Unverified Voracity Surveys Departures Comment Count

Brian

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[Eric Upchurch]

Attrition incoming. Harbaugh minced no words in the press conference after the Citrus Bowl:

Michigan no doubt has a very good idea of who those guys are already and is recruiting to match. Rivals has a rundown of the general situation that lists a number of names, most of them obvious.

Potential fifth years who have not seen the field much are not likely to return. That's a group that includes Terry Richardson, Blake Bars, Tom Strobel and maybe Allen Gant. Drake Johnson was a maybe due to playing time, something I'd also heard, but now looks set to come back. Matt Godin is mentioned as a possibility, but that seems far-fetched since he saw a ton of snaps this year. He's not a great fit as a DT, but move him to a plugger DE spot and he can be useful taking on tight ends on the like.

Rivals also suggests that a current offensive line starter might move on, which sounds absolutely ridiculous. Even if a guy might get beat out that guy would almost certainly be your #6, and asking that guy to transfer is not something any program is likely to do. File that under "motivational ploy" or "drunken telephone".

Aside from the fifth year guys, space will come from a couple places. One are Michigan's specialists. We currently count them against the cap but their situation is probably more fluid than that since I assume a couple of them are on "you get the first available slot in fall" kind of deals. Those slots are near-certain to open up by fall; I don't know if Michigan has to account for them on Signing Day.

Then there are plain old transfers. Derrick Green disappeared in the second half of the season and didn't make the bowl trip; I have heard that he is very likely to transfer. You have to figure that players passed by freshmen are going to be inclined to look around. There are few WR/DB types that applies to, and then at least one quarterback is going to look at the guys around him and say NOOOPE. It sounds like Harbaugh is already aware of who those guys are.

Ty Isaac doesn't seem like one of them. With virtually zero playing time after a couple of mid-year fumbles Isaac would be a guy to keep an eye on even though he's already lost a year of eligibility by departing USC. But Isaac says he's going to stay and scrap:

"I didn't play as well as I needed to, and I obviously had some things come up," Isaac said last week in Orlando. "But I still feel the same way. Anything the coaches want me to do I'll do, and I want to do.

"It didn't go my way, but the team overall's had a successful year and I'm happy to be a part of that."

I'd heard that he was very prominent in practices late, but that clearly did not translate into enough trust to put him on the field. He'll work on rebuilding that this offseason.

Early entries. It's departure season, as the deadline to declare for the NFL draft is the 15th. Michigan seems to be getting everyone other than maybe Willie Henry back; others have not been so fortunate:

  • Penn State: QB Christian Hackenberg and DT Austin Johnson have declared. Neither is much of a surprise.
  • Indiana: RB Jordan Howard declared, and Michigan fans quietly high-fived. So did DT Darius Latham, who was their most talented defender.
  • Nebraska: DT Maliek Collins declared. Michigan doesn't play Nebraska next year.
  • Maryland: DE Yannick Ngakoue declared.
  • Rutgers: LB Steve Longa is gone, but Seth will still draft him anyway next year.
  • Ohio State: DE Joey Bosa, RB Ezekiel Elliott, S Tyvis Powell, QB Cardale Jones, WR Michael Thomas, CB Eli Apple and LB Darron Lee have all declared. S Vonn Bell is widely expected to go as well.

Iowa is getting CB Desmond King back, so that's good for them. Everyone else of note is out.

Ratings! I don't care about ratings. A lot of people seem very mad that the playoff semifinals dropped a third of their viewership after moving to New Year's Eve. I don't care that much about other people setting money on fire, but yeah it was bad:

Per Sports Business Journal's Jon Ourand, overnight numbers for the Oklahoma-Clemson Orange Bowl and Alabama-Michigan State Cotton Bowl were 9.7 and 9.9, respectively (about 15.6 million viewers for the Orange Bowl and about 18.6 million for the Cotton, per Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch).

Last year's Rose and Sugar semis got 15.5 and 15.3 (about 28 million viewers apiece, per The Washington Post).

That's more than a third fewer viewers for the sport's biggest games of the year.

