OT: John U. Bacon's overtime - my own review.
I just got done with Overtime. I'm posting my own review after doing a search and just seeing one official review. I thought I'd give the 'just a guy' review.
I bought it in the summer and to be honest with all the BPONE going around, and the start of the book, I started it but waited because the first premise of the book is 'Is college football worth it' and it was tough to think about while our offense was struggling. That, and you know what happens at the end of the '18 season.
I picked it up about a week after the Citrus bowl and am glad I did.
He's definitely on the side of Michigan football; but I like how he drills down into specific things that make me feel very good about this program:
- How seriously Michigan takes academics; and how much money and effort they put into it. Is it perfect? No, but there are some damned smart guys on that team.
- He outlines how Gary struggled through his Dyslexia and they worked with him so he could start getting great grades. He was taking general studies but had real classes.
- They talked about Bush really taking his studies seriously. You get the idea it isn't just talk. One of Harbaugh's first things was to have long team study sessions. If these kids want, I'm guessing they can take blow off courses. But if they want they can also get great degrees, or focus under a general studies degree for what they want; and they'll be all set to go on after football. They'll have a degree they can do something with; in particular with Michigan networking.
- How the staff really is concerned with both the players as people and player development. he did a great job interviewing the coaching staff, the players, and the parents.
- The way Harbaugh and his staff handled little things like the recovery of Grant Newsome impressed the hell out of me. One of the things I thought was great was a little vignette about how Higdon was allowed to go back in and carry after a fumble. They gave reasons behind it. I remember people b*tching up a storm about it but the way Higdon talked about it, and how it made him more confident to play better, makes you think that the coaches can have valid reasons for doing things.
- How Harbaugh is constantly willing to change and tweak things. The offensive scheme overhaul is a huge example. The coaches he knew (Warriner for Drev; Gattis for Pep) weren't safe if it meant he thought we could get better. And he was willing to listen to other people (Higdon and Winovich regarding the way they practiced and ate; both of which led to him jettisoning another colleague and getting Ben Herbert as well as getting Abigail O'Conner to help improve nutrition).
- How many of the players really bought in and created a brotherhood. The team may not have been perfect but you really get the idea that the chemistry is healthy here and the guys are bought in to the staff and the system. There is mutual trust. And these guys expect to carry that forward in life.
- HOLY CRAP how much money is spent on these kids for academics and academic support to shoes.
- How real Harbaugh was. In All or Nothing you get the idea he's kind of a dead fish sometimes. But here you see a different perspective both from the interviews of his friends and relatives but also the players.
All in all, a great book; and a nice balm for me from all the BPONE. Yes, things aren't perfect; but they are damned good. Until I see real evidence otherwise it looks like we have a good, talented staff that is working hard to win and has really improved things (he brings up one stat in which we had had one double digit win season in the 11 years prior to Harbaugh). They see that there are issues, and that they aren't there yet, but they are actively working towards getting there. Reading about MSU's issues as they chased relevance in college football in the Detroit News really made me realize how good we have it.
I don't know if I agree with everything. I'm not sure a minor league would fix the issues as much as things like letting players get money from their own endorsements. But he makes a good argument at least.
Oh, and the original question: Is football worth it? The answer was yes. If you have the right coach.
I highly recommend the book.
January 13th, 2020 at 9:31 AM ^
This is a good post. Thank you OP. +1
January 13th, 2020 at 12:27 PM ^
Since Michigan went to a 13-game schedule (including bowls) in 2002, Michigan won at least 10 games 3/6 years under Carr, 0/3 years under Rodriguez, 1/4 years under Hoke, and 3/5 years under Harbaugh. If you look at the flip side—how many times did a Michigan team lose 3 games or fewer—it's Carr 4/6 vs. Harbaugh 3/5.
In terms of AP top-10 finishes, Carr was 3/6, Rodriguez 0/3, Hoke, 0/4, and Harbaugh 1/5 (the 2016 season, when Michigan finished 10th).
Basically, Harbaugh is performing slightly below the Carr level (especially when recruiting/talent base is taken into account; Carr's classes were ranked higher). One mitigating factor is that OSU is even better under Meyer/Day than they were under Tressel. Another is that Harbaugh has had to rebuild the program, whereas Carr did not. (But, as JUB has documented, Carr is the reason that Harbaugh had to rebuild the program.)
