Ramzy: We Are Not Okay
If you have read everything here, watched every Rose Bowl game highlight, or read twice/thrice for Brian's main game column as I did, here is some schadenfreude from our super lovely rivals. Extra juicy - and well written by Ramzy.
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2023/12/144478/we-are-not-okay
January 3rd, 2024 at 3:56 PM ^
That's how it's done. This is the Ohio State football standard. It's a business, not a family.
That quote encapsulates the difference between Michigan and Ohio State.
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:40 PM ^
Eh... I'm not so sure about that. No coach should shy away from making whatever staff changes are necessary to win. Harbaugh, Hoke, Rich Rod, Lloyd, and everyone else who ever occupied the football head coach's office at Schembechler Hall fired assistants who were great people but who underperformed or turned out to be bad fits. Those decisions are never easy, but they're necessary. That's not what distinguishes us from Ohio State.
What distinguishes us from Ohio State is that no Michigan player would ever put up a 0.0 GPA, or fail despite loading up on classes like golf or AIDS awareness, or tweet "We ain't come to play school", or say "I haven't been around campus that much because I don't actually have any real classes," etc.
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:49 PM ^
I agree that coaches need to be able to make staff changes. But it's really weird to see someone tout with pride that it should be run like a business when teams like Michigan and Washington talk about how their team is a brotherhood.
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:55 PM ^
I think OSU has kind of drifted away from a "The Team, The Team, The Team" atmosphere though compared to Michigan. They feel more like what Michigan was from 2015-2020, a lot of really talented players but missing a real team/program comradery.
How many guys could have left after last year but chose to come back for one more go? That's the difference. Our team depth because of that is probably some of the best in the country because of that too.
January 3rd, 2024 at 7:14 PM ^
So true. Retention of the main rotations and additions of these wonderful transfers who were smart enough and chose to be a part of this championship team:
Drake Nugent
Miles Hinton
Jack Tuttle
Josh Wallace
James Turner
Josaiah Stewart
LaDarius Henderson
AJ Barner
Earnest Hausmann
All great fits within the team. To have all nine be contributors is something that should be noted.
January 3rd, 2024 at 7:53 PM ^
This also has to be a testament to these analysts we've hired, to identify and vet them. The hit rate is outstanding.
January 3rd, 2024 at 8:24 PM ^
I'll give you 8/9. Thank you Tuttle for attending but the conservatism to use JJ in any form of run game tells me a lot about what they felt their prospects were if JJ went down even for a quarter. 8/9 is a great hit rate and I am curious how Hinton develops with a year of actual coaching hence why I am saying 7/9 not 8/9. Wallace has been a surprise especially vs the elite WR crews of OSU and Bama.
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:59 PM ^
I think you're correct, and that the idea of business vs family culture is 100% compatible to what you're saying here- bc a strong family culture means being proactive to the point that finding weak links is the exception, not the rule.
Simply opposing nepotism/lack of courage to do what must be done (what Ramzy is saying) isn't enough, because that's possible to do just by being reactive.
And it's incredibly easy to just react because a lot of those weak links can also be great people, friends, family, etc etc.
IMO, we see this all over the SEC (and other places too, just more clearly in the SEC)- it's much easier to 'buy' quick/short stints of winning than it is to build and instill lasting success over time.
January 3rd, 2024 at 5:22 PM ^
I'll disagree a little bit, FrankMurphy.
I think it goes back a bit to the JJ McCarthy recruiting story, where he reported after the fact that the OSU vibe was basically "be awesome at football or you're done here".
That doesn't necessarily imply that poor performers get to keep their jobs (whether that's coaches or players), but it does suggest that you can still build a culture that values people as individuals, and not just as "football assets" to be exploited for the success of the program.
To me, that is a distinguishing factor. Business decisions have to be made, yes, but in between we're going to support and root for each other like family.
January 3rd, 2024 at 5:46 PM ^
Hoke, really???
