football

This is the letter which informed the university that the Department of Education would be looking into UM's policies and responses to complaints of sexual violence.

At first glance, it appears they are looking for both general information (on a year by year basis) on what UM's policies are and specific information (again, on a year by year basis) regarding complaints filed at the school.  In other words, they aren't looking just at Gibbons.  They are looking at how UM handled every single complaint made from 2011 to 2014 to see if things are being handled properly. 

The only reference to a specific complain that I noticed was actually in the first paragraph.  It makes reference to a sexual assault allegation filed August 2012 by an unnamed student.  I suppose it could be that the victim from the Gibbons case decided in 2012 to make a complaint given the new standard of proof which was part of the interim policy enacted in 2011.  Of course, it could be a different student as well.

Anyway, read for yourself.

http://vpcomm.umich.edu/pa/key/documents/OCRNOTIFICATIONLETTER.pdf

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2014/02/michigan_to_pay_doug_nussmeier.html

Spring practice starts today!

Here is the schedule of all the practices:

Tuesday, Feb. 25 -- Practice #1
Thursday, Feb. 27 -- Practice #2
Tuesday, March 11 -- Practice #3
Thursday, March 13 -- Practice #4
Saturday, March 15 -- Practice #5
Tuesday, March 18 -- Practice #6
Thursday, March 20 -- Practice #7
Saturday, March 22 -- Practice #8
Tuesday, March 25 -- Practice #9
Thursday, March 27 -- Practice #10
Friday, March 28 -- Practice #11
Saturday, March 29 -- Practice #12
Tuesday, April 1 -- Practice #13
Thursday, April 3 -- Practice #14
Saturday, April 5 -- Practice #15 (Spring Game)

After talking with Brian and Seth I have decided to employ a bit of a rating scale when it comes to offered prospects and prospects I outline in the "Names To Watch" series.

I noticed that I almost always end my mini-interviews and introductions with a sentence that looks something like, "I think Michigan's chances with him.....", but with no actual level of measurement. From now on, offered prospects will be rated on the following scale:

Offered Prospects

0 - Not interested
1 - If he visits, let's talk
2 - Probably Top 15
3 - Probably Top 5
4 - Probably Top 2/3
5 - True Blue Lock

This gives a bit of a measurable value to where a recruits interest level is, but isn't concrete and is also easy to adjust as visits happen, other offers roll in, and relationships are built.

The "Names To Watch" scale could be a little tougher to nail down, but I'll still attempt to put some value on how serious the interest is from both parties. A lot of kids love Michigan but don't really have much of a chance to earn an offer. On the flip side, sometimes the coaches would love to have a kid, but the chances just aren't very realistic so an offer may not materialize.

Names To Watch

0 - Not going to happen
1 - Doesn't look good right now, but we'll see
2 - 50/50, yes or no, wouldn't be surprised
3 - It looks like an offer could come in the future
4 - I fully expect an offer to come
5 - Guarantee this kid is offered

As I said above, this could be a little harder to gauge because I'm not in the war room with the coaches. I have some contact with the staff, but it's limited and it's against the rules to really talk about the kids before they sign anyway.

I hope these numerical values give some insight as to what I have been able to learn first hand from the recruits, their coaches, or their parents. I am open for suggestions involving the scale but plan to start using this, or some version of it, moving forward.

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/2/24/5442024/jim-harbaugh-san-francisco-49ers-cleveland-browns-trade

Of course I recognize this has little to do with Michigan Football, per se.  But am I the only one doing the math on the two years remaining on his $5M/Year contract.  Adam Schefter reports he's looking for $8-$9M moving forward, so if a certain thing with a certain hot-seat coach were to not work out so well in 2014, would this be a viable (real) option?

This assumes he would even consider coming back to college football.

#HasThatShipSailed?

Presented without comment.

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