Diaries

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/235499/

BYU is one of the biggest games on UTAHS schedule every year. So I
thought I'd look into what BYU was doing with their spread. I think BYU
comes in around 14-17 in preseason rankings. Preseason polls being so
accurate and all. This article touches on the perceptions of the Tight
End and the spread offense.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/cory_mccartney/05/19/arkan...

http://www.wholehogsports.com/nwat/61384

I've
had the,"good fortune," of hearing a Bobby Petrino lecture or two in my
life. No I was not affiliated with the Louisville football program.
Some friend of mine dragged me to a clinic in Vegas where Petrino was
doing his spiel. He likes to swear alot and then when he's done
swearing, he likes to talk about his dad. Then he likes to swear some
more. Then he starts in on his little brother with some cuss words,
who must also coach football for Bobby. Justin Boren would not like
Bobby Petrino's core values. But Ryan Mallett will! Dems two peas in a
pod! As a Wolverine fan, I am glad we landed Rich. Anyhow, I do not get
Mallett's choice or decision to leave and go play football at Arkansas. Perhaps Petrino was
landed after Mallett made his mind up, but I do not know. Like Boren, I think Mallett just
transfered to be close to home. Perhaps for different reasons though. One for mama's home cooking and the other for more nefarious reasons that involve water sports where smoke is inhaled. But anyhow, like the articles above state, Petrino
runs a similar offense to Rich. All in all, after watching minor
amounts of film on WV, PITT, and LOUISVILLE, I am glad we
landed Rich over Teflon Bob, Sir Greg, and Nosey Dave.

Building the perfect beast. Michigan
provides quite a lab for Rich to build the perfect beast in regards to
the spread offense. Personally I think that is one of the reasons why
he took the job here at UofM. He wanted a new creative window to keep himself
interested. When I see how BYU uses the TE, and how Rich used Pat White
and Steve Slaton. And then combine that with what I know of Michigan
Football. I see the recipe for building the perfect beast.

Just wanted to make sure to post this portion of this morning's Chengelis article so that anyone with the time and inclination can mosey on down to Colonial Lanes next Wednesday to provide a little financial assistance to the Mealer family.

If you're not familiar with Elliott Mealer, or his tragic loss last year, you can read up a bit on the googles: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071226/NEWS01/712260393

Anyway, here are the details of the event. Please consider attending, or making a donation:

Charity event set

The team will participate in a "Bowling for Brock" charity next Wednesday to raise funds to help ease the medical costs for Brock Mealer , the brother of freshman lineman Elliott Mealer .

The Mealers were involved in a car accident last Christmas Eve as they traveled to church. Mealer's father, David , and Elliott's girlfriend, Hollis Richer were killed. Brock Mealer was paralyzed, and Elliott Mealer suffered a shoulder injury, and likely will be redshirted this season.

The
bowling and autograph session is at the Colonial Lanes (1950 South
Industrial Highway, Ann Arbor) from 4-6 p.m. Admission is $50 for
adults, $25 for children, and all proceeds will go toward Mealer's
rehabilitation costs at the U-M Medical Center.

Being the Sacred and Profane Memories of Charles Ryder, Q.B.

INTRODUCTION

It was the waning days of the great Buckeye jihad across the Midwest.  Those savage barbarians had breached the pale surrounding their nests and warrens in central Ohio and declared war upon the civilized world.  Ordinarily, they were no threat, but they had found a leader to unite behind.  This “Tressel” with his near-intelligence and ability to gesture basic commands, combined with the stupidly awesome might of ten thousand Lennies spilling out of Columbus, had proven a formidable foe.  Their repeated incursions had cost us dearly.  Feeling the tug of duty upon my broken heart, I was one of many who had left a promising career and volunteered to repair the damaged structures of our homeland. 

Trains and buses whisked us about the shattered landscape.  Each morning brought a new location, a new worksite.  At first I happily busied myself with the work my compatriots and I were engaged in.  We were doing good, I told myself.  But I began to realize that our fixes were impermanent and would not last.  Each site blurred together, and I calculated that for every eight or nine quality efforts we would leave behind three or four disasters.  It was a hopeless cycle.     

Here love had died between me and Michigan football.

Rodder, my valet, shook me awake.  He stood there with a slight smile painted across his wide face, his faint grin hinting at his scurrilous nature.  I did not trust him.  Though I was fairly certain he had never stolen a single sou from me, something about his eyes suggested the devious.  I was troubled by him, this upstart, this émigré, this man not of the North.   

