines head coach is one of three Michigan coaches attempting cartwheels in the video Hood posted to Twitter announcing his commitment:

The team's defensive coordinator Don Brown and linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary also dropped cartwheels in the video. Clearly, Michigan's coaching staff is thrilled about the addition. 

Hood is a good get for the Wolverines. He's considered the No. 11 inside linebacker prospect in the Class of 2021, the No. 48 prospect from the state of Florida and the No. 298 prospect overall, per 247Sports' Composite Rankings. 

Andrew Ivins of the recruiting site offered the following scouting report on Hood:

"A high-intensity football player that's always in chase mode. Quick to diagnoses plays and react. Combats blocks well while keeping his eyes in the backfield. A physical striker that likes to runs his feet through contact. Productive at the high school level having totaled 115 tackles as a junior. Adequate in zone coverage, but should be better in space given speed and testing profile. Will need to improve transitions and clean up how he finishes. Has a chance to develop into an impact player for a Power 5 program and could eventually have his name on all-conference lists."

According to Tom VanHaaren of ESPN, Hood had also been considering Miami, Kentucky, Minnesota, Louisville and South Carolina. 

His addition has Michigan climbing up the board in the recruiting wars, as they currently sit sixth in 247Sports' Rankings for the class of 2021. He joins a number of exciting prospects, highlighted by 5-star quarterback J.J. McCarthy and 4-star offensive tackle Giovani El-Hadi, both considered top-100 recruits.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Wolverines have added one other 4-star talent, outside linebacker Junior Colson. The hope will be that Hood and Colson make up a dangerous linebacker duo in the years to come. 

Curtis Blackwell's federal lawsuit against former Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio, former president Lou Anna Simon and former athletic director Mark Hollis was dismissed on Wednesday.

Per Matt Wenzel of MLive.com, United States District Court Judge Janet Neff dismissed the case following March recommendations from magistrate judge Sally Berens. 

In addition to the dismissal, Neff ordered Blackwell's attorneys, Thomas Warnicke and Andrew Paterson, to pay monetary sanctions. 

Blackwell was a former staff member under Dantonio from 2013-17. He filed a lawsuit in November 2018 against Dantonio, Simon, Hollis and two Michigan State police detectives, saying he was wrongfully accused of covering up for student-athletes in an alleged sexual assault in January 2017.

Former Michigan State football players Josh King, Donnie Corley and Demetric Vance were sentenced to three years probation in June 2018 after pleading guilty to felony seduction charges stemming from an accusation that they raped a woman in the bathroom of her on-campus apartment. 

Per Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press, police said Blackwell was led out of Michigan State's football facility in handcuffs on Feb. 8, 2017.

"With no evidence, none, that [Blackwell] covered up for the athletes, the MSU Police Department, in stormtrooper fashion cuffed [Blackwell]; seized his personal and MSU cell phones and hauled him off to the MSU Police station," the lawsuit read.

Per Wenzel, Blackwell refused to speak to representatives from Jones Day law firm which had been retained to investigate how sexual assault allegations against football players were handled by the athletics department. Blackwell was subsequently the only university staff member not to be cleared of wrongdoing in the firm's report. He said his Fifth Amendment rights were violated after his contract wasn't renewed following the investigation.

Wenzel noted that Berens' recommendation "admonished Blackwell's attorneys for using court filings to generate media attention. 

Neff ruled that Blackwell has until June 5 to find new representation, as his lawsuit against the two Michigan State police officers will be allowed to continue.  

For the Michigan Wolverines, all roads lead to Columbus. 

The Ohio State Buckeyes have won eight straight times in the classic Big Ten rivalry, including all five games during the Jim Harbaugh era. And Harbaugh knows the Wolverines won't be able to accomplish any of their goals if they can't get a win against the Buckeyes. 

"We got to beat Ohio State," he told Mike Tirico on NBCSN's Lunch Talk Live (h/t Angelique S. Chengelis of the Detroit News. "Nothing makes us angrier than that, or me, but that's what we're working toward every day. We've beaten everybody else, but we haven't beat them. That's what we have to do, beat them, win a championship, get ourselves in the playoff, win a national championship."

Ohio State alum and Detroit Lions rookie cornerback Jeff Okudah expects Michigan's frustrations to only grow, however:

While Ohio State has bragging rights at the moment, Harbaugh added that he's greatly enjoyed his time at Michigan.

"It's been a joy to coach our guys. We're a high-drive team. We're driving toward success, we want to put it over the top," he told Tirico. "We've just been kinda on that outside of the playoffs, haven't gotten in and want to push that over the top. That's our mission."

Michigan leads the all-time series 58–51–6, but since 2001 the Buckeyes hold a stunning 17-2 advantage (including their vacated 2010 win). In that time, Ohio State has also won two national championships. A once-competitive rivalry has become extraordinarily one-sided.  

Meanwhile, Harbaugh's time with the Wolverines has been a mixed bag. He's gone 47-18 at the school and just 1-4 in bowl games, never leading the team to the College Football Playoff. Michigan has three 10-win seasons with him at the helm but no appearances in the Big Ten title game. 

He brought major expectations after successful stints as the head coach for Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers. To this point, however, he hasn't lived up to the hype.

And perhaps more importantly, he hasn't beaten Ohio State. 

There may be fans in Ohio Stadium this fall after all, albeit not the 100,000-plus who typically pack the stands on football Saturdays. 

According to Kyle Rowland of the Toledo Blade, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said he is "confident" in the ability to develop a plan that would allow 20,000 to 30,000 fans in the stadium for football games despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Rowland noted Smith also said scheduling needs to be done by early July if the 2020 season is going to take place.

Smith told reporters he prefers there to be a nationally implemented solution when it comes to playing games in the fall and believes the Big Ten could continue playing without one school if it was unable to play.

The comment underscores a reality college football faces when decisions are eventually made about the upcoming football season.

Unlike in professional leagues such as the NFL, MLB and NBA where there is a commissioner representing the league as a single entity, college football is made up of a number of different conferences spread across various states with different rules in place from government and public health officials.

What could work in a state such as Georgia may not be allowed in California, and vice versa. 

What's more, there are some large public schools that may not even have students on campus in the fall, raising the question if football players would be exempt from such rules just because they play a nationally prominent sport.

Heather Dinich of ESPN reported NCAA president Mark Emmert said the NCAA will not oversee a singular return to college sports and instead leave the decisions elsewhere.

"Normally, there's an agreed-upon start date for every sport, every season," Emmert said. "But under these circumstances, now that's all been derailed by the pandemic. It won't be the conferences that can do that either. It will be the local and state health officials that say whether or not you can open and play football with fans."

Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk said the SEC's chancellors and presidents plan on voting Friday whether they will open facilities on June 1, per Dave Matter of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told Brandon Marcello of 247Sports the conference has discussed a return at some point between June 1 and July 1.

As for Smith, he said there are ongoing conversations across the country regarding whether fans can attend, and he is growing "more comfortable with the idea" stadiums may be empty. 

He also added he isn't "100 percent comfortable" with football being played at the current moment, although that can change depending on how the situation unfolds from a public health perspective.