Two games that didn't exactly come down to the wire—MSU-Alabama was particularly uncompetitive—didn't help. The idea that college football would change the country's New Year's Eve paradigm was massive hubris, but this is an organization that kept Bill Hancock as their main mouthpiece even after they'd decided everything that came out of his mouth for a decade was complete bollocks. Hubris should be expected.

Let's see what Bill Hancock has to say now, I bet it's reasonable and logic—

"That decline, frankly, is not much of a surprise and it's modest."

Hancock's business card reads "will lie but seem respectable for money."

Wisconsin down one Dave Aranda. LSU hires him away for a reported 1.3 million a year. That is bad for Wisconsin, which seems to be clearly handicapped by their administration at this point. Gary Andersen fled to one of the worst jobs in the Pac-12 rather than stick around; Bo Ryan retired midseason to spite people who would not give the job to his primary assistant; they lose their DC and Barry Alvarez cries poverty afterward.

I'm sure they'll maintain competitiveness but it feels like their golden age is coming to an end here.

Mone ready to go. Bryan Mone tells Scout he's completely recovered from his injury and raring to go:

"I used (the injury) as motivation to be honest with you," Mone said. "Just motivation. Watching the guys practice and play got me excited to work out and not only that but in the classroom, too... I feel pretty good body-wise. I was at 330 when I got hurt, I'm at 309 now. My expectations are just to get better with my technique football-wise."

He also says "everybody is coming back," which predated reports about Willie Henry exploring his options but is still an enouraging sign for how he thinks that decision will go.

Partridge on departing. DJ Durkin made a run at Chris Partridge after he was hired at Maryland, but Partridge decided to stay. It sounds like that's not a short-term decision:

“My future is whatever Jim Harbaugh thinks my future is,” said Partridge, with his mother, Bonnie, and father, Rick, nearby. “My number will be called and I know that, and for now I’m trying to be the best in the country in whatever role my team needs me, whatever I’m asked to do. My loyalty is with Jim Harbaugh — who I consider the best coach in the country — and my heart is with the University of Michigan. I’m just part of a team trying to do my part to help us win Big Ten and national championships.”

Partridge coached linebackers in the bowl game and is probably in line for a full assistant spot in the relatively near future, possibly when Mattison retires.

Etc.: Get The Picture on the epidemic of QB transfers. Harbaugh gonna Harbaugh. Citrus Bowl widely watched despite blowout. Holdin' The Rope on said blowout. Things that predict future shooting performance. Jake Rudock on his final year. The evolution of Michigan football.

Fitz Toussaint will start for the Steelers in the playoffs. /throws dart at Fred Jackson picture

Comments

Mr. Yost

January 5th, 2016 at 6:07 PM ^

I want to see all the guys back, especially someone like Godin who saw snaps and was actually GOOD in a lot of those snaps.

However, Brian...I just don't see your point about moving him outside. It feels like a luxury more than anything.

You get Mone back and Glasgow. He's not getting snaps at the nose.

If Henry leaves...you bring him back, if not you have Henry and Hurst at the DT (3T) spot...He's not getting significant snaps there.

At SDE (5T) you have Wormley and Rashan Gary coming in...Gary's not going to redshirt. We can safely assume he can backup Chris Wormley from day 1, can't we?

At WDE you have Charlton and then like 115 guys Durkin recruited for BUCK/WDE that you can put as a backup to Taco. You know you're going to hit on at least ONE of those guys. Plus Lawrence Marshall who was already around.

So while Godin is valuable and a very solid player, he could easily just be a flex 3-deep player next year. That's super valuable in a year like this year when guys are injured...but when you're crunching numbers trying to get down to a certain roster max, those types of players usually fall out.

For example, Blake Bars would serve a similar role on the OL (a flex guy) --- I realize Bars hasn't come close to the PT of Godin.

Mr. Yost

January 5th, 2016 at 6:09 PM ^

But does he have a specialty? Did he play football in college? If so, what position?

We obviously felt comfortable enough in his expertise at LB. But could he coach the DL? TEs?

