schreibee

September 2nd, 2015 at 7:59 AM ^

If you "enjoyed" watching him play vs ND or Rutgers last year you're no Michigan fan!
I don't wish ill on him, but I'm saying if he's starting at CB for Auburn then they're not a playoff team. Saban will abuse him in the Iron Bowl - but that's so far off he may not be starting by then.
Anyway, good luck and Go Blue!

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mGrowOld

September 1st, 2015 at 10:54 PM ^

Pretty sure he would've been a starter here too.

Side note.  How in the living hell did Hoke think that Roy Manning, who had never played nor coached DBs in his life, was going to be able to teach proper press coverage techniques?  I mean in what peyote fever dream does somebody come up with this as a workable plan?

 

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mGrowOld

September 1st, 2015 at 11:06 PM ^

I read that here all the time but can somebody point me to an example where a coach, who never previously played or coached a position, was given the position coach job and was successful at it?  And especially when you're implimenting a radical scheme change like we did last year? 

Sorry - seemed insane and doomed to failure to me last year at this time and still does.

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Reader71

September 2nd, 2015 at 12:00 AM ^

I wrote this in another thread, but: Mattison was an OL. Jay Harbaugh played DE in high school and no higher. Jedd Fisch never played any football at all, at any level. Coach Rod was a linebacker, now offensive genius. Bill Walsh played DE, invented the offense copied by every team in the world for 30 years. Now, I'm sure most of those guys had more success in later years than in their first. So Manning's problem was probably that he was in his first year coaching a position, not that he is incapable or only knows LB or whatever. And that's assuming he had a problem. I dont think our DBs were bad last season. Lewis is a star who flourished under Manning, Wilson was a plus. Basically, He couldn't make Countess a man corner. But being a man corner is probably the hardest job in football.

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Reader71

September 2nd, 2015 at 2:11 AM ^

First, Hoke didn't go into the season thinking he was coaching for his job. It developed into that when the wheels started coming off. He was supposedly safe, so breaking what he thought was a good coach in at a new position wasn't a big risk. Carr did that type of shuffling a few times, including when he made Andy Moeller the OL coach and moved Terry Malone to OC/TE. I think they won the conference in the next two seasons. And the change in scheme is a PERFECT time to make that type of change -- its not like Manning was stuck in his zone scheme, whereas an old timer might be. Second, even if it was a bad idea, it wasn't because Manning never played DB, which was the thrust of my comment. Third, again, outside of Countess struggling, DB wasn't a weakness. We were OK back there, and without Peppers. Nothing great, but no Tony Gibson, either. As for if I think it was a good idea. I dunno. I get it. I would have preferred an established, top of the line DB coach. But I dont think Manning was a bad idea. And the results, I think, support me.

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Mr Miggle

September 2nd, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^

Mallory had been the only DB coach up until last year. It made sense to get him some help if they were going to implement a new system. I don't think Mallory just stopped coaching the CBs altogether. Our current DB coaches work together. It's reasonable to think Mannng and Mallory did too. I think the biggest problem was that the new system suited Peppers very well, not Countess.

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Mr Miggle

September 2nd, 2015 at 10:49 AM ^

I think most of them coached positions they didn't play.

Jerry Hanlon was his long time OL coach, but in the middle of that coached QBs for 6 years. He was a college RB.

Garry Moeller was a LB at OSU. At Michigan he coached DEs and QBs and was an OC and a DC. He also coached TEs in the NFL.

Lloyd was a college QB and coached DBs.

 

 

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MichiganTeacher

September 2nd, 2015 at 12:41 AM ^

This is a head-scratcher to me. Kudos to him for saying only the right things as he left, but man, I wish I knew why he left.

I think he probably just didn't get Harbaugh and/or didn't like the implications of bringing in people like Lyons. The other explanations don't seem to make sense. Scheme is the same - can't be that. Academics - yeah, can't be that. NFL opportunities are plenty possible with Durkin/Harbaugh, so I doubt it's that.

I read the article above that mentions a 'bargain,' but I didn't get the feeling that Blake was seeking a guarantee of playing time. It sounded more like the coaches just promised to rep him at different positions and give him a full opportunity, which seems to me exactly what would have happened here. (I did find it interesting that Malzahn said he was surprised that Countess could play - not a surprise, but further evidence that Malzahn doesn't exactly have the highest opinion of the Big Ten). 

So... I guess he just didn't like Harbaugh?

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LDNfan

September 2nd, 2015 at 5:02 AM ^

Yeah...I get the same feeling. The Lyon's talk was pretty strong for several weeks and it mostly felt like as a replacement for Countess. Most fans loved Blake but also had written him off as a fit for what Durkin wants to do...but then he goes to Auburn and is being asked to do the same thing. So a Lyons for Countess trade hasn't worked out the way most expected...

Now, if Stribling is REALLY ready then it might not matter anyway...

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Danwillhor

September 2nd, 2015 at 5:11 AM ^

then was not quite the same after the knee. Still solid and I wish he'd stayed (!) because you can never have enough DBs these days but not an edge guy anymore. If he suddenly becomes a press stud under Muschamp I'll scream to the heavens but I think they'll have him play off on inside WRs a lot. He'll basically free up a safety from having to sprint back toward the endzone upon the snap vs spread heavy teams.

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