Chris Holtmann Wins Big Ten Coach of the Year, To Surprise of No One, Disappointment of Many

Generally in Columbus, we don’t like to reward Ls. The Buckeye basketball squad didn’t win the Big Ten, even though it was in their grasp. Oh well, there is still the tournament I suppose.

Sometimes, random people off the street will ask me, “What’s it like to be a fan of Ohio State?” I say, “Hey, we may be assholes, but we don’t glorify one of our 15 wins against a team even though we have lost 46, even if that win was 55-24. Even if we did, we certainly wouldn’t pay a coach 173 million per for 2 Big Ten titles in 18 years.” Of course that conversation never happened, but it could have.

Back on track, Holtmann was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, in a year where even the biggest hater in the world should admit that he did a fantastic job. They finished second in a year where no one thought they would contend.

As a privileged football fan, I doubly appreciate what Holtmann has to deal with. He doesn’t have in innate advantages of the football team, like the instate recruiting with no instate rival, the national exposure and whatnot. Not only that, he has to perform in the shadow of the football team, where the fans truly are assholes. They generally don’t roll out of bed unless they win the Big Ten title, which they have done 36 times, which is more than three times more than a random program like, idk, maybe Iowa.

So Well Done! Chris. You deserve a high five! Not a Kirk Ferentz buyout, but some credit, none the less.