Not sure this belongs here, but as good a place as any right now.
Can we stop scheduling difficult road games to start the f'ing year!? 3 of the last 4 seasons under harbaugh, on the road against a good Utah team, Florida at Jerry's World, and tonight at ND. We have turnstyle O-line who need confidence and teams we can beat early in the year. What do we get for playing difficult teams early? Losses. Thats it. No upside. Schedule teams we can beat handily in the non-con and dare the playoff committee to keep out Michigan if we can ever go undeafted in conference play and win the big ten. Damn. So tired of playing hard teams when we don't have to.
Coach B is the real deal, so glad we have him. He is an excellent basketball coach, and an even better man.
My youngest brother died of ALS (Lou Gehig's disease) in 2013, but he had the pleasure to meet and talk with Coach B twice before he passed. Coach talked to my brother before and after the Iowa game (at Carver-Hawkeye) in 2010, and again via Skype two weeks before his battle with ALS ended. The time Coach takes with "everyday" people is simply incredible to me, and speaks volumes of the man he is.
Coach will always have a special place in my familys heart, regardless of how his teams perform. Makes cheering for him all the better when the team is on a special run like this year.
After the "whatever that was" end to a miserable football season, Meeechingan is rolling in hoops and hockey. What a great time to be a fan of the greatest university in all of the world!
I live near Iowa City and have a friend who is a nurse at the children's hospital. Words fail to describe how much this simple guesture means to those kids and their families.
As a Michigan honk and Iowa State alumnus, I really dislike the Hawkeyes, but good on them for doing this. Tip of the hat to Iowa fans.
Finally some good news about our beloved Meeechigan football program.
Winovich - you are a true Michigan man, and not just for coming back for a potentially monsterous 5th year. Thank you for your commitment to your community and making the world around you a better place.
By my count, there were 3 passes Hornibrook somehow put on the money, on-time to sustain drives which lead to points. Two to Taylor, and one to Davis, I think. SMH. Not sure how a person playing quarterback can be so great and so bad all in the same game.
The O-line has doomed this team's chances all season and for some reason has not improved from the start of the season. All opposing d-lines need to do is stunt up front and it results in our QB getting drilled.
Reading this weeks UFR also had me thinking about depth along the D-line was potentially the cause for all the 3-3-5 stuff. Perhaps Solomon, et al. finally gave Don Brown the confidence he can return to more 4-2-5 base? Mo Hurst certainly seems to benefit from the move.
Great coaches have the ability to take what they have and make it work. After watching the disaster 3-3-5 under RichRod, it seemed like this defense would never work in the B1G, but Brown has managed to take the pieces he had to work with and somehow keep the D near elite status.
At this juncture, I don't care what he uses against you-know-who, we just need a win.
Not that Rashan Gary needs any inspiration, but it certainaly can't hurt when the QB wants the ball back so they can score again. It signals confidence to the defense when the offense can and will score more points. For too many games this season it seemed the entire burden was on the defense to not only stop the opponents from scoring, but win the game as well.
Really encouraged by the amount of effort the team played with last night. On the broadcast Dakich kept mentioning "if you play hard...good things will happen". It is much easier to play hard and put forth defensive effort when shots are going in. I'd feel better about the tourney chances with this team if they can play with that same effort even when their shots are not falling.
I'm happy for Walton and the manner in which he playing and putting the team on his back.
Excellent points regarding why a Hoke return just may transpire. But that last paragraph says it all - not sure many people would be able handle swallowing all that pride.
But if it all works out, Hoke comes back as the DL coach, there is some level of redeeming himself a bit as a quality position coach.
Always one step ahead of everyone else. Jimmy is a innovator for sure. Get ready for the rest of CFB coaches to "adapt or die"... to steal a line from Moneyball.
Harbaugh has two qualities not found in most people: he's an innovator and a competitor. People like Harbaugh will always have the upper hand because they are relentless and they are always looking for a new angle. The people who feel threatened seek to change the rules instead of engaging. They falsely believe the rules are a way to keep people like Harbaugh from encroaching their status quo.
Innovators always think beyond the current game and set of rules, and I for one am anxiously awaiting Harbaugh's next move to make these slackers feel threatened again.
You nailed it, 100% correct. Yelling at grown men (refs) who have screwed over your players is always better than yelling at your players, even if they earned it.
The people I manage respond better when praise is public and critique is done behind closed doors. Harbaugh gets this; "You mad bro" above does not.
Don Brown also gets this with a recent quote I read from him: "critique the performance, not the performer".
While we lose a ton of experience upperclassmen bring, this will be the second year under Don Brown. His track record in year two speaks for itself. Unless there is a true freshman who will see significant playing time, all of our defense will have been under the tutelege of Dr. Blitz for two years.
