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Belisarius
History
- Member for
- 7 years 37 weeks
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Recent Comments
Date | Title | Body |
---|---|---|
2 years 34 weeks ago | Vincimus Utah quia Deus vult. |
Vincimus Utah quia Deus vult. |
2 years 43 weeks ago | I personally agree, for what |
I personally agree, for what it's worth. I think my point is that even if the program is utterly blameless in reality, this will not play well outside the fan base, which is a problem unto itself. |
2 years 43 weeks ago | I think we can all concede |
I think we can all concede that's a possibility. The problem is, that's not what Pipkins believes, and the best case scenario is this creates an unjustified black mark on public perception. Maybe Pipkins does have legitimate health problems, or maybe he can't take the pressure and pace Harbaugh demands of student athletes. Or maybe it is as he believes, a conspiracy to force him out. The truth behind the curtain doesn't change the problem this kind of PR problem this creates. |
2 years 43 weeks ago | Seems, from a journalistic |
Seems, from a journalistic perspective, they could at least have TRIED to get Michigan's side of the story on this... |
2 years 43 weeks ago | Interesting point, I hadn't |
Interesting point, I hadn't thought of that. There isn't much in the way of a benefit to not letting him finish his last year, if he is indeed healthy enough.
|
2 years 43 weeks ago | We need a witch doctor to |
We need a witch doctor to clear up the bad juujuu following us around. My god, I need a drink... |
2 years 44 weeks ago | Heyoooo... |
Heyoooo... |
2 years 44 weeks ago | (No subject) | |
2 years 44 weeks ago | Given that Ferentz makes so |
Given that Ferentz makes so much money Iowa can't even afford to fire him, Ferentz has no incentive to do anything more than is absolutely required of him. If the NCAA bans sattelite campuses, he has an excuse to do less work for the same amount of money. |
3 years 23 weeks ago | Bravo. |
Bravo. |
3 years 25 weeks ago | This is a very good point, |
This is a very good point, but I think it also gets at the basis of the problem here. The Athletic Department did Yeoman service for the Mealer family, which is fine, and if that's why Elliot Mealer feels obliged to carry their water, that's understandable. |
3 years 25 weeks ago | The Day Has Come |
There's no bread, let them eat cake |
3 years 27 weeks ago | Negatory, sir. Pitt's OLine |
Negatory, sir. Pitt's OLine was also stripped of talent and experience when Chryst took over, and its last two recruiting classes were decimated by no less than three coaching changes. Chryst essentially inherited a program on the brink and cobbled together some success. I wrote a longer post about this further below. |
3 years 27 weeks ago | Some Context on Chryst |
I talked about Todd Graham to add a "boots on the ground" context, so I might as well chime in on the subject of Chryst. Chryst is a first time HC, and the warts are there. Particularly, his cloack management has been poor, and some rushed decisions at critical times are noted; that could be the result of inexperience, but it alsio seems to be a running theme with pro-style coaches. That said, Chryst has shown some real upside, and I've often used it to highlight Hoke's flaws. He recruits well, he's been getting some big name kids to stay home, and whateeeever else you want to say, Chryst can identify and develop talent. He saw Tyler Boyd, whose third to choice after Pitt and WVU was Michigan State pretty much by default, and saw talent; Michigan can't offer everyone, obviously, but Pitt fans were aware of what a talent this kid was supposed to be and what a big target he was for them, and he wasn't on Michigan's radar. Sure enough, he'll probably be in the pros after next year. More notable, I think, is James Connor. Connor was a non-descript, 3* DE in his last year of HS. He committed to Pitt, and suddenly it was declared they wanted him to be a running back. Pitt fans shrugged. Yet Connor became, from his first year, a better RB than Michigan has had since Mike Hart, and with an equally talent and experience-denuded OL. I look at him with some whimsy as he does all the things I know RBs are supposed to do, like break tackles, burst through holes and drag piles, make yards after contact. Michigan wouldn't have recruited Connor anyway, because the kid had grade problems in HS, but that's not really the issue. Chryst looked at a no-name DE and saw potential, and then quickly realized that potential into performance, which are skills Hoke has lacked. He can develop QB talent too, for what it's worth. He got Savage drafted, and that was not seen as a likely feat when he took over. People in Pittsburgh see his work with Savage as a continuation of what he did with Russell Wilson. Boyd, Savage and Connor are anecodtal examples, I know, but I hold them out as examples of what Chryst does right. He took a program that was worse off than I think anyone unfamiliar with the program realizes, and has largely stabalized it. I tend to think given two more years the Panthers will be doing well enough that Chryst will be a much hotter commodity, which is, all-in-all, not a bad trajectory for a first HC job. At Michigan? Well, he's obviously a gamble, but I think there are riskier gambles out there that are being talked about. I think more highly of the job he's done at Pitt in three years than the job Hoke has done here in four, especially given the disparity of experience, resources and prestige. |
3 years 27 weeks ago | I don't disagree in any |
