Headlines from day two of Big Ten Media Days

Another year of Big Ten Media Days has come and gone after Thursday's session, which included more controversies, changes coming to the Big Ten's officiating model, the new media rights package and a head coach making a bold statement.

Boiler Upload takes a look at five headlines from Big Ten Media Days from Lucas Oil Stadium.

On Wednesday, two coaches that have seen their programs faced with off-season scandals took the stage on Lucas Oil Stadium. Another pair of coaches under scrutiny did the same on Thursday afternoon, starting with Michigan's Jim Harbaugh.

News broke earlier this week that the Wolverine's head coach would be suspended for the first four regular season games as a result of "alleged false statements" to investigators, according to Yahoo's Ross Dellenger.

"I'm not allowed to talk about any aspect of that ongoing situation. I'd love to lay it all out there. Nothing to be ashamed of, but now is not that time," Harbaugh said.

Former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, current offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore and tight ends coach Grant Newsome are all expected to receive punishments, with Moore and Newsome likely getting a one game suspension.

Along with Harbaugh, Minnesota head coach PJ Fleck was accused of enabling a "toxic" culture during his tenure with the Gophers. Fleck was animated as he defended himself and the Minnesota program on Thursday morning.

"First of all, the Fleck Bank, mostly used in 2017 and '18, was an analogy used in a team meeting talking about the more you invest into a program, the better experience you're going to get out of it," Fleck said.

He also shared that no actual money was ever exchanged, as alleged in Wednesday's report. Fleck also dismissed any physical punishments that may have occurred under his watch.

"Our athletic department has taken over our disciplinary-type actions. We do not use physical activity to discipline our players at the University of Minnesota. And we have never done that."

The Gophers' head coach expressed that Minnesota athletics administrators are supporting him and the program after the report was published yesterday.

"These allegations are baseless. We have full support of our athletic director, Mark Coyle, and our university leadership," Fleck said.

Several changes are coming to the college football rules this season, including a running clock after first downs, an extension of periods, and others, in an attempt to speed up the game.

The Big Ten is also adding a missing section of their officiating as the conference will have a replay center in Pittsburgh for all league games. A crew will have direct communication with on-field officials and the replay official in the stadium and will have the ability to tell the on-site team to change a call based on what they see in the command post.

The Big Ten was the last of the "Power 5" conferences to implement the change, which is similar to the NFL model. Coordinator of football officials Bill Carollo discussed the change on Thursday afternoon and shared what the center can do to speed up the game.

"They'll [on-field officials] say it's a first down at the 44-yard line, and they [replay officials] may call down and say put the ball at the 46, you missed it by two yards," Carollo said. "In the quick review, don't stop the game for two and a half minutes. Let's just put the ball at the right spot."

Carollo also said that the center will be manned by former NFL officials with experience in replay roles during their careers, one of which is Russell Yurk. Yurk left his role as vice president of replay with the NFL to join the Big Ten this January and will be one of Carollo's top-ranking officials.

As the Big Ten enters a new era with a $7 billion media rights deal with Fox, CBS, and NBC, a trio of broadcasters from each company attended Media Days. Fox's Joel Klatt, CBS' Gary Danielson, and NBC's Todd Blackledge made brief statements about their anticipation to cover Big Ten Football in the new deal.

Big Ten commissioner Troy Petitti has high hopes for the conference moving forward.

"With our new media partners, our reach will be unprecedented," Petitt said.

An uptick in national television games is also in order for the Big Ten, which is set to have the most of any conference in the country. The conference is set to cash in as it expands to 16 teams, with USC and UCLA, and potentially others joining the fold.

"The power the broadcast TV cannot be underestimated... This season the Big Ten will have more football games on broadcast TV than any other conference, a projected 34," Petitti said. "When the new deal is fully implemented in 2024, we are projecting 45 broadcast TV games each season. Big Ten fans will move seamlessly from FOX to CBS to NBC."

Maryland head coach Mike Locksley provided a hot take during his Big Ten Media Days opening statement on Thursday, claiming that the Terrapins are ready to compete with the conference's elite.

"Our program is at a point finally we can say we're here to compete for Big Ten championships. You haven't heard me say that in the previous four times I've been in front of you guys, but I think now is the time," Locksley said.

The Terrapins have improved each year under Locksley since he got the full-time gig ahead of the 2019 season, with last season's 8 wins being the most since 2010.

Returning quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa has been among the Big Ten's best, but 2023 could be the year he separates himself from the pack. A supporting cast including Roman Hembry, Jeshaun Jones and others have the offense in great position. The defense has come along too, ranking 34th in points per game allowed last season.

"We're not going to let goals like winning championships get in the way of doing the work, and our players understand that," Locksley said.

Locksley sent a warning to the rest of the conference and he'll have the opportunity to live up to his comments in over a month.