Braylon Edwards: There's A 'Deeper-Seated Problem'
https://971theticket.radio.com/articles/braylon-edwards-it-doesnt-matter-if-you-fire-harbaugh
It Doesn't Matter If You Fire Harbaugh -- There's A 'Deeper-Seated Problem'
Edwards makes the case to sacrifice academic requirements in order to cast a wider net recruiting.
"Stop trying to bring in kids that had a 1600 on the SAT. Let’s be honest, stop trying to bring in kids that come from two-parent homes and picket fences and got a dog named Fluffy and all that. You need to bring in some dogs. You need to bring in some kids that are hungry. You need to bring in some kids that need Michigan. Stop trying to bring in kids that don’t need Michigan."
"What is our school? Are we academics first and we’re going to win 9.5 games and maybe we’ll battle it out against Penn State, lose to Ohio State?"
Harbaugh has put a lot of effort into ensuring the player's academic success (see https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2019/08/22/student-athlete-oxymoron/).
I'd like to think that Michigan can do both.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:32 PM ^
Does Braylon have any evidence that U of M is unwilling to bring in kids from rough backgrounds?
September 27th, 2019 at 7:39 PM ^
Isn’t the bigger question the inherent bias in suggesting a kid needs to be poor and from a broken home to want to win at football? I’m surprised he didn’t just say grab hopeless kids “from the ‘hood”.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:57 PM ^
I'd have to assume after playing in the NFL for 8 years Devin Bush Sr was a millionaire and Jr was still pretty tough.
September 27th, 2019 at 10:07 PM ^
I'm more offended that he doesn't think poor kids can be intelligent and do well in school. I most definitely do not want us compromising academic standards, and I think it sells the kids short to say that we'd have to.
September 27th, 2019 at 10:12 PM ^
Ala Pete Carroll. It worked.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:07 PM ^
He's probably got more insight on that than anyone on this board. He was a player at Michigan and probably knows quite a few dudes who didn't get offered. Just in his time there alone. Im sure he's still got some connections and insight.
September 27th, 2019 at 10:41 PM ^
He's a fucking drunk. Deserves no respect.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:53 PM ^
I don't buy any of this. Take a look at the 247 Composite top 100 (I just did) and we've offered almost all of the same kids as Alabama, Clemson, OSU, Georgias etc...….. I also read on this board that Harbaugh has recruited to the point where we're in the top 8 or so for recruited talent on the roster (again from 247). That team that just waxed us last week brings in nowhere the talent we do. Just excuses now.
September 27th, 2019 at 10:51 PM ^
If you knew anything about football and recruiting you would understand that for 10 years now we have largely been recruiting players who are terribly overrated.
Derrick green, Aubrey Solomon, drew singleton, Brandon peters... just to name a few.
September 27th, 2019 at 11:13 PM ^
Offering is different than getting them. Kids love to have Jim Harbaugh recruit them, they can brag that Harbaugh wanted them, blah, blah, blah. Then they take the cash and go to Bama, Georgia, Clemson, OSU or OU.
September 27th, 2019 at 9:23 PM ^
Do you have your head up your ass ?
September 27th, 2019 at 11:02 PM ^
Right. My ND buddy from work thinks BPeters is the best of the bunch. Overrated? Naw. Unmotivated? Possibly.
September 27th, 2019 at 10:22 PM ^
Why do we keep giving Braylon airtime? He keeps proving that he’s an idiot every time he opens his mouth.
September 28th, 2019 at 9:29 AM ^
Jabrill Peppers wasn’t exactly a genius, either. Nor was Chase.
Most of the football team would not be admitted on academics alone, I’d venture. Harbaugh has put a premium on character guys like them, though.
What Edwards mean is, we need MORE guys that are so athletic it doesn’t matter that they’d struggle in gen eds. I agree—as long as UM supports those athletes in the classroom and helps them grow academically.
I believe college is about growing intellectually —some of those athletes were patronized their entire lives when it comes to academics. People who don’t think economics plays a role in k-12 education levels, especially for talented poor athletes, is kidding themselves.