Everything about the man stood in stark contrast to the manservants I had known from the halcyon days of my youth, those guardians that had led me into the full vigor of manhood.  Honorable, saintly Bo with his snarl and his tasteful penchant for a full three yards and a cloud of dust.  Tremendous Lloyd, whose tremendous stewardship brought so many tremendous moments to my life.  Even the Gitt, whose loving hands healed my aching limbs even as they fed me my third pizza in a single day.  Giants, each of them.   

What was Rodder compared to these titans?  Had he ever reeled off twelve straight runs between the tackles?  Had he ever fallen aslumber to dreams of pitch-perfect execution of a zone left?  Had he ever kept top talent off the field for their entire careers, only to watch them blossom in the NFL?  Had he ever insisted on throwing to a tight end with a massive cast on one hand?  No, I thought.  Of course not.  He would take whatever this world would offer him, instead of imposing his own perfectly-executed, joyless will upon it.  This parvenu could not understand, would not understand, what it meant to be a Michigan Man. 

Rodder laid out my uniform and guided me through my morning toilet.  Shaven, washed and refreshed, I stepped outside of our tent.  I looked about and saw so many of his compatriots rushing around the camp with their maniacal energy.  Barking instructions, exuding far too much excitement, far-removed from anything resembling gentlemanly behavior.  The one called Barwis, in particular, was engaged in the uncouth business of demonstrating proper free weight techniques and emphasizing “fitness” to new recruits.  I turned away, a scowl darkening my features. 

It then dawned upon me with painful sadness: I was living in the Age of Rodder.

“Such a grand place,” Rodder said in near-whisper.  I turned and espied the structure to which he referred. 

In a single moment, the years fell away.  The sweet bird of youth descended upon me.  The weight of the long campaigns of mediocrity fell away, and I tasted sweet air as I had not known since 1997.  I felt a twinge of vigor in my privies.  I closed my eyes and let the long-forgotten feelings wash over me.    

“Have you ever seen such a place?” wondered Rodder.  “Did you know that a stadium with a capacity of over 110,000 even existed?”

I had been there before.  I knew all about it.

ET IN ANN ARBOR EGO

To be continued...

Looking at some of the video from practice, seeing Carlos Brown pitching the ball, and considering things I've seen RichRod run elsewhere, I wonder if there's a "quad option" in the playbook (this is probably a poor name for it).

What I'm envisioning this this:  Sheridan in the shotgun with split backs, Minor to his left, Brown to this right.  WR split to each side, with Shaw (for example) in the slot to the right.

On the snap, Brown crosses in front of Sheridan in the traditional zone read scheme.  If Sheridan hands to Brown, Brown heads off tackle left, with Minor in position to take a pitch.  This essentially greats a speed option left.

On the other hand, if Sheridan keeps it, Shaw stutters into a slot option position.  So now you have a slot option right.  With the right WR on a curl, slant, or other hot route, you also have a quick pass option for Sheridan should need or opportunity arise.

Maybe I need to get more sleep or play less Xbox, but I think this could be coachable and fundamentally sound. When you think about, the QB has no more reads than he would on a typical zone-read triple option, and Brown only has a simple read - keep or pitch.

I'm so sick of hearing the same tired and flawed arguments over and over again. I'm sick of educating trolls one point at a time. Instead I'm just going to throw out everything here and post links to this diary post.

I guarantee we will not go 3-9 this year like ND last year.

I guarantee we will not go 3-8 like WVU did in RR's first year (2001).

And anyone who wants to put their wallet where their brain farts are can send me email at BlueSeoul@hotmail.com I'll wager 100,000 KRW against your measly 1,000 USD. Any takers?

We will win 4 games or more this year, and here's why:

