CC: Harbaugh's extension offer
By now, most have heard the news that JH has been offered a sweetened extension to his current deal by Stanford.
Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5889922
Putting aside Stanford's AD's optimism, who knows whether JH will sign it. Who knows if he is in contention for the Michigan job or if there even is a Michigan job.
But, this public offer does impact my view of Brandon's handling of our coaching situation. My opinion is now that Brandon is mis-handling it. Why? There are two possible decisions that DB can reach in January, and regardless of which he reaches, he JH's public extension offer by Stanford makes DB's handling poor:
1. DB decides to keep RR, either because he thinks that RR is the best option or because there are no better alternatives (and if JH signed an extension, there really aren't any, regardless of whether you are pro-RR or anti-RR). If this is the outcome, than DB screwed up in his process. Delaying has already cost us a potential super-star compliment to Denard in Dee Hart. It has also cost us our only QB in the class. I know that Sousa was not a 5* prospect and he is considered to be a project at QB, but so was Denard. The fact that kids are decommitting and other feel compelled to comment on the situation on twitter has really hurt recruiting. If the end result is to keep RR, then this should be done yesterday, so that we can have stability and end the drama surrounding our program.
2. DB decides to fire RR. Here is the one reason that I have not been mor down on DB - I bought into the conspiracy theory that DB has been delaying his decision because his plan was to go after JH and he did not want to create a circus surrounding JH forcing JH to sign an extension with Stanford on the even of his big game like Miles did. If this was his plan, it jsut got blown sky high by Stanford's AD beating him to the punch. If JH signed with Stanford and DB decides to fire RR, then our only worthwhile replacement is gone and we are left with who?
I have become increasingly frustrated by DB's delay. Not because I want to know for my own edification. Because, as expected, this delay is hurting recruiting, increasing negative attention on our program and causing uncertainty that cannot possibly be good for this young team as it prepares for its first bowl game in 3 years. I personally could see dealing with this if DB was doing so to prevent putting JH in a tough spot before his bowl game, but now JH is in that same spot regardless.
2 caveats: (1) Notice that I did not express an opinion on which decision DB should make. That is not the purpose of this post. Personally, both JH and RR are creat coaches, and I am happy that I don't have to make this decision.
(2) Yes, I know that there is a post entitled "Reputable rumor: Harbaugh . . ." That just talks about a rumor that JH has already signed an extension. This is a discussion about actual news - that Standord has publicly offered JH an extension.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:57 AM ^
Its water under the bridge man.
RR will return next year and those who stay will be champions.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:57 AM ^
godammmmmmmit
December 6th, 2010 at 11:08 AM ^
I feel kinda bad for those ducks....
December 6th, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^
they're like fuzzy little tennis balls at that age, made to get rolled around a little and come out of it okay. You could always fight those feelings by finding a park bench with a loaf of Wonderbread in hand.
Alternate use: GERG is the mother duck leading the defense (considering his love of storytime, maybe Mother Goose would be more appropriate).
December 6th, 2010 at 11:20 AM ^
A) Great video, where on earth did you find that.
B) For all we know David Brandon has already contacted whomever James' "people" are and is discussing matters. I think he's too business savvy to not have at least reached out. Otherwise there is little to no reason for him not ot be publicly endorsing RR for next year. Dave's no fool. He has to know the damage of leaving things in limbo is creating and that, unless there is a payoff, it doesn't justify the state of things.
Until I hear James come out and say "I WILL BE THE COACH OF STANFORD NEXT YEAR" I don't buy any of this crap.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:17 PM ^
The only way this extention offer and potential acceptance of it by Harbaugh precludes Michigan from getting him as their next coach is if the buyout is some outrageous number like $10M.
If anything, this may buy Michigan more time as it won't have to contend with every BCS school with a coaching vacancy calling Harbaugh.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:59 AM ^
1. One recruiting class doesn't make or break any program... Let's review what we've lost: Kevin Souza a spare project QB. Dee Hart hasn't decommitted. Is his committment solid as it was two weeks ago? no. But I can't say he's "gone" and neither can you.
