According to ESPN-Chris Low - 1/2 hr. ago - Jim McElwain signed with “M” to be WR coach
February 17th, 2018 at 8:09 PM ^
great hire
February 17th, 2018 at 10:14 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 2:11 AM ^
Glad we got Mac. For those who are negative I don't see anyone better we could have hired. Enos is okay. Alabama will succeed in spite of him.
Excited about 2018! It will be a great season. Raback it!
February 18th, 2018 at 9:55 AM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 7:51 AM ^
First orders of business:
a. Figure out what the hell is going on with Grant Perry and either kill it or cure it.
b. Get the #1 off Crawford back immediately, AC thanks you.
c. Work on Jump balls in the end zone for our 3 stud super sophs and TE's.
d. Release the beast Oliver Martin - Breakwater thanks you.
e. Show WR's how to get off the LOS jams better, and run routes that take less than 10 sec
f. Lastly, tie your ship to DPJ like you did Dee Hart, so when he becomes the next OBJ you can take all the credit and get another head job
Cheers
February 18th, 2018 at 8:12 AM ^
I say put #1 on everyone's back, just to upset Braylon.
February 17th, 2018 at 8:09 PM ^
You sound excited. I guess now I'm excited too. But wasn't this on the main page..
February 17th, 2018 at 9:15 PM ^
....I know someone else who is also very excited....
February 17th, 2018 at 8:10 PM ^
Fins Up Baby!
February 17th, 2018 at 8:48 PM ^
Can we add more Jimmy Buffett to the stadium playlist wishlist?
February 17th, 2018 at 8:53 PM ^
the theme from Jaws.
February 17th, 2018 at 9:13 PM ^
what do you suggest?
February 17th, 2018 at 9:42 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 9:57 PM ^
the music.
(this may be a picture of robf)
February 17th, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 9:45 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 9:50 PM ^
and totally want to give you the +1 but can't on principle for what you did to the Olympics.
February 17th, 2018 at 8:10 PM ^
One year ago he was coming off back-to-back 2nd place SEC finishes as the head coach of a major program. NOBODY questioned whether he deserved that job when he was hired.
Go Blue!
February 17th, 2018 at 8:16 PM ^
believe he got SEC Coach of the year too.
February 17th, 2018 at 8:29 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 11:12 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 8:10 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 8:31 PM ^
After thinking about Brian's take, here's what I'm getting:
- The hire doesn't help with some holes in the staff (OL and recruiting)
- The guy is a trainwreck in management (player, program, PR)
- He is a bad recruiter
- He may have a somewhat positive impact on WRs
- His Xs and Os may be good, but they are really not necessary for the staff
Of the negatives, I don't know why the player management thing is important, because Harbaugh will probably goad him into coachspeak and will otherwise manage the program. Is Brian implying overall competence based on this issue? The way I see it, you got that dude from the Wire who is a great code breaker in the back office, but is a total trainwreck on the ground or otherwise managing things. Sometimes, a guy just sucks, though. However, I think there's good evidence that McElwain is at least okay as an Xs and Os guy.
The recruiting gripe seems legit, though I thought Michigan hired some other strong recruiters already.
OL gap is hopefully filled by Warinner, so I think that issue was already resolved.
On the last point about Xs and Os, I don't know enough about football, but I didn't see the creativity in scheming around Michigan's weakenesses last year that was apparent in the two previous years. So maybe Michigan needs another cook in the kitchen?
February 17th, 2018 at 8:45 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 9:16 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 10:26 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 12:03 AM ^
As a father of three young boys, I can say they'll do that to you sometimes...
February 18th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 9:00 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 9:15 PM ^
I know I am a mod and the popular perception is that I am employed by this blog, but as I am neither paid nor subject to any paperwork or contract and do this entirely gratis, I feel like I can say this freely - I do not understand why he is down on this hire. I actually think this is not a bad addition to the staff at all, especially if it opens the door to eventually replacing Drevno.
February 18th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 9:34 PM ^
February 17th, 2018 at 10:53 PM ^
Dude is stretched very thin on the work front, and that doesn't even factor the difficulties of raising kids/family life in general. It's the offseason. The guy gets a pass for sure.
February 17th, 2018 at 10:23 PM ^
Brian likes diamond-in-the-rough up-and-comers, not failures. Can you blame him? There are examples of it working out okay (e.g. Lane Kiffen I guess), but overall these types of guys don't exactly turn around programs very often. This offense needs a major reboot--is McElwain really the guy who's gonna save it?
February 17th, 2018 at 10:51 PM ^
That guy was a vet, though, and Brian loved him.
February 18th, 2018 at 1:30 AM ^
Don brown wasn't a failure. He had the number 1 defense in the country at Ball St the previous year and had them up there competing in that range for a while before that.
February 18th, 2018 at 1:57 AM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 2:10 AM ^
He didn't make a name for himself 'til he got to Brown U.
February 18th, 2018 at 7:11 AM ^
That's the part of the statement I was referring to--the young, fiery, up-and-comer bit.
February 18th, 2018 at 4:27 AM ^
The offense doesn't need a major reboot, lol.
Our power running game was very good last season and will be even better this season.
We need to develop our receivers, we need to find or develop tackles, and we need a QB that can read a defense and complete accurate and on time passes.
Receivers and QB are very likely to improve next season. OT will be a big question mark.
February 18th, 2018 at 5:20 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 5:30 PM ^
I intend to judge him on his performance at Michigan because his past is mixed.
But I want to ask: what parts of Brian's negative reaction post is "incoherent?" Please be specific.
February 18th, 2018 at 1:59 AM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 9:12 AM ^
A LOT of people thought that was a good hire, and potentially a great hire. And the ones that didn't, were mostly wrong about why he wasn't a good hire at the time--the criticisms of him before starting were along the lines of "the spread won't work in the B10, which we now know was a ludicrous position.
February 18th, 2018 at 4:23 AM ^
Like it or not (I personally dislike it) Harbaugh/Michigan are on a timer. Fans are not rational and expectations are not reasonable given the current circumstances. We have the toughest schedule in the country next year, but many fans are going to be furious if we don't win the conference and go to the playoffs.
Winning now is not only the best thing for Harbaugh; it's obviously the best thing for Michigan. Losing means further years or instability and doubt, potentially for years to come if we fire our coach or fail to produce a product on field that can sustain good recruiting.
We have a roster that is very talented, and already has a lot of experience with a lot of players poised to make year 2 leaps. But again, we
It makes a lot of sense to bring in a coach who is going to be good at scouting, game planning, and player development -- particularly a WR specialist with the young and talented receiver corps that we have.
Let's see what happens. Next season is going to be very interesting. Will Patterson be elligible? If he is, will he quickly win the job and establish himself or will the margins be close enough to merit an extended battle? And will anyone emerge at tackle?
The pressure is going to be extremely high and the margin for error will be miniscule. I have faith in our staff and program if given enough time, but I do not have much faith in the fanbase.
February 18th, 2018 at 6:57 AM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 9:14 AM ^
they don't make for "PR nightmares," absent Sandusky type behavior