• Miami, Toledo, Northwestern, Minnesota
• Charlie Weis forgot to teach fundamentals, RR has repeatedly stressed fundamentals
• Head Coaching Experience. When RR was hired by WVU he had never been a head coach of a division one program before.
• Recruiting. Even in the transition year we pulled in a higher ranked class than nearly all of our opponents.
• Defense. ND had none.
• 5 of the first 6 games are at home, including a bye week, the second road game isn't until October 18
• Your head coach sucks (unless you are a bucknut). The big ten has a terrible lineup of coaches. There's the cryptkeeper and his son, the retiring walrus, the guy that got ran out of florida, the guy who was hired as emotional salve when the real coach died, the guy who went 1-11 last year, the guy with his foot firmly embedded in his own mouth (i'm looking at you dantonio), the guy who has had 40% of his team transfer or get suspended, the guy who thinks this is still the 1980's, and whoever the hell runs indiana these days.
• Our backup running backs are better than your nickle backs. Learn the names now so you won't have to ask 'who the heck just ran over our db?' later. Brandon Minor, Carlos Brown, Sam McGuffie, Michael Shaw. We will 'long handoff' and 'bubble screen' you to death.
• Coaching Family. This isn't Nick $aban leaving MSU for LSU and NOT A SINGLE
  COACH FOLLOWING HIM. RR brought everyone with him. Only two coaches
  didn't come, and they were replaced by Fred Jackson and Scott Shafer.
• Scott Shafer got freaking STANFORD's defense to hold USC to 23 points in his first freaking year there.
• Fred Jackson has put more running backs into the NFL than your last three coaches combined. (Tyrone Wheatly, Thishmanga Biakabutuka, Chris Howard, Anthony Thomas, BJ Askew, Chris Perry, Mike Hart)
• Mike Barwis. Not only did RR bring the coaches, he brought the training staff too. He didn't have Mike Barwis in 2001. But we've got Mike Barwis now. Mike Barwis thinks you're too fat. Mike Barwis will make you stronger. That's just what Mike Barwis does. Mike Barwis. (and for those who don't know, Mike Barwis likes to use full names, and likes to talk in the third person, Mike Barwis.)
• In the spread, quick passes means the line doesn't have to block for very long.
• In the spread, short passes means the QB doesn't need a rifle for an arm
• Wildcat formation MOFO. We've got lots of small, fast guys that you can't tackle. And we like to put them all over the place. We've got a package of screens, draws, options, sweeps, flares, and reverses that will make your defensive ends go home crying like little girls who just had their sandwiches eaten.
• With middling recruits RR beat the SEC champ, the ACC runner up, and the Big12 champ in successive bowls.
• Snake oil Bee-otch! At WVU RR had to beg and plead for kids to come to the backwater mountains. The Old Michigan regime would recruit by flashing the block M and saying 'hey, get a load of us.' Now we've got a recruiter who can close. ABC. Always be closing. Have some coffee RR.
• Mike Barwis has made Terrance Taylor and Brandon Graham hungry. They want to eat your puppies. And we told them your QB is hiding the puppies.
• Speed kills. Morgan Trent is faster than Percy Harvin. Brandon Harrison is faster than Morgan Trent.
• AND FINALLY; Our position coaches' wives are hot. This probably doesn't mean much to you, but 'gladiator make good kill, go home, bang wife. ARRRRRRRRRR!!!!'

Let's say that Michigan wins it all this year. Crazy? Well if you bet on it today you'd probably be wealthy enough to pay for the movie production and secure the rights to the movie. I'm sure Bill Martin would come up with a quick 7-8 figure package deal overnight from a yacht in the Caribbean! Tasty!

But say Michigan won and a movie was made about this team and or about this year.......I mean what a year.......you lose to App St. Beat the former National Champions.....get a new coach but hes still kinda sorta dating his ex......it looks like infidelity and the ex wants some child support that daddy owes......and theres this crazy military like trainer guy and so on and so on....I thought I would start an open thread/diary to compare actors to player and actors to coaches. There are some obvious facial similarities here. So I will start off with the Coaching Staff. I will use the site IMDB to compare the actor and the MGOBLUE site to the coach and or player. One of the things I'm finding is that everyone is in agreeance that Harry Dean Stanton should play a retiring Lloyd Carr. Why this is I do not know? I was trying to think of opposing coaches or rivalry coaches..... I mean who would play Charlie Weis? Or sweatervest? These are tough questions to answer.......

ONGOING LIST

1. http://www.mgoblue.com/football/coachbio.aspx?id=105288

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0944702/

2. http://www.mgoblue.com/football/coachbio.aspx?id=105316

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000151/

3. http://www.mgoblue.com/football/coachbio.aspx?id=105284

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0026364/

4. http://www.mgoblue.com/football/coachbio.aspx?id=105302

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001557/

5. http://www.mgoblue.com/football/coachbio.aspx?id=105298

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001185/

6. http://www.mgoblue.com/football/coachbio.aspx?id=105314

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0158626/

Guest Appearance as Mike Barwis:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000129/