MAILBAG: Submit your questions for Alex's piece this week
It is peak offseason content time, where not much is going on to write about currently. I'll have a recruiting update later in the week previewing Victor's Weekend, but before that I thought it would be a good time to do a mailbag.
Submit whatever questions you have on Michigan sports (any sport or recruiting is fair game), or I guess pro sports, or I guess life, or whatever topic you have in mind. The better the question, the more likely it gets included.
How will inflation impact NIL, and can Texas A$M afford to recruit top classes given that Bitcoin is tanking?
How many days has it been since OSU beat Michigan, and do the Buckeyes even believe they can win anymore?
Should the Lakers have considered hiring Harbaugh instead of Juwan?
A comparison of Michigan's NIL efforts to other top programs, both in and out of the Big Ten, would be of interest.
This feels like it should have it's own dedicated post.
In particular what do we know about MSUs NIL program?
They have six of nine 4* recruits and just pulled a top 200 LB from IMG that UofM wanted. He actually canceled his UofM visit already planned on the same trip. It also seems they are gaining more national interest vs regional.
I’m sure Mel’s a good recruiter but something seems amiss.
It seems the past 2-3 years for UM basketball and football have been underscored by tons of uncertainty heading into the respective seasons. Covid, NIL, the portal, G-League, etc.
But it wasn't so long ago that we had at least a core of known quantities returning YOY, heading into each season. The past couple years seems like we have no idea what's going to happen and have had some crazy results. In basketball, an incredible recruiting class/returning all american that combined for mediocrity on the court. In football, a lot of unknowns and underclassmen that pulled together a CFP season.
Is it just a blip or something that will continue? For how long or in perpetuity?
Is this happening across the board? Does any team/fanbase have, on balance, relative consistency? Is this what one and done factories deal with all the time or is this new to even them? (Lot of established coaches, e.g., Saban, Dabo, complaining)
More so than ever, a Sweet 16 in basketball should not be considered a mediocre season. It's not like the team was on a sudden hot streak and upset teams they shouldn't have beaten.
I agree, the team was not as fun to watch as other Michigan teams have been, but still give them props for the accomplishment.
Along a similar vein of thought from BuddhaBlue, with options for development and getting paid such as those that exist with the G-League, I think we will see more players leaving the college ranks after one season as they may get drafted and allowed to develop outside the NBA until their skills and bodies are ready for the NBA, all the while being paid nicely.
Given this, and related to recently losing two players who are probably not presently NBA caliber at the moment, are we better off in going after solid, but somewhat lower ranked recruits who are likely to stick around for 3-4 years and allow us to field more veteran players? This would also limit us having to chase after portal players.
Questions... so many questions....
1) Given the way their pro careers worked out, who was the bigger loss in terms of leaving campus early (or never coming to campus): Al Montoya, Jack Campbell, or John Gibson?
2) With CJ Carr's commitment, should the staff go (a) all-in and triple down on Moore; (b) all-in to try and win back CJ Carr in a dramatic recapture; (c) F-it all and go find option #3?
3) Seems like JJ McCarthy's football camp is a good template for getting him and his teammates paid while still honoring the intent of the NIL concept.. have any other athletes from other sports with big youth participation (thinking hockey, baseball, softball) advertised holding clinics / camps with the U's help in logistics?
2) With CJ Carr's commitment, should the staff go (a) all-in and triple down on Moore; (b) all-in to try and win back CJ Carr in a dramatic recapture; (c) F-it all and go find option #3?
Why are these the only 3 options? I don't see why we can't continue going hard for Moore, continue pushing for CJ, and also pursue other options in 2023/2024 like Jadyn Davis and Julian Sayin
I am sure they are NOT the only options, but I am sure they are likely the BEST options for a number of reasons.
They are the most highly ranked, and most recruited QBs on our board (I assume).
It also is a significant investment to recruit a top-level QB and we jump on them early and want early commits if possible.
Starting "fresh" with someone anywhere near as highly ranked will be a much riskier and likely less rewarding approach.
2) With CJ Carr's commitment, should the staff go (a) all-in and triple down on Moore; (b) all-in to try and win back CJ Carr in a dramatic recapture; (c) F-it all and go find option #3?