2. What precludes UM from buying out his contract even if he signs the extension?
3. Spell check/re-read your post. It is difficult to read; you have quite a few spelling/typing errors.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:07 AM ^
Speaking of reading your own post--the guy's name is Sousa.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:19 AM ^
Fair enough.
[EDIT: I misspelled a proper noun which has little to no effect on the readability of my post...he made a half dozen errors that made reading it a little difficult. I was not trying to be a grammar nazi, actually just trying to give him a tip. I've made the same mistake of not rereading a post and it being littered with errors.}
December 6th, 2010 at 11:36 AM ^
oh never mind my fucking reading comprehenssion fails this morning, sorry dude.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:11 AM ^
I like the spelling better with the "z" instead. No reason for that preference. It just looks cooler. So +1 for the misspelling. (P.S. By commenting on his post you made it impossible for him to fix it anyway.)
December 6th, 2010 at 11:23 AM ^
I'm well aware that responding to his post meant he could no longer fix it.
I guess you missed the point: It's ridiculous for someone to play grammar nazi when their own post has several errors of its own. I didn't even mention that this phrase of his--"Is his commitment solid as it"--is missing an "as" or that he should have capitalized "no."
And, by the way, for the record, I didn't neg him.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:29 AM ^
I was joking. It was supposed to be funny. You know, something that makes you laugh? I guess it wasn't. Regardless, there was no need to explain yourself - I know exactly what you were doing with your post. I would have done the same had you not beaten me to it.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:43 AM ^
I was responding to your P.S., which I took as a criticism because it seemed to imply I shouldn't have responded to his post and should have given him a chance to fix it. Re-read your P.S.--don't you think it would easily be taken that way?
December 6th, 2010 at 11:45 AM ^
I guess it could be taken that way. But I did not mean it that way. Someone once pointed that out to me and I appreciated it so I thought I was sharing the wealth.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:43 PM ^
OK. Makes sense.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:21 AM ^
It actually produced a fairly decent haul. Graham, both Browns, Minor, Schilling, Dorrestein, Mathews and Mouton all ended up decent Big 10 players or better (and Ezeh if you're feeling super charitable).
2007 essentially ended up being Warren, Molk, Hemingway and Van Bergen. I guess Webb ended up being decent.
That's 2 defensive players (one of whom left before this year) and 2-3 offensive players from one class. Large portion of Michigan's struggles can be traced right to that.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^
I (along with many others) feel the secondary is the single greatest downfall of this team right now and that 2007 class had exactly zero secondary prospects save Stevie Brown who ended up being a LB (sorta). That was my point..
December 6th, 2010 at 11:40 AM ^
I think every recruiting class is important.
I am not just worried about commits that may go elsewhere. I am also worried about recruits that are on the fence and decide that too much uncertainty is not worth the choice. That is an unmeasurable in the future because you really don't know the reason for their choice to go elsewhere.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:45 AM ^
Most of UM's defensive struggles can be traced to horrid coaching. Three years of poor tackling and missed assignments are a sure sign of that.That the defense has been bad with and without experience is also a significant indication that the coaching at all levels has been subpar.
UM's talent level on defense, while not optimal, has not been bad. Most of the players have been three stars or above(meaning productive starters at the very least)That is eequivalent to what Iowa, Wisconsin, and MSU bring in,
December 6th, 2010 at 1:35 PM ^
WI, Iowa, and MSU have the luxury of starting 3 stars that are juniors and 5th yr seniors
December 6th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
December 6th, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^
CC;dr
December 6th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^
I'm pretty sure there IS a Michigan coaching job..... currently filled by Coach Rod.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:05 AM ^
Give it up with these posts.. Most of the people posting this stuff apparently can't think beyond comprehension that brandon may have already told RR what's up. Just cause there isn't a media shitstorm doesn't mean anything.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:36 PM ^
People tend to forget that DB and RR are actually, you know, colleagues and such right now. They talk to each other. Probably often now. I highly doubt RR does not know of what DB's intentions are at this point, even though we fans have absolutely no clue.
