Klatt, Urban, and Frames all revising/clarifying their takes on Michigan
Klatt
Don't worry, he hasn't backed off boa constrictor. But guess what, now that the widespread rumors are that Harbaugh's contract extension is imminent, Klatt is less concerned about Harbaugh v. Manuel and thinks there will be a contract extension.
His attempt to give the impression that he's a Michigan insider when he's clearly not at all is an interesting move.
Urban
Urban said a thing.
There’s a lot to be said to that and that means you’re team’s well coached, you’re team’s prepared, and there must be really good leadership on the team. Well they do, they’ve go at very veteran team and they’re doing it very impressively.
To go on the road to Nebraska, I actually said that game might be close, it wasn’t close. I thought Nebraska’s defense would hang in there a little bit but they didn’t. And then Minnesota's not a walk in the park, that’s a tough place to go play.
He had to go wash his mouth out with soap afterwards.
Frames
Our friend NittanyFan already pointed this out in the previous thread about this topic, but Franklin's quote was totally taken out of context and misconstrued. No really, it was. If you look at the full transcript, it seems pretty clear that he was saying all teams, including Penn State, should schedule easy games.
The question was:
Last month you were asked about scheduling teams like Delaware and you said there was pretty good data to suggest that scheduling like that in the non-conference helps teams win championships and get to the playoff. Do you see that approach to non-con scheduling changing or staying the same with a 12-team playoff arriving soon?
And his long-winded answer can be boiled down to:
No, I don't think it's changed. I would say you could even make the argument it's magnified, and that's why people are changing their schedules because you look at who people are going to have to play just in our conference, it's going to be even more challenging than it's ever been.
James being James, he made sure to address this the next day without acknowledging that perhaps he should avoid saying weird things like "There's a team in this conference..." and instead just be brief and straightforward with his responses.
It can be frustrating and a little sad sometimes when you have non-media members but they have some social media presence and they put something out that is not accurate, and then some national media don't read the transcript or don't watch the interview and they put something out there. Anybody that watched the entire interview, or anybody who read the whole transcript, I was actually complimenting the schools from a scheduling perspective. It's what we've been doing. ...
To me, you can't control the person that has their own little social media page or whatever and they're doing it from their mom's basement. I can't really control that person. But it's disappointing when, I think, some respected national and other people put things out that are inaccurate and don't do the homework of actually watching an interview or reading the transcript.
October 12th, 2023 at 1:12 PM ^
I like Franklin. Especially his answers to stupid press questions.
“should we just chuck it down the field, … you’re making my skin crawl”
October 12th, 2023 at 2:57 PM ^
The transcript did not do this justice - this is hilarious!
“like, yeah - no”
Awesome response IMO 😂
October 12th, 2023 at 7:09 PM ^
Ha thanks for posting. Hadn't not seen or heard that one. Too funny. I'm pretty indifferent to Franklin, but kudos for some of those responses. "Speaking Japanese. Strong no. My skin is crawling. I hope they edit this out so it's not out there. .. "
October 12th, 2023 at 1:22 PM ^
eh, Day is a reasonable guy. As much as I hate anything OSU, if you read about Day's life story, his losses, etc., you won't come away thinking anything bad about him.
October 12th, 2023 at 2:01 PM ^
I agree -- Day seems like a perfectly nice guy. I was pretty surprised by the whole Lou Holtz tirade; it seemed totally out of character for him, and really shows that he's feeling the heat from the fanbase.
October 12th, 2023 at 8:32 PM ^
Franklin heavily, heavily negative recruits Michigan, OSU, and MSU. He’s frequently made stuff up about Harbaugh to the NFL as well as other stuff. Michigan doesn’t help itself in this regard, but Franklin definitely works it to his advantage way more than anyone else. I don’t know why any Michigan fan would respect him. His comments about other coaches wife, the rape case at Vanderbilt, and how he talks about other Big Ten teams behind closed doors are all stains on him. I don’t care how much the state fan on here wants to paint his as an “all shucks” just trying to fit in kind of guy, he’s really not that good of a person. I would take Ryan Day 100 times out of 100 over Franklin.
October 13th, 2023 at 8:38 PM ^
I've worked with one of his former quarterbacks a few times. I once asked what he thought of Franklin in passing and he told me, cryptically, "good coach... not a good person."
