Sponsor Note: Mmmm, Cheap Seats except tackling UFC 1. Which has Jim Brown doing color! Simultaneous thoughts: "why?" and "how did you get friggin' Jim Brown?"

The Sklars would appreciate a like on the video; this first episode is free to the world, future ones will be on UFC Fight Pass. Sign up, or deprive yourselves. I don't make the rules.

A large survey. ESPN surveyed "over 200 coaches, players, and administrators" about where college football is going. Upshots:

• A healthy majority (60%) of respondents think football should no longer be under the NCAA umbrella at all.
• A whopping 80% characterized NIL as a "black-market pay-for-play system that is being used to secure recruits and transfers," which means Michigan is in a small minority of naïve teams. Also it's a gray market—not explicitly prohibited but of murky validity.
• 75% say tampering is a problem that needs to be addressed, which is essentially impossible right now.
• A third of respondents favor a 12 team playoff model; another third favor eight teams, with other formats taking the remaining third.
• Only 15% endorsed lifting the one-time transfer restriction, about which more in the next bullet.
• Also relevant to next bullet: 88% of respondents believe direct player compensation is on the horizon, with a majority expecting it within five years.

Well, that's one thing. After rumors that the NCAA was going to do with the "one-time" part of the free transfer rule it appears, per Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic, that the NCAA will still dock your eligibility for transfer #2 and beyond. We've talked about this stuff a lot on WTKA: perpetual roster instability has a much better case that it hurts college sports than players having money, and I'd like to see some restrictions on movement stay in place. I do think it's reasonable to say that you're supposed to be getting a degree and transferring every year makes a mockery out of that. This is more or less why it's being tabled this year:

Presidents on both the Transformation Committee and Board have expressed concerns regarding the possibility of unlimited transfers, sources said. There also has been a great deal of public pushback from football and men’s basketball coaches who believe it will make it nearly impossible to manage rosters. … there remain concerns about the impact of transferring on academic success and athletes’ ability to graduate.

People point at coaches, who can bolt whenever they want to, but that's not quite the same because they can bolt whenever they want to… subject to the conditions of the contract they've signed. NIL does not go far enough towards acknowledging that college athletes are treated like employees and should be directly compensated by the universities that employ them. That would be a two-way street that keeps rosters less chaotic and allows more continuity—things that are good for the sport and probably the players as well.

Jay Harbaugh on kickoff coverage. The level of detail coaches go into for one of the fringiest plays in football remains astounding:

Michigan Special Teams Coordinator Jay Harbaugh talking about the different coaching points they use in order to maintain leverage on the Kickoff team... Run the J - The Cliff - Using the Sideline.

ST Coordinator Bundle is 78% off https://t.co/SxKSMr2zPFpic.twitter.com/4xGKoN9FJB

— James Light (@JamesALight) August 1, 2022

It's mostly fair catches these days and yet.

Of all time. Bill Connelly ranks the top 50 defenses ever. Michigan shows up at various spots. 2016 finishes 48th…

In maybe the most prolific offensive season ever, linebacker Jabrill Peppers, cornerback Jourdan Lewis & Co. took perfectly to what first-year coordinator Don Brown was preaching. The Wolverines held their first 11 opponents to just 10.9 PPG, and while they slipped late against both Ohio State (30 points) and Florida State (33), they still held both of those prolific opponents well under their season averages.

…1927 finishes 46th, 1973 is 40th, and then the heavy hitters. 1997:

14. 1997 Michigan

Head coach: Lloyd Carr
Scoring defense: 9.5 PPG
Record: 12-0 (first in the AP poll)

Having Heisman winner Charles Woodson is an excellent starting point, but Michigan's last national title run was defined by the entire defense -- from lineman Glen Steele to linebacker Sam Sword to a deep and unforgiving secondary. Despite a schedule that featured four top-10 opponents, the Wolverines allowed more than 16 points just once all year.

and 1972:

9. 1972 Michigan

Head coach: Bo Schembechler
Scoring defense: 5.2 PPG
Record: 10-1 (fourth in the AP poll)

Paced by safety Randy Logan and one of the era's best secondaries, the Wolverines' defense was particularly stout in 1972. Michigan played two ranked teams in September -- No. 6 UCLA and No. 18 Tulane -- and allowed a combined 16 points. In the Wolverines' first seven Big Ten games, they allowed 20. And even in their lone loss, 14-11 to bitter rival Ohio State, they allowed only 192 yards, 78 of which came on a single touchdown drive. This was the stingiest defense of the stingy Schembechler era.

Alabama's 2016-17 run finishes first, if you're curious.

A factory. Michigan players and alums check in 1st (Owen Power), 2nd (Luke Hughes), 6th (Matty Beniers), 7th (Kent Johnson), 26th (Frank Nazar), and 34th (Rutgery McGroarty) on Scott Wheeler's list of the 50 best (drafted) prospects outside the NHL. Brendan Brisson and Cam York land honorable mentions. Wheeler on Nazar, who's the least familiar to Michigan hockey fans:

26. Frank Nazar, C, 18 (Chicago Blackhawks — No. 13, 2022)

Few prospects dash around the ice and make plays like Nazar does. Nazar turned me into a big fan with the U17 team and he continued to add layers to his game with the U18 team. He’s a threatening player from the hashmarks because of his wrister, which he pops off of his stick with power and precision thanks in large part to the balance he displays through his weight shift (he’s not a particularly strong kid).

He’s got quick hands, which help him deftly adjust in traffic to get shots off under pressure. He flashes creativity throughout his game. He plays pucks into space as well as anyone in the draft, regularly executing through tight gaps in coverage. And he’s just a hungry, driven player who consistently targets the middle lane with his greatest asset — his skating. …

He moves and does things on the ice that few can. He’s also an extremely gifted natural athlete (which not all hockey players are). I think he’s going to take a little more time to reach his potential than most of the players slotted ahead of him here, but I expect him to do that.

Love to hear about taking a little more time to hit that potential.

Etc.: Khaleke Hudson in the running to start for Washington No Longer Just Called Football Team. Andrew Kahn on the Michigan basketball freshmen. Conor Earegood on Mackie Samoskevich's offseason. Cole Martin on Luke Hughes's offseason. Also Nick Cotsonika on same. Jon Tondora on Seamus Casey.