Random, mind-wandering theory on Casey Hughes
This was a puzzler from the git-go: Why does Casey Hughes transfer to UM when they’re already loaded with talent and experience in the defensive backfield?
Plausible explanation: he’s redshirting, waiting for Kinnel, Watson and likely Hill and Long to leave.
I just looked up an explainer on the new rule and it seems pretty clear that less than five games of participation will avail a redshirt for a player in *any* class. Hughes has played special teams in two games so far this year, so he’s healthy but not getting PT by coaches’ choice.
Is this theory so crazy it might just work?
September 30th, 2018 at 7:53 PM ^
Didn’t he transfer in as a red shirt senior?
September 30th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^
I heard (prolly from Sam Webb, I forget) that he was the first graduate transfer in the history of graduate transfers who was actually using it for it's intended purpose which is to get a Masters degree somewhere else and that it has nothing to do with football.
September 30th, 2018 at 7:58 PM ^
So he came to play school?
September 30th, 2018 at 8:05 PM ^
What is this schewl you speak of
September 30th, 2018 at 7:59 PM ^
Sounds like a win/win situation and something that will never happen at the win at all costs programs like OSU and Alabama. They don't care one bit about academics or player welfare
September 30th, 2018 at 9:20 PM ^
That sounds really harsh.
I mean, can you give even one recent example of Ohio State doing something that gives the appearance of only being interested in winning football games?
September 30th, 2018 at 9:43 PM ^
You got me there. I stand corrected,
October 1st, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
This is why people hate UM fans. Casey Hughes didn't work out? Well of course, UM did it for the academics, not to win football. This is stupid. Harbaugh accepted him as a transfer for only one reason: he thought Case would help the team. It's possible Casey transferred with only academics in mind, but that would be against Harbaugh's intentions. UM and especially UM football is not in the business of handing out free master's degrees. Thinking otherwise is just dumb. Harbaugh wanted Casey for his football abilities either as an insurance policy or for leadership or because he truly thought he was good enough to play. I don't know, but it was definitely not to let a random kid from Utah get a free Master's degree on the AD's dime.
October 1st, 2018 at 1:24 PM ^
I don’t think anybody is actually saying it was strictly 100% academics on both sides.
For Casey, it was 100% academics. For Michigan, it was to add a decent depth player for insurance in case some players in the secondary get hurt (we already have one season ending injury back there and JKP is just now getting to 100%).
What people ARE saying is that Casey was never in line for significant playing time here. So to say he “didn’t work out,” is just wrong. He’s here doing exactly what he was brought in to do. And he’s getting exactly what he wanted out of it as well.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:18 PM ^
That’s impressive and I had not heard that before. Pretty cool.
September 30th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^
Casey Hughes already redshirted at Utah so the redshirt rule doesn’t apply to him.
Casey transferred to Michigan to obtain a high quality degree, not for playing time. He was the 2nd/3rd guy in a lesser secondary at Utah, he knew he wouldn’t be coming here for playing time.
September 30th, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^
In that case, good for him.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:15 PM ^
It is good for him. He gets a fantastic grad school degree from one of the top universities in the country. To his credit, he’s one of the very few players who has used the grad transfer rule the way it is intended to be used.
Sometimes fans get lost in the fact that not everything these guys do is 100% about football.
October 1st, 2018 at 8:29 AM ^
Yeah but to Harbaugh isn't a grad transfer close to 100% about football? It's awesome for Hughes to want to come here for an elite degree (who wouldn't want that?) but what was Harbaugh wanting in return from a scholarship player? This and Lyons have been strange grad transfers.
October 1st, 2018 at 8:56 AM ^
I mean really you just answered your own question. You listed two players who transferred here with little playing opportunity. So no, to Harbaugh a grad transfer is NOT 100% about football.
If Michigan has an open slot and the kid has any football value (both players have starting experience despite not being in line for playing time here barring injury) then Harbaugh will take him.
Ultimately that scholarship spot boils down to giving it to a one year transfer with starting experience who may or may not see the field, or giving it to a walk-on who may or may not be worthy of a scholarship.
