The Big 12 and Big Ten have both had their football media days now, and I have noticed a disturbing trend: There are coaches there who are approximately my age peers. This started with Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury (Aug. 9, 1979), since he and I overlapped in college, but now there are more.
Last season, Iowa State’s Matt Campbell was the youngest coach of a power-conference team, and fifth-youngest in Division I-A, according to a graphic on TV during one of ISU’s games last season. Campbell was born Nov. 29, 1979. Kirk Ferentz was an assistant coach at Worcester Academy. Hayden Fry and Bill Snyder were in their first year as head coach and offensive coordinator, respectively, at Iowa.
One of the four younger coaches was Western Michigan’s P.J. Fleck, who was hired in the offseason at Minnesota. He is now “rowing the boat” there in the absolutely most un-Minnesota-like manner imaginable, raising the potential for comedy, tragedy, or tragicomedy in the Big Ten West.* Fleck was born Nov. 29, 1980. Kirk Ferentz was an assistant coach at Pitt.
Then, of course, there’s Lincoln Riley taking over for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, who is the first Power Five coach born during the Reagan administration. When Riley was born Sept. 5, 1983, Kirk Ferentz was an assistant coach at Iowa and Jim Harbaugh was starting his freshman year at Michigan.