24/7 Article on Indiana Transfers & Former USC RB
Wow. Kind of makes a U-M fan jealous. A team / university willing to take in transfers, across a range of credit hours. Looks like a program ready to adapt to the new landscape of college football. Relevant excerpt below. Article is about former 5-star RB Carr who has transferred from USC to Indiana as a grad transfer.
"RB Carr is the eighth transfer to commit to the Indiana program for the 2021 season joining defensive end Ryder Anderson from Ole Miss, walk-on tight end James Bomba from Miami (OH), offensive lineman Zach Carpenter from Michigan, defensive end Jaren Handy from Auburn (who fills a major need coming off the edge), defensive tackle Weston Kramer from Northern Illinois, wide receiver D.J. Matthews from Florida State, and defensive back Deland McCullough II from Miami (OH). He is the No. 39 prospect in the 247Sports Transfer Portal Rankings."
If only we had our own undergraduate USC running back transfer, oh right, Ty Isaac
...and in which the coaching staff will criminally misuse any potential talent.
Not into it, but thanks for the offer!
Username does not check out
IU football's 2021 recruiting class was their most talented during the rankings era and it was ranked #53.
They were #57 in 2020, and #36 in 2019. IU needs the transfers.
There are many ways to bake a cake, and Indiana recipes seem to be pretty good lately. A quick trip to the grocery for some needed ingredients? No baker faults that.
Considering the meat and potatoes nature of most of these guys I would say this is more of a stew.
Except they almost won the B1G last year with those sh!tty classes.
Yeah, I mean, sure. You're technically correct. It was a season in which traditional powers Michigan and Penn State were both terrible and Wisconsin was 4-3 after 10, 8, 13, 11, and 10 wins over the previous five years.
I think Tom Allen is doing a good job and Indiana is getting better, but I'm reserving judgment on their overall excellence until teams aren't missing a ton of their best players (Ambry Thomas, Nico Collins, Jalen Mayfield, Micah Parsons, etc.) because of some crazy pandemic.
I just don't understand these types of comments. There's a major difference between excuses and rational explanations for the 2020 season. Michigan was hit hard last year, and probably harder than the vast majority of other teams. It's already been stated before on this board, but Micihgan faced the combination of (1) returning very few experienced players from the previous season (#125 out of 130 teams), (2) no returning QB with experience, (3) no spring practice and a disjointed camp for the young players to learn, (4) major opt-outs (Nico, Ambry) and (5) injuries to key players (Kwitty, Hutch, Jalen).
These are major problems that would be difficult for any team to overcome. Luckily we'll have a chance to see if last year was an aberration or, rather, the beginning of a downward trend for the team. I'm betting that it was the former. I find it hard to believe that a coach that averaged 9.4 wins over the previous 5 seasons and has been successful everywhere else he's been just sucks all of the sudden.
Im not sure any of these guys fix the coaching we saw vs MSU. We still probably had 15 of the most talented 20 players on the field. The problem isnt the players (when it comes to teams outside of PSU Wisky and OSU) the problem is the coaching. The offense is a mess and it isnt because of some lingering injury our QBs have had for a half a decade.
There were clearly and undeniably coaching issues last year. As well, the energy of our team has been incredibly low the last few years. As a result, Harbaugh goes out and replaces 7 of 11 coaches. The new staff is dramatically younger resulting in hopefully much more energy. In most cases, these are strong up and comers. I'm certainly not willing to make any guarantees, but it does seem like he attempted to address the root cause you note.
If the energy level and proper use of talent are addressed and visible in the way we play this year, then great, we're headed the right direction. If not, then Warde needs to move on. I think we'll have the answer by Halloween.
I just don't understand these types of comments.
So you honestly think Michigan was a contender last year with Ambry in the lineup? That would have made a difference?
That's why that's an excuse.
Look, last year sucked. I'm not going to deny it. But would Ambry have made a difference on defense in the MSU game? Hell yes. Just stopping one of the sideline fades would've made a difference. Would having Ambry and Hutchinson have made a difference against PSU? It certainly would've helped tremendously.
But you missed to mention my other reasons. With all of these player losses and an already young team, every opportunity to practice is essential. Missing spring practice and a disjointed fall camp was probably one of the biggest contributing factors.
But you missed to mention my other reasons
I didn't miss it.
Missing spring practice and a disjointed fall camp
This wasn't worth addressing. Every team missed spring practice. EVERY FUCKING TEAM. It's a lame excuse at best.
Hell Michigan State with a QB that isn't even at the school anymore and came into the game with a fucking career 8 yard completion average had not just a career game on Oct 31 but a fucking lifetime game.
