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A Well-Known and Well-Respected Product
April 22, 2008
by Jeff Smith Jim Lippincott grew up in Ohio valuing the toughness and discipline that permeates throughout Big Ten football. He points to the integrity of the conference's 11 head coaches and the quality of players the league produces on an annual basis as to why when it comes to football, the Big Ten is a premier conference. He is there every fall, both on campus and in the stands. But what makes Lippincott unique is that he is one of the few that will admit to enjoying non-conference football games much more than Michigan versus Ohio State. That's because as director of football operations and lead scout for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals, Lippincott attends those games in search of a handful of talented players who have the potential of one day playing the NFL. So why does he find it easier to attend non-conference games? "From a scouting perspective, going to a Big Ten game is almost fruitless," he said. "There are so many prospects in a Big Ten game, a scout can't do it justice. Big Ten versus Big Ten is a very difficult thing to scout." In fact, Lippincott prefers spending time on campus with the coaching and training staffs rather than in the stands on game days. He says he gets much more out of his job by reviewing game tape, talking to strength coaches and other personnel about players he feels the Bengals might be interested in. He visits each Big Ten school throughout the fall as a part of his Midwest tour that includes stops at anywhere between 54 and 61 schools. The Bengals have the ninth overall pick in this weekend's 2008 NFL Draft, which begins at 3 p.m. ET Saturday in New York. In the last four NFL Drafts, Cincinnati has twice selected a Big Ten player in the first round, including Michigan's Leon Hall as the 18th overall pick last year and the Wolverines' Chris Perry at No. 26 in 2004. Eric DeCosta, the Baltimore Ravens' director of college scouting, puts value on the rich football history of the Big Ten, saying the conference produces some of the best college talent annually.
"Winning programs produce winning players," he said. "In my experience, prospects from the Big Ten are typically some of the smartest and toughest football players in the entire country. We like the fact that these players come from programs that have developed great football traditions." This past January the Ravens hired John Harbaugh as the third head coach in team history, and shortly thereafter brought on Cam Cameron as their offensive coordinator. Prior to launching his NFL coaching career with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1998, Harbaugh spent a year on the Indiana Hoosiers' staff as the defensive backs/special teams coach when Cameron was the head coach. During his five-year stint at Indiana, Cameron mentored one of the most versatile athletes in college football history in quarterback Antwaan Randle El, who later went on to play a defining role in the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl XL victory over Seattle in 2006. It was Cameron's second go-around in the Big Ten as he was an assistant at Michigan from 1984-93, including the first six years under the late Bo Schembechler. After serving as Indiana's head coach, Cameron joined the San Diego Chargers as offensive coordinator and continued to guide another Big Ten quarterback standout and Pro Bowler in Purdue's Drew Brees. He spent five years in that role at San Diego before earning the head coaching position with the Miami Dolphins. It was there that Cameron played an integral role in the drafting of Ohio State all-purpose player Ted Ginn, Jr., one of three Big Ten players taken in the first nine selections of last year's NFL Draft. Preceding Ginn at No. 9 was Wisconsin's Joe Thomas, picked third by the Cleveland Browns, and Penn State's Levi Brown, taken fifth by the Arizona Cardinals. In addition, last year the Big Ten boasted six first-round draftees from five different conference institutions while nine schools produced at least one selection during the seven rounds, proof that NFL-caliber players are not limited to just a few Big Ten rosters. Jeff Ireland, the new general manager of the Dolphins and former vice president of college and pro scouting for the Dallas Cowboys, says the high number of Big Ten players in the NFL represent just how competitive the conference is. Last year Miami boasted a league-high 13 Big Ten players on its roster. Ireland is quick to highlight the tough, disciplined players in the Big Ten, but also finds a benefit in the fact that conference players are used to playing in all types of conditions. "The NFL plays a lot of cold-weather games," he said. "Big Ten guys play a lot of cold-weather games so there are no questions about these kind of players when you get to December in the National Football League." This year the Dolphins have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper, Jr., currently has three Big Ten standouts ranked among his top-10 selections. Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long is ranked fourth, followed by Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston in seventh and Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall in 10th. Michigan State wide receiver Devin Thomas also appears on Kiper's "Big Board" at No. 20. But as Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian has proven, not all Big Ten standouts are found in the first round of the draft. Case in point is former Iowa Hawkeye Bob Sanders. In the 2004 NFL Draft, the Colts selected Sanders in the second round with the 44th overall pick. In just three seasons with Indianapolis, Sanders has played in two Pro Bowls, helped the Colts to a win in Super Bowl XLI, and last year was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year. Prior to receiving that award, Sanders was signed to a five-year contract that made him the highest paid safety in the history of the NFL at the time. For Polian, who helped oversee 12 conference players on the Colts' roster last season, character and football IQ are two things he commonly sees out of the Big Ten. "We've got a lot of Big Ten football players on our team, probably more than most," Polian said during a recent interview with the Big Ten Network at the NFL Combine. "It may well be that we place such a high value on really liking the game of football, and toughness, and football intelligence and character that you know when you put that all together, that's the hallmark of a lot of Big Ten football programs." Ask Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards, and he will tell you that is exactly what he wants in a football player. "Football is a physical game. It's about blocking and tackling," Edwards said. "Traditionally, the players that I've coached from the Big Ten are fundamentally-sound football players. Personally, I put a premium on tough players who enjoy the game of football." Edwards goes on to point out how valuable his Big Ten players have been under his watch in Kansas City. Penn State running back Larry Johnson was taken in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft, while fellow Nittany Lion and defensive end Tamba Hali was selected 20th in 2006. Purdue's Bernard Pollard was taken in the second round of that year's draft and Northwestern linebacker Napoleon Harris was drafted in the 2002 first round by the Oakland Raiders.
While Pollard was starring in the secondary at Purdue, Jim Chaney was coordinating the Boilermaker offense. From 1997-2005, Chaney spent nine seasons as Purdue's offensive coordinator and coached the offensive line and tight ends as well. In five of those years he also doubled as recruiting coordinator. Now in his second season as tight ends coach of the St. Louis Rams, Chaney feels that Big Ten players make an easy transition to the NFL having already played their career in front of big crowds. "(Big Ten guys) have played in front of 80,000 people and 90,000 people and have been expected to play at a high level with a lot of pressure on them," said Chaney. Greg Gabriel, director of college scouting for the Chicago Bears, feels the same way. "Chicago is in the heart of Big Ten country, so for obvious reasons we closely look at players from that conference. We have many players on our roster that played at Big Ten schools and they have been successful for us," Gabriel said. "The Big Ten plays a very good brand of football; they play high-intensity games in front of big crowds and that is very similar to what we see in the NFL. It makes the transition from college to pro that much easier." Chaney is also quick to signal out the Big Ten's high academic requirements, which he feels correlates to more discipline in the player. "I believe in the Big Ten there is a higher set of academic standards for players to be eligible and those kids learn earlier in their careers about discipline on and off the field," he said. "They have been forced to be disciplined throughout four or five years of performance at the collegiate level, which helps them, once again, when they transition into the very disciplined lifestyle of the NFL." When it comes to the tough and disciplined Big Ten player, Ohio State fans long remember the intensity of Chris Spielman, the Lombardi Award winner as the nation's top linebacker in 1987. The two-time All-American became a four-time Pro Bowl selection after being drafted in the first round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. Spielman's brother, Rick, has also had a successful NFL career and has long valued the Big Ten. In nearly 20 years as an NFL executive, Spielman has served four league franchises and is now the vice president for player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings. Having grown up in Midwest, Spielman knows what to expect of the Big Ten product. "We always have had high regard for the Big Ten Conference as year in and year out they produce high-quality NFL players," he said. "Having a brother that played in the conference and growing up in Big Ten country, I have always valued its rich traditions." Tradition is always something that has been paramount to the Big Ten's success. The conference has shown that not only has it performed to the highest level in the classroom, but on the field as well. In the last four years, the Big Ten has averaged nearly 37 NFL Draft selections a season, including six first-round selections annually. In addition, the conference has averaged more than one top-five pick over that same time span. Players have stuck on rosters as well, with 274 Big Ten alums on 2007 season-ending rosters. Should tradition hold true, this weekend's NFL Draft will be proof once again that the Big Ten continues to be a frontrunner in producing tough, disciplined and highly-skilled athletes for the next level. |
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