October 12th, 2023 at 10:55 AM ^
let them talk and just keep winning
October 12th, 2023 at 10:56 AM ^
I won't put too much stock in any of their opinions.
Klatt is at heart pro-Michigan, Urban is at heart anti-Michigan, and Frames is at heart pro-Frames.
October 12th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
Klatt clearly admires Michigan and Harbaugh and how the program is run.
That doesn’t mean his opinion isn’t typically pretty accurate.
October 12th, 2023 at 1:16 PM ^
Opinions are just input data points for your own opinion. Nothing to get upset about.
Urban Meyer is a great football coach and mind. I don't care what stupid things he has done outside of that, but if he has an opinion on something football related, I take it seriously, and it has weight. He also doesn't care for Michigan, or has made that part of his thing. Just color mostly.
Franklin is a pretty good coach, who is awkward just like Harbaugh, but it different ways. I value his opinion with the understanding that everything will be in Navy and White shades. As it should be.
Klatt is just a sportscaster. He did play ball in college, and was in a position to learn a lot about the game. He generally seems to know what he is talking about, but he also knows where the clicks come from. Take what he says in that context.
October 12th, 2023 at 11:01 AM ^
oh wah wah franklin. sack up. youve had the pick of the litter in recruiting and you routinely suck.
October 12th, 2023 at 11:30 AM ^
So he said “there is a team in this conference”.
Ok so what team were you referring to and how were you misconstrued?
October 12th, 2023 at 12:00 PM ^
The quotes that went around yesterday were:
Yeah, I would say there's a team in this conference specifically that's buying out of a ton of game contracts that are already signed to go in the complete opposite direction. ...
You've got to do whatever you possibly can to give yourself a chance, number one, to be undefeated at the end of the season.
Most people, including MSM, jumped on that to say, oh he's throwing shade at Michigan for its non-conference games.
He wasn't throwing shade. The full context clearly shows that he was saying everyone is scheduling easy non-conference games, including Penn State, because it's the smart thing to do.
Furthermore, there's a high likelihood that the "team in this conference" is Indiana. His full response included:
There's another team in this conference that has had a ton of success the last couple years, and again, I think it would follow the same argument.
So he's talking about two teams. Michigan is the second one, probably.
But who knows, maybe he was talking about Maryland and Illinois.
October 12th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
Too late James. It's already on our bulletin board.
October 12th, 2023 at 11:45 AM ^
The transcript is amazing - much more interesting than the comments about scheduling is Franklin’s response to some reporter suggesting they just need to chuck it deep a few times a game regardless of any other considerations.
“You’re speaking Japanese”
😆
October 12th, 2023 at 11:50 AM ^
I think Klatt is insightful and pretty / very objective for almost all teams - the exception being, Colorado. And, IMO - I was "on the sideline" waiting to see how effective Deion would be as their head coach.
Some of Colorado's games have been "closer than expected" - such as Colorado State and Arizona State. But, last I checked - those close games were "close wins" - which is much better than the alternative.
My view is - Urban Meyer will only say "good" - or "not negative" things about Michigan - when he's forced to.
October 12th, 2023 at 12:00 PM ^
Well, with that explanation, I get what Frames is saying. Howevs... I still don't like the 'All Chumps All The Time' scheduling method that he's pushing becuase of the new conference schedule. And I especially don't like scheduling FCS schools...
I do find it hilarious that Frames is complaining about the unverified veracity of non-'journalist' bloggers and social media crackpots. Does he have someone reading MGoBlog each day? If so, can I have that job? I would dutifully report everything to him...
October 12th, 2023 at 12:03 PM ^
Did frames just take a shot at my mom's basement
October 12th, 2023 at 12:09 PM ^
18:35 "What's changed in college football is that everybody can pay their players, not just the SEC."
October 12th, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^
“There’s a lot to be said to that and that means you’re team’s well coached.."
If you're going to be a writer at least understand the difference between your and you're.
October 12th, 2023 at 12:22 PM ^
Maybe Urban said it with the contraction.
October 12th, 2023 at 12:41 PM ^
I think James is a pretty good coach. Minus the Covid season (which I completely delete from any discussions on records), he's really had only one bad loss since 2019 - the 9 OT loss at home to Illinois in 2021. Only regular season losses have been to UM and Ohio for the most part. Loss at MSU in 2021 (MSU was 11-2), when they had their one golden (lucky) season. Loss at Minny in 2019 when Minny was #17 (and finished 11-2).