January 13th, 2020 at 12:31 PM ^
Carr also had at least two top 5 recruiting classes during his tenure including a #1 in '99 and #3 in '01 and several classes just outside the top 5 at #6.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^
It's not just OSU that's tougher. On the national level, the current powerhouses were not. Saban didn't join 'Bama until 2007, Clemson was nothing. And some other Carr-era powerhouses are schools we probably would not trade places with now (Nebraska, Tennessee, FSU, Florida, Texas, USC). I guess LSU has been good all the way through the 2000s?
Carr probably benefited from more bodybags in the Big Ten, at least early in his career, but he also didn't get the Rutgers gimme every year.
January 13th, 2020 at 2:34 PM ^
Did Florida not beat the shit out of us a year ago?
January 13th, 2020 at 3:17 PM ^
Yes. In 1/3 tries Florida has beaten Michigan under Harbaugh.
January 13th, 2020 at 3:47 PM ^
Kind of irrelevant since the coach Harbaugh beat the first two times was fired for under performing.
January 14th, 2020 at 9:16 AM ^
Sorry. I forgot it doesn't matter whom we beat or what they're ranked when we beat them. If Harbaugh did it it doesn't count.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^
Double post
January 13th, 2020 at 9:35 AM ^
JUB's work is always a good read.
Thanks for your review.
Onward, Go Blue!
January 13th, 2020 at 9:46 AM ^
Good points. I think about how well Michigan players do after football is done compared to those from OSU and MSU. We may not be winning against OSU on the field, but our boys are winning at the game of life when football is over. I don't think the same thing can be said for OSU and MSU.
January 13th, 2020 at 9:55 AM ^
It really amazes me how successful Michigan football players are after Michigan. They did a story a while back on the 97-98 team and where most were, and damn was that a successful group both in the NFL and in life.
It makes sense, to succeed at Michigan academics while also being a successful athlete is a tremendous amount of work, and requires special people to do it, but I am always in awe of what they do.
reminds me of an article in the daily years back on Red and one of his success stories was a hot shot AA type player in hockey ending up going pro as a neurosurgeon.
Sometimes it's good for me to step back from the on field success a little....just a little though.
January 13th, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
Does that mean we get to hold the highest trophy in the land now, the Butch Jones Champions of Life belt???
January 13th, 2020 at 1:07 PM ^
If we’re going to be winning at life can we reduce the price for tickets and memorabilia?
January 13th, 2020 at 10:28 PM ^
“Winning at the game of life”. Did you type that with a straight face?
January 13th, 2020 at 9:59 AM ^
With all do respect to Gary and Bush any time they spent on class was a waste of time. They will both decent if not above average careers in the NFL and their post NFL earnings will be primarily based on their performance in the NFL, i.e. endorsements, coaching, etc.
Even DPJ and Rudock I doubt are going to go to med school after they get a few years in the league.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
that may be so, but having an education as a safety net can't be understated in a profession where a career ending injury can happen any time.
January 14th, 2020 at 8:52 AM ^
Sure, but like 100K pays for that education and then some. So just start yourself a 529 and bank it with your early earnings. There is your safety net. Then if you don't use it you can transfer the beneficiary to your kid. Remember we are talking about guys with guaranteed NFL futures here.
Generic 3 star kids, sure. Focus on school.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
Disagree. You see all the time where players get taken financially because of a lack of education.
You don't think classes in economics, finance, accounting or even logic, philosophy, etc would help them to manage their money and life better? How about getting to know smart people outside of football - you don't think that may matter in who they talk to about issues?
"a fool and his money are soon parted"
January 14th, 2020 at 8:54 AM ^
Do all the football players take classes in Economics, Finance, accounting, etc?
Doesn't the NFLPA provide some basic financial support to rookies now?
For Bush, his dad played in the NFL so he would be able to provide the best advice. And for Gary it seems like he has a strong relationship with his mom, so I doubt he would end up blowing his money on frivolous items.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
Dr. Kirk Lewis and Dr. Stefan Humphries think that you don't know what the hell you are talking about.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:40 PM ^
Dr. Lewis was part of an impressive group of linemen as O-line teammates, and great examples of success beyond Michigan: CEO of Ford (Hackett), CEO of Domino’s (Brandon), head coach of OkSt/LSU/Kansas (Miles), and successful orthopedic surgeon (Lewis)
January 14th, 2020 at 8:56 AM ^
Past performance doesn't predict future results....
