We need to stop bad-mouthing the players

Submitted by mi93 on

Once upon a time, in my professional life, I learned a very important lesson – it does not matter how talented, how smart, or how capable the people around you happen to be if your leadership does not develop you or provide the tools for you to be successful.

We are quick to tell 18-to-22 year-old young men that ‘they suck’.  That they are failures.  That they are incompetent.  Thanks to the accessibility of the interwebs, believe me, we’re telling them directly, with our anonymity in hand.

Jake Ryan did not all of a sudden become a bad football player.  He’s no longer being put in a position to succeed.  Blake Countess did not all of a sudden become a bad cornerback.  He too, is not being placed in a position to play to his strengths.  And as Devin Gardner was our late season savior when Denard was hurt, he’s not regressing because his skills disappeared.  Again, he’s not being put in a position to win.  He’s not being developed by his coaches.  Frankly, he’s spent his last 18 fall Saturdays running for his life.  And I don’t blame him.

Every one of our threads should be about the coaches.  If these coaches had demonstrated any competency in consistently developing players, then maybe college students deserve our ire for underperforming.  Ask yourselves, how might Devin be performing in Rich Rod’s offense?  How would Jake and Blake be performing if we hadn’t changed defensive philosophy over the off-season?

Changing offensive coordinators may have been a good move, but we won’t know under this head coach.  Mid-managers need good leaders just as much as front-line team members.  On another note, how might things be different if the coordinators got to choose their assistants and position coaches?  Would there be a different O-line or RB coach?

And like Rich Rod forcing two defensive coordinators to implement a defensive scheme neither understood, changing defensive philosophies is potentially a sign of desperation by this regime as well.

Brady Hoke is in over his head.  It is clear.  And until the young men wearing maize and blue on Saturdays get the benefit of capable leadership, they deserve better than our slings and arrows.

EDIT: In reply to a mod comment below, I'm in total agreement with comments on technique and play (i.e., decision making).  The crux of my post, however, is that when that point may be made week, after week, after week, ad infinitum, this is clearly not a player issue.  It's preparedness.  It's coaching.

Simps

October 25th, 2014 at 6:18 PM ^

How about, fuck you. If they weren't smiling, laughing and having a good ole time while getting a beatdown. I might actually feel for them. I think an example of unacceptable bad mouthing is saying that Devin G is a N word. Acceptable form of bad mouthing is saying that Devin G is the worst qb in the history of organized sports.

UMForLife

October 25th, 2014 at 6:19 PM ^

If you want to support the players, go over and support. Don't tell everyone  what they need to do. Not on a day when everyone is pissed about the way they play.

You sound self-righteous, when you post this.

Sorry. Not trying to be mean, but you are pissing me off posting this in the middle of a game where we f'ing suck.

bluewithenvy

October 25th, 2014 at 6:20 PM ^

I think the announcers criticism of the offense is pretty spot on. Gardner is not making the right reads, and all the problems stem from there. The defense can't hold the line for 60 minutes without the offense doing at least something. 2 broken plays (1 on off and 1 on def) is putting this game out of reach because of the offensive ineptitude.

D.C.Blue

October 25th, 2014 at 6:25 PM ^

By the time you reach the college level, you should know how to tackle.  By the time you reach the college level, a DB should know how to cover a WR and know when to turn and look for the ball.  By the time you reach the college level and you are on scholarship, there is no way a walk on should be playing ahead of you.  I dont care if they have earned a scholly.  They should never start ahead of sophomore and junior 3* and above athletes in the same position.  

westwardwolverine

October 25th, 2014 at 6:29 PM ^

Calling Devin a n***** = unacceptable and awful. Scum of the earth type people.  

Saying Devin Gardner has been terrible today = justified. 

UnkleBuck

October 25th, 2014 at 6:29 PM ^

So we've been trashing our coaches and AD for months now and our receivers can't catch, and our QB is utterly pathetic.  That's not bad mouthing...that's reality.

ccdevi

October 25th, 2014 at 6:34 PM ^

Sorry. He seems like a good guy, a smart guy off the field, but Devin Gardner is a horrible football player. That's ok, most people can't play at all, but it's a simple truth.

Dilithium Wings

October 25th, 2014 at 6:34 PM ^

Shut the fuck up dude. When you play like shit you should get called out. These players are men and sure as hell don't scroll through the blob to see if they were called names.



Again, fuck off

HANCOCK

October 25th, 2014 at 6:35 PM ^

Well for what its worth, Im 21 and I think anyone who wants to bad mouth these guys can do so if they want to. They are D1 football players. Get over it. They get to go to school for free. I can say whatever I want.

 

 

M.Go.Blue

October 25th, 2014 at 6:50 PM ^

They need to be held accountable, this is fucking pathetic. WRs have dropped more balls than Lisa Ann (ND WR porn star gf). Our QB is lost, dazed and confused. Our coach couldn't coach his way out of a paperbag, though you would hear him clapping trying to find his way out.