The stats may not be as gaudy as this past year, but the defense will not cost us games. Hopefully the O-line issues start to go away and the offense can keep the D on the sideline for prolonged periods during the game.
The key words in your post were "We get the O-line issue worked out". Even if Harbaugh had flipped Najee, he still needs people to block for him. Sure, having a shifty and quick RB can mitigate some O-line issues, but you can't have guards completely wiffing 50% of the time. Letting the DT live in your backfield is not a good way to go.
I think Bama wins because their defense will limit what Clemson can do. I'm not taking anything away from Jalen Hurts, but if you can run out a freshman at QB and still win most of your games handily, your defense is lights out. All their offense has to do is not screw it up.
Pulling for Clemson tonight not because I like them; just tired of "SEC, SEC, SEC" crap the rest of conference will shout to the rest of the nation if Bama wins.
Harbaugh has a knaack for recruiting and getting commitments young men who are extremely talented and hard working. Last year was Rashan, now DPJ. This is how you build a program. Quality cornerstones have been laid.
How great is it to finally have healthy competition at the QB position? Speight exceeded expectations in 2016 and we will see if he has peaked or can continue to improve. Harbaugh's track record of identifying and developing the QB position will leave the team in good hands, regardless of who wins the spot.
So looking at the schedule next year, who are we going to lose to? I just don't see more than 2 games that scare me - at PSU and OSU. With all offseason to prepare for Florida, Harbaugh will be enough difference for us to win.
Prior to Harbaugh, many games on the schedule were toss-ups or outright high loss potential. With Harbaugh we are going to be in every game, regardless of the current makeup of the roster.
Class eligibility is not directly correlated to team performance. Yes the 2017 team will be young, but it will be more talented and more athletic than the 2016 team. We now have speed at key offensive positions - something we have not had in decades. McDoom is a freaking true freshman and look what he did - same can be said for Chris Evans. These guys are difference makers. Harbaugh will add more with this next recruiting class.
I do have more faith in a more seasoned team when it comes to the mental aspect of the game, especially how to win on the road or in close games. But talent can be the equalizer. I will take my chances with a young talented team vs a seasoned, less talented team.
Regarding OSU, my eyes tell me we have seen Meyer peak at OSU. They are really talented and fast, but his system is not infallible. We have the right defensive coordinator to counter all of the moves Meyer can make. They will continue to be a tough out, but we can play with them year in and year out.
I don't understand the thinking of "this was our one year to be great" mentality. Do we really think Harbaugh's recruits are going to be worse than Hoke's? Outside of some awesome DL personnel, I would take Harbaugh's dudes over Hoke's guys any day.
I also don't understand why we are afraid of a drop off because we lose so many upperclassmen. Coming into 2016, there were major questions at LB, QB, and OL to some extent. Ben Gedeon turned out pretty good (somehow couldn't get past Joe Bolden), so did McCray. I believe we are all about to witness what Bo did in his career - we simply reload each year.
I will also predict a huge win vs OSU next year. This game played out just like Sparty in '15 - tough, competitive, just not enough to snuff them out. Look what we did to Sparty this year. We have the right coaching staff to ge the job done, and I for one am tired of all the "sky is falling" and we will never beat OSU.
Damn Brian, what a line today - can it be Saturday already! Been reading this column for as long as I can remember and you hit it today. Nothing can get satisfy my thirst for this game to be here - not hype videos, highlights or anything. And I'm not even a grad of UM, just a die hard Michigan kid growing up during the end of the Bo era. I'm nervous and excited about the possibility of us pulling the W in the 'shoe.
Go Blue from a mis-placed Michigan farm boy living in Iowa.
This will be a close game for a quarter, maybe two. Wierd things happen at Kinnick, but Iowa's team this year is very bad. Most of my friends and neighbors who are Hawkeye fans all think this will not be the case and expect Michigan to win in a route. We'll see.
Gonna be a long cold night for the Hawkeyes - and for those of us in the stands. Here's to not being the obnoxious visiting fan in my section on Saturday night! Win with character, win with cruelty (cheer with character, cheer with cruelty).
Just got my hands on severely discounted tickets to the Iowa-Michigan game. I think the locals know what is about to transpire. So pumped, hope to be able to contain my excitement when we clobber the Hawkeyes.
All I can say is damn, great write up regarding Dantonio. I don't hate anyone, but that guy has irritated me to death with all the feigned disrespekt the past several years.
Recent Comments
Damn that felt good to read these again. Thanks for bringing back a bit of normalcy to this stupid crazy year. Nice preview, Ace.
This home belongs to my history teacher from high school - his classroom looked almost the same! Great dude.
Not sure this belongs here, but as good a place as any right now.
