Michigan Football 101

Welcome to Michigan Football 101

! We are now counting down the days until Michigan and Alabama throw down in Dallas at the Cowboys Classic! What an experience it is going to be! Until that day, we will take a look at why Michigan Football is so good. In this series, similar to College Football 101, there will be:

• Top 40 current players
• Top 10 coaches
• Top 15 games
• Top 25 players
• Top 10 Miscellaneous

Here we go...

101. Brandon Graham

(25^th Player)

Brandon Graham went to Crockett Vocational Tech (Detroit) in high school. He started on the defensive line as a sophomore and made honorable mention that year. As a junior, he was a linebacker, offensive guard, kicker and punter. He led his team to the state championship but fell up short. Not only did Brandon have 91 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and made the All-State team, but he had a 3.8 GPA. As a senior, he had a similar year leading his team to the championship but losing once again. Graham was a captain in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and won Player of the Year in the state of Michigan. The next year, he played for the University of Michigan!

Although Brandon Graham was recruited as a linebacker, he switched to defensive end where he backed up a certain someone whom we might read about later in Michigan Football 101-- LaMarr Woodley. Graham played a little defensive tackle as well. Before the 2007 season, he got in a little bit of trouble with the law. Once he cleared all of that out, and sadly after the loss to you know who and Oregon, he became the starter. He recorded 3.5 sacks against Notre Dame in his first game as a starter. By the end of his sophomore year, he finished 7^th in the Big Ten in sacks and forced fumbles.

Unfortunately, Brandon had to deal with Rich Rod. Even though Michigan had a terrible record both years, Brandon Graham did everything he could in his junior an senior seasons at Michigan. Even though it was a bad year, there was one bright game-- or bright 2^nd half I should say-- in 2008. I will say it was the best game I attended in the Rich Rod era. Michigan was down by 19 at halftime and came back to win thanks to 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles from Graham. By the end of his junior year, Brandon had 10 sacks and 20 TFL, which led the Big Ten. In his senior season, Brandon Graham had 26 tackles for loss and won the Big Ten Player of the Year. To top his career off at Michigan, he was a first team All-American. He also won the MVP in the Senior Bowl with 5 tackles, 2 sacks, and a forces fumble.

Currently, Graham is playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. He was drafted 13^th overall in the 2010 Draft. He recorded his first NFL sack against the Lions and hurt his knee against the Cowboys late in his rookie season. He underwent surgery and played a bit towards the end of last season. He should be good to go this year.

Brandon Graham was stuck in an unfortunate time at Michigan, but still came out a Michigan Man. He was recruited and coached by Lloyd Carr and learned a lot in his career. He was the leader of the Michigan defense and has carried on his talents to the NFL. Best of luck to him, and GO BLUE Brandon!

Here are a few video links of Brandon Graham to check out:

Brandon Graham Big Hit against State

Brandon Graham Touchdown

Brandon Graham 2009 Highlights

Check back in tomorrow to see what #100 is. Only 101 days until we BEAT BAMA!

Per the Intrawebnets and the Twitter-sphere-verse:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7266532/arizona-wildcats-rich-rodriguez-hired-announcement-made-twitter

So, Detroit News (not THAT Detroit news) is reporting that Rich Rod was spotted in an Oklahoma polo.

Apparently he's been visiting spring workouts in Norman, OK.

Do anything for anyone?  Not sure if it does for me, but I thought it was a curious bit.

http://detnews.com/article/20110326/SPORTS0201/103260423/1131/Fired-U-M-coach-Rich-Rodriguez-spotted-wearing-Oklahoma-shirt

A search and quick scan of the first 2 pages turned up no results on this, so I cautiously posted.

It wasn't long ago that we when the boards were full of CC topics. Life being a Michigan fan was difficult. 

Rich Rod - the offensive genius coach was struggling and drowning due to a miserable defense.

He got slapped by the NCAA for having students stretch an additional 15 minutes. The recruits were not coming and when they did come, they weren't ready and 'too young' for the Big Ten.

The Michigan fan base was divided and some thought the world would end if we didn't convince Jim Harbaugh to come to Ann Arbor. Brady Hoke was an after thought, almost a compromise in the eyes of some.

Fast forward to TT and seems that Lady Luck is smiling upon us again. There is hope due to a competent staff (Greg Mattison FTW). Brady Hoke has the enthusiasm of a college kid while recruiting (over 100 offers and we haven't even started spring practice) and now OSU is in the scrutiny of the NCAA. The dice just seems to be falling right.

I have a feeling this is the year when everything in the last three year changes. Fortune will look north again and little bro will taste defeat in football.

The wheel of fortune has turned again ... this time in our favor.

Go Blue!

It's a snow day so I've got 3 hours of Rich Rod commentary on National Signing Day ahead of me.  I like hearing the guy talk about football.  Maybe he'll actually sound relaxed for once.

EDIT:  It's on Comcast 261 and 856.