Written by David Regimbal

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“Telling Quotes” is a weekly recap of the Big Ten’s top stories using five quotes from around the conference (with a moderate Ohio State lean).

“Big Ten Media Days” is an event usually reserved for reporters asking mundane questions about depth charts and injury reports. The 2012 edition was anything but as coaches and select players from each B1G squad tried to work their way around the enormous elephant in the room. With the NCAA dropping a devastating hammer on Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, the topic of discussion was expected to be slanted that way.

Surprisingly, all parties involved found other things to discuss. Football things, even. Not to say the Penn State situation and its ensuing fallout was ignored -- it wasn’t -- but a majority of that conversation revolved around the differing opinions coaches have on recruiting current Penn State players.

Quotes from Media Days after the jump:

1. “I talked to them about adversity. I gave them my own story, my own personal story on adversity as it related to my wife and I with our son, Jack.” - Bill O’Brien, Penn State Head Coach

This was one of O’Brien’s responses when asked about what he said to his players after the NCAA levied sanctions against the football program. If you haven’t read O’Brien’s story, you really should give it some time. The man has been through a ton of adversity in his life, and it does seem like he’s using his past experience to guide him through the early stages of the fallout at Penn State. The fact that there hasn’t been a mass exodus from State College -- or the fact that most of his highly-touted recruits are sticking with their commitments (for now) --  is nothing short of a miracle and really reflects well on a good man who has been through some tough times. A lot of people criticized Penn State for hiring O’Brien in the first place, expecting a bigger name with more (or any) head coaching experience, but as this situation moves forward it appears as though they found the right guy.

2. “We were in State College, but we did not go on campus. We went to two establishments outside campus and called some individuals and if they wanted to come by, it was their opportunity to come by.” - Tim Beckman, Illinois Head Coach

Beckman’s statement regarding the recruitment of current Penn State players runs contradictory to reports released last week that as many as six Illini coaches were camped out in the parking lot in State College waiting to pounce on potential transfers. Considering most of the other B1G coaches have an issue with actively recruiting PSU players, Beckman became a pariah of sorts alongside Danny Hope because of the practice. Urban Meyer, Brady Hoke and Bret Bielema didn’t see an issue with talking to a possible transfer if the player himself reached out, but the active recruitment of these players didn’t feel right for the conference’s top coaches.

3. “We don't put too much stock in [preseason projections]. It's like anything in life, it's not where we start but where we finish.” - Brady Hoke, Michigan Head Coach

After an 11-2 season capped by a Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech, the Michigan Wolverines are now dealing with the type of preseason expectations that have eluded them for half a decade. One of the most interesting storylines going into the 2012 season will be how the Wolverines handle those expectations. The media has them pegged to win the Legends division over last year’s winner -- Michigan State -- and the Wolverines will almost certainly have to beat the Spartans (for the first time since 2007) to reach the conference title game. Michigan will be tested far sooner than that though as a date with the reigning National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide looms large in week one. Winning that game, or even keeping it respectable, will be a solid indication for how good this team is.

4. “We have a very, very good relationship. You'd have to ask Coach [Bielema], but we get along fine.” - Urban Meyer, Ohio State Head Coach

It’s not hard to recall the drama created by Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema five months ago on National Signing Day. Bielema was upset with Meyer after the newly hired Ohio State coach recruited and received a commitment from a prospect -- Kyle Dodson -- who had previously been committed to Wisconsin. After accusing Meyer of using illegal recruiting tactics and effectively crying like a child on a national platform, Meyer responded quickly that Ohio State, and his coaching staff as a whole, stay within the guidelines set by the NCAA when recruiting.

Despite that riff, the two coaches spoke almost glowingly of each other during their pressers. Read into that as much as you want -- my opinion is that when these two coaches meet on the field, they won’t be able to hide their true (and ugly) feelings for one another.

5. “We never have talked about [the bowl ban] in the offseason. The only time we’ve brought it up was in December when they handed out those penalties." - Zach Boren, Ohio State Fullback

One of Urban Meyer’s biggest challenges this year will be finding a way to motivate a team that’s banned from postseason play. He admitted as much earlier this spring -- even reaching a desperation low enough to want to contact Lane Kiffin to receive advice on how he handled a similar situation at USC. With that in mind, Buckeye fans have to be comforted by a quote like this one. If a senior like Boren can lead Ohio State in the kind of mentality where the bowl ban isn’t crippling, a lot can be accomplished in 2012. Mainly, the Buckeyes have an opportunity to reestablish themselves as the class of the conference, and adopting an attitude like Boren’s will help the team immensely in doing so.

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