He'd have to change the focus of his graduate work, no? Isn't the rule that if your current school doesn't offer your desired Master's you can transfer without loss of eligibility?
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Everyone's Back Next Year, Including Gardner
According to Brady Hoke, the coaching staff will return intact next year:
"I anticipate (this) staff (to be back)," Hoke said after attending a UAW/Ford Child Identity Program event at Ford Field.
Asked again, if he does not anticipate any staff changes for the 2014 season, Hoke responded with the following: "Correct."
And so will Devin Gardner, guy who sent me that one email about how he could transfer and not sit out a year.
"He'll be back," he said.
I seem to remember that that is the rule.
Borges, Funk, and Jackson are all returning? Ugh.
Next year is going to be painful to watch. I hope it isn't but it is. Hoke has doubled down with ineffective staff.
You really do not KNOW if next year will be painful to watch. A lot of people thought this year would be fun to watch, but it wasn't. So, who knows? Such is life.
So 8th place in the laughable Big 10, besting only stalwarts Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern (almost winless among all 3 if not for a head to head matchup) and Indiana.... gets you the whole staff back?
Wow. 8th place! 3-5! Bring everyone back! Its due to yoouuuuuth!!!!
This is so silly. Hoke is not going to say anything different until a coach is actually let go. He even used "anticipate" instead of "know" or "promise" or "guarantee." If a change were to happen, I'd want them to do it after the bowl anyway - let these guys be as prepared as possible for the last game. Then spend the next month finding an OC.
Point is, just because Hoke says he "anticipates" everyone back when asked, does not mean that's for sure the plan.
Without knowing Brandon's mind. Hoke is conscientiously political and he knows his place. He's not going to go making remarks like that he doesn't have reason to be pretty sure of.
It might imply *barring massive offensive meltdown in the bowl. But that's a pretty solid statement, nonetheless.
Anticipate...
That leaves a whole lot of wiggle room in there, actually, all of it I'd say. But honestly, I'm good with whichever route they go. Careful what you wish for and all that.
even if BH new exactly what DB was going to do he wouldn't tell us until it was a done deal and if posters haven't realized that by now they haven't been paying attention. Honestly, who would want BH to actually tell the media before he told AB or anyone else they were going to be fired? Some people take qoutes given to media far too seriously.
Also, as TIMMAAAY said, he said he anticipated. If I were to read anything into his statement at all it would give me the exact opposite impression it is giving those who think it means AB and the entire staff are coming back.
This neighborhood is full of youths!
Al bogus just got off using Schmidts line?
WTF?!?!?
note his political speech - "anticipates" no changes and while he hasn't talked to Gardner about his future, "He'll be back"
Brian the transfer could still happen! PANIC!
To some it's disappointing, to others expected. I don't know how I feel. I think some change would have been good for the fans but that seems like change for the sake of change.
One positive is staff continuity, minus Montgomery, for four seasons. The glaring negative is the games that we just look awful on offense. Hopefully those will change.
Borges et al would pull out all the stops and do just enough to save their bacon. I'm going to try to remain optimistic about seeing offensive improvement next season but it will be a challenge.
Michigan has totally embraced mediocrity.
We did that years ago!!!
Are the only ones growing to accept it. This move does not, in any way, state that they are happy with the results of the season. Quit embarassing yourself (unless this is sarcasm, then touche).
This is not sarcasm, but thanks.
I agree. Michigan football will continue to be irrelevant as long as they accept mediocre seasons like the one we just had. How much longer can fans continue to support this team when year after year nothing changes?
You realize that there are things a team or program can do besides fire people, right? And we really don't know if they'll all be back since it's not like Borges was getting fired before the bowl game anyway.
I reject this mediocrity! I do not accept it!
It is unacceptable.
I will not embrace it in a tree, or in the rain, or the sleet or snow. Or anywhich way.
David Brand-on might accept our irrelevance, our Notre Dame slide obscurity bolivian, but I Will. Not. Accept.
So?
Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?
I know you know much more about football strategy than I do, and based on this, you may have reasons for supporting Borges that I don't know (and I'd love to hear them). But some of the evidence against Borges is pretty damning. I watched the Ohio game with my father, who is in his mid-60s and has only a surface-level knowledge of football strategy. By the end of the game, even he realized the following:
- Literally every time we were in the pistol formation, we ran speed option.
- Every time Lewan was lined up as a TE (sometimes I pointed this out to him), we ran behind him.
- When we lined up in the power I at the goal line and shuffled the H-back behind the line, we were running directly toward where the H-back stopped.
- Every time we lined up 3 WRs in a stack with Dileo at the back, we were running Dileo on a short in (we only do this on third and short-to-medium).
Yes, that's right: my dad, who has watched maybe five complete games of football in the past decade, correctly called what play we were running on the two point conversion before we ran it. If he can pick this stuff out after watching one game, part of which he spent playing with his granddaughters, then any reasonably prepared opponent can as well (as you know, the Ohio defenders admitted that they were sitting on Dileo for the conversion attempt).
