Cook on WTKA now
January 13th, 2011 at 10:30 AM ^
Very well said. I say 2006 was one of / if not the best legitamate teams in the country. USC wasn't actually legit. OSU had a home field advantage that saw three bombs miss Manningham because he was slowed intentionally by their crappy field.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:38 AM ^
To all the people being critical of Brian on this thread - this is HIS WEBSITE. Not yours. If you don't like his opinions, don't come here.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:49 AM ^
If I'm here and you're here, doesn't it make it our site?
And there's nothing wrong with a little criticism on our site.
EDIT... Plus... Brian gets paid for us visiting his site and voicing our criticism, whether it's directed at him, Michigan, the AD, RR, whoever...
So you ask him if he cares that we criticize.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:45 AM ^
No. Wrong asnwer. If Brian wants it that way (and you as well)--he can form his own Secret Blog, charge 9.99 per month, and you all can congratulate each other on how you know more than anyone elts because of that Super Secret Blog that ONLY a few select guys read.
January 13th, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^
Excellent.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:48 AM ^
So you've discussed it with Brian and he only wants people coming here that will completely agree with everything he says? If thats the case I guess I'll leave. Sorry for having independent thoughts here.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:31 AM ^
You realize that everyone is criticizing Brian for having "independent thoughts" right?
January 13th, 2011 at 10:46 AM ^
Is differen't than telling him to leave the blog. You realize that right?
January 13th, 2011 at 9:39 AM ^
Regardless of personal choice, I think it’s clear the division in the athletic department was real and very disruptive. Dave Brandon subtly made a number of points that could be construed as pot shoots toward the old coaching staff.
We know who the OC is, but what would set Brady apart would be his ability to add young guys to the staff to mentor and build into the next generation of Michigan leadership.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:53 AM ^
but it wasn't Lloyd commanding people to do this or that. I think they all felt that RR was an outside who didn't put as much emphasis on Michigan's tradition as they would have liked.
January 13th, 2011 at 12:02 PM ^
And that his staff was the same. It seems clear that there were some very deep relationships/friendships between people on LC's staff and people in the AD, and that those same sort of relationships never developed between AD staffers and RR's staff.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:40 AM ^
Caller says USC recruited guys from Michigan (fails to recall they paid them).
says it is all about recruiting.
says we proved we can recruit nationally
says Cook shouldn't be on the radio.
Cook says evidence is on his side (which is true)
says michigan under Lloyd cant compete with a Pac Ten and SEC team and will be the same with Hoke. We will get crushed in bowl games.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:15 AM ^
but Carr went 6 - 2 against SEC teams.
Go Blue !
January 13th, 2011 at 10:26 AM ^
And also, I don't find it that odd that USC or for that matter any Pac 10 team has an advantage playing in Southern California. It is better than a home game. The Big 10 has a 3 hour jet lag to contend with along with the other normal disadvantages. We don't seem to have the same problems with Florida bowl games, at least under Carr.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
Sorry he said Lloyds team couldn't compete with the elite Pac ten and SEC teams (ie. in bowl games).
Apologies, I was writing really fast and my fingers are not as quick as my brain.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:15 AM ^
But in the Carr years only 1 of those games was not in a bowl (W over Vandy). So he was 1 - 0 regular season against the SEC and 5 - 2 in bowl games. Not shabby at all ...
I am guessing that Brian was convinced that Lloyd's style of play in the 90's and '00's could not compete with today's SEC teams .... and college football has changed a lot in the last decade. But he confused Carr's actual record vs. SEC with Carr's football style and approach (IMO).
Go Blue !
January 13th, 2011 at 1:51 PM ^
How is evidence on Cook's side? His precious "schematic advantage" (Charlie Weis TM) produced painfully slow progress here and in Year 3 still wasn't enough to even COMPETE with the best teams on our schedule. I agree with Brian more times than not, but I was embarrassed for him listening to that dreck.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:42 AM ^
OT Sam Webb has the most advanced vocabulary of anyone on sports radio in the country.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^
Cook says we will recruit better and win more under Hoke, but will not be a national power.
Hokes best win is beating Navy in the bowl game (which is true :(
Evidence that Hoke is "good" is that players have come back to say he is "good"
Webb asks how stanford is good with a pro style.