I'm done with the speculating. I am just a wait and see guy. Sometimes I think it's more likely RR stays, sometimes I think the other way. But the reality is I have no effing clue. People here are growing impatient, but why? We already know DB is waiting until the new year, so why would you NOW get annoyed with him waiting to say anything to the media? Wouldn't it look bad of him as a leader to go back on what he's been saying repeatedly for months now?
December 6th, 2010 at 1:46 PM ^
Brandon and Harbaugh are actually said to be fairly close friends. So yeah, DB almost certainly knows JH's intentions.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:05 AM ^
now despise RR after what happened at the Bust.
I'm not saying this matters to Brandon.
And I'm not saying they are right.
I'm just passing along the fact that 98% of the living people who are responsible for Michigan being the winningest program in CFB history want RR fired immediately.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:07 AM ^
Under the assumption that you did not go out and poll every single person who has played football at Michigan, and is still living, I'm going to say you're 100% wrong.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^
it's somewhere in the 90th percentile.
And hey, don't shoot the messenger.
Listen, I want RR to stay and clean house on his defensive staff!
I'm just trying to pass along information. Jeez. Whatever.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:13 AM ^
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there's a 98% chance that the OP has never met anyone that played Michigan football. So there's that.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:18 AM ^
Shoot the messenger.
You are wrong. I'll stop arguing over the intertubes with you now.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^
Can we see the actual results of your polling data? Possibly a breakdown by decade? I'm very intrigued.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:11 PM ^
Justin Boren?
December 6th, 2010 at 1:59 PM ^
Who, me?
December 6th, 2010 at 11:10 AM ^
Wow, you got a quick survey out to all the former players and they all responded, huh? Impressive!
December 6th, 2010 at 11:22 AM ^
I never cease to be amazed by the people in our midst here on MGoBlog.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:10 AM ^
Link? data? facts? figures? direct quotes? made-up quotes? polls? counter polls? ANYTHING?!
Do you have ANY proof to back this up?
It's such a ridiculous assertion that you had better have something!
QUICK, make something up... oh wait, you already did.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:16 AM ^
I know dozens of former players. I was taken aback by how many of them now really hate RR for what he did at the Bust. Every single one of the 50-70 guys that I know and heard from don't want RR to be the coach anymore.
But who gives a fuck what they think.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:26 AM ^
My apologies for the internets overreaction...
But seriously... Dozens =/= 50-70, and you spoke with all of them? And all 50-70 save 1 or 2 all want RR out?
My point is, it seems ridiculous to make any assertions based on your "data" and informal polling.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:25 PM ^
"dozens" can very well equal 50-70, that would be four-six dozen IIRC. Thus; dozens...
December 6th, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
make up the 98 percent that are living AND hate RR.....plus...why say dozens when you can approximate the number of former players you know to 50-70? If you want RR fired and think he sucked at The Bust...then say it and suffer the wrath of givig op-ed in this thread. Dont just make up garbage stats....because trust me...98 percent of the MgoBlog posters I know just hate this type of stuff
December 6th, 2010 at 11:40 AM ^
60% of the time, it works everytime.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^
Are you referring to players that played 40-70 years ago? Honestly, I really could care less about what they think. They earned the right to critique the program but I would venture a guess that the majority of them are a bit removed from things. This may be agism (if so, I apologize in advance), but I would guess that more than one of them are not a fan of the spread offense.
December 6th, 2010 at 1:15 PM ^
So the opinions of the guys that beat Woody's best team 24-12 under Bo in 1969 do not matter. But, your opinion matters!