Discounting Covid Year, he's had one bad year (7-6 in 2021) but finished Top 10 four other times and likely this year. One other #17 finish.
Definitely a great recruiter and has kept the program out of any off the field crap.
He's maybe a half-step better today than JH was pre-2020. Rarely gets blown out (even last year's loss in A2 was 17-16 until we exploded). JH had too many blowouts (bowl losses too).
A guy who's won Fiesta, Cotton, and Rose in last 6 seasons. I'm hoping JH starts to use the same focus James does for bowl games.
October 12th, 2023 at 1:20 PM ^
Remember when people stood by what they said or kept their mouths shut? Not every pontification one has needs to be voiced.
October 12th, 2023 at 1:21 PM ^
Was anything Franklin said wrong? Michigan clearly scheduled cupcakes (I know UCLA was a weird deal) but they didn't even try to schedule good G5 teams. It sucks to watch in terms of interest, but makes sense if you're solely focused on winning a NC.
Michigan is kind of under the radar this year because they're so boringly good and there's no intrigue, like there is with every other team. But let's not run around screaming DISRESPEKT like we're MSU. Franklin and Urban aren't paid to pat us on our ass and tell us we're special.
October 12th, 2023 at 1:51 PM ^
Its not about the scheduling...If he wanted to make the point, he only needed to talk about his own team...pulling Michigan into it makes no sense and just looks like his usual insecurity....
October 12th, 2023 at 2:51 PM ^
Was anything Franklin said wrong?
No. But the way people interpreted it was wrong, because most people only heard select comments out of context. That's what he was upset about and what he made sure to address yesterday.
October 12th, 2023 at 4:13 PM ^
Even if it wasn't taken out of context, was he wrong? And to my bigger point, who cares?
October 12th, 2023 at 4:42 PM ^
Even if it wasn't taken out of context, was he wrong?
You mean even if everyone's initial interpretation was the correct interpretation? The alternate universe where he is making fun of Michigan for scheduling cupcakes?
That was what the whole conversation was two days ago. If you're interested in reading through those comments, it's here:
October 12th, 2023 at 1:31 PM ^
I don't think that big bar of Dial my mom used back in the day would work on Urb's mouth. Why does I think Shelley Meyer makes sure that anytime he goes out "alone", has a BIG tube of Clorox wipes! She must have the same washing unit they used on Meryl Streep in that nuclear plant movie, just to let him back in the house.
October 12th, 2023 at 2:23 PM ^
"He had to go wash his mouth out with soap afterwards."
Nah. Urbz' dislike of Michigan was always an act for the fans. Pretty sure I remember before he was hired at OSU he said Michigan was one of 3 or 4 dream jobs he would jump at. Only thing Urbz is loyal to is Urbz.
October 12th, 2023 at 2:53 PM ^
It's an act, I agree. So it is a performative mouth washing to be live streamed on YouTube.
October 12th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
thank goodness, i was wondering if joel klatt had any new thoughts. i mean NEW new thoughts, as opposed to his other new thoughts (no, not those new thoughts, the OTHER new thoughts) since the last time someone posted his new thoughts. which was probably about an hour ago, tops.
also, to hell with urban meyer's thoughts. i don't know why some of y'all keep amplifying that crap.
October 12th, 2023 at 2:32 PM ^
Klatt isn't what I would call an insider but as a national sportscaster he has certain amounts of access. That said, he's always seemed to be In Michigan and Harbaugh's corner and for that he's one of my favorites and his podcast is one of the I listen too.
October 12th, 2023 at 2:36 PM ^
At some point Urbs just have to give it up and face the obvious
October 12th, 2023 at 2:45 PM ^
"I'd like to get more than Ryan Day because I own him." Colin Cowherd
Hilarious!
October 12th, 2023 at 4:07 PM ^
I swear I saw that Urban put Michigan on upset alert against Indiana this week.
October 12th, 2023 at 5:05 PM ^
I find Klatt's takes interesting. Ubz not so much. Thanks for posting.
October 12th, 2023 at 7:56 PM ^
Cowherd is awesome
October 13th, 2023 at 12:57 PM ^
I would pay big money to see a round robin cage fight with these three guys.