Al Borges Tuesday Press Conference-Ohio State
http://www.mgoblue.com/allaccess/?media=422512 Here's Al Borges's awaited Tuesday press conference. Seemed to take more of the blame for the recent offensive struggles this week, than he ever as.
November 26th, 2013 at 11:36 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 7:31 AM ^
Just sayin'.
The start of this particular thread was a guy saying he wished Borges was a jerk so he would be easier to get rid of and a response that Borges doesn't need his sympathy. Add to that all the people saying he looks broken and what not.
He's a 58 year old man getting paid 700K to coach football who isn't actually a Michigan fan - at least beyond how big of fans any of us might be of our employers.
I think all this sympathy flowing his way is a projection from beat down Michigan fans rather than an accurate judgment of how badly he is hurt by a bunch of anonymous assholes on the internet.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:20 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 8:24 AM ^
Actually, I said I don't feel bad about people calling him a stupid fat ass. THat seems the most common insult.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:32 AM ^
You should though because its not right.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:38 AM ^
Not right? Are we talking about the accuracy of the assertion or are we talking about the fact that the assertion is being made? I'd say that one of those two is not right, yes.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:57 AM ^
Well said Brownbear. Also, when is up and downvoting going to return? I think this would lessen some of the vitriolic mob mentality.
November 26th, 2013 at 11:09 PM ^
I couldn't get past "well said, turd."
November 26th, 2013 at 11:37 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 6:01 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 9:09 AM ^
I enjoy your posting.
November 27th, 2013 at 9:38 AM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:34 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:42 PM ^
Urgh. No it isn't. That's just a cute little saying, ffs, not the real definition of insanity. Furthermore, it seems pretty clear that of all Borges' faults, the inability to change what he's doing isn't one of them. He's revamped his entire offense like 3 times this season (and there's a reason coaches generally don't do that). Have you been paying attention, like, at all?
November 26th, 2013 at 10:13 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 10:20 PM ^
It's commonly attributed to him, but that's not necessarily the truth. It's truthiness, though.
http://www.news.hypercrit.net/2012/11/13/einstein-on-misattribution-i-probably-didnt-say-that/
November 27th, 2013 at 12:33 PM ^
You're just moving the goalposts after being called out on your ignorance. And do you actually think that Einstein of all people had any authority in the definition of mental illnesses? Seriously how ignorant are you?
November 27th, 2013 at 8:23 AM ^
was of the 'last straw variety'; with high powered Indiana coming to town would you have attempted to continue running the stalled offense which lost the Penn State game, and nearly lost the Akron and UConn games the previous few weeks? The revamping you speak of was not innovation, it was desperation.
November 26th, 2013 at 11:34 PM ^
I don't think it's OK to publicly call for firing coaches, especially over and over and over again. It seems like it would be better for the program and perception of the fan base if some of these negative topics were discussed with family, friends, or addressed to the AD rather than on the blog(s), Twitter, etc.
Sadly, I'm actually used to reading the rude comments about Borges by now, but I still cringe when I read similar posts about Fred. He coached some of Michigan's greatest RBs, and deserves better than what has been said/written by a few fans. And people seem to think Fred will retire at the end of the season, so I'm really not sure why it's necessary to make negative comments about his coaching skills at this point.
Anyway, I, too, agree that some posts are downright mean-spirited when it comes to Borges. And I felt evil just reading the comments about Funk when his father died.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:33 AM ^
I do not agree that we as a fan base cannot discuss a coach being let go. Why should I ignore the obviously and pretend all is right with program and only talk about it behind closed doors? Just seems silly to me.
November 27th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
But I'm not suggesting that the fan base should ignore the obvious or pretend things are great, but the way some issues are discussed repeatedly is making the board/blog a bit hard to read. And I don't see how it's helping the program to continue to post all reckless about Michigan football. I just think there are more effective ways to influence change.
Brandon needs to earn his paycheck, too. Let him deal with the unsatisfied fans instead of the mods. I certainly don't need to read another comment bashing the coaches or about how medicore the football team has been for years. We all know that most fans feel the product on the field isn't up to standards, but now what? Start another "Fire Borges" thread? That seems pointless and silly to me.
November 27th, 2013 at 12:58 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 6:07 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 8:23 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 1:06 AM ^
I'm with turd.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:24 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 8:35 AM ^
For me it's just hangover from the Lloyd Carr era. Toward the end he got so abrasive with the media when things were not going well and his attitude seemed to be: Screw you. You don't know what your talking about I'm running this program my way. I don't know how to embed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbxOE1C5Ayg
with Al in this presser, you don't get that sense. And this made me feel for the guy a little bit.
November 27th, 2013 at 9:24 AM ^
He's very self-aware.
Hoke may seem just fine with everything, but Borges is not. He knows his offense has been historically bad and that won't fly around these parts.
Trouble is, I'm not sure he knows what to do about it. He keeps blaming it on inexperience and execution. That may be true, but it's his job to develop the players and come up with a game plan they can execute. In late November, nobody is a freshman any more.
His predictable yet simultaneously erratic play calling has not helped his players. They can never get in any kind of rhythm. Honest to God, I believe that if they could just string 2 or 3 good drives together, they would catch fire.