I see admittance of elite athletes with low gpas as a chance for the university to help shape the young men.
I wonder, though, if Braylon would agree with me that these kids should be academically challenged to grow, or if he thinks they should be passed along as they likely were in high school. We don’t need UNC academic scandal.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:32 PM ^
Isnt this what Larry Foote said while Hoke was here?
September 27th, 2019 at 7:53 PM ^
Yes and he was wrong then also
September 27th, 2019 at 8:08 PM ^
I read your name as "demar" and i thought, hmmm, username doesn't check out.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:37 PM ^
So we should bring in Fluffy instead?
September 27th, 2019 at 7:38 PM ^
Fluffy was the dog's slave name, he now goes by Snowball.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:51 PM ^
? New season in November
September 27th, 2019 at 8:05 PM ^
Thank you, this was the highlight of my day.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:25 PM ^
Rick and morty reference!
September 28th, 2019 at 7:25 AM ^
“Fluffy was the dog's slave name, he now goes by Snowball”
Snowball, eh? Sweet- now we have a scapegoat if it gets any worse.
/Animal Farm’d
September 27th, 2019 at 7:38 PM ^
Did .... ND followed the same path? Stanford? C’mon. We do not sacrifice who we are because it is the easy route.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:43 PM ^
Michigan has a higher winning percentage than notre dame and Stanford since harbaugh was hired
September 27th, 2019 at 7:45 PM ^
ND has been to the playoffs. No one cares that Michigan beats up on Rutgers, Indiana, MTSU and Western...
September 27th, 2019 at 7:54 PM ^
If Michigan had notre dames schedule last year, the nd game being home, they were playoff bound too
September 27th, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
Michigan played Notre Dame last year and guess what happened? In the big game they didn’t come to play what a surprise.
September 27th, 2019 at 10:00 PM ^
My memory must be going bad but I thought UM played ND last year.
September 28th, 2019 at 8:43 AM ^
Notre Dame > Michigan, but ND's playoff appearance was a product of their schedule. Remember what happened when they played Ohio State in the Fiesta a couple years back. If they played OSU every year like we do, they would have to run the table in their other games to even be considered for the CFP.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
I’ll sacrifice a “win percentage” competition if it means beating OSU, MSU, and ND.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:50 PM ^
Notre Dame and Stanford kind of actually prove Braylon’s point. Take a look at Notre Dame‘s record over the past decade. They have one really good season with 12 wins, a couple of 10 win season’s and a whole bunch of seasons that, if the Michigan coach had, we would be calling for the coach’s head. His point, and he’s not wrong, is simply that our standards relegate us to being relatively mediocre and occasionally having a good to great season.
Again, not saying that we should change but simply noting that he is not incorrect.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:08 PM ^
This same premise starts in pop warner. Bring in the suburban kids to staff the b team and fund the booster club for the “athletes”. The “athletes” really need this because it teaches accountability and discipline.
This is how you end up with the UNC Basketball Museum proudly displaying the AFAM Degree for a player who never would have gone to college otherwise.
My view is it is a disservice to both b and a team kids from the start, and follows them all the way up through.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:32 PM ^
Wait, what?
September 27th, 2019 at 8:27 PM ^
Since the 2008 season ND has had exactly one losing season. They have had two 12 win seasons, and two 10 win seasons. The last "great" season by a Michigan team, 2011, is thoroughly loathed by the blog intelligentsia.
September 27th, 2019 at 9:26 PM ^
It does not support his argument.Last I checked, ND and Stanford don’t circumvent academic standards.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:39 PM ^
Braylon is all about getting pub for Braylon. Expect lots of sizzling hot takes.
It's almost like he's got a book out.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:39 PM ^
Jabrill Peppers, Devin Bush and Chase Winovich. It doesn’t matter about academics, we’ve had dogs in this program. This years team is missing one. Khaleke Hudson?
