1. Jim Harbaugh (above), Michigan: Harbaugh is 78-43 overall and 49-22 through six seasons at his alma mater. Those would be considered decent numbers at most places, but Harbaugh is one of the highest-paid coaches in the game, hasn’t delivered a Big Ten title or a win over archrival Ohio State and is coming off a 2-4 season.
2. Scott Frost, Nebraska: Frost was supposed to be the savior in Lincoln. Not quite. The Cornhuskers are 12-20 overall and 9-17 in Big Ten play heading into Year 4 of the Frost era. There may not be a Year 5 if Frost can’t get Nebraska to a bowl game for the first time since 2016.
3. Jeff Brohm, Purdue: The Boilermakers went 13-13 overall and 9-9 in the Big Ten over Brohm’s first two seasons. They’re 6-12 overall and 5-10 in the conference over the past two seasons, a trend that Brohm needs to change in a hurry.
4. James Franklin, Penn State: The Nittany Lions went 4-5 in 2020 after winning 11 games three times in a span of four seasons. That marked the program’s first losing season since 2004.
5. Paul Chryst, UW: Chryst doesn’t have to worry about job security, but UW fans would feel a lot better about the state of the program if the Badgers can bounce back from an uneven 2020 campaign and perhaps get over the hump to win a Big Ten title.