Just wondering about his coaching background.

FreddieMercuryHayes

January 5th, 2016 at 6:30 PM ^

He did play college ball at a small school somewhere I believe; LB if I remember correctly. Then coached at the Citadel as an assistant coach as well. Sam mentioned that he stepped away from coaching for a while for personal reasons and to take care of his mother I think. He took the Paramus job to get back into coaching and is now trying to climb the ladder. So he's a bit of an unknown, but not out of left field during his career climb.




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Raoul

January 5th, 2016 at 6:53 PM ^

That tweet from Snyder was discussed in a recent thread, and Harbaugh was not referring to attrition. He was saying that were 10 or 11 guys on the current team who are out of eligbility and thus won't be on the team next year, and will have a chance to be on an NFL team. That quote comes out of a long answer Harbaugh gave to a question posed around the 1:25 mark in the video below. He says "10 or 11 guys on this team won't be back next year" around 3:30 and then says "and for the rest of us guys, like De'Veon and me, onward" around 3:44.

jvp123

January 5th, 2016 at 7:51 PM ^

Thanks for posting this. I literally just looked at the Revisions section of the Depth Chart by Class to count the class of 2016. So now that we know this, will the same people who were uneasy with names being mentioned in previous threads give Brian some pushback for doing the same on the front page?

I will admit that I am a little uneasy as it seems we are eagerly anticipating hearing names so we can pencil in an expected commit for next year. I mean, the kids that may get a gentle shove were once commits as well, right?

TrueBlue2003

January 5th, 2016 at 8:40 PM ^

does anyone know when during a program it gets "counted" for the official ratings?  People talk a lot about blowouts affecting ratings so does that mean viewers have to be watching for the duration of the program or is it a weighted average based on fraction of the program viewed?

MGoblu8

January 5th, 2016 at 9:18 PM ^

Honestly, I stil can't see  how we add 27 guys in this class. As stated above, there will have to be some completely unexpected attrition. I trust Harbaugh, so I'll wait and see how it plays out.

WolverineMaize93

January 5th, 2016 at 9:48 PM ^

About 2-3 sophomores and/or juniors will transfer (Green, Taylor-Douglas, and a QB are possibilities). Along with about 10 seniors that will not be returning for their 5th year. Also the possibility of guys in this recruiting class to be gray shirted. I definitely see how it will work. I expect a lot of attrition, especially after spring ball. Harbaugh will likely bring in a couple more grad transfers, especially at positions of need, such as center or LB.

xtramelanin

January 5th, 2016 at 9:55 PM ^

may be a minority here, but my days of raging at new year's are decades behind me.   loved watching sparty get their heads handed to them.  it was a fine new year's evening.

redfirelx

January 5th, 2016 at 10:10 PM ^

I'm sure the game had big ratings due to the two marque programs playing and the fact that it was the only football game on New Years Day on broadcast TV. The only one! There used to be a ton of games on NYD and now there are only what, 5 games total and one on broadcast TV. The rest are ESPN/ESPN2.

Lanknows

January 6th, 2016 at 12:10 AM ^

and unnecessary.  But that appears to be a minority opinion and Brian is probably just caving to majority demand/reality.

Then again I think Fred Jackson is pretty good and the fact that he recruited Rawls and Toussaint is a testament to his skills rather than evidence of his incompetance...so what do I know?

wahooverine

January 6th, 2016 at 1:32 AM ^

Classless? What? How? Departures are directly related to performance on the field. Something objectively observable. If you can't discuss a players performance what's the point is this blog? No one is saying a player should depart because they are a bad person and not liked, or that they didn't try hard or represent the school well. I if someone someone said Morgan had a bad performance against Minnesota is that also classless? In what way does discussing player performance have anything tondo with "class"?

1989 UM GRAD

January 6th, 2016 at 10:31 AM ^

I don't see it that way. This is major big-time college football. Expectations are very high. The players knew that when they committed to Michigan. Saying that they aren't performing to that expectation isn't the same as saying they suck. It's a competitive sport and being at Michigan means being able to (or wanting to) compete at that level. This isn't rev league boys soccer where everyone gets a participation trophy.