I don't disagree in any particular. I think, though, that the difference between Graham and the other coaches you listed is slightly more than an issue of bad etiquette in the manner of his departure. That is to say, nobody blames a coach for moving up the ladder as a buisness decision (or at least, not too loud or for too long). I think the difference is, it's expected a coach on the rise leaves the program in better condition than when he inherited it. Most of the coaches you listed remained for multiple years, or in Brian Kelly's case, which is illuminating, for three, which is ample time to make your bones and to improve the school's situation for the next guy. The difference between one year and three can be dramatic, but I'm not trying to make that case, per se. Obviously Rice was better off, in a sense, than when he first came there. Pitt, on the other hand, actually suffered from his year-long tenure. And that, I think, is more the issue. I think I made the comparison to Chryst, somewhere in all this, who had the opportunity to leave and did not. At a minimu, whether it was the focus of his decision or not, he had to be aware that if HE left after a year, he would be the fourth Panthers coach to depart (willingly or not) in a three year span, and a program already on the brink would probably have collapsed in a fairly definitive manner. I think the fact that he remained reflects well on him, and he has done a great deal to restore the Panthers roster and on-the-field product to, if not exactly the heights of football, then at least out of the gutter. |
3 years 27 weeks ago | I believe he was at Tulsa |
I believe he was at Tulsa longer, but he was certainly one-and-done at Rice and Pitt. His departure from Pitt was used against him in recruiting with some success at ASU, at least initially, although I assume his extending tenure and winning ways will have silenced most of that. Of course, the more he moves around, the more some of that negativity will resurface. |
3 years 27 weeks ago | I wouldn't contest that, but |
I wouldn't contest that, but as a counter argument, it is believed (at least by the locals) that Paul Chryst received inquiries about the Wisconsin job after his first year and had the opportunity to take it. With that in mind, Pitt fans were resigned, and couldn't really fault him (being a Madison local/lifer). The story has it he stayed because he understood Pitt would completely unravel if he lleft, and he felt an obligation to build up the program before he moved on and upwards. Not groundbreaking stuff, again, just context. I do think most coaches feel an obligation to stay in a program for longer than a year. I don't even think Graham was much of a cultural fit, so perhaps it was for the best. I would draw a distinction between Hoke taking a job he was clear from the onset that he always wanted and would take and Graham, though, largely for the other, oh, we'll call them flourishes. |
3 years 27 weeks ago | I'll add this too, but just |
I'll add this too, but just for context: he did face some of the same problems Rich Rod did trying to take the Panthers from a pro team to a spread team, including the tempo-fatigue we became familiar with. The pro-style linemen he inherited would wear down under the fast tempo, and their play would unravel in the latter stages of the game. Much the same with the defense, if the the offense couldn't remain on the field. |
3 years 27 weeks ago | He's a Texas native, who |
He's a Texas native, who seems most at home coaching and recruiting in that region, so you may be right. On the other hand, never underestimate a freebooting mentality. He might come to Michigan if the price is right, and to climb the ladder of school prestige. In that regard, though, he would be a flight risk as soon as a better, or perhaps even equitable, job opened down south. |
3 years 27 weeks ago | I was in Pittsburgh the year |
I was in Pittsburgh the year Todd Graham (now known in the Steel City as "Fraud Graham") coached the Panthers and fled. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to reject the guy without delving into stereotypes of accent and religion. |
3 years 29 weeks ago | Cue gifs of animals that look |
Cue gifs of animals that look shocked....now! |
3 years 29 weeks ago | It's fun how you can be |
It's fun how you can be anyone on the internet, isn't it? Except, as you noted, someone who can spell. |
3 years 29 weeks ago | My first thought as well. |
My first thought as well. |
3 years 29 weeks ago | The eastern world, it is |
The eastern world, it is exploding But you tell me |
4 years 27 weeks ago | Sugar Bowl and the '99-'00 |
Sugar Bowl and the '99-'00 Orange Bowl (Hail Brady!). So there's two off the top of my head... |
4 years 28 weeks ago | Being a true freshman QB is a |
Being a true freshman QB is a lot less of aproblem when you are A.) An elite talent, B.) throwing to an elite WR, and C.) Facing a team with no pass rush. Right now that's check, check and check. Which in not to say that we WILL need him at PSU, but on the road, in a very hostile environment, we may. But your statement was broader than that, and if you don't think we'll need him against MSU, or maybe even to generate some pass rush against pass-happy Indiana, I don't know what to say. |
4 years 28 weeks ago | That's, like, your opinion, |
That's, like, your opinion, man. |
4 years 29 weeks ago | It's purely anecdotal, so |
It's purely anecdotal, so take it for what it's worth, but in a similar situation I've seen a similar move produce positive results. In Wannestedt's last year, the O-Line was thin, the center an undersized JUCO. The Panther's got off to a woeful start, couldn't move the ball against lowly New Hampshire, got trampled and embarassed on national TV by Miami. They reshufled the O-Line and had a substantial increase in tehri play. They wound up with a respectable(ish) 8-5 record, which they likely would not have had if they stuck to the original configuration for consistency sake. As I said, it's anecdotal, but it impressed upon me that O-Line, like everything else, must be subject to change, and that change may potentially yield positive results. |
4 years 29 weeks ago | Welcome to the family. You |
Welcome to the family. You will not regret your choice. |
4 years 40 weeks ago | It's actually a surprisingly |
It's actually a surprisingly well written story. Now, the key is it may not be a very entertaining story. But the underlying metaphor is very well crafted. In an age of movies without any form of plot or structure, I appreciate the competence of the storytelling as much as the homesickness inducing tour of A2. |