Athlon Sports recently released an article about Big Ten coaches talking anonymously about conference foes for 2026. While it’s obviously a fluff piece it’s certainly picked up steam and gave the media world something to talk about. I’ve heard it discussed on 93.7 The Ticket’s Early Break, Hail Varsity’s Hurrdat Sports Live, and Dusty and Danny on XM radio. What bothers me is that everyone seems to be taking it seriously.
For me the fact that it’s anonymous causes questions as to its credibility. Add in the fact the writer is also anonymous, and it reeks of clickbait and a group of guys sitting in a backroom drinking beer and dreaming up quotes.
If the story is in fact legit, then some of the quotes are hardly anonymous. Just look at what was said about Nebraska. One coach is quoted as saying:
“They’re in a ton of denial with the quarterback situation. Dylan Raiola is as good as they get as a player and as a person; Losing him, I thought he was their last hope. He was the pin that was holding that thing together.”
Come on – is there anyone but Dan Lanning or an Oregon staff member that could come up with that line? And whoever it was wasn’t paying attention. Raiola is a good kid and has an arm, I’ll give him that, but if you take that away, is he even FCS material. My rationale, lack of mobility and scared. Maybe I’m being too hard on him, but as a long time Husker fan he doesn’t make the top twenty-five quarterbacks to play an Nebraska.
Again, if this article is legitimate then they didn’t share all the quotes from everyone because I guarantee there were some coaches out there that stated Nebraska is a better team with Anthony Colandrea at quarterback. They’ll point out that Raiola didn’t have a supporting cast. I’ll point out that Colandrea will do something Raiola never could, elevate the talent around him.
We haven’t begun to talk about the intangibles you can’t see with Colandrea, such as camaraderie, chemistry, and the excitement he brings. He already has a relationship with his teammates Raiola never had.
Long story short, I’m not buying what Athlon has to sell. But then again, here I am talking about it too. Maybe publishing anonymous quotes from anonymous sources as an anonymous writer is the answer. But isn’t that what we normally call fiction?
GO BIG RED!!! SIMPLE, FAST, VIOLENT!!!
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