Mar

October 25th, 2014 at 6:53 PM ^

The coaches don't teach DG to throw a five yard hitch into the ground to put us in 3rd and 11, or to throw 5 yard out patterns at guys' back hips, or to throw bubble screens high and behind guys, or to throw slants low, or to throw a middle screen like an option pitch into a vacant space with only an MSU player, or to float a drag route into a guy standing there waiting to either decapitate the WR or intercept it for a TD, or deep balls on the inside shoulder of a guy being covered inside-our. The coaches can't fix those problems no matter what. Sorry. I wish the guy the best in life.

maizenblue87

October 25th, 2014 at 6:58 PM ^

True, the players have had a raw deal with incompetent coaching. But their play is still fair game for criticism. They knew that going in. Lauded as heroes when they play well the flip side is criticism when they don't.

AMazinBlue

October 25th, 2014 at 7:19 PM ^

throws a showel pass right to an MSU defender?  There is NO excuse for that.  I know they are kids, but he is a 5th yr senior playing like a freshman

Coache coach, players play and are supposed to execute.  Gardner did not execute today.  They weren't going to win anyway, but he played very poorly for much of the game.

There just isn't much passion or urgency for this team.  It all needs to be blwon up and started over.

cGOBLUEm

October 25th, 2014 at 7:22 PM ^

The only thing keeping me attatched to UM football at this point is the players--I love following them from recruiting through their development as college athletes.

With that said, they are scholarship athletes, and there is a certain level expectation for how they should perform. I think Funchess is a good receiver, but as #1, he needs to start playing like #1. There are too many drops.

Gardner has so many stupid turnovers.

Derreck Green is another. He goes down on first contact almost all the time. 

They are kids. They can be frustrating at times, and it is OK for the fans to get frustrated with them. It should never, however, become personal. 

jim48315

October 25th, 2014 at 9:29 PM ^

most yards is not the same as best passing game.  As Bo put it, he'd rather have a  TD pass to win the Rose Bowl  than 350 yards against (he actually said Kansas State, but it was in 1989) nobody.

DG is a bad QB.  Whether it's because he hasn't been coached well or because he doesn't respond well to coaching, I don't know.  But he was quoted in the Freep as saying he played as well as he possibly could last year in Spartan Stadium, which indicates to me something I don't want to see on M's football team.

Bando Calrissian

October 25th, 2014 at 7:49 PM ^

Sorry if I don't think a kid signing up to get a free ride to play football in front of 100,000 people a week can't take a little criticism. These kids are just not very good at playing football. Their record indicates as much. I don't know why that's so hard to understand or accept.

MGoUberBlue

October 25th, 2014 at 8:10 PM ^

has denigrated the players into incompetence.  That is the coaches fault.

But why the fuck can't the quarteback handle a simple fucking handoff?  That is on him.

taistreetsmyhero

October 25th, 2014 at 8:36 PM ^

but it's just not entirely true. To say that the product on the field is 100% on coaches is inaccurate. Player regression is partly on the players. Now, whether or not it's productive/ethical to criticize this as a fan is a different argument really.

His Dudeness

October 25th, 2014 at 8:40 PM ^

The coaches are obviously awful, but Devin... this was not Devins best game.

He played a genuinely pitiful football game. I've never seen a shovel pass intercepted before in my life. I don't know how he can't throw a 5 yard hitch route.

I hate to say it, but that's not coaching...

PA_Blue

October 25th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^

Most of the players have at one point or another this year been awful and have opened themselves up to criticism.  They have not played well and deserve some blame.  But do you guys really believe if the players on this roster were coached by Meyer, Dantonio, Saban, Harbaugh, etc. they would be this bad?  Of course not.  Any of those coaches with the current roster  would probably not have more than 1 or 2 losses tops at this point in the season.

Upnorthricky

October 25th, 2014 at 9:05 PM ^

Player are the ones who drop the pass, miss the block, miss the tackle. It is not only coaching it is the players making the mistake. I did not see any pride (extra effort) from the offense tonight. some guys are playing hard while some are not. Sit the ones down who do not give 100% EVERY down. Effort will be rewarded. I'm not saying the players need to be successful 100% of the time! but they need to give 100% effort all of the time to be successful.

PA_Blue

October 25th, 2014 at 9:28 PM ^

Agreed.  From a coaching standpoint there's a time to be encouraging and there's a time to be critical.  This is what's lost on Hoke.  He thinks clapping and saying let's go and slapping guys on the ass telling them everything will be ok is just not working.  He needs to hold some of these guys accountable.  If Funchess drops a couple of passes because of a lack of effort or concentration then Hoke needs to get into him and sit him down for a quarter.  These players need some consequences for lack of effort/focus/heart/concentration. 

meatchoke

October 25th, 2014 at 9:41 PM ^

Outside of my usual tl;dr, I'm sorry, the players are just as guilty as the coaches. They are representing the same college I graduated from - they don't automatically earn my undying loyalty. Represent and represent well or gtfo.



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Rabbit21

October 25th, 2014 at 10:29 PM ^

They're just not looking like they have any fire and at a certain point, not developing is on them as well as the coaches. I hate to say it, but the players haven't exactly covered themselves in glory this year.

jonvalk

October 26th, 2014 at 1:47 AM ^

I agree only to the point of not calling them vulgar things (ie Gardner is a pussy, etc.). I think that's horrific. However, saying Gardner is a horrible QB or that he sucks at football is totally in bounds for me. Difference is that one relates to the person, the other relates to the play on the field.



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Avon Barksdale

October 26th, 2014 at 8:09 AM ^

I'm quick to blame coaching when elite talent fails, but I really didn't think the game plan was awful. The execution was atrocious, however. That's mostly on the players.