January 14th, 2020 at 9:38 AM ^
If Gary or Bush got an injury like Grant Newsome's at any point before they left and signed a pro contract, it would be smart of them to take advantage of classes to become a success outside of football. Bush Sr probably gave Jr this advice.
There's also the aspect that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is worthwhile.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:55 AM ^
Gary started his own sports agency, which relates back to the entrepreneurship classes he took at Michigan. That seems like an unusual and impressive thing for someone in his position to do. My point is that I think your assessment of him and the value of his education is off base.
January 14th, 2020 at 9:00 AM ^
So he was here for 3 years (5+ semesters) and he took one entrepreneurship class that wasn't a waste of time? Great argument. And if I recall the tv show he took it during football season. Maybe it wasn't offered in the spring, but it would have been nice to not have that competing for his attention.
It was a brilliant move because rookie contracts are fairly boilerplate. So by starting his own agency, he is saving himself the 10% agent fee.
January 13th, 2020 at 11:25 AM ^
Famous waste of time: learning.
January 14th, 2020 at 9:09 AM ^
Plenty of time to learn once your playing career is over. We aren't talking about generic 3 star kids. We are talking about can't miss NFL prospects.
January 13th, 2020 at 8:53 PM ^
The average NFL career is four years dude. Don't think these guys live the rest of their lives just off their earnings during that short time.
January 14th, 2020 at 9:06 AM ^
Bush: 4 year deal worth $18.87M fully guaranteed.
Gary: 4 year deal worth $15.88M fully guaranteed.
I'm pretty sure that is enough money to be set for life. Dropping $5M into a very conservative mutual fund that yields 3% would generate $150K a year.
That looks like the kind of money to live out the rest of their lives very comfortably.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:00 AM ^
I pre ordered the book and would have read it if it came out in June or July instead of after the first game. It's been collecting dust since the Army game.
I may circle back and read it once spring time rolls around and the stench of another 2 game losing streak to end the season wears off.
JUB should write a book about Beilein for a change.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
It’s all well and good. But Bacon is as close to a team publicist as a reporter can get. He actually teaches at the school. He’s not a dispassionate observer.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
I know. That's why I said 'for a change'.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
Depending on where you're at mentally you might want to start it sooner rather than later. At least for me it was quite uplifting.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:22 AM ^
Deep in the BPONE.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:27 AM ^
That's a short book that I'll attempt to write here. Beilein, despite his years of basketball knowledge, doesn't realize he's ill-suited to coach in the NBA. So when two of his young players go pro, he impulsively pouts about the state of college basketball, screws over Michigan and takes an NBA job. Instead of coaching 5 more years at Michigan and going down as a Michigan legend, he gets fired in either his first or second year with the Cavs. And he's now a pariah to a lot of Michigan fans. The end.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:46 AM ^
"And now he's a pariah to a lot of dim-witted Michigan fans."
Fixed
January 13th, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
I'll take a somewhat more charitable crack at it:
In the summer of 2018, the 65 year old Beilein had to undergo double bypass heart surgery, underscoring the limited amount of time left he likely had in his professional career, as well as the overall impact the position might be having on his health. Additionally, Beilein had been concerned about the state of college basketball (most notably the recruiting element) for years. At the conclusion of the 2018-2019 season, at age 66, he lost three of his most critical starting players to either graduation or the NBA, therefore requiring even more focus on that aspect of the position for a rebuilding effort over the next several years. The prospect of spending even more time and energy on the very least pleasant part of his job ran contrary to what Beilein felt he wanted to do at that point in his career from both an emotional and physical standpoint.
An opportunity arose for Beilein to eliminate recruiting from his job requirements, increase his net salary by nearly $1 million per year, and to likely reduce the amount of hours/travel his work required during the final 4-6 years of his coaching career. Whether Beilein was fully aware of the risk he'd undertake bringing his rigid "fundamentals" type of system to a player's league full of 20-something multi-millionaires is unknown, but one can assume he was at least somewhat cognizant of the risk and was willing to take it due to the greater perceived relative benefits.
January 13th, 2020 at 11:52 AM ^
He's a Michigan Legend to me.
January 13th, 2020 at 1:09 PM ^
screws over Michigan
mmmm how?
I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts about how Michigan's all time leader in wins, who put M in the tournament regulalry, made 2 NCAA finals, and didn't cheat, fucked Michigan.