Rabbit21

January 6th, 2016 at 12:17 PM ^

Thats fine and all that, I simply would prefer that part of the deal not be having fans speculate by name about whether a kid who is busting his ass and putting blood, sweat, and tears into the program is going to transfer based simply on whether or not they have seen him on the field.  He could be a kickass practice squad guy, or he could be really working toward a degree, there's a ton of stuff going on behind the scenes we know nothing about, so to call guys out by name simply because it's, "Big boy football" is kinda shitty.  

If there're stories out in the news about guys by name, or we are dealing with renewals for fifth year guys once the season is over, that's a bit different.  

Just my opinion.

Rabbit21

January 6th, 2016 at 7:02 AM ^

Notice how the names were only of guys who might not be renewed as fifth years or guys reported to have basically already left the team, it wasn't until the season was over, and it seems he was relaying names mentioned elsewhere, anyone not in that bucket wasn't named. Still not my favorite thing but it appears there is a line drawn.




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Michigan Fan L…

January 6th, 2016 at 7:00 AM ^

Despite what Ty Isaac says, I think he is outta here.  And even though he probably has a higher ceiling than the other running backs on the roster (excluding Kareem Walker), I just get the feeling his work ethic does not match Harbaugh's demands.  I wish him the best.

I don't know if now is a good time to admit I was wrong about the quarterback mass exodus prediction I made a few months ago.  I thought for sure we would hear transfer announcements from 2 or 3 quarterbacks after the bowl game ended.  And I was shocked that Shane Morris decided to stay.  I'll wait and see what happens after signing before admitting to being absolutely wrong.

We had a great season.  I went through the "9 days of Harbaugh" in late December, watching one game per day leading up to the Citrus Bowl.  beginning  9 days prior to the Citrus Bowl.  I only looked at the 9 wins but I will admit that re-watching the Indiana and Minnesota games was brutal.  I'm glad we won, but man did those 2 games feel like losses. 

Look, I know we lost a few key players to injury, but it sure seems like we hit a wall at the halfway point, which is understandable since Harbaugh is slightly demanding. I'm hoping that the returning players can get the incoming players ready for the demands of the offseason workouts, spring practices, fall submarine practices and weekly practices so that next season the players will be able to maintain the same level of excellence displayed in the first half of the season, throughout the entire season. 

Gooooooooooo Blue!!!!! 

Mgodiscgolfer

January 6th, 2016 at 7:41 AM ^

I realize that the D line is going to have its fair share of playmakers and I am sure they would be fine without Willy Henry or Godin but to lose both Henry and Godin would hurt. I think if Godin comes back he would have a season to cause pro scouts to salivate*. Obviously Henry would be sensational next year if he returns as well*.

More importantly I really was never quite sure what Bollocks meant exactly. I happen to enjoy Kitchen Nightmares  w/ Gordon Ramsey and he would say Bollocks fairly often but I just could not understand what that meant except he was angry. Brian was clearly saying Bollocks = B#llsh#t and I want to thank him for unintentionally clearing that up for me. 

*  provided no injury that would keep him out more than a week.

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Bertello NC

January 6th, 2016 at 10:31 AM ^

I feel like as the seasons go by Harbs will have a handle on, more specifically, the QB situation and be able to whittle it down to a more realistic depth chart. It seems like with it being the first year or two no one knew him and he didn't know what was in the cupboard so recruiting heavy in the QB department was paramount seeing as how it was a bit of a weak point for us in the recent past. On another note you can see the early signs of Harbaugh putting together a bulldozing type of offensive line. Isiah Wilson next year would continue to add to that construction process. I would also think green is definitely out and issac might translate to fullback. He'd have to have increased contact courage however to live up to JH's standards. Only he can turn that light on.




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mgobobb

January 7th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^

Although from the same hometown as De'Veon who had a great game against the Gators, I am really happy to see Ty Isaacs coming back.  He looked like he had a world of potential and hopefully this is the year he will show it.  I have a hunch he will!

 

Go Blue!