Devastating article on UM football

Submitted by massblue on

"Never at any point in 2013 did Michigan look fully prepared to do all the little things necessary to win football games. Never at any point did Michigan appear to be fundamentally sound. Never at any point did the team's locker room leadership take charge of the club and put an end to a miserable 1-5 close to the year."

 

I hope powers to be are reading this.

 

Here is the link

Geaux_Blue

December 29th, 2013 at 9:42 AM ^

Nick would've said the coaches failed if he felt it, especially in a column. His point is that it was a year where nothing clicked in parallel - you've taken a sentence and placed your own agenda behind it.

crhyna01

December 30th, 2013 at 7:35 AM ^

Again only looking at guys with Michigan ties.  There are a ton of good coaches out there and Mich has the ability to pay these guys to want to come to Ann Arbor.  Stop thinking the guy has to be from the Mich tree.  Seemed to work ok for Alabama with Saban and Fisher with FSU.  I don't care who it is bring in the browns coach, or bring in Gary Kubiak or anyone else.  Mich should be going after guys like this because they can, instead we think that being a Michigan Man is a requirement, when in reality it has turned into a crutch that elimanites a ton of worthy canidates.

LSAClassOf2000

December 29th, 2013 at 9:52 AM ^

I think the core of Nick's opinion is right here:

"The left foot never walked in step with the right for Michigan this season. If one side was up, the other was almost assuredly down – especially over the season’s final two months."

I think we've all known that this team was "out of phase", if you will, and not exactly running on all cylinders all the time. He's also right in that the result last night does not erase the questions, but again, we have figured that out too, I think. I believe Nick - in this sentence in particular - is summarizing thoughts many of us here have had throughout the season. 

Don

December 29th, 2013 at 10:29 AM ^

Seems to me that Baumgardner is being pretty critical of the coaching staff when he says this:

"Brady Hoke’s football team wasn’t good enough this season. His staff wasn’t good enough. His players weren’t good enough. He wasn’t good enough."

I would agree that Nick's opinion piece isn't "devastating" and that MLive hardly carries any weight from a journalistic standpoint.

MGlobules

December 29th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^

by ourselves. Nick is quite a decent writer--better sentence structure and bigger vocabulary than Angelique (of whom I am fond), for example. And he's laying it on the line, including in trying to puncture some of the myths that hold sway here. This team is in a bad way, and everyone here has been maniacally focused on Borges as the culprit. That's just not the case. In fact, if you look at what DG accomplished (as an Mlive reader notes--see below), you might say that Borges overachieved under the circumstances.

No one will be surprised if Borges is made the sacrificial lamb here, but that's not going to fix the problem. The defense has been the bigger problem in the last part of the season and Hoke--nice guy that he is--is not getting results. It is going to be a long time before Michigan returns to pre-eminence in football, and I have little faith that it will be under Hoke. Brandon hired these guys and is invested in them, and will be very slow to do the right thing here. Michigan football is not in good hands. 

--- 

This is what DG accomplished with one of UM worst O-lines ever!!!



Devin Gardener (Mr 75% of the offense) Stats:



Passing Yards

2013 Big Ten 2960 (2nd)



Pass Completions

2013 Big Ten 208 (2nd)



Passing Interceptions

2013 Big Ten 11 (4th)



Passing Efficiency Rating

2013 Big Ten 146.1 (2nd)



Total Yards

2013 Big Ten 3443 (2nd)



Total Yards Per Play

2013 Big Ten 6.8 (1st)



Total Touchdowns

2013 Big Ten 32 (1st)

991GT3

December 29th, 2013 at 11:32 AM ^

We cannot sugar coat the obvious. This is a talent laden team albeit young that under achieved. Had this team be coached some of the better coaches in the country, we would be looking at a much different record. I hope my of our recruits did not watch the game.

KSU was far superior yesterday and at no time after the KSU first TD did I believe Michigan was going to win the game. Even the announcers were lamenting the state of Michigan football.

If it is true that Brandon has said as long as he is AD Hoke will be his coach then it may well be Brandon tenure as AD is short lived.

clarkiefromcanada

December 29th, 2013 at 1:12 PM ^

Well said, devastating is JoePa looking the other way at sex abuse. Devastating is Tressel covering on Tatgate. Devastating is nerd rage. Devastating is hoping "he doesn't fire me". Devastating is Josh f'n Groban.