Can we stop scheduling difficult road games to start the f'ing year!? 3 of the last 4 seasons under harbaugh, on the road against a good Utah team, Florida at Jerry's World, and tonight at ND. We have turnstyle O-line who need confidence and teams we can beat early in the year. What do we get for playing difficult teams early? Losses. Thats it. No upside. Schedule teams we can beat handily in the non-con and dare the playoff committee to keep out Michigan if we can ever go undeafted in conference play and win the big ten. Damn. So tired of playing hard teams when we don't have to.
Great to have Charles back for another year; this team has all the makings for another deep run in March.
Another year under Beilein's tutelage will only improve his draft stock.
Go Blue!
It's been fun watching you in the maize and blue; you are the embodiement of a true Michigan Man.
In the words of Henry David Thoreau: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined".
Forever Go Blue
Kauai is the best for reasons stated. Now don't tell anyone!
Coach B is the real deal, so glad we have him. He is an excellent basketball coach, and an even better man.
My youngest brother died of ALS (Lou Gehig's disease) in 2013, but he had the pleasure to meet and talk with Coach B twice before he passed. Coach talked to my brother before and after the Iowa game (at Carver-Hawkeye) in 2010, and again via Skype two weeks before his battle with ALS ended. The time Coach takes with "everyday" people is simply incredible to me, and speaks volumes of the man he is.
Coach will always have a special place in my familys heart, regardless of how his teams perform. Makes cheering for him all the better when the team is on a special run like this year.
Go Blue.
They always bring up JH because clicks man...
Moe clicks, moe money.
We can haz nice things! Go Blue
After the "whatever that was" end to a miserable football season, Meeechingan is rolling in hoops and hockey. What a great time to be a fan of the greatest university in all of the world!
Go Blue
Muppets Bitches!
I live north of Kalona a couple miles...near the cheese factory.
I live near Iowa City and have a friend who is a nurse at the children's hospital. Words fail to describe how much this simple guesture means to those kids and their families.
As a Michigan honk and Iowa State alumnus, I really dislike the Hawkeyes, but good on them for doing this. Tip of the hat to Iowa fans.
XFL was awesome, for a minute. Just make sure we get another "He Hate Me" out of this deal and its all good.
Finally some good news about our beloved Meeechigan football program.
Winovich - you are a true Michigan man, and not just for coming back for a potentially monsterous 5th year. Thank you for your commitment to your community and making the world around you a better place.
By my count, there were 3 passes Hornibrook somehow put on the money, on-time to sustain drives which lead to points. Two to Taylor, and one to Davis, I think. SMH. Not sure how a person playing quarterback can be so great and so bad all in the same game.
The O-line has doomed this team's chances all season and for some reason has not improved from the start of the season. All opposing d-lines need to do is stunt up front and it results in our QB getting drilled.
Not getting my hopes up for next week, sadly.
Damn it got cold quick - bang me, and go blue!
I like jugs, and that little brown one too.
Go Blue
Go blue and beat the gophers.
Reading this weeks UFR also had me thinking about depth along the D-line was potentially the cause for all the 3-3-5 stuff. Perhaps Solomon, et al. finally gave Don Brown the confidence he can return to more 4-2-5 base? Mo Hurst certainly seems to benefit from the move.
Great coaches have the ability to take what they have and make it work. After watching the disaster 3-3-5 under RichRod, it seemed like this defense would never work in the B1G, but Brown has managed to take the pieces he had to work with and somehow keep the D near elite status.
At this juncture, I don't care what he uses against you-know-who, we just need a win.
Not that Rashan Gary needs any inspiration, but it certainaly can't hurt when the QB wants the ball back so they can score again. It signals confidence to the defense when the offense can and will score more points. For too many games this season it seemed the entire burden was on the defense to not only stop the opponents from scoring, but win the game as well.
This game should be won by a wide margin, but at this point, just win baby.
The final score prediction (I know is sarcasm) is the best effort I've seen yet from Brian. Well done sir.
Penn state RT gonna die vs Gary.
Not saying we're gonna go all 1997 on them (because out offense isn't as good), but our D should give us a chance.
Go Blue
Especially since we are getting all this content for FREE.
Godspeed with the update and thanks for the excellent work.
Coach gets it, and he is just happy to be a part of it. Nowhere is there a better university, in any way, than this Michigan of ours.
Walton and Irvin are playing like the seasoned vets they are. So happy for them to be putting it all together at the right time.
Go Blue!
My ticker can't take another one like this either.
So happy for Walton to be pulling it all together, and in the process putting the team on his back.
Really encouraged by the amount of effort the team played with last night. On the broadcast Dakich kept mentioning "if you play hard...good things will happen". It is much easier to play hard and put forth defensive effort when shots are going in. I'd feel better about the tourney chances with this team if they can play with that same effort even when their shots are not falling.
