This guy thinks so.
Warning: Delivery may make you want to punch something.
http://msn.foxsports.com/video/college-football?vid=d3618a58-b208-4d99-a5ea-c2ddae2d86ba
Petros is the man
We are in no way ready to
We are in no way ready to compete for a national championship yet. Our depth is just not where it needs to be.
We will get there, though. With Hoke at the helm, I believe it will be sooner rather than later.
It's been a lot. Its been a roller coaster that for some reason seemed like it would never get good. But you know what? We kept fighting. It's like that old saying goes, "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions." -David Molk
You don't get better than this
If our offense had played at a level slightly above horrible against MSU and Iowa (and the first 3 quarters against ND for good measure) this year's team would have gone undefeated. And that is in year one of a massive offensive transition from the spread into an offense that our coordinator says takes at least 18 months to really get comfortable with (timing that coincides perfectly with the start of next season).
Next year we return 4 starting offensive linemen, a third year starter at QB who has posted 75 career TD's and finished 6th in the Heisman voting as a sophomore, a receiver with over 1,700 career yards (Roundtree), another with over 1,000 (assuming Stonum comes back), two thousand yard rushers, and the third leading receiver from this year's team.
All of those guys will be upperclassmen and all (save Omameh) were 4-star recruits or higher.
On defense we return 15 of the 18 guys who played in the Sugar Bowl, including 9 of 11 starters. Guys who played on a defense that gave up more than 24 points only twice all year (ND and OSU, two games we won, MSU's offense only scored 21). The two deep in the secondary returns everyone but Troy Woolfolk (who had 2 PBU and 0 INT on the year). The entire linebacking corps returns, including a MLB who posted 94 tackles and 3 sacks, two weakside LBs (one of them a freshman) who combined for 106 tackls, 8 TFL, 2 sacks, and an INT, and a SAM who posted 11 TFL and 3 sacks as a freshman. They also bring back a guy (Mike Jones) who started the opener in 2010 before suffering a season ending injury, and another guy (Cam Gordon) who posted 77 tackles, 3 INT and returned a fumble for a TD as a freshman before sitting out most of this year after getting injured and lost in the shuffle. The d-line has to replace two Sugar Bowl starters and to do so must choose between a 5-star Senior who posted 2 sacks this year (Martin had just 3.5) and made 3 tackles in the Sugar Bowl (RVB made just 4), a 4-star RS Junior, a 4-star RS Sophomore who played in the Sugar Bowl, and another 4-star RS sophomore. Or from among a handful of guys in a star-studded recruiting class.
Within the confines of an 85 scholarship limit, our depth is about as good as it can be. It would take massive injuries along the offensive line or an incredible amount of talent for any newcomers to see the field. We return a ton of talent on both sides of the ball and should see a massive bump both from playing so many young guys this year (7 freshmen played at some point on D in the Sugar Bowl and all should improve significantly) and from getting a second year in the system on offense without much if any dropoff in talent.
If this team isn't close to competing for a national title, then we've basically never been close at any time in the last 15 years.
It is spelled HOKEAMANIA. Our coach is an ass-kicking American citizen, not one of the Beatles, for Christ's sake!
Depth
You make some very good points. But unless you can go 2-3 deep at every position with 5-star athletes entering their redshirt senior seasons, you are not nationally relevant.
/s
"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion
We really haven't been that
We really haven't been that close outside of 2006. Personally, I have serious, serious concerns about depth going into next season. In most cases, the starters should be okay, but there are still going to be way to many Freshman in line for playing time if things go wrong.
Losing Martin and Van Bergen is an enormous blow to a paper thin defensive line. I've got no idea who is going to be playing on the interior next year opposite Will Campbell and its not like he was challenging either of them for a starting job. Without a strong interior line, I'm not very confident the linebackers are going to show the level of improvement you seem to think they'll show. The secondary, assuming Countess makes a strong improvement between his Freshman and Sophomore year, should be pretty solid.
On the offensive line, there are basically two tackles and two TBD interior linemen. The strong incoming class helps to mitigate that, but most Freshmen linemen aren't ready to contribute their Freshman year. The receivers should be pretty good, assuming Stonum can make it onto the field.
Obviously, as with most every team, the QB has to stay healthy. Gardner hasn't played much, so we don't really know what would happen if he is pressed into service. The pedigree and talent are there, but game action is always different.