I thought his biggest weakness by far at Michigan was his unwillingness to fire his underperforming assistants. They were several obvious examples. Al Borges was only let go over Hoke's objection, Dave Brandon's last ditch attempt to keep Hoke.
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:24 PM ^
Yes, but also Hoke just isn't that great of a football coach from a wins and losses perspective. Yeah, he could have hired the top two coordinators in the country or something and let them run the team, but I respect Hoke going down with his ship, so to speak. Borges wasn't the problem, the buck stopped with Hoke. He wasn't going to fire Borges if he knew he wasn't doing a better job than him.
January 3rd, 2024 at 7:56 PM ^
Al Borges was here three seasons. The first went quite well - we won 11 games and ended our losing streak to OSU (putting up 40 points on them).
The second year didn’t go nearly as well (8-5) and the offense was most of the problem. But we also lost Denard as QB midway through the season. There was a case for an OC change but it wasn’t airtight.
The third year didn’t go well (7-6) and the offense, outside of a handful of big games, was a mess. Borges was let go.
Whether Hoke was in favor of firing Borges or was forced to do so is not entirely clear but it wasn’t really obvious that he should have done so sooner than he did.
January 3rd, 2024 at 5:48 PM ^
What I was wondering when I read that was whether any player above a 0.0 GPA still got to play, or was that the bar required to get benched?
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:41 PM ^
"Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times."
The trick is, when your strong men create good times, you must already have a vigilant, deeply-rooted culture that prevents those good times from creating weak men.
A business cannot do this. But a family can.
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:47 PM ^
In the words of Professor Farnsworth, "This is not a business. I always thought of it more as a cheap source of labor, like a family."
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:56 PM ^
You beat me to it. That line stuck out to me like a blaring red alert signal on an airplane losing altitude. Didn't really need to read on much after that.
January 3rd, 2024 at 5:41 PM ^
Every program's culture is tough to keep positive when things go poorly. But that's especially true when your entire foundation is transactional and promotes self-interest. Ohio State has been touting the businesslike bullshit for a long time, and now they're reaping what they sow.
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:13 PM ^
Exactly right. Transactional vs. Relational.
When the cost is too high/painful, transactional finds a new transaction.
Bagmen love this one weird trick.
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:19 PM ^
Yup, were ripe for the picking.
Entitlement, born on 3rd mentality, country club culture.
Harbaugh broke OSU
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:44 PM ^
That line really wowed me. Wild to be that open about being so empty, so soulless. I honestly can't imagine playing for (even rooting for) a team where at the core, the people I spend all my time with are just co-workers. Why not just watch the NFL?
January 3rd, 2024 at 9:26 PM ^
What really stands out against that is our team and coach openly telling each other "Love you." I love you even if you throw an interception.
January 3rd, 2024 at 8:21 PM ^
OSU is a band of highly talented and athletic mercenaries. Especially on offense. I do think Knowles has done a really good job and their defensive players seem more "together" because they get no glory in that program.
January 3rd, 2024 at 9:43 PM ^
Yep.
January 3rd, 2024 at 3:57 PM ^
Scoring only once in any game against a team with over 60 3-star players on its roster is unacceptable in any era or setting.
lmao what a dweeb. if this is the premiere nuthead blog… that’s kind of sad, actually
January 3rd, 2024 at 5:20 PM ^
He was referring to Cooper's final game vs South Carolina.
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:28 PM ^
I guess I don't get the 60 three-stars comment. A top team could easily have 60 three-stars, 30 four-stars and 10 five-stars on its roster.
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:40 PM ^
Exactly. I get it was about a historic game. Maybe he was being facetious
January 3rd, 2024 at 7:20 PM ^
I think the reference is that South Carolina had 60 3-star recruits and still beat osu, 24 - 7.
Finishing at 7-4, South Carolina wouldn't have 30 4-stars and/or 10 5-stars on its roster....but they did have Lou Holtz as the head coach.
