M Rob to join the team on June 1st
I just saw this article on Rivals (info in the header). Marvin Robinson has already been preparing himself for the Bandit position, and plans to begin training in Ann Arbor immediately following his HS graduation on May 27. This is great news for anyone who questioned his academic standing after he failed to enroll early.
This isn't OT enough.
We need more threads about Lane Kiffin, shake weights, and Brian Cushing!
I labeled the shake weights thread, Way OT. I saw the commercial during a sporting event, cut me some slack Magnus. Its the offseason man, it sucks for everyone.
Uh, aren't there other things you can fill your daily 24 with when it's the offseason?
Using the "hey it's the offseason, and it sucks" excuse is tired.
Chastising someone for posting about OT things in the offseason. Great use of your 24 hours there jg.
E-fact - if you feel defensive enough that you feel you have to justify your post with "it's the offseason," maybe you ought to do something else.
Ill fill your 24 with an all american amount of Jack Bauer s whisper screaming "this is THE OFFSEASON! I DO HAVE TIME FOR THIS! proceeded by him pistol whipping you... with a bald eagle.
Where do Ricky Stanzi and J Leman fit into this?
You just justified your own post from earlier. Maybe you ought to do something else? Just saying.
Isn't "OT" pretty self explanatory? Do we really need the "WAY" OT or "EXTREMELY" OT or "MEGA" OT or "Fatsen your seat belts b/c this post is soooo OT it will blow your freakin mind"!!!!!!
This isn't directed torwards you ToledoWolverine specifically...just wanted to get that off my chest.
...as we're getting things off our chest, I think it sucks that airlines are starting to charge for carryon luggage! Next thing you know, they'll be charging you five bucks everytime you unbuckle your seatbelt!
ARGH.
What degree of OT is this comment?
Maybe luggage fees are now meta, because Brian did a great job of covering it here on March 22:
lol.....I think this would qualify as EPIC OT!!!!!!*
*must include 6 explanation points for emphasis
...regarding the lack of need for "way OT", or any other qualifier. However, judging by your photo, you have already gotten everything off your chest. It's time to consider putting something back on your chest.
This made my coffee taste that much sweeter... Thanks for the good news, I needed a pick me up after hearing about Denard and "dreadgate"
Haven't heard about Denard and dreadgate, what's the scoop?
Hurry up September! LoL
Introducing the DRob military fade:
It's kind of eerie how much he looks like college-aged Desmond.
He's wearing red for some reason!
...but NOT scarlett!!
Our defense should be better this year, but we need some of our freshmen to play like experienced guys.
We also need some of our experienced guys to, ya know, play like experienced guys too. :)
I thought I read somewhere last summer that typically freshmen who are ready to enroll for the fall semester get to town June 1st to start summer work outs.
I believe the majority of incoming freshmen come to town for summer term, which begins on June 30 this year.
Despite numerous attempts I've never been able to post a comment on TTB, so I'll just do it here—thanks for the link to Matthew Albanese. I may put something on my own blog about his work, and if I do I'll include a link and a nod to TTB.
Thanks, Don. I'll try to check into why you haven't been able to post.
What's the story behind you using the nickname "Thunder" on TTB?
It was just the name attached to my Google account prior to posting on MGoBoard. It references another old nickname.
Our DB's can use all the depth that we recruited, and the competition should be good for every position at the back end. I really hope we get a couple of head hunters playing the "cheating safety" spots on this D. Many think that Kovacks is a lock for the strong side spot, but I would rather have a really fast athlete that likes to hit, instead of a slow one who likes to hit. I almost think they should redshirt Kovacs and beef him up in an effort to transition him to linebacker. He is simply not fast enough to play safety in Div. 1 IMHO.
"but I would rather have a really fast athlete that likes to hit, instead of a slow one who likes to hit."
certainly can't disagree with that, though the positive things we seem to hear about kovacs is simply being in the right place a lot of the time. if Marvin can compete with Kovacs from the neck up, then yeah, his athleticism will propel him into the line-up...but if the last couple years have taught me anything, it's patience with the freshman. that said, glad to hear he'll be here as soon as possible and likely be able to contribute in some manner this fall.
I'd prefer to have a defensive back who knows what he's doing.
Also, he can't redshirt.
Also, he had no Barwis, was a year removed from knee surgery, and had more INTs than Troy Woolfolk and JT Floyd combined last year.
Maybe instead of criticizing a walk-on who worked his butt off and started within 2 months of getting in the program, your concern should be pointed at someone like Vlad Emilien, who also had a knee injury, but was beaten out by Kovacs for playing time.
Had Kovacs not played last year, Michigan might have been 3-9 last year. Stop criticizing him.
"Stop criticizing him."
You should probably relax. There wasn't anything mean or vindictive in his post. It was a fair assessment of Kovacs' play/skills, even if you think it's inaccurate.
I'm perfectly calm.