Cook says that was harbaugh who is now making 5MIL in the NFL, not Hoke.
Harbaugh proves he can recruit, Hoke has not.
Says Hoke probably recruited well here because it was Michigan not because it was Hoke.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:22 AM ^
January 13th, 2011 at 10:29 AM ^
After watching Hoke yesterday, I really think that he'll be a hell of a recruiter.
I've never been recruited as a football player, but I'd bet that a big part of recruiting is convincing kids and their families that you genuinely care about them and will care for them in school and beyond. He's going to be able to do that. Sure, there are a handful of kids/families who don't care about that stuff at all and just want flashy coaches to turn them into celebrities. This is a small group, though, that isn't necessarily composed of the best players in the country and probably doesn't have a lot of kids whom I'd like to see at Michigan.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^
Sam seemed to think that Hoke was a good recruiter after his Michigan coaching days, and that opinion was also held by the west coast recruiting experts.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:36 AM ^
Webb's Detroit News article today was on the same subject:
January 13th, 2011 at 1:55 PM ^
His Dudeness fails to tell us how Rich Rod could have made us a "national power" when in his third year he couldn't make us an average Big Ten team. Cook can't either.
In no way against teams with superior talent this past year did I feel like we had this SCHEMATIC ADVANTAGE.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^
and he is completely back peddling and just said "Harbaugh recruited nationally". Yet he doesn't think Michigan can. What a joke. Michigan can recruit on the level Harbaugh did at Stanford.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:50 AM ^
I'll believe that when the climate of Ann Arbor matches Palo Alto.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:52 AM ^
Look at Harbaugh's recruiting classes while he was at Stanford. If you don't think we can bring in that level of talent, we're in huge trouble.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:24 AM ^
...recruiting advantages/disadvantages and I'm positive U-M comes out ahead, climate notwithstanding.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^
So what is Brian's solution, keep Rich Rod who was 15-22 in three years and 0-6 against MSU and OSU. Rich Rod obviously did not understand what Michigan was and made the program more about himself than about MIchigan. He needs to come out of his mom's basement and see the light more often
January 13th, 2011 at 9:48 AM ^
Brain says, "After the bowl game, Rodriguez had to go"
However, this segment has enlightened me: Brain is not a journalist. He is a bloggist and a fan.
Sam Webb is asking Brian a ton of good questions, give his counter arguments--Brian really has no answer.
Sam Webb will not win any Pulitzer Prizes anytime soon--but he shows to be more of a journalist here than Brian. Brian, unfortunately, is coming off as very snarky.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:14 AM ^
Brian himself would never claim to be a journalist. He is a fan that writes a blog about his favorite team. It just so happens that the blog is very good.
I think we all need to take a time out and chill. So Brian is not thrilled with the Hoke hire, get over it.
January 13th, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^
No. It's infuriating when people say "Brian isn't a journalist. He's a blogger." That's such a cheap excuse. Brian is effectively both. He routinely reports news for a widely read blog. His cc reports were presented as reportage, based on his contacts and expertise. They were taken as such. If they were presented as just random speculation, nobody would give a shit.
You don't get a pass just because you call it a blog, as opposed to a newspaper. Plenty of blogs are both. If we're gonna hold other reporters accountable for their flaws, then we ought to hold Brian to similar standards.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^
In general, being on Radio is an acquired skill. I wouldn't read too much into it. Does not mean Brian isn't a good journalist. Clearly he is a fan, but I do think it was much too soon to go on the radio. Need a couple of months for things to calm down. Right now no one knows whether Hoke will be good.
I can tell you this though. For those who say RR never had support, going 3-9 and not getting fired required significant support in year 1 alone. He lost support over time. And for those who think Hoke is getting too much support (like Carr - at least to me there seemed to be far too much criticism of Carr compared to RR), I can guarantee another 3-9 season next year will spell DOOM for Hoke. No excuses will be acceptable this time.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:51 AM ^
Rich Rod came up with the phrase, "All in for Michigan." And the fact that this team is staying together for Hoke is because, in my opinion, Rich Rod instilled in them "The Team" ethos that your avatar brought here forty years ago. That ethos was not there when RR arrived.
