Who will/should be permanent captains?

Those three for sure.. I"d add Moosman as the fourth. Would love to see Savoy get the nod for the fact that he stayed for 5 years, graduated, played little but never transferred when the door was open. A nod by the coaching staff for dedication to the team and University... no matter your contribution on the field.

Mesko is a lock

When you go through football practices like Michigan demands, devote hours to a playbook, feel the Sunday pains...it's important to the players. I don't think you would hear "I could care less." from a single player. RR has changed this up, probably for the better, though I don't think this should be reserved strictly for Seniors - nor has it by tradition. A leader is a leader regardless of class. I think as you get older it's more important as a fan. I have spent hours reading about some of these guys. Some of these names bring back some serious nostalgia from childhood. Leadership makes a huge difference on the field as well. It's important to honor those who other players looked up to. Andy Moeller was no All American but a team captain and leader. Others carried other honors along the way. My two lifetime faves are Don Dufek and Ron Simpkins (simply the best). Some of these names...it's excellent company. A huge honor...and I have to say important. 1879 David N. DeTar 1880 John Chase 1881 Walter Horton 1882 William J. Olcott 1883 William J. Olcott 1884 Horace Prettyman 1885 Horace Prettyman 1886 Horace Prettyman 1887 John L. Duffy 1888 James E. Duffy 1889 Edgar McPherran 1890 William C. Malley 1891 James Van Inwagen 1892 George B. Dygert 1893 George B. Dygert 1894 James Baird 1895 Fred Henninger 1896 Henry M. Senter 1897 James R. Hogg 1898 John W. Bennett 1899 Allen Steckle 1900 Neil Snow 1901 Hugh White 1902 Harrison "Boss" Weeks 1903 Curtis Redden 1904 William M. Heston 1905 Fred S. Norcross 1906 John S. Curtis 1907 Paul Magoffin 1908 Adolph "Germany" Schulz 1909 David W. Allerdice 1910 Albert W. Benbrook 1911 Fred L.Conklin 1912 George C. Thomson 1913 George Paterson 1914 James W. Raynsford 1915 William D. Cochran 1916 John Maulbetsch 1917 Cedric C. Smith 1918 Elton E. "Tad" Wieman 1919 Angus Goetz 1920 Angus Goetz 1921 Robert L. Dunne 1922 Paul L. Goebel 1923 Harry G. Kipke 1924 Herbert F. Steger 1925 Robert Brown 1926 Benny Friedman 1927 Bennie G. Oosterbaan 1928 George Rich 1929 Joe Truskowski 1930 James Simrall 1931 Roy Hudson 1932 Ivan Williamson 1933 Stanley Fay 1934 Thomas Austin 1935 William Renner 1936 Matt Patanelli 1937 Joe Rinaldi 1938 Fred Janke 1939 Archie Kodros 1940 Forest Evashevski 1941 Robert Westfall 1942 George Ceithaml 1943 Paul White 1944 Bob Wiese 1945 Joe Ponsetto 1946 Art Renner 1947 Bruce Hilkene 1948 Dominic Tomasi 1949 Alvin Wistert 1950 R. Allen Wahl 1951 William Putich 1952 Merritt Green 1953 Richard O'Shaughnessy 1954 Ted Cachey 1955 Ed Meads 1956 Tom Maentz 1957 Jime Orwig 1958 Joh Herrnstein 1959 George Genyk 1960 Gerald Smith 1961 George Mans 1962 Bob Brown 1963 Joe O'Donnell 1964 Jim Conley 1965 Tom Cecchini 1966 Jack Clancy 1967 Joe Dayton 1968 Ron Johnson 1969 Jim Mandich 1970 Don Moorhead Henry Hill 1971 Frank Gusich Guy Murdock 1972 Tom Coyle Randy Logan 1973 David Gallagher Paul Seal 1974 David Brown Dennis Franklin 1975 Don Dufek Kirk Lewis 1976 Kirk Lewis Rob Lytle Calvin O'Neal 1977 Dwight Hicks Walt Downing 1978 Russell Davis Jerry Meter 1979 John Arbeznik Ron Simpkins 1980 Andy Canavino George Lilja 1981 Kurt Becker Robert Thompson 1982 Anthony Carter Paul Girgash Robert Thompson 1983 Stefan Humphries John Lott 1984 Doug James Mike Mallory 1985 Brad Cochran Eric Kattus Mike Mallory 1986 Jim Harbaugh Andy Moeller 1987 Jamie Morris Doug Mallory 1988 Mark Messner Jon Vitale 1989 J.J. Grant Derrick Walker 1990 Jarrod Bunch John Milligan 1991 Erick Anderson Greg Skrepenek 1992 Corwin Brown Chris Hutchinson Elvis Grbac 1993 Buster Stanley Ricky Powers 1994 Steve Morrison Walter Smith 1995 Jarrett Irons Joe Marinaro 1996 Jarrett Irons Rod Payne 1997 Jon Jansen Eric Mayes 1998 Jon Jansen Juaquin Feazell 1999 Tom Brady Steve Hutchinson Rob Renes 2000 Steve Hutchinson Anthony Thomas James Whitley Eric Wilson 2001 Eric Brackins Shawn Thompson 2002 Bennie Joppru Victor Hobson 2003 Grant Bowman Carl Diggs John Navarre 2004 David Baas Marlin Jackson 2005 Jason Avant Pat Massey 2006 LaMarr Woodley Jake Long 2007 Jake Long Mike Hart 2008 Mike Massey Tim Jamison Will Johnson Terrance Taylor Forgive me...I love Michigan...because I went to school there...because it's Michigan... (even if we don't go to a bowl game). Beat Ohio State!

At first blush, I agree, but I think the point is buried in your post - "I'm sure it matters something to the players" - I think it clearly does... in some ways, it's a hell of an honor for the players to say, mostly after the fact, that the team considers you to have been the captains - i.e., the players selected acted as captains without the fancy title, or without the sense of obligation by the title... they just were. edit: if you can understand what I was getting at, despite horrible syntax, kudos.

True, but I think is rebound from adversity (much of it self-created, admittedly) is somewhat admirable. He had numerous occasions on which he could have given up, and didn't.