Locker room issues after the game?
I'm copy and pasting WMUKirk's post from the Snowflakes Offense thread. Feel free to delete if you think it shouldn't be up. Figured people would miss this as it is buried in that thread.
"I do not know where to post this but here's information for you.
1. Michigan will be holding a players only meeting tomorrow, spearheaded by Jake Ryan, and Ramon Taylor.
2. Shane has a high ankle sprain, doubtful he plays next week. Can barely put pressure on it.
3. Desmond Morgan is highly upset that Jabril didn't play today.
4. Players morale has geniuely finally dipped.
5. Jabril turned his back to the coaches after the game, and looked in his locker. He's highly disgusted.
6. Doesn't feel like a team, defense keeps to defense. Offense to offense. Not much cross mingling between them after this game.
7. Nuss & Hoke argued with Dave Brandon present. Words weren't audible to any one else. "
September 27th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^
Shouldn't you be on a date or something, Ace?
September 27th, 2014 at 9:26 PM ^
I'm not Ace Williams.
That should be pretty evident by the age of my account.
What should be even more evident is that I'm not professing to be the source of this information. I clearly stated that I was reposting it from the Snowflakes thread.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:45 PM ^
Shouldn't you be busy massaging Brady's palms after all of his effective game day clapping and ass slapping?
September 27th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^
#7 seems backwards, Brandon should be lashing out at them.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:29 PM ^
Why would he do that? He has himself to blame for them being where they are.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:30 PM ^
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September 27th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^
September 27th, 2014 at 9:31 PM ^
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September 28th, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^
arguing about the decision to leave Shane in or send him back in when Gardner came out. You would think DB had recognized or been informed of the PR issue and he was down their intercepting the coaches before the press conference so they could do their usual arrogant, blame avoiding spin attempt.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:58 PM ^
"Guys, what I saw out there was [expletive deleted] unacceptable!..."
"...Your team is quitting and it is destroying our revenue potential!"
Seriously, though, the facts that there was turmoil in the locker room and a players only meeting has been called are the only two positive things I've seen about Michigan football in the last 8 days.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^
And to add to this, it was apparent to me that there's some heavy tension between Shane and Gardner. This program is a zoo right now, and the animals are out of their pen. No discipline and organization.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:29 PM ^
That was bizarre and sad. Gardner has always been very supportive of Shane, even when he got benched last week.
Something happened this week in practices that finally brought everything to a head. The sideline demeanor was terrible all game today. No one talking to anyone the entire time.
September 28th, 2014 at 12:34 AM ^
Probably the fact that it was evident in practice that Gardner gives the team the best chance to win. I would be ticked to, Gardner has played poorly, but playing Morris is like saying that you have no interest in winning. He was averaging under 3 yards a pass attempt.
September 28th, 2014 at 7:47 AM ^
I was in the Michigan stands (section 36) watching Devin Gardner during pre-game warm-ups. Devin looked disinterested and it was apparant by his demeanor he was not going to start. During my time of watching him I don't recall him interacting with Shane Morris at any point.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^
September 27th, 2014 at 9:24 PM ^
Brandon sits in on most post game meetings between Hoke & Nuss.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:58 PM ^
That sounds like a huge problem to me. Is that common? Seems like oppressive micromanaging by Brandon. Extremely counterproductive.
September 27th, 2014 at 10:35 PM ^
It definitely isn't normal nor is it appropriate.
Brandon thinks he's the center of the athletic department which takes an amazing amount of hubris. Just think of how well known he is, even outside of Michigan circles. The best ADs are rarely talked about and they certainly don't work under the delusional assumption that they as individuals are the core of the program.
September 27th, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^
I miss you A-Train.
September 27th, 2014 at 11:41 PM ^
I miss me too
September 27th, 2014 at 9:18 PM ^
more alcohol please
September 28th, 2014 at 10:55 AM ^
+1 eloquent
September 27th, 2014 at 9:18 PM ^
I still think Hoke is setting rules that Nuss has to follow and is he is being forced to play a style he may not necessarily want to play as much if he had full reign. Idk, just a hunch, could be completely wrong.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:32 PM ^
I'd believe it. Our offensive problems feel eerily similar to the defensive problems under RRod. Feels like a coach who is forcing coordinators to do things they're not accustomed to with a staff full of bad position coaches.
September 28th, 2014 at 12:43 AM ^
With RR we had clear evidence of this, because coordinators were running a 3-3-5 that never did before or since.
But Nussmeier's offense here doesn't look that much different from what he ran last year, except of course for the fact that it isn't working. What am I missing, how do you think Hoke has influenced it?
September 28th, 2014 at 1:50 AM ^
Alabama having more of a vertical passing game under Nuss than we do.
September 28th, 2014 at 2:07 AM ^
That's true, but I was guessing last week's four-verts disaster was a clue to why we're not seeing one now.
And it's odd that Hoke wouldn't want a vertical passing game; he hired Borges twice. Nobody's passing game is more vertical than Borges's.
September 28th, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^
Run/pass mix is the same as Alabama's last year: 56 % last year, 57% this year.