I'm not sure you can win someone back that you never had
CJ Carr never wanted to come to Michigan and it's not happening. Stop_trying_to_make_fetch_ happen.gif
Alex, if Jim Harbaugh could turn himself into any animal in the animal kingdom what animal would he choose and why?
If Harbaugh was a hot dog and he was starving, would he eat himself to stay alive?
Too soon. RIP.
why is michigan so bad at recruiting they couldn't force cj carr to come to michigan against his will?
Which nonconference game or series would you like to see for football, basketball, and hockey this upcoming season if you could schedule any opponent, and why?
My own personal opinions:
Football - Notre Dame
Basketball - Duke
Hockey - Miami ( old CCHA rival and my two favorite teams)
Screw ND.
We should never play them ever, in any sport, ever.
What is your name?
What is your quest?
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
What do you mean, African or European swallow?
How far does the USMNT make it in the World Cup this fall? We’ve got the talent, we’ve got the heart, but do we have the coveted X-factor at the 9 to push us to our best finish since 2002? Please help stoke the flames of hype.
i would be surprised if they make it out of the group stage. if they do, then that's how far they'll go.
Personally I'm confident they'll make it out of the group but like you I said, that is as far as they will get. They're better than Wales or Iran, though Wales has one of the best individual players in the group on their team.
I think they can make out of the group. Obviously, they will have to play well, but that is a given at the World Cup. I think the US at their best is better than Wales at their best. Both will struggle to score, but I think ultimately the US has more options in attack with Aaronson, Weah, and Pulisic who at the moment are better than Bale, Dan James, and Aaron Ramsey. England has looked really bad this window, but I expect them to look improved, Southgate is a good tournament manager and they will be organized. It will be hard to exploit their one real weakness, which is CB play, without a striker. We have strong wings but they'll be going up against some of the best fullbacks in the world (and Walker Zimmerman against Harry Kane is...less than ideal). I have doubts against Senegal or Netherlands in a potential R16 matchup. I have no idea how we would score against the Dutch, and then I think the back 4 is probably the weakest part against the wing backs of the Dutch. Senegal, the less likely team we would play in the r16, is more talented than us and coming off of AFCON has loads of confidence. If they top the group, I like them to breeze past us, with Sadio Mane and Dia giving our back 4 loads of problems once again.
The midfield is definitely a strength of the squad, but I don't know if it's miles better than Senegal and def not better than the Dutch with De Jong and Berghuis.
Great analysis here and I agree completely. Even if we get out of the group and win our first game against Netherlands or Senegal, there’s a strong chance we would meet France next. That said, this may the most talented roster we’ve ever sent to the World Cup, and they’ve showed real flashes of brilliance over the last year and a half. I’m a relentless optimist about USMNT since M football has trained me well in the arts of relentless pessimism.
USA needs FIFA to do a CONCACAF realignment so that we start playing against higher level international competition on a more regular basis.
Feel there is a lot of variance with this squad. Could lose all 3 group games. Could get to the quarterfinals. The more I watch Mexico, the more I think they are just complete crap this cycle. The fact Canada won qualifying probably shows that the entire confederation is down as a whole. That being said, for the US, it's a much more talented side than we've shown in a long time. As much as they could lose all 3 in the group, they could also win all 3 (count me as someone who thinks England is a perennial paper "lion" and Qatar isn't Wembley).
serious question this time around .... is the situation with mel being the coach but not actually under contract having any apparent effect on the recruiting trail?
Do you mean the Mel in East Lansing?
is much as I would like him to leave Michigan .... no. This Mel
My focus is on Michigan basketball.
Has the handslap and subsequent suspension of Juwan Howard impact recruiting at all? I love Juwan and hope he stays with Michigan for the next 30 years, but I worry those types of antics will derail that.
I suppose some recruits could worry about his staying power, yes, but do you think the incident itself would scare away players? I doubt it.
Doubt it hurts recruiting... and as a one off it might help.
1. Now that we had a taste for CFP, what would it take for Michigan to make a run like Clemson did?
2. What would it take for Michigan to turn Ryan Day's tenure into John Cooper's tenure?
3. Would Michigan's approach to NIL work?
4. Which of the three main sports you think has a better chance to win National Championship in the next 5 years and why?