Things can definitely (hopefully) go swimmingly, but I think calling Michigan elite absent Denard playing at the OSU level for a whole season is a little optimistic. They're good, but not that good yet.
I usually hate Petros and
I usually hate Petros and avoid him at all costs, but at least this makes him more tolerable.
Greetings from Bolivia.
"It's special how the real true people hang together. And if you don't support the program you're not a true Michigan guy. It's that simple." - Gary Moeller
He really thinks Trent
He really thinks Trent Richardson is Heisman finalist next year? Doubt a guy who just won his second title who has 2 kids and is a top 5 pick sticks around to try and grab the bronze.
wow
what a douche bag. Isn't Trent Rich going pro? I would love to beat Alabama to start the year, and he's right that it would put us in a good position if we pull that off... Was it me, or was that guy swaying back and forth like a drunk the whole segment? I'm not sure that watching that vid was worth it. I kinda feel like a good response would be....
(No subject)
The fact that he thinks
The fact that he thinks Richardson is staying at bama is funny
yeah, because who wouldn't
yeah, because who wouldn't want to get a degree from the university of alabama?
It's been a lot. Its been a roller coaster that for some reason seemed like it would never get good. But you know what? We kept fighting. It's like that old saying goes, "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions." -David Molk
Someone needs to tell fox
Someone needs to tell fox that just swaying the camera back and forth doesn't make a tv segment more interesting
it just makes me more dizzy
Wow
He makes my head hurt
Here we go again oh noes
Here we go again oh noes we're ranked too high who gives a shit if we're overrated.
903 wins most in college football
Odd
He was oddly specific with our "close game against nebraska". I think the biggest non alabama test next year will the fightin' braxton millers of kenyon college.
Warning: My imagination is inefficient.
Petros and His Prediction
Since I live out here in what this Old Michigan Boy used to call Lala land (but where the snow is where it should be up in the mountains should you wish to visit it) I am a big Petros and Money fan listening either locally on KLAC570 (Los Angeles) or Foxsports Radio (XM 169). Petros as annoying as he is, is a very entertaining guy but loud. That is his modus operandi and both him and Matt Money Smith have had considerable success over the years here locally and now for awhile across Foxsports in the PM each day. Petros actually broke out this prediction last week as his "Bold prediction" and he even opened the phone lines to Roll Tide fans who clearly objected. He stated he would state today who would win the MNC and Heisman and he would release that today. Both he and money have had Matt Barkley on the radio show quite regularly along with Kiffin. When Brady Hoke was at SDST he was on regularly and Petros has an affinity to Brady and loves just what he has done for Michigan. This from a guy (as I was) who thought that Rich Rod would spread the spread throughout the B10. Petros by the way likes the choice of Rich Rod for AZ and has stated so many times. A scheme he says more applicable for adoption in the Pac 12 than the B10 (which appears to be the case). Petros over the years has been a bit ambivalent about Shoelace, saying he is a good player but not so sold on him as a QB even while admitting his excitement level. Petros is also known to instigate discussion with things he says so its hard to say whether he is sincere about this prediction but along with the CFN prediction of similar nature a week or so ago, who knows. I do consider Petros very knowledgeable about College football but his Dad (John Papadakis) is probably more intuned to the true heart of College football and also a very interesting man. Both Petros and his dad were Captains of the USC football team, his dad an All Pac 8 Linebacker and Petros a "fat running back" as he says. An interesting side note is that Petros father John was one of the go authors of the Book, "Turning of the Tide; How One Game Changed the South" about the Sept 1970 game USC vs Alabama that changed the direction of College football in terms of integration.
Can we just start with
Can we just start with beating the defending National Champions in our opener next season?
I really get tired of speculation...let's just all sit back and see what happens.
The Dalai Lama: "If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun". (May 15, 2001, The Seattle Times)
Not a chance
they wouldn't allow us a rematch with Alabama, unless we beat Alabama.
In his defense
In his defense he did manage to say a whole hell of a lot in 2 minutes. You can listen to Jim Rome of Skip Bayless for 20 minutes and hear less than half of the info this guy crams into 2.
And a rare sports talk guy who is knowledgeable about college football. He is a little shot out of a cannon but their show is really entertaining. And, this was a "bold prediction" for 2012.