And that's after a coaching search for Staee that rivaled Barnacle Bill fucking up. Mel didn't get to EL until after a normal spring practice window.
But Staee found a way to win.
My bad though. Ambry would have made a difference that day.
Gotcha!
I always wonder if the "Ambry Thomas doesn't matter" people the same people crying about Xavier Worthy not coming?
It's pretty foolish to say multiple NFL draft picks on the roster wouldn't have made a difference for any team. Would you take Nico & Ambry back this year? Why?
MSU beat UM last year by throwing at our terrible corners, and you're trying to arguing that having an NFL player at our weakest position wouldn't have helped the team. You're not being rational.
OK, now I'm convinced. Your use of the ALL CAPS and the dismissive "Gotcha" really persuaded me that Ambry, a proven corner, wouldn't have made any difference at all in that game.
OP can transfer his ass to Indiana
Do they even have a blog or message board? If so, someone should grab the IUFan_13 account before he can get there.
Inside The Hall, but I’m certain that is all basketball discussion. Not a lot of hardcore football fans. I can think of maybe 50-100 and the students who care.
For the next 3 years, mixed feelings about Indiana.
On one hand, my niece is on IU's athletic training squad, and I'm always going to wish her well.
On the other hand, Michigan!
Root for their guys to avoid serious injuries and for Michigan to pound them at every opportunity.
A wise compromise.
There are a lot of familiar names on the portal ranking list from the time they were recruits. If they are taking real classes and making the grade there should be no reason UM isn't an option.
Username checks out.
What’s interesting to me is not that Indiana is getting transfers, but that they’re able to lure guys from P5 teams in the deep south to Indiana.
If IU has another strong season, Allen will become the BIG’s version of Matt Campbell—the name that comes up whenever a HC at more prominent P5 programs is said to be on the hot seat.
Lots of Hugh Freeze guys on that IU staff.
The transfer portal could lead to our long-term demise as a program if admissions won't budge.
I uh...
The University of Michigan is an elite, highly-ranked university that happens to have a football team.
It's not a football team that happens to also have a university.
Stop with the bullshit and misguided outrage about our admissions policies.
Dude, this is a Michigan sports blog. Yours is the the only response in this thread that displays any misguided outrage. Chill out. There's plenty of highly academic universities that seem to find ways of allowing credits to transfer. Michigan sport fans hoping we could see some of the same flexibility for the program we follow isn't a damn crime.
Exactly! If they aren't willing to adapt then we better get used to being mediocre or barely above. If the school is willing to accept that then give up the moniker of leaders and best, let The Victors go to a program that is willing to do what it takes.
Oh, and this is a University. Elite, yes. So there is nothing wrong with accepting athletes and providing them an education at an elite university. .
And some people here just assume that it's because Michigan is holding players to a higher standard. I've yet to see any evidence of that, even a statement from a football staff member or university employee. The most logical explanation is the one Seth and others have repeatedly mentioned: Michigan requires that your transfer credits have to almost exactly match an existing course at UM. Some take this to mean those players were taking BS classes, but that's ridiculous. Look at a course catalog at a large university. Classes can vary wildly outside of a core curriculum, often dependent on the particular expertise of the professors at the university. History is a great example, and maybe part of Seth's problem. He studied in France. He may have taken some course on a particular period of French history that just doesn't exist at UM. Harvard famously has a class on happiness. Does Michigan? Maybe not. And if not, then it probably wouldn't transfer! From Harvard! Is it a BS class? That's just like, your opinion, man, but Michigan has classes like that too.
Also, we've seen that grad transfers are much easier to get in here. If it's the case that Michigan is just holding them to a high standard, shouldn't that apply to grad transfers too?
This is the most logical explanation of what is happening with transfers, especially in light of the fact that grad transfers don't have much issue.
Well, maybe they could find a way to allow all transfers for just football players, but not for regular students.
/s (sorta)
This is such a tired take. Yes, Michigan is a good (public) school. They are currently #3 on top public schools at US News and World Report.
However, other top schools have football programs that don't constantly trip over their dicks trying to admit transfers:
#2 UCLA
#6 Florida
#13 Texas
#14 Wisconsin
#15(Tied) Georgia
#15 Illinois
#17 (Tied) Ohio State
#17 Purdue
#19 (Tied) Florida State
#19 Maryland
2021 Top Public Colleges & Universities | US News Rankings
So basically UM absolutely has a dumb transfer policy and are hampering their own athletic programs to the point of hurting their competitiveness. The leaders in best in trying to win with one hand tied behind their back.
People now act like the transfer portal is the panacea to college football greatness. Has anybody forgotten that more often than not there's a reason for somebody ending up in the transfer portal to begin with. Too often it's because they weren't able to crack the starting line-up at their previous university.