Rich Rod failed because of defense. He's a good guy and a Michigan Man in every sense of the word. Let's not kick a good man when he's down. And hopefully, one year from now, let's thank him for setting us up for success under Hoke.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:27 AM ^
Can we please bury the "all in" phrase. That might be the worst thing RR brought to A2. I agree that RR was a "Michigan Man" (anyone who works there ass off for the school earns that title in my view), but "all in" has been divisive from day 1. It's about being "all in" for RR, not the program. When he spoke in front of "Detractors Not Allowed", it was even more clear.
Let's just stick with what Brady said, "This is Michigan", and put the past in the past.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:42 AM ^
Cosign x 1,000,000.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:07 AM ^
We Are Michigan
Eh, maybe not, too much like We Are SC?
January 13th, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
Rich Rod obviously did not understand what Michigan was
A perfect example of the nonsensical, xenophobic garbage constantly thrown at RR. He loses games and it's because he, an arrogant outsider, does not understand us. I mean, if we're properly understood we have to beat OSU and MSU, right?
January 13th, 2011 at 9:46 AM ^
Cook says when RR left the WV program did dip on offense.
Did need to go from Michigan. after the bowl game.
Just doesn't know about the Hoke hire making us a national power.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:50 AM ^
Caller says Hoke is all about the lines.
says Hoke can recruit
says Hoke will bring us back because of the line play
Webb says Hoke recrutied very well at SDSU.
Cook says he likes that.
Cook says Robinson was the worst hire ever.
Brathwaitte was also a bad hire, no offense but it was his first job and at Michigan.
RR is respected offensively but the defensive guys are not (not hired quickly).
Cook wishes it would have worked out. Overlooked personal quirks. Wishes we could have hired a top end DC. It failed. Now we don't have a head coach who is an advantage against other teams. Says Chip Kelly is an advantage with all facets and he has won every where. (Hoke has not - unsaid).
January 13th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^
we didn't have a coach before hoke that was an advantage. he was the opposite. rich hired the defensive coordinators. brian loves numbers so much yet he ignores the most important ones. the record the last 3 years. for the love of christ don't let this douchebag on the air anymore.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:03 AM ^
Whoa dude. Whoa. You gots to chill, man.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:22 AM ^
but can't we agree that we should at least let the guy actually COACH a game before we bury him? my problem with brian is it seems he let this radio thing really go to his head. does he honestly think he knows more about making executive decisions than brandon or more about coaching than hoke? i'm shocked his head can even fit in the studio.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:32 AM ^
I don't think he is burying Hoke, in my opinion.
I think he is underwhelmed with the hire (which up until the rah rah speech we kind of all were.)
I think he may have felt that if we are trading RR for Harbaugh then that is fine, but trading RR for Hoke was stupid (I dont want to put words in his mouth). If that is the case then I agree with Biff.
NOTE: This is all my opinion. I have no contact with Biff other than my addiction to his blog.
January 13th, 2011 at 11:02 AM ^
Everywhere = New Hampshire(as an OC) + an Oregon job where the staff has been together for 20 years and the transition has been planned years in advance?
If he really said that, then w, jw
January 13th, 2011 at 9:52 AM ^
is an asshole. he cried for 3 years about people not giving rich a chance and he's burying hoke before he even coaches a game. he's a hypocrite.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:53 AM ^
even if he says something you dont like, theres no call for that
January 13th, 2011 at 10:03 AM ^
I don't think there's as much hypocrisy there as you think. People submarined RR from the beginning because he was an outsider, spoke with a drawl, OMG wouldn't pay his buyout, and by the time the discussion got to what he had accomplished and what he brought to the field, the Rosenbergites didn't want to hear about it. Brian is less than enthused about Hoke because of what he's done and hasn't done on the field.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^
That's not accurate. There may indeed have been a small group of insiders who opposed the RR hire, but the majority of the public supported him. It wasn't just that initial "approval" or lackthereof that Mgoblog was so angry about. Any comment that RR might not be able to turn water into wine (based on things like...his stats and record at Michigan) was greeted with angry, swearing insults (plus "not all in", "not a fan", "turn in your tickets", etc.).
The real laugher is that a common excuse for RR's failure was "It's the fans fault because they didn't support him from day 1". So, if you really believe that...why would you give that treatment to Hoke? RR lost his job because of his performance; not his accent. The folks who can't get over that, really ought to practice what they (so angrily) preached.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:13 AM ^
Have a nice ride.