In this instance the team didn't achieve its goals and Baumgardner's work, while appropriately critical, holds hardly the weight OP gives it.

Next Mass will link an Ace Williams article? Srsly.

 

umalum95

December 29th, 2013 at 2:34 PM ^

Isn't just the name of a very good Cranberries song.

Back in 2006-2007, you were defending the elite status of our program. Scoffing at the notion of us becoming the next Notre Dame. Using asterisks unwisely, if not foolishly. Encapsulating made-up words like *cocksure* to describe the superiority complex that UM sports somehow gave you over your fellow realtors.

Well listen, you *cocksure* prick: You stupid f*ck who used to begin his posts with "Dear Friends" and talk to people like they knew nothing about the direction of the program. Screw you for knowing nothing and always talking like you do. Our program sucks because of non-demanding jerk-off's like you who think -- well, don't think about anything about what they're spoon fed.

Let me boil it down for you: if my friends ever took my last name and added an "ie" at the end, and I embraced it because maybe I played high school hockey or rugby in Canada, then sold some real estate but pretended to be something else, well then just have someone shoot me. Because at that point, I would have realized that I was just one, giant douchebag with one never ending bad opinion.

This is you Mr. Clark. And f*ck you for supporting my team. Your support has been, will always be, a detriment.

Gulo Gulo Luscus

December 29th, 2013 at 3:20 PM ^

Haha don't really agree with either you or Clarkie regarding the state of the program or underlying explanations, but that's a hilarious post.

I'm sure you have an existing account on here and created another one just to get these feelings about Clarkie off your chest semi-anonymously, but if not...

Don

December 29th, 2013 at 4:57 PM ^

You claim to be a graduate of the University of Michigan, yet you're apparently unaware that the word "cocksure" has been in usage in the English language since at least the 1500s. In addition, your use of "encapsulating" makes no sense within the context.

michigan fan 1976

December 29th, 2013 at 10:11 AM ^

and you know for a fact they are not teaching these kids correct? my problem is still half the team that is starting are richrod players , why hoke and mattison persist with this I will never know they are not as talented as the group of players he is bringing in, i have noticed signs of improvement in the playters hoke recruited, i just dont think the ones rich rod recruited are very talented no matter how much you try and teach them, talent will show when there is some and rich rods players were always to small for the big, the only bad thing about the coaching staff is borges play calling which has set the offense up for failure all year no matter who was out there, so i agree on this one borges has been terrible but lets not call out the whole staff just yet lets wait until hokes players are all playing and we can officially put richrod out of here, just my two cents

wolverine1987

December 29th, 2013 at 10:38 AM ^

Are you serious with this opinion? For God's sake, don't you think the coaches play who they believe are the most talented players, whether they are "rich rods" or not? And your opinion that rich rods players are "too small" is not just your opinion--it is a conclusive fact that you are wrong, not that you hold a different opinion, but wrong, without foundation or rationale. Do you not realize that the three best players on offense this year (Lewan, Gallon, Devin) are "rich rods" players? That the best player on defense (and more) are? Sigh....

uminks

December 29th, 2013 at 1:22 PM ^

with RR players in 2011!  I think the problem is in 2011 Mattison had a lot more upper class-men, while there was a void in  upper class-men and depth that began in 2009 and lasted through 2011. What happened to all those seniors? We'll just have to wait til the 2012 class is seniors before we make a final decision on Mattison. Unless he gets frustrated and just decides to retire, which I think he may be planning to do.