October 1st, 2018 at 10:06 AM ^
You speak like you know Harbaugh's personal decisions. Lyons was a very high rated safety out of HS and that was one of our weakest positions when he transferred in. Hughes I do not know as much about. 99% of the time grad transfers leave in search of more playing time and 99% of the time coaches want to bring them in because they have a legit chance to immediately get significant playing time.
To assume Harbaugh in handing out scholarships to players who he is almost certain will not see the field in any meaningful capacity seems like a far fetched assumption for one of the most competitive people in the world. Unless you believe a transfer will be a legit player I don't know how you don't give an extra scholarship to a walk-on who has been paying his own way and busting his ass just as hard as every other scholarship player on the team. Tru Wilson, our current #2 RB may not even be on the team if he was not awarded his.
You may be right but I think it's more likely our staff simply thought both players were much better than they actually were. I just can't imagine Harbaugh ever being like, "Hey you want to come here to be 5th string and never play but get a great degree?"
October 1st, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
You don’t HAVE to know Harbaugh’s personal decisions. It’s right in front of your face. It’s been said in interviews. Sam Webb has said it. This was 100% an academic move. It just also adds a capable depth player.
Michigan returned LaVert Hill and David Long. Two of the best corners in the country a year ago. Brandon Watson, who was a more than capable backup. And Ambry Thomas is a year older.
What POSSIBLE reasoning does Harbaugh have to bring in a 5th year guy in search of a better degree who was the 2nd/3rd guy in a lesser secondary? Corner isn’t a position of need. Hughes obviously can contribute if need be. But if you thought for a second he was going to come in and crack the two deep at corner, I really don’t know what to tell you.
He was ALWAYS going to be at best a decent special teams player and a capable replacement if we hit the injury bug. Adding a guy like Hughes isn’t “you’re never going to play but come anyway.” It’s to add a capable depth player. It’s insurance. It’s a luxury. And with plenty of available scholarships, it was one we could afford. And we STILL gave multiple walk-ons a scholarship and added a greyshirt.
October 1st, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
"So no, to Harbaugh a grad transfer is NOT 100% about football"
Harbaugh better be thinking 100% about football when handing out scholarships. To suggest any less is a pretty disgusting accusation. You think Harbaugh runs a small chartiy out of the football scholarship pool and gives out graduate degrees to people he feels deserves it for reasons other than football? That is stupid and possibly a fireable offense if true. Harbaugh felt giving Casey a scholarship would help the football team. Period. There is no altruistic reason here and there shouldn't be. Casey may have had an academics first mindset (and good for him) but Harbaugh should not and I'm certain did not.
October 1st, 2018 at 1:38 PM ^
It’s not 100% football in the sense that there were probably better options out there in the event we wanted a grad transfer.
But we chose to accept a transfer from a guy who is AT BEST our 5th best corner (and he wasn’t great in a lesser secondary last year either). Obviously when you look at it you know you’re not getting a guy who will make any significant type of impact here. You could tell that from the get-go. In that sense, it wasn’t much of a football move.
Like I said before, in Hughes you’re getting a guy who could be solid on special teams and if necessary you could put him in at corner to keep the redshirts on the young guys. That’s his ceiling. That was his ceiling before Michigan accepted his transfer.
It’s certainly not a “charity.” It’s a one year scholarship in a slot we already had open anyway. The walk-ons who have earned scholarships have them. A grey shirt who wasn’t supposed to be on the team until next year was awarded an immediate scholarship. We could afford the spot, he gets a great education, and we have an insurance policy we hopefully never have to cash in.
I really don’t see how anyone could look at our secondary and then look at Hughes and think he had a realistic shot of cracking the two deep. He didn’t fail at all. He’s doing exactly what we expected.
October 1st, 2018 at 9:32 AM ^
The guy has experience and speed. Do you really think Don Brown thought he couldn't do something more with that?
October 1st, 2018 at 10:32 AM ^
I agree with you. We probably thought we received a lot more than what we actually got. But CB is our deepest position on the team. Hill, Long, Watson, and Thomas are all good to excellent. My best guess is Brown through he'd excel in situational slot/nickelback coverage?
