Big 12 Coaches Recovering

Let’s start by wishing a swift and smooth recovery to both Deion Sanders and Bill Self, who are facing serious health challenges. Rivalries and opinions aside, nobody wants to see anyone go through something like that.

Now, onto a topic that sparked a lot of chatter this week: CBS Sports’ Big 12 football coach rankings. Judging by the reactions I saw on Twitter, I know many of you will have strong thoughts. You can check out the full list below.

But first, the anonymous player survey continues with one of the players’ favorite topics: the toughest scheme to prepare for in the Big 12. They didn’t hold back on this one.

Anonymous Player Survey: Most Difficult Scheme to Prepare For

I talked with nearly 30 players in Frisco to get candid responses on everything from who they think will win the league to the toughest place to play, the best quarterback, wild portal offers, and more.

Instead of asking players who the best coach in the league is, I thought it would be more interesting to find out which team had the most difficult scheme to prepare for. Players from virtually every position group on the field answered. 

This is a tight race with opinions all over the board, but the winner is…Iowa State!

Iowa State – 5
Arizona State – 3
KU – 3
BYU – 2
Baylor – 1
Cincinnati – 1
TCU – 1
K-State – 1
UCF – 1
Utah – 1
Colorado – 1

“Iowa State moves around a lot and did a lot of stunting, too. Their whole thing is trying to get an offensive line communication-wise off our guard. So I have respect for that.”

“You never know what you're going to get with (Iowa State), to be honest. Unbalanced, honestly, just that unbalanced formation…shifts and motions…formations into the boundary.”

“I'd probably say Iowa State. Just the 3-3-5 stuff. It's always hard to scheme against, especially with the offense that we run. We’re going to try to air it out.” 

“Iowa State. They were in a weird one-hole type of defense, and they dropped a lot of different types of zones. So I would say Iowa State.”

“Arizona State's defensive scheme. They pressure a lot. It was pretty rough trying to adjust to that. We ended up adjusting, but it was just a little bit too late.”

“Probably Arizona State. They got us into some stuff that…they just knew what we were kind of in every single play. We had to switch things up. Arizona State is really smart. They just try to attack you anywhere they can.” 

“KU or Iowa State, where it's just really unconventional, and they will move 30 people around before the ball snaps. So you really have to be locked into what you're doing and know your assignment really well.” 

“Kansas always has some funky stuff going on. They aligned a tackle in the slot and motioned him in.”

“Cincinnati, with all these outside zones. They take their guards, and they just take off running. So I say Cincinnati, it's crazy.” 

“I don't know. I felt like we played a bunch of the same schemes each week over and over, so it was basically the same thing.” 

“It was hard to get active in the pass game against West Virginia. Harder than most teams, I would say. Just from the way they blocked.”

“I think BYU had a difficult scheme to get used to because they could run it, they could throw it, they had a lot of misdirection, and they're not scared to do trick plays.”

What You Need to Know

• Coach Prime survived another health scare. Deion announced Monday that he battled and has beaten bladder cancer. He had surgery to remove his bladder, but he will be able to coach this season.  

• Iowa State has indefinitely postponed plans for a $25 million renovation to Hilton Coliseum in the face of a $147 million athletic budget shortfall. They’re also raising ticket prices. 

• A CBS Sports panel ranked the coaches in the Big 12 from 1 through 16. I’m sure this list won’t upset anybody at all! Here’s my reaction to the list. 

• The Athletic ranked the most valuable football programs in the country, including the Big 12. I was pretty shocked by who the Big 12’s most valuable program is, according to their formula. 

• Kansas head coach Bill Self underwent a heart procedure last week after experiencing concerning symptoms. He’s now out of the hospital and recovering.

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