Big Ten Football Coaches Facing the Toughest Tasks This Spring

Ohio State's quest to replace an incredible 16 starters, Michigan State's journey back from its blowout playoff loss and Michigan's search for its next great quarterback highlight a busy spring for the Big Ten.

The conference was the king of the college football world following a breakout 2014 postseason, when the Buckeyes won the first-ever College Football Playoff, the Spartans beat the Baylor Bears in one of the best games of the season and the Big Ten went 5-5 overall despite being underdogs in each matchup. 

The league went 5-5 again in the 2015 postseason, highlighted by Ohio State's drubbing of Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. But the Big Ten took a hit with Michigan State's disastrous 38-0 defeat at the hands of Alabama in the playoff. 

The road back to college football's biggest stage starts this spring. From new coaches taking over to established ones trying to reload, here are five coaches facing some of the league's biggest challenges. 

Rutgers: Chris Ash's Rebuild

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When Rutgers hired former defensive coordinator Chris Ash away from Ohio State, his first evaluation of the program he inherited didn't go well. It wasn't on par with a team that expects to compete in a loaded Big Ten East Division, and he was frank about the ground his new program had to cover, via Steve Politi of NJ.com. 

"

Everybody thinks that the facility here is outstanding. I'll tell you: It's not. Just look around. This is not on par with what Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State have.

Is it on par with Boston College, Temple, Syracuse and UConn? Yeah, but we don't play those teams any more.

"

A similar comparison can be drawn to the Scarlet Knights, who have gone 12-13 in the last two seasons as Big Ten members and haven't eclipsed the 10-win mark since 2006.  

Turning that around will take a change in culture around the program, in addition to taking advantage of the in-state talent in its backyard.

"We talked about the importance of being able to recruit right here in our home state, and take New Jersey kids and build this program with those players from these programs, and I think we've done an outstanding job of—late in the process—identifying the right type of kids that will fit the culture that we want to try to build," Ash said, according to Keith Sargeant of NJ.com.

Ash's tallest tasks will come on two fronts—establishing the new culture and gaining momentum on the New Jersey recruiting scene. 

Illinois: Lovie Smith's First Impression

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Illinois was responsible for the biggest storyline of the offseason when it announced the firing of Bill Cubit and hiring of Lovie Smith as head coach. 

The move was a big one for Illinois, as it now has a man who's coached in the Super Bowl at the head of its program, but the negative press that ensued from firing a coach who just recently signed a two-year, $2.4 million contract was significant.

"The school chancellor, the president, they’re supposed to be the ones representing integrity at the university," Cubit said after being fired, according to Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times. "I can’t believe they’re treating people like this. There are no rules. None."

The Illini made a long-term commitment to Smith, though, giving him a six-year deal worth $21 million. But even though they've made a big investment in Smith, he'll need to make an immediate impact on the field and on the recruiting trail.

Illinois' in-state recruiting efforts have completely bottomed out, as it has signed just three of the state's top 50 total prospects over the last five years, per 247Sports. That's an absurd inefficiency for the state's flagship program, and Smith will have to change that if he wants to turn things around at Illinois. 

Michigan: Jim Harbaugh's Quarterback Search

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Jim Harbaugh has a knack for developing quarterbacks—most notably Andrew Luck, whom he molded into the first overall NFL draft pick back at Stanford in 2012.

His talent of molding players at the position was on display last year, when he took Iowa transfer Jake Rudock and inserted him seamlessly into the Michigan offense. Rudock completed 64 percent of his passes for 3,017 yards and 20 touchdowns against nine interceptions, leading the Wolverines to a 10-3 record. 

But Rudock only had one year at Michigan, so the Wolverines need to find an answer behind center. 

The Wolverines aren't short on options with Wilton Speight, Shane Morris, John O'Korn, Alex Malzone and Brandon Peters in the fold.

O'Korn, who transferred from Houston, has an inside track in a close position battle.

"(He) looks like he's sharp, and I do know that in the meeting room he's very engaged and he works very hard at it," Michigan quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch said, according to Nick Baumgardner of MLive.com. "He's got a talented arm. Kind of the things we saw when he was at St. Thomas (Aquinas) when I was at Miami, I remember him then. Then the couple years of film we saw when he was at Houston."

O'Korn certainly has the most experience—he threw for an incredible 3,117 yards and 28 touchdowns against 10 interceptions as a freshman at Houston in 2013. 

But whoever wins the job will take over a loaded offense in 2016 that returns top pass-catchers Jehu Chesson, Amara Darboh and Jake Butt.

Michigan State: Mark Dantonio's Bounce-Back

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How will Mark Dantonio and Michigan State bounce back from a historic 38-0 thrashing at the hands of Alabama in the College Football Playoff?

The loss was a horrendous blow to the identity of the Spartans program, which was built by Dantonio on a foundation of toughness and physicality. That identity was shattered by the Crimson Tide, who pushed Michigan State around all night in a convincing win.

So how do the Spartans bounce back?

"We will rise again," Dantonio said bluntly after the playoff loss, according to Mike Griffith of MLive.com.

That'll be a tough task, though, because Michigan State has to replace a number of key contributors in 2016.

It starts at quarterback, as the Spartans lost three-year starter Connor Cook. The passing attack's top two perimeter threats—Aaron Burbridge (the Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year) and Macgarrett Kings—are also gone. All-American offensive linemen Jack Conklin and Jack Allen and two-year starter Donavon Clark are gone as well. 

That's just on the offensive side. Defensively, the Spartans will need to replace defensive ends Shilique Calhoun and Lawrence Thomas, defensive tackle Joel Heath, linebacker Darien Harris and cornerback Arjen Colquhoun. 

The Spartans have a ton of depth, but inexperienced players will be fighting to earn the team's reputation back in 2016. 

Ohio State: Urban Meyer's Reload

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Of all the teams in the Big Ten, Ohio State has the most work to do this spring.

The Buckeyes entered the 2015 season as the odds-on favorite to repeat as national champions, but an upset loss to Michigan State late in November kept them out of the playoff. They bounced back nicely, though, routing Michigan and Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl to close out the season.

An incredible nine underclassmen burned their remaining eligibility in favor of the NFL draft, making a total of 16 starters from last year's team who have a good chance of being drafted this May.

That leaves the Buckeyes with a lot of questions to answer, and Urban Meyer doesn't think he'll find the answers by the time spring is up.

"I want to see some kind of depth chart by the end of spring," Meyer said, according to Bill Landis of Cleveland.com.

That'll be a challenge, because the Buckeyes have 15 players they're depending on this fall who are currently sitting out with various injuries. Another obstacle is the fact that Ohio State is still waiting on 18 freshmen from their fourth-ranked 2016 recruiting class, via 247Sports.

Fortunately for the Buckeyes, they have no questions at quarterback with the return of J.T. Barrett. Meyer is looking to build a faster and more efficient offense around Barrett this fall—he'll just have to identify the top playmakers this spring to replace starting wide receivers Michael Thomas, Jalin Marshall, Braxton Miller and, of course, running back Ezekiel Elliott.