November 27th, 2013 at 9:56 AM ^
I have tried to make sure in my dissatisfaction with AB that I dodn't let things get personal. I don't know the guy so it isn't really fair to have any feelings toward of a personal nature. I just don't like him coaching my favorite team, it's as simple as that.
Actually (and I've said this many times) from reading the presser transcripts he seems like a pretty darn likeable guy. I have hoped throughout the season that he would turn things around and get things on the right track so we could have a coach and amusing as Al. Alas, that hasn't happened so I just want him replaced. Nothing personal against him and I don't wish him ill in any way. I just want someone more competent at their job. Hopefully he can find some success somewhere else.
November 26th, 2013 at 8:45 PM ^
I do think we need to change direction there, I only meant that I wish he were a worse person, that's all.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:25 PM ^
I love listening to him talk. Love him as a person. That doesn't really make it easier.
November 26th, 2013 at 8:41 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 8:44 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 8:50 PM ^
He has failed at his job. I don't care if he's broken down looking, you don't do your job, you lose it.
He's repeatively failed, has continued to throw his players under the bus...get him out of here.
November 26th, 2013 at 8:51 PM ^
to see a man that knows he's done but he tried and cared. He just wasn't good enough. Trying isn't good enough in this business.
November 26th, 2013 at 8:56 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:23 PM ^
I feel a little bad for him. He's in a situation he doesn't know how to fix. I can relate to being just above average. I work hard, I can do well if given the right circumstances, but I also probably struggle if I don't have the tools I need at my disposal. I'm no genius, I'm not a creative master. I'll probably never create something that has never been done before. But, I can work persistantly at something when I have a clear goal and a clear plan. Unlike Borges however, I don't make $700,000 a year. With that salary comes an expectation of being much better than slightly above average. Our fans, the team, and his position require much more than slightly above average. His body of work is not deserving of his position or his salary.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:36 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 11:22 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 8:57 PM ^
Why did hoke have to reshape the offense in the first place? When he got the job the defense was a tirefire and badly needed an overhaul, but the offense? he tried to stick with the spread because of Denard and actually IIRC he got more points than in 2010, why change something that has been improving the last 4 years? honestly in hindsight of course I feel that it was a bad desicion to turn 180 degrees from something that actually worked...
November 26th, 2013 at 9:00 PM ^
Because to run a spread offense makes your defense weak minded ninnies.
BOOM!!! HOKE'D!!!!
November 26th, 2013 at 9:23 PM ^
You coach what you know and compensate for what you don't. Now obviously it's not impossible as a coach to attack from a different style that you're normally not comfortable with or unfamiliar with, because it's been done. And of course it's easy to look back now and say "Well, our offense was much better when we ran spread, so we should have stuck with that the whole time." But it's not surprising that Hoke would try to steer the team towards his vision.
November 27th, 2013 at 2:41 AM ^
Look at the type of offense he ran there. Oh, and for a bonus, look at the defense he was running at SDSU.
November 27th, 2013 at 10:17 AM ^
"Because that's not what he knew"
Ummm... he's a DL coach who has shown he knows little to nothing about offense - spread OR Manball.
This is an ideological/dogmatic thing for Hoke, not a "what he knows" thing.
"Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview - nothing more constraining, more blinding to innovation, more destructive of openness to novelty."
- Stephen Jay Gould
November 26th, 2013 at 9:30 PM ^
It's not that simple. First of all, it was a big part of why he was hired in the first place, and why RR never was accepted. There is a vocal faction in the fan base that never accepted the spread at Michigan. In other words, we hired Hoke because of the offensive philosophy he had, he didn't decide on an offense after the fact.
Second, a big part of the success in recruiting had to do with the fact that Michigan was going back to pro style. The RBs, the linemen, the QB all were interested because it fit their style and gave them a shot of making it to the pros. There are real and tangible benefits with running pro style, especially when it differentiates you from many of the teams you compete with in recruiting.
And really, there's really nothing wrong with one style or the other once you have the right people to run it. It just takes times to implement.
November 26th, 2013 at 11:12 PM ^
But as to your first point, I think Hoke's directive was "do whatever you want on offense but OH MY GOD TACKLE SOMEONE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY"
November 27th, 2013 at 8:29 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 9:31 AM ^
We ran a full-on passing spread in the Cap1 bowl.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:28 PM ^
than 10 points versus OSU. MSU also manhandled it as did PSU. People are forgetting just how lame that offense was against good teams when it mattered.
This isn't a defense of Borges at all, but a corrective on the myth of the "All Powerful" spread that seems to permeate this board.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:39 PM ^
IMO, than what we have right now. even against OSU we moved the ball better than we do now.even though we had 10 pts. Much better. Denard was a better QB then. We ran the ball better with less talent at RB. Turnovers killed many potential scoring drives. We moved the ball more consistently in 2008 with talent free QB's and a bad o-line than we have the last four games.
Yes, against the best teams we struggled to score--most teams do, especially when they have less talent than the team they are playing against, which we did in those days. Now we have comparable talent to the defenses we play, and are WORSE.