Monday Presser Notes: 11-2

FWIW, it will look bad for the coaching staff when the Big 10 says Ortmann is suspended on Thu or Fri...

stay will be champions. Those who support and keep the faith will be vindicated.

There is no way that was "open-handed" or intended to "push Liuget away." One of our guys hit another player in the testicles and while it might seem funny to joke about, that could seriously injure that kid, regarless of the fact that he was being a douche and standing over him. This makes UM not only look like a crappy football team, but also one in which clearly over-the-line behavior is tolerated, for whatever reason Rich Rodriguez has for tolerating it.

1. I challenge anyone to look at that tape and conjure up an explanation that doesn't involve Ortmann intending to deliver a punch to the groin.

2. We cannot be the kind of program that accepts that crap from its athletes.

Technically, all it does is make us bowl-eligible... are there any likely scenarios in which we get six victories but are shut out of bowl consideration?

He sometimes plans what he's going to say, but a lot of the time he just lets it flow.

kind of like coner, when he's got a mic in his hand.

From today's presser on whether his animated nature on the sidelines might add to the tightness:

"...If we had a quarterback that threw to a wrong guy and the guy picked it off and ran 100-some yards for a touchdown and all of that, and he came over to the sideline and people are expecting me to put my arm around him, whether he's a freshman or senior, and say, that's okay, don't worry about it, misreading and all that kind of stuff ? well, let's talk about it in the future and we'll sit down on the couch and have some tea and crumpets, the kids would look at me and say, okay, something is happening here; this guy went nuts on me."

If I'm the coaching staff before the Purdue game I would just leave and let Brandon Graham be alone with the team for about five minutes before they leave to go out.

First, I would like to know the grading standards for defensive players because Leach coming out on top can only mean the protocol rewards players for making the right reads and having the right assignments. That would be ideal if you had good players, but Leach and Kovacs are no Clay Matthews. Both were not out of position as often as say, Mike Williams last weekend, but they simply do not have the physical skills to compete at the D1 level. I'm sure Leach and Kovacs are both great kids, but the talent simply is not there. There's nothing they can do to change that. That's life. So given that they were overwhelmed even if they made the right reads, why not give Emilien/Fitzgerald a chance. It can't get any worse.

Second, regarding blaming players for poor performances, that's just real life. In the real world, you are going to get blamed for your poor performances. I must say, from my limited anecdotal experience, that the days of mentoring an employee and viewing new employees as long term investments are long over. Industry in almost every field, including fields that were once gentile, is highly cutthroat and all that matters is how much money you can make for the firm now. In the football world, I certainly see the same cutthroat mentality amongst players and coaches. Whether we like this new order or not is not really the issue. It exists and players and students at large are going to have to deal with these pressures. So while some of you may be offended by the coaches calling out players who obviously missed assignments and played very poorly, I'm not going to hold that against him. I will, however, judge him on wins and losses and I'm not going to give him five years to field a competitive team.

"Winning the Purdue game is important for the program. The players deserve a reward game for all of their hard work, and the coaches would really like to have an extra set of practices for preparation for the future."

I'm sure it wasn't his intent but it sounds like they are conceding the Wisconsin and Ohio State games and Purdue is basically the only chance they have for a bowl game. In retrospect, they probably should have taken that mentality into the Illinois game.

This quote from Angelique Chengelis' article today, which I assume is from the presser, just infuriates the crap out of me:

"To build a championship level, Division I program, there are a lot of parts to it, " he said. "It takes a little bit longer. Progress is being made ... We're pressing forward."

So what was Michigan before RR got here, chopped liver? Why do we keep hearing about "building a program?"