I'll wait...
January 13th, 2020 at 10:14 AM ^
The cynic in me says that this is the kind of stuff that feeds a very convenient narrative to us. Its convenient for the school, for the coaches and for the fans to say that we’re not elite because we are morally better than our competitors.
Now I do believe we are “cleaner” than the opposition because clearly there’s enough of a belief in the value of being cleaner in the program and among its supporters that this will have an effect on what one could get away with at Michigan.
But on the other hand it seems unlikely that Michigan would achieve even the level of success it has achieved in recruiting etc. if compromises hadnt been made. We routinely pull 5 stars and high 4 stars where we are recruiting vs the elite schools. Are we going to say that we just happen to get the guys who will turn down all sorts of incentives so they can go to Italy in the spring to broaden their horizons and see Renaissance art?
I think that if you accept the reality of cheating in CFB, you gotta acknowledge that wed have to be a little dirty to get any such talent. So the real issue at hand here would be “a little dirty” vs full on dirty. How much merit and how much praise can you expect for being a petty criminal rather than a big-time one?
January 13th, 2020 at 10:48 AM ^
I get that. And, IIRC, he talks about the possibility. I think the difference he tries to make is an institutionalized desire to cheat and scrap the rules vs. one trying to do things the right way.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
It is worth the read, but by now many of the headliner stories folks have probably already heard about. It is a quick read and the in-depth on personalities was from an insiders perspective.
Not a fan of "minor league" for football. Sport is too dangerous to linger that long at a level that won't pay for the risk. If you can't get drafted and make a team after 4-5 years of D-1 college training, it is time to move on to a different career supported by your "free" degree(s). Receiving an undergrad and masters degree is real value for life for those players not good enough to have a meaningful NFL career (which is most).
January 13th, 2020 at 10:54 AM ^
Agreed on the minor leagues. I also really think that the allowing players to profit from endorsements is an elegant solution. Not perfect, but allows them to get some profit off their work and the money the system makes off of them.
January 13th, 2020 at 11:57 AM ^
To benefit from a degree, the degree has to mean something and the school needs to be committed to making it matter. There are a lot of D1 schools who treat the degree as a formality of playing rather than an ends for playing.
Players have a fault in this too when they don't take advantage of the scholarship.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:32 AM ^
I thought this was the least interesting of the three books Bacon has written recently on the football team. With three and out, he had no problem writing several pages outlining why it was legit to fire rich rod after 3 years. In Endzone, the majority of the book is outlining the stupidity of DB and Hoke.
However, you’re not going to find much, if anything that you could even call constructive criticism towards anyone in the football program. It very much reads like a program propaganda piece with feel good stories, tales of how moral Michigan is and little about why OSU and Florida boat raced Michigan back to Ann Arbor.
No offense to Bacon, but there wasn’t anything in this book that was super insider-ish or all that interesting. Just my two cents.
January 13th, 2020 at 10:51 AM ^
For me at least the insider-ish stuff was all the interviews with the players and the families of the players. Overall it seems good. It wasn't under RR so there was more there.
If things change in the future then we could see things go down hill and those interviews change.
But, just my $0.02
January 13th, 2020 at 10:58 AM ^
I enjoyed the read but yes, it reads as if JUB is a PR guy for the team.
One thing I will say...wow, the life of a CFB player is not an easy one. I mean sure, we all know it’s a lot of work, a heavy time commitment, etc, but still...reading the details really brings it into sharp focus. Can you imagine enduring strength training, two-a-days, meetings upon meetings, etc, only to lose a position battle and never play? Or get hurt, like Grant Newsome?
Makes me more reticent to call out players when they don’t perform to the level they and we had hoped. They work harder to wear that winged helmet than I’ve worked at anything my entire life. And when they lose a big game it hurts them a lot more than me. Godspeed to every one of them
January 13th, 2020 at 11:16 AM ^
That's a great point. Holy Cow do they work. It serves them well in the real world once they get out but it's a ton. And yes, for us a loss to OSU sucks, and we hate it. But they *live* it.
As to the kids who don't start, man. I agree. Going through all that and finding your not up to the level to start has to be a real gut check. With the transfer portal I can see why some of these kids may want to bolt.
January 13th, 2020 at 11:31 AM ^
Not only that, but consider the walk-ons, who do all of that despite being pretty sure they will never play, and pray to just get a live snap or two in their whole careers.