October 1st, 2018 at 10:38 AM ^
I’m sure Don Brown COULD do something with him. But the problem is he was only brought in for insurance in case any of our top corners went down. We didn’t bring the 3rd best corner at Utah in to take time away from our top guys.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:09 PM ^
Got it. Thanks.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:39 PM ^
In addition, it seems unlikely any of those players are leaving early.
September 30th, 2018 at 7:58 PM ^
Does he have a year left? You only have 5 years to play 4.
(My initial reaction was to post "quit drinking and go to bed", but then I looked at the clock.)
September 30th, 2018 at 7:58 PM ^
He’s going to get a very nice graduate degree if he sticks it out and that’s certainly the best thing he can do. He isn’t an NFL player. Happy for the young man to get his Michigan grad degree.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:20 PM ^
I don't believe the theory he only came here to get a degree. You really think Harbaugh would use up a scholarship on a guy he didn't expect to give any minutes to? It's not like he was trash at Utah, I believe he started most of the season last year.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:35 PM ^
He’s a one year transfer and then he’s done. The scholarship was open and it would have gone unused if harbaugh hadn’t filled it. I suppose he could have given it to a walk on, or maybe kept a fifth year guy, but he decided to take this guy instead. So he doesn’t play a lot. He may help in other ways on the team. Maybe he’s helping on the practice squad, or maybe he’s a good guy in the locker room, or maybe he a can contribute on special teams. Who knows, maybe he’s interested in coaching eventually.
There are a ton of guys on the team and not all of them play now and a bunch may never play. They might fill other roles though.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:55 PM ^
Um. Yes. Considering Michigan was so far below the scholarship limit, we were able to remove the greyshirt from Jake Moody and we now have three scholarship kicking specialists (two kickers and a punter) in addition to multiple walk-ones and a long snapper earning a scholarship as well.
And it isn’t that Hughes WON’T play. He’s on the roster as an insurance policy. Look at the cornerback depth chart. We have three good/great corners in Hill, Long and Watson. We have Ambry Thomas as depth at this point. Michigan is an injury or two away from having a true freshman as our third corner. Hughes is a guy with starting experience in a P5 conference that can bridge that gap if necessary and allow that freshman to redshirt.
Its a luxury. It was a spot Michigan had open anyway. There’s no downside to it whatsoever.
September 30th, 2018 at 9:56 PM ^
He's quality depth in case the injury bug hits. If Hill, Long, or Watson go down I would rather see a fifth year senior with starting experience trot onto the field than one of the collection of freshmen.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:58 PM ^
You could have, say, googled if he had already redshirted.
September 30th, 2018 at 9:00 PM ^
No, he was / is insurance policy on the back end. Hawkins though has really answered the bell.
September 30th, 2018 at 9:00 PM ^
Another Random Thought: Khaleke Hudson doesn't have to sit out the first half for the first time in 3 weeks! Maybe he will get a full game in this time!
September 30th, 2018 at 9:32 PM ^
Speaking of mind-blowing stuff, did you know we have a player with an infinite punt return average! (No, not DPJ.)
(Click on "Individual," "Special Teams" and "Returns.")
September 30th, 2018 at 9:45 PM ^
Well isn't that special?
September 30th, 2018 at 10:09 PM ^
Division by zero - ? how does that happen - I mean get credit for 10 yards on zero return.
September 30th, 2018 at 11:55 PM ^
probably a fair catch with a holding penalty on the punting team.
No return, but +10 yards. The yards have to go somewhere in the stat books
October 1st, 2018 at 5:59 AM ^
In that case, those 10 yards wouldn't be credited to him personally.
This would be from either advancing a blocked punt or advancing a fumble, neither of which counts as a regular return.
October 1st, 2018 at 7:42 AM ^
I'm fairly certain that Hewlett is the one who advanced the blocked punt against Western.
October 1st, 2018 at 9:31 AM ^
Harbaugh is obviously saving Hughes for MSU and OSU.
October 2nd, 2018 at 10:08 AM ^
Honestly, I don't think either Hill or Long are ready to go. Our defensive secondary is probably the weakest unit on our defense right now.