YPC is down from 13.2 to 11.3. The problem is the stats only measure the ones you catch, not the ones you throw. Is this number down because he's throwing downfield less, or because the downfield balls aren't connecting?
September 27th, 2014 at 9:43 PM ^
with you...but are you saying that Nick Saban gave Nuss more control than Hoke is?
September 27th, 2014 at 10:00 PM ^
If that's true, and there is every reason to believe it is, we're in big trouble.
The play of the receivers was particularly poor, for whatever reason.
September 28th, 2014 at 1:26 AM ^
But why would Hoke try to handcuff his OC at all? He needs offense! What rules do you think he's forcing on Nuss? If he's actually doing that, he's an absolute idiot. It just makes no sense that he would be.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:20 PM ^
Why didnt Devin support Shane all game? As the announcers said they barely talked.
Oh well this was ALL Lewan's fault last year so I am sure we can pin it on him this year too.
September 27th, 2014 at 9:49 PM ^
September 27th, 2014 at 10:39 PM ^
Totally. The lack of leadership on this team seems glaring as an outsider. I think this is Gardner's team more than anyone's (though the more and more I hear about how the O and D are divided, tough to say). So being benched and seeing the shit show that ensued. I'd be pissed too, because they asked for soemone else.
September 27th, 2014 at 11:44 PM ^
I don't think it's anyone's team. Gardner is the prime candidate, and he definitely has the personality of a leader. But the most important part of being a leader is performing, which he hasn't. He seems like a great guy, but how can other players look to him when he turns the ball over so much? And how can they trust a coaching staff that doesn't know how to utilize their most talented player?
September 28th, 2014 at 8:09 AM ^
September 27th, 2014 at 9:21 PM ^
September 27th, 2014 at 9:35 PM ^
September 27th, 2014 at 9:43 PM ^
His track record. I suspected before the season, but now I'm convinced that Brady Hoke is trying to shove an offensive "philosophy" down their throats, and it's one that doesn't work.
September 27th, 2014 at 10:06 PM ^
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September 27th, 2014 at 10:16 PM ^
I think people assumed that because people had a hard time believing the DL coach who doesn't wear a headset would micromanage the offense. Borges reputation was so terrible that it was easy to believe that Borges was just dumb.
But when you see the same stuff with a new OC with different philosophies and a great track record coming in, well, Occam's Razor takes hold. Either Hoke is instructing his OCs to shoehorn dumb ball into offense or something has been sprayed into the air in Ann Arbor that turns previously competent OCs into fools.
September 27th, 2014 at 10:54 PM ^
September 28th, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^
it's almost like a program obsessed with an old-school philosophies in general would heavily suggest that everyone involved with the program adopt said philosophies, because "that's how it's done here".
not that this kind of thing would happen at michigan...
September 28th, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^
September 27th, 2014 at 10:09 PM ^
As a 49ers fan who's watched Harbaugh run MANBALL fairly effectively for the last three years, I think the fault lies not so much in the philosophy, but more in the man who has utterly failed to teach said philosophy.
Not that I'm a huge advocate of MANBALL, but it can be effective when the coaching staff is marginally adequate.
September 28th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^
I agree a hundred percent. I think Hoke definitely lets his coaches "run their side of the ball" from the x's & o's standpoint but it comes with him saying "okay that sounds good, just make sure you [insert archaic strategy here] as well, because this is..."
September 27th, 2014 at 9:20 PM ^
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September 27th, 2014 at 9:40 PM ^
A.D.- Larry Kehres to replace Dave Brandon. L.K. is the current A.D. at Mt. Union college, and former Head Football coach at that school. All-time winningest football coach in college history going 332-24 for a .929 winning % He is retired from coaching, but is serving as the A.D.
H.C. - Lance Leopold to replace Brady Hoke. Lance Leopold H.C. at Wisconsin/Whitewater for the last seven seasons, 5 National Championships, 1 runner up, and his worst season he finished 10-3. W/L 95-6 W% .941 Playoff record 29-1. He is 50 years old, and was an assisstant at Nebraska for two years.
September 27th, 2014 at 10:19 PM ^
It's easy to dominate D3 when you are 1 of the very few teams to bend the scholarship rules (Mt. Union) and you have a built-in advantage of being part of the state university system to build better athletic facilities (Wisc-Whitewater). That said, they are good coaches, but they have had a distinct advantage over their D3 opponents they wouldn't have at Michigan.
And yes, I know this was sarcasm. I just had to get that off my chest about those two schools dominating D3 football the last 15-20 years.
September 27th, 2014 at 10:41 PM ^
I'll take a coach, or A.D. that is willing to bend the rules, but not break them, in order to win.
Forgodsakes we're Michigan and swimming in all that donor money, why can't we build superior facilities with some of that Ross money, and let the Lacrosse team play in the Big House, or somewhere else ?
If they are good coaches, is that not better than what we have right now ?
I just want to restore Michigan football, no elevate Michigan football to a height it has not been to since the turn of the last century (Yost days), and could give two shits about Div. III football.
Just win baby.