January 3rd, 2024 at 3:58 PM ^
Rangy WR Reggie Germany was forced to sit that one out, having infamously pulled off a 0.0 GPA during the fall term.
January 3rd, 2024 at 3:59 PM ^
zeropointzero.gif
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:31 PM ^
i am only too happy to oblige
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:03 PM ^
His failure was in the fact that he didn't find someone to take his tests for him
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:07 PM ^
Wow, I thought was a joke from the Animal House movie - where the John Belushi character, John Blutarski (later Sen. Blutarski) had that GPA.
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:09 PM ^
To be fair, Daniel Simpson Day had no grade-point average.
January 3rd, 2024 at 10:46 PM ^
Helluva welder though.
January 3rd, 2024 at 4:12 PM ^
The original “we ain’t come to play school”
January 3rd, 2024 at 5:19 PM ^
He was full-on "get ready for the draft" mode and didn't realize that packing it in for the entire semester would result in being ineligible for a bowl game. (or maybe he did realize and didn't care?)
Kinda like a basketball one-&-done's spring semester. Sad.
January 3rd, 2024 at 7:39 PM ^
But it all paid off with that sweet pro career, eh
…what, 7th rd Bills pick?
January 4th, 2024 at 6:23 AM ^
so sad that i still remember that without looking it up.
DID look up his stats: NFL career 12 rec, 203 yds, as many touchdowns as JJ has ever thrown interceptions against OSU
January 3rd, 2024 at 8:25 PM ^
Cardale said he didnt go there for school bro
January 3rd, 2024 at 5:24 PM ^
Coincidentally, Mr. Germany recently opened up a Crumbl in Centreville, Utah. So he's franchise business owner and is being productive, which can't be said of most 0.0 GPA recipients.
https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2023/04/27/former-osu-player-finding-success-with-cookie-company
https://www.yelp.com/biz/crumbl-cookies-centerville-centerville
January 3rd, 2024 at 5:39 PM ^
Okay, but opening a Crumbl in a state unlikely to ever legalize pot is highly, highly questionable.
January 3rd, 2024 at 8:23 PM ^
Utah sugar addiction is real
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:41 PM ^
Setting the bar low, but that is being somewhat productive.
January 3rd, 2024 at 3:58 PM ^
Everything changes and nothing lasts forever. OSU was riding high for too long. They had it coming, and as such, makes it even that much more delicious now.
January 3rd, 2024 at 5:40 PM ^
Bama, Georgia, USC, Texas, Michigan--all of these programs have made poor/bad/terrible coaching hires and suffered periods of irrelevancy (relatively speaking, of course) over the last 25 years. The only blue-blood program that has avoided it is OSU. They are long past due experiencing a serious downturn over multiple years, and with Day rolling with a worse QB situation next year than this year, minus the generational skill-position talent he's enjoyed the last three years, in a season where he can't lose more than one game or else he's gone... It might finally be coming.
January 3rd, 2024 at 7:59 PM ^
I wouldn't be surprised if he bolts to the NFL in February, especially if Harbaugh and JJ return.
January 3rd, 2024 at 8:28 PM ^
Lol they have generational talent at WR all over the place. Jeesus go look at their recruits its like six 5 stars in the room. MHJ was an after thought in 2001 when they had 3 NFL 1st round picks starting. I don't know about RB but apparently Henderson leaning coming back. He is really good. QB is the one place we will see!
January 3rd, 2024 at 11:15 PM ^
"Generational talent" and five star recruits aren't the same thing. You know who else has a roster full of five stars? Alabama. Yet none of the skills guys who they signed out of HS outside of McClellan would be considered in the same breath as JSN, Olave, Garrett Wilson, or Harrison, Jr. Just because you have five star recruits doesn't meant that they turn out to be as good as those players. In fact, they very rarely do, and that's what OSU is more than likely facing on top of a bunch of other problems/pressures that they aren't used to facing.
January 3rd, 2024 at 11:19 PM ^
Good point. I wouldn’t have started MHJ in 2001 either