We've seen the same tired post re: Kovacs the past 6 months. Had Emilien given that performance as a true freshman (you know, second on the team in tackles), people would be pumped for his 2010 season. Not so with a walk-on, although I'd argue one should be MORE excited about a walk-on getting 17 tackles against Michigan State, or having more INTs than many of the "GURU APPROVED" members of the secondary.
First of all, I agree with your assessment comparing Kovacs to Vlad, in that if Vlad (or some other 4 star type) turned in a freshman season like Kovacs did we'd all be talking about early entry and first round pick, yadda yadda.
But I also agree with the poster above, and the posters who are pessimistic toward Kovacs. Kovacs is a heady player who can tackle as well as anyone on the roster (and God knows we need that) but he is physically limited compared to a lot of the scholarship safeties. The things Kovacs did well last year (tackling near the LOS) he did very well. But the things he did poorly (coverage) he looked like a walk-on.
I think most people are hoping for one of the athletic safeties (Flash, Jones, Hawthorne, any of the incoming freshmen) to grasp the game as well as Kovacs has, in addition to making up for Kovacs' shortcomings. Based on the way we've recruited, that shouldn't be too much to ask.
Yeah, and you're telling people to "Stop criticizing him" when they mention that he's too slow to play safety, which is one of Kovacs' bigger faults. In fact, if you asked Kovacs himself, he would probably say "I need to work on getting faster." You're not the OP's dad. Why are you telling him what to do?
Perhaps if Kovacs is permitted to have an entire offseason speed and strength training, instead of rehabbing a knee injury, he won't be too slow to be a box safety.
Kovacs should not have been playing last year. In a normal situation he would have been a special teamer at best. Despite that, he performed very well.
As is normal, I await your last word, which you must always get in.
"Kovacs should not have been playing last year. In a normal situation he would have been a special teamer at best. Despite that, he performed very well."
Agreed. No one's arguing that point.
This isn't about Kovacs. It's about you telling the other poster what to do. It's unnecessary. I'm a grumpy old man, and I'm telling you that you sound like a grumpy old man. That's pretty bad.
Thanks for waiting for my next comment. You may carry on with your day now.
While I agree completely with Magnus that it was not an unfair criticism of Kovacs, I can see the poster's frustration with the evaluations of Kovacs. I, too, get sick of everyone referring to him as a 'walk-on' safety. You don't refer to anyone else as a 'scholorship safety.' The kid played just fine and is on equal par with anyone else on the squad. He is as open to criticism as anyone else, but criticise him on his play, not his recruitment status. I have said this before, but our only national championship team in the last 50 years had a walk-on quarterback and a walk-on captain who started the year as a starting linebacker. When posters keep refering to him as a walk-on I can't help but assume that they have never really seen him play and are just inferring that he is slow because he is a walk-on white safety.
I will stop referring to Kovacs as a walk-on if you stop referring to Brian Griese as a walk-on because he really wasn't.
Did he sign a letter of intent and come to school as a scholarship player?
No, he did not. But he was offered scholarships to play at BCS conference schools, and Moeller told him that if he came to UM he would give him the first scholarship that opened up. He didn't sing an LOI, but he was recruited and was a part of the football team from day 1.
When Kovacs enrolled at UM, the coaches didn't have a clue who he was, he just showed up to try-outs. Don't make it seem like these 2 guys have similar stories.
didn't even know Kovacs name until part way through the season.
I disagree completely. If there was the same internet scrutiny and commenting in 1997 as there is now, we would be having hte same argument. Everyone would be complaining that we were starting a guy who had an offer sheet that was suspect and had to come to Michigan as a "preferred walk-on". Dreisbach was a however-many star recruit and should be playing. The argument is that a players recruiting status should be null and void once he steps on the field. 5 Star, preferred walk on or walk on, they should all be judged by their play.
If you're tired of him being called a walk-on, then buckle up, because it's going to be a bumpy ride. He will always be a walk-on/former walk-on. Kovacs has physical limitations, and while it's incorrect to assume that all white safeties are slow, in Kovacs's case, that generalization actually fits.
It is definitely impressive that he notched the second-most tackles on the team last year. But I'd be especially excited if someone could take his job who is equally adept at tackling, but also faster and a better playmaker.
Look, all I am saying is I am not bothered by someone saying that Kovacs is a good tackler that was subpar in cover skills last year. What I don't like is the ' we need to replace the walk on with a scholarship player' argument (and I know that is not how he worded it, but you have to admit that many people are spouting some version of that argument). Judge him on his play, not his scholarship status. Also, I would be excited if we replaced all of our players with someone that was at least as good of a tackler but was faster and a better playmaker. That is not exactly a profound thought.
"Also, I would be excited if we replaced all of our players with someone that was at least as good of a tackler but was faster and a better playmaker. That is not exactly a profound thought."
Touche. However, Kovacs is noticeably slower than most defensive backs. If you get past Kovacs, he's not going to catch up to you, unless you happen to be Roy Roundtree (I kid, I kid).