slightly OT: Biff Poggi update
Former M assistant is now head coach at UNC-Charlotte, and has been getting good press locally:
Hoping he wasn't necessarily an irreplaceable part of the "secret sauce" for our team chemistry, etc the last few years. Definitely seems like a dynamic guy.
August 14th, 2023 at 9:29 AM ^
My view is - while at Michigan - Biff was a muse to Harbaugh. And, I would assume the lessons and guidance that Biff shared have become part of the DNA of Michigan's head coach. One of the key thoughts was - being transparent with the team about how he felt.
One example is - the post game interview - and, telling the reporter / interviewer - "this is the player you should be talking to." If I had to wage anything - Harbaugh will continue this pactice.
August 14th, 2023 at 9:55 AM ^
I think Poggi was extremely important to the staff.
That being said, Harbaugh did this practice long before Poggi. He has never liked talking to the media.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:41 AM ^
Honker - I agree that Harbaugh doesn't appear to enjoy talking to the media. However - and this may be my oversight - I don't recall Harbaugh essentially "passing the microphone" to a player in the post game interview until last season. I may have missed that - but, again - I don't recall him doing that.
Regardless, I'm sure it's something players enjoy. And, I hope he keeps up the practice.
August 14th, 2023 at 5:08 PM ^
I think Biff was huge in building the culture and hopefully it’s something that stays at Michigan. I don’t think he had anything to do with Harbaugh’s media interactions. Biff was part of the turnaround and I hope he has nothing but success at Charlotte.
August 14th, 2023 at 9:35 AM ^
How do you look at a newborn baby and name it “Biff”?
August 14th, 2023 at 9:43 AM ^
I assume that’s a nickname?
August 14th, 2023 at 9:46 AM ^
Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here.
August 14th, 2023 at 9:46 AM ^
Dreaded Doublepost
August 14th, 2023 at 9:49 AM ^
Francis Xavier "Biff" Poggi
August 14th, 2023 at 10:06 AM ^
Would be pretty cool if they renamed the FXB building to "the Biff"
August 14th, 2023 at 10:47 AM ^
So far I think I'm the only one in the thread who has any idea what in hell you're talking about.
August 14th, 2023 at 11:17 AM ^
It's not rocket science, oh wait, it is!
August 14th, 2023 at 12:35 PM ^
I'd love to believe that he's named after Francis Xavier Sarsaparilla. Alas, he pre-dates Schoolhouse Rock by a decade so I guess it's a saint thing.
August 14th, 2023 at 9:50 AM ^
Possibly they had heard A Boy Named Sue. It seems to have worked.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:15 AM ^
The article starts out Charlotte football coach Francis "Biff" Poggi...
This Biff has a pretty amazing life story and it turns out that his name is quite fitting, especially if you consider it in terms of Biff in Arthur Miller's classic, "Death of a Salesman."
https://features.charlotte.edu/a-man-for-others
Except in this version he learns from it and uses it to help, "Building Men for Others."
We could use more Biff's in the world.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:28 AM ^
You chose sides while watching Back to the Future.
August 14th, 2023 at 9:46 AM ^
After reading the article, he is definitely the kind of coach I would NOT want my kids to play for.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:03 AM ^
Thanks for letting us know. So, I assume that you wouldn't want them to play for Harbaugh either.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:16 AM ^
Not true. Remember, Harbaugh supported Kaepernick. Even let him work out here to try and get back into the League.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:20 AM ^
There’s some pretty stark differences from Harbaugh and Biff based on the piece. Harbaugh respected and allowed his players to decide whether they wanted to kneel or raise fists during the anthem in the 2016 & 2017 seasons along with very vocal support for Kaep; Biff had the completely opposite answer & reaction here which was a bit off putting. And while he’s clearly a man of Christian faith, Harbaugh isn’t referencing stories in the Bible in answers to the media about how he mentors/motivates players.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:26 AM ^
I won't go as far as you, but some of the things he said, like "There will be nobody kneeling or anything like that" rubbed me the wrong way. I've always distrusted people whose first words are about patriotism or Christian faith. Too many scoundrels hide behind those concepts.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:55 AM ^
I completely agree that you need to be very careful with people that use patriotism and any religion to their personal advantage.
In every article I've seen on Biff, he uses the phrase that his philosophy is "building men for others." I don't see that he is trying to convert anyone to be a patriot or a Catholic, but something that is often lacking in this country is respect for each other. The way I read this is that he expects respect for yourself, respect for your teammates and respect for others. You build men for others by learning how to respect each other even when you disagree.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:58 AM ^
A lot of scummy people stand behind labels against these tenets as well, what's your point? Imagine using the phrase "all cops are bastards", calling all cops pigs, and wishing for their deaths and calling it civil rights and justice.
People are complex and can't be labeled broadly. A lot of people use civil rights and justice wrongly while many use patriotism wrongly.
August 14th, 2023 at 11:06 AM ^
People who use ACAB tend to be people who don’t give much thought to the crimes of citizens.
Ideology can warp moral principles as much as religion can. A litmus test to determine whether one is sincere or not in their moral principles is to present to them various examples of misconduct by people of diverse(race, gender, profession, beliefs, etc) backgrounds and in different scenarios and see how they respond.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:47 AM ^
This seems to be drifting towards politics.
*bites tongue*
August 14th, 2023 at 11:36 AM ^
Let's try to let this go w/out getting into a politics/judgment dog fight, please?
Please - just let it go. Thanks!
August 14th, 2023 at 10:18 AM ^
Really hoping that Michigan doesn’t lose the team dynamics it had with Poggi now being gone, but I’m not too worried because this honestly just feels like stuff Harbaugh would do.
August 14th, 2023 at 11:08 AM ^
the team dynamics it had with Poggi
LOL. Everyone is basing this on one article, which, in a totally random coincidence I'm sure, came out just in time for him to interview at Charlotte last year.
August 14th, 2023 at 10:28 AM ^
If anybody is looking for some football content to get them through the next few weeks, I highly recommend The Cost of Winning on HBO.
It's a 4-part docuseries on St. Francis high school in DC. They were so good, their catholic school division refused to play them because of safety concerns. Their head coach was Biff Poggi and their star running back was Blake Corum. It follows them through their first season of playing a national schedule. I came away really impressed by Biff.
August 15th, 2023 at 1:43 AM ^
Me, too. Seemed an excellent series. Impressed with Biff.
August 14th, 2023 at 11:25 AM ^
Are we gonna get regular posts here about every ex-Michigan assistant now? I don’t get the Biff obsession by some on this board.
August 14th, 2023 at 11:48 AM ^
We got Gattis on Saturday and Poggi today. So, I think we're due for a Shaun Nua update tomorrow. He's the DL coach at USC now, i.e. the one that is about to join the B1G.
/s