I think a Clemson-like run would require the same things Clemson had going for it: star QB recruits coming through the program class after class, stud D-Line play, continuing to stay modern schematically.
Really though its mostly about recruiting and recruiting well at quarterback, cornerback, and D-Line specifically.
Running back, wide receiver, tight end, O-line, linebacker, and safety are also important positions. Kicker and punter, too. And special teams.
If you want to say QB is the most important position, I'll give you that.
I think it's also fair to say D-line is the most important position on defense and second most important on the field. Personally I think OL is 3rd most important - both because that would naturally follow from the DL being 2nd, and because the old adage that "it starts up front" is convincing to me. The Ravens D (which we are modeling) does put more importance on DBs than the DL, but they're kinda explicitly doing it to moneyball the game. Since there's no salary cap in CFB, I don't know how valid of an exercise that is for Michigan, and we just had our best season in a long while very much because of an all time great DE, and with an average-ish QB situation (but excellence all around him on O, including up front).
I may be high on the fumes of 2021, but cosnidering that this time last year we were all hoping it could come together in 2022 - I think we can win the game this year. If we do that - our first back-to-back wins since John Cooper, our first win in the 'Shoe since John Cooper - I think Ryan Day will be on something of a hot seat.
Honestly I don't think OSU would have the patience we've had with Harbaugh - the narrative around Day would quickly shift from "he's an amazing coach who hit the ground running" to "he won with Urban's recruits and in a weird pandemic year and is a good OC...but maybe he's not the guy here." I'm clearly hoping and projecting. But short story - winning in 2022 would be huge.
I'm guessing there is a strong correlation between "teams who were cheating their ass off in recruiting" and "teams who quickly had strong NIL programs" (which, WTF Texas A&M, apparently you tried, but were really bad at cheating!?!?!?)
With Saban & Day now PUBLICLY telling their donors how much they are going to have to spend to recruit and hold together a team, do you foresee more public animosity boiling over between coaches and programs? If so, is that good for the game? Will it cause the NCAA to....okay....I won't ask that question.
Also, where does Michigan's announcement about collectives and wanting it to be transformational not transactional leave them in recruiting? Will they still get the guys they really want? Will they fall further behind the big spenders?
This may be wishcasting, but Day needs to be careful about calling out donors. tOSU's NIL investors could get antsy with an 8-4 season and/or another loss to TSUN. Especially if they feel like Day is underperforming after they back up the money truck in order to keep pace with the TAM's and Bamas of the world.
This is fully my expectation. Coaches were already under a lot of pressure because the value of their contracts had risen so exponentially and it is public info.
With NIL, there's yet another public data point valuing how much is being spent on a program with expectations to win. That is going to add more pressure to coaches. I'm expecting some very ugly meltdowns.
Although I want Day to fail as much as anyone and think he does in fact look like the conceited landlord in your standard Hallmark movie, dude has lost one conference game in three years and that was to a playoff team*, so he's got a long ways to go before we can talk of him in the same breath as Cooper.
* I'm blanking on the score of that game, can anyone remind me?
not sure of the score but i recall some fools got hurdled
and it snowed
and that they had the sniffles so it was unfair
Will Cade McNamara enter 2022 with a cyan circle next to his name?
Long time listener, first time caller, Alex.
To what degree, if any, is the Wisconsin incident involving Coach Howard affecting the current state of the basketball program? To your knowledge, did the incident play any role in Collins', Diabate's or Houstan's decisions to not return? Does reliable information exist that the Wisconsin incident is negatively affecting recruiting?
I'll hang up and listen to your answer. But, before I go, I want to wish everyone a day-early Happy Flag Day! Thanks, Betsy! Your house still looks great.
Another Juwan + Wisconsin post. See my response to WindyCityBlue.
So to sum up:
Talk about NIL.
Talk about football recruiting
Talk about "the slap."
That should cover it.
I would like tidbits on housing scarcity and local politics in A2 for $200, Alex.
a little north for “local” but what are Jon Horford’s chances for the Michigan House of Representatives? Former three star in the backyard of Izzo. Any help from brother Al after he wins the championship?
When is HTTV coming out? Are you guys going to be running against the deadline (the begining of the season) or do you anticipate an earlier release?