This is why I have only moderate hopes for improvement next season. Although we're losing both tackles and Gallon, and the rest of the offense will have more experience, the problems listed above aren't ones that will be fixed by experience. Even if we have the best offensive line in the country, we won't go far if the defense knows what's coming.
All I'm saying is that no one is accepting mediocrity other than the people claiming that this program is doing such. The people within this program, from Dave Brandon, to the entire coaching staff, to the players, to the interns, want this program and expect this program to play for championships.
No one is accepting mediocrity other than those saying that this program is doing such and embracing it on top of that. That was my point.
Action speak louder then words.
We, the school, the team, the coaches, the administration... We're all accepting mediocrity. Don't talk it. Walk it. Put up or shut up.
There was no accountability for anyone this year. Let's all enjoy the years of futility ahead.
Actions? You mean like putting up 41 points against OSU?
No one, including the coaches, thinks that this year is a success. But stop actling like anything short of firing Borges 3 days after the OSU game is not taking action.
Yes, I mean actions. Actions like 7-5, not competing for titles.
You know, actions like winning.
That statement is untrue. The people who say that the program is embracing mediocrity are frustrated that the program remains mediocre. Making no changes may keep continuity, but when the current staff has been getting bad results, especially offensively, it isn't unreasonable to expect changes and be disappointed by the lack thereof. To say that the coaches are also disappointed misses the point completely since they are the ones responsible for said mediocrity, but I guess pointing out bad results makes that person the one settling for mediocrity, not the coaches responsible for the, you know, actual results.
Urbs was coaching and not you and your dad or we wouldn't have put up 600 yds.
If it's true that we were showing tendencies (which after all isn't so surprising, since every team does), this game should be proof that avoiding tendencies isn't all-important.
That was the best offensive performance against OSU in over a century. I don't think it was their worst defense of the century and it sure as hell isn't our best offense. So the tendencies don't seem to have hurt us so much, do they?
Space Coyote, you are my hero. If anyone does leave or is fired (which I'm on the fence about), please apply for the job.
All these armchair guys think they can just burn the program down because we didn't win a Natty with our rotating oline full of freshmen. Brighter days will come. The kids love brady hoke. The parents love brady hoke. We will stay the course, with the very capable staff we have, continue to improve until we become a championship caliber team. Hang in there ladies. Everything's going to be ok.
8th place in the conference and 3-5 Big 10 record is not even mediocre. Its positively Illinois-ish.
Well, this'll be a fun offseason on MGoBlog.
I hope not
Honestly this is the best thing for the team. No doubt we had our issues, but coaching changes can really mess up team chemistry and could cause a ripple effect in recruiting. Hopefully this season can be chalked up as a ton of youthful mistakes that can be fixed in the preperation for the bowl season and spring practices.
We have some talent coming in (hopefully with Peppers) that will allow for some game changers that Michigan has been lacking. We will miss Gallon and Lewan, et al but almost every other position will be stronger than this year.
Go Blue!
"but coaching changes can really mess up team chemistry"
Tell that to John Beilein.
What if I told you... Basketball =/= Football
Star recruits are often one and done in basketball while in mature programs they rarely make impacts until they are upper classmen (especially linemen).
So? Terrible coaches with a track record of being terrible are just as bad for team chemistry.
Oh boy. We have terrible coaches now, according to this guy.
Oh yeah, we've got a full on mutiny in the locker room, haven't you heard?
I wish people would realize/accept that both of the following statements don't stand up to scrutiny: 1. Al Borges is one of the top five OCs in the country. 2. Al Borges one of the bottom five OCs in the country.
They guy has both succeeded and failed. He's not great, and he's not terrible.
"He's not great, and he's not terrible."
Absolutely correct.
He's not great, he's not terrible, he's mediocre... and PAID like he is great.
Completely agree. There is no fucking way that Michigan should be paying him that kind of cash. He doesn't need to produce Indiana and OSU numbers every week but he cannot have games like Iowa, MSU, Nebraska.
Borges isn't god awful, he calls some god awful games and some very impressive ones. The issue has always been consistency coupled with an unimpressive ability to make adjustments when the plan doesn't work.
The track record of Borges and Funk isn't terrible? Good lord you need to stop drinking the kool-aid.
Oh and if, as even you say, he "isn't great" then why the hell is he being paid as if he is?
Funk had a good year at Ball St. when he was coaching part of the line, though they'd done well the year before too. Then he and Borges helped coach a big turnaround at SDSU. Several years before that, Borges had major successes at UCLA and Auburn too.
Your second question is harder to answer.
Yes, he had such major successes that he was fired only a year or two after them.
Borges left UCLA, he wasn't fired.
Was definitely fired from Auburn, however.
The guy they brought in to replace him was fired halfway through the season; his boss was gone at season's end after preseason #11 turned into 5-7/2-6 with the two conference wins by scores of 3-2 and 12-10.
Maybe Al wasn't the problem there after all?