September 27th, 2019 at 7:40 PM ^
Here’s the thing: What he said is upsetting and somewhat controversial, but not entirely untrue. We do, in fact, have a different academic standard than almost all top programs, and that does make it harder for us to compete. The “problem” (if it is a problem) manifests itself in two ways:
1. There are probably a handful of kids that we don’t even pursue because they won’t make it past admissions. If we lose 1 game changer a class, it could have a real impact.
2. Because Michigan actually makes their athletes play school - albeit at a somewhat less rigorous level than non-athletes if they choose to - some top players are, in fact, likely turned off. Some kids just want to pick a school to play football and don’t come to play school.
That doesn’t mean, however, that we should change our ways. It’s a choice and I am fine with Michigan choosing to keep its standards as they currently are.
But, to the OP who said that we can do both, I would respond by pointing to the top 3-4 programs over the past years. Clemson,Bama, OSU, Georgia and even LSU - not exactly an academic group. Sure, you can get there - every couple of years ND has a successful season (beating nobody) and makes the playoffs, but it is tough to have sustained success while maintaining the standard maintained at Michigan.
September 27th, 2019 at 7:54 PM ^
Point 2 is much more relevant than some mythical “higher standard.” If an elite kid passes the NCAA clearinghouse they get in.
The huge issue that you didn’t mention is the lack of transfers. Michigan can’t get junior college kids in to cover for attrition, and we had to turn away some Ole Miss guys who would have been great since their units didn’t transfer.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:22 PM ^
I think Junior College transfers rarely make a difference for a top team. They get a lot of attention, and the team's fan base make a big deal about how they've plugged a hole, but I'm not sure that a single conference championship or playoff selection or BCS selection has been determined because of a JUCO in this century.
I dunno, a quick google search turned up some links-- I'm not spotting anyone:
SBNation Top JUCO Players Ever
247 Sports Top College Transfers of All Time
I really have no idea how much Michigan's academic (or character evaluation) standards impact them; but I think JUCOs probably aren't a big deal, at least if you've got a team that can compete for championships.
September 27th, 2019 at 9:38 PM ^
Cam Newton?
September 27th, 2019 at 9:44 PM ^
There are actually a bunch of recognizable nfl dudes on the list I posted. Everyone would have been a huge addition to Michigan’s team at the time.
September 27th, 2019 at 9:57 PM ^
Totally agree. I do assume that some of these JUCO players saw some bags of cash flit their way too.
Not that I’m in support of that. I think we can agree Cam saw some money...I mean, he had to have some seed money to start his immense hat collection that he drags out every Sunday before he watches from the sideline injured.
September 27th, 2019 at 11:39 PM ^
The lists that you provided show how big of an impact JUCOs can make. I think your point’s very wrong.
”I'm not sure that a single conference championship or playoff selection or BCS selection has been determined because of a JUCO in this century.”
Have you heard of a guy named Cam Newton? If so, do you think Auburn wins the BCS or even makes it without him?
September 27th, 2019 at 7:55 PM ^
Stanford proved it can be done even after Harbaugh. This is just another dumb ass excuse. The revenge tour last year showed when angry this Michigan team is a problem to deal with. We treat every opponent the same like an NFL team instead of getting fired up for big time games and that’s on the coaches. The way we came out the tunnel vs OSU last year and Wiscy last week, I know we would get blown out.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:05 PM ^
Stanford is currently 1-3 this season, with all of their losses being blowouts to ranked teams(but ones who would be beaten fairly easily by Wisconsin).
Harbaugh would be on the hottest of hot seats if he were currently coaching Stanford. Not exactly a great example.
September 27th, 2019 at 8:14 PM ^
They won 11 or more games 5 out of 6 years after he took them to the Orange Bowl and won 3 conference championships. No team is Alabama, every team has down years.
September 28th, 2019 at 10:42 AM ^
Um, OSU was a "Revenge Tour" game. The last and most important one, in fact. If Harbaugh could get the team fired up for Wiscy, MSU and PSU but not OSU, it is time for someone else.