Yeoman

December 30th, 2013 at 12:41 AM ^

On the offhand chance that this wasn't a rhetorical question:

  • Cullen Christian is at Pitt.
  • Ray Vinopal is at Pitt.
  • Ricardo Miller is at Massachusetts.
  • Carvin Johnson is at Hampton.
  • Antonio Kinard is at Arizona Western Community College and has offers from USC, Miami, Arizona and Arizona State.
  • D. J. Williamson is on the track team at Akron.
  • Demar Dorsey is with the Arizona Rattlers.
  • Cornelius Jones left Marshall--I think he's out of football but I don't know for sure.
  • Davion Rogers left Youngstown State (academics, presumably), was recently a shooting victim. The alleged perpetrator is in custody.
  • Austin White was on probation, last I heard.
  • Jerald Robinson was having some legal difficulties in my old stomping grounds of Lorain County. Haven't heard anything recently.
  • Don't know about Kenny Wilkins, the Talbott brothers, Christian Pace or Stephen Hopkins. I'm pretty sure Hopkins was finishing his degree at Michigan--anyone know anything about the others?
  • The ten guys still on the team (eleven if you count Hagerup) you already know.

And that's the senior class. Did I miss anybody?

Eastside Maize

December 29th, 2013 at 9:48 AM ^

Hoke has gotta shake up his staff. After a month, much less a bye week, we looked lost on both sides of the ball. Once a team took away what was working there were never adjustments.

Paly33

December 29th, 2013 at 9:49 AM ^

There is no toughness on this team at all. This has been a bend and break defense all year. With Hoke putting emphasis on coaching fundamentals and technique we certainly didn't see any of that on the field this year. I get that we are young but we should see progression throughout the year not regression.

bronxblue

December 29th, 2013 at 9:49 AM ^

Meh, this reeks of "feelingsball" to me.  I get that the team underperformed, but I'm tired of relative outsiders complaining about a "lost lockerroom" and "failing to do the little things" as if listening to Herm Edwards and Lou Holtz waxing poetic about footbaw back in the 1970s and 1980s is the Rosetta Stone for understanding the game.

I do think the team had major holes this year, and some of them fall on the coaches and players.  They were not close to winning 10 games, or the conference, and I often said they could have had a losing season if not for close wins against Akron, NW, and UConn.  At the same time, they were a play away from beating PSU and OSU, and Nebraska, and with a bit of luck could have escaped with a win against Iowa.  It was a mediocre team that played like one, but also a young-ish team that played below its talent level.  Sometimes that happens, and more times than not the team improves the following season at the very least incrementally, which in this team's case could get them to 9 wins despite the schedule.  

It was a crappy end to a crappy season, but all of this gnashing of teeth and talk of a "dumpster fire" on twitter is just reactionary bullcrap.

SysMark

December 29th, 2013 at 11:35 AM ^

Actually in situations like this the improvement in the following season is often more than incremental.  Just as this year seemed like a perfect storm where everything failed at once next year could go in the opposite direction with a number of things coming together.  You see teams make those kinds of major jumps every year.  It could happen with Michigan as the team moves in one season from  young to having a more normal percentage of upperclassmen.

It's easy to write pieces like that after a game like last night.  In fact it sounds more like a couple of paragraphs of simple rant than any kind of thoughtful summary.

TheThief

December 29th, 2013 at 1:58 PM ^

Hoke does look lost, Borges does look stubborn, Mattison does seems to have regressed, and the players look talented but lost. Even to the casual observer of the season, something seems amiss, a fire has been quenched. This whole seasons leaves one with a question mark. It is just beffudling.

The only hope we have is that Hoke does not look lost next year, but that he someohow takes the ship by the wheel and navigates it perfectly through the season (because he is not getting fired). That Borges and Mattison work out their issues, and that the team looks talented not just physically but mentally. Maybe something "clicks" during the offseason. It has happened before, worst to first and all that. But honestly that is the only hope I have at the moment. There is little to convince me that next year won't be another mediocre year that ends with the departure of Hoke or Brandon and Hoke and a lot more pain and suffering as we lement what we once were.

aiglick

December 29th, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^

The schedule next year is not a tough schedule. Yes it is unfortunate our toughest games next year are away and we do not have any rivals coming to the Big House but, let's be honest, the Big Ten is not a Murderer's Row. We play in a pretty terrible conference who could lose all its games this bowl season and it seems like we are not going to be able to take advantage.  

Erik_in_Dayton

December 29th, 2013 at 9:54 AM ^

It's not a devastating article. A devastating article would describe how Coach Hoke looked the other way while players took illegal benefits, skipped practice, sold the adrenaline glands of lemurs to school children, etc. This is just a summary of what we all saw.