I'm happy for Walton and the manner in which he playing and putting the team on his back.
Excellent points regarding why a Hoke return just may transpire. But that last paragraph says it all - not sure many people would be able handle swallowing all that pride.
But if it all works out, Hoke comes back as the DL coach, there is some level of redeeming himself a bit as a quality position coach.
Not only did Tom F'n Brady cement his legecy as the GOAT, he made that POS Godell hand him the trophy.
Tell me why Llyod Carr in all his infinite wisdome thought Drew Henson was a better college QB than Brady?
We used to say that when I was in college. Thanks for the nostalgia today!
Cheers and Go Blue!
Always one step ahead of everyone else. Jimmy is a innovator for sure. Get ready for the rest of CFB coaches to "adapt or die"... to steal a line from Moneyball.
Damn glad he is our coach.
Go Blue!
Harbaugh has two qualities not found in most people: he's an innovator and a competitor. People like Harbaugh will always have the upper hand because they are relentless and they are always looking for a new angle. The people who feel threatened seek to change the rules instead of engaging. They falsely believe the rules are a way to keep people like Harbaugh from encroaching their status quo.
Innovators always think beyond the current game and set of rules, and I for one am anxiously awaiting Harbaugh's next move to make these slackers feel threatened again.
Go Blue!
You nailed it, 100% correct. Yelling at grown men (refs) who have screwed over your players is always better than yelling at your players, even if they earned it.
The people I manage respond better when praise is public and critique is done behind closed doors. Harbaugh gets this; "You mad bro" above does not.
Don Brown also gets this with a recent quote I read from him: "critique the performance, not the performer".
We have the best football coaches.
While we lose a ton of experience upperclassmen bring, this will be the second year under Don Brown. His track record in year two speaks for itself. Unless there is a true freshman who will see significant playing time, all of our defense will have been under the tutelege of Dr. Blitz for two years.
The stats may not be as gaudy as this past year, but the defense will not cost us games. Hopefully the O-line issues start to go away and the offense can keep the D on the sideline for prolonged periods during the game.
The 2017 defense will be fine.
Truer words never spoken - that picture says everything.
The key words in your post were "We get the O-line issue worked out". Even if Harbaugh had flipped Najee, he still needs people to block for him. Sure, having a shifty and quick RB can mitigate some O-line issues, but you can't have guards completely wiffing 50% of the time. Letting the DT live in your backfield is not a good way to go.
I think Bama wins because their defense will limit what Clemson can do. I'm not taking anything away from Jalen Hurts, but if you can run out a freshman at QB and still win most of your games handily, your defense is lights out. All their offense has to do is not screw it up.
Pulling for Clemson tonight not because I like them; just tired of "SEC, SEC, SEC" crap the rest of conference will shout to the rest of the nation if Bama wins.
Harbaugh has a knaack for recruiting and getting commitments young men who are extremely talented and hard working. Last year was Rashan, now DPJ. This is how you build a program. Quality cornerstones have been laid.
Go Blue
How great is it to finally have healthy competition at the QB position? Speight exceeded expectations in 2016 and we will see if he has peaked or can continue to improve. Harbaugh's track record of identifying and developing the QB position will leave the team in good hands, regardless of who wins the spot.
So looking at the schedule next year, who are we going to lose to? I just don't see more than 2 games that scare me - at PSU and OSU. With all offseason to prepare for Florida, Harbaugh will be enough difference for us to win.
Prior to Harbaugh, many games on the schedule were toss-ups or outright high loss potential. With Harbaugh we are going to be in every game, regardless of the current makeup of the roster.
Class eligibility is not directly correlated to team performance. Yes the 2017 team will be young, but it will be more talented and more athletic than the 2016 team. We now have speed at key offensive positions - something we have not had in decades. McDoom is a freaking true freshman and look what he did - same can be said for Chris Evans. These guys are difference makers. Harbaugh will add more with this next recruiting class.
I do have more faith in a more seasoned team when it comes to the mental aspect of the game, especially how to win on the road or in close games. But talent can be the equalizer. I will take my chances with a young talented team vs a seasoned, less talented team.
Regarding OSU, my eyes tell me we have seen Meyer peak at OSU. They are really talented and fast, but his system is not infallible. We have the right defensive coordinator to counter all of the moves Meyer can make. They will continue to be a tough out, but we can play with them year in and year out.
I don't understand the thinking of "this was our one year to be great" mentality. Do we really think Harbaugh's recruits are going to be worse than Hoke's? Outside of some awesome DL personnel, I would take Harbaugh's dudes over Hoke's guys any day.
I also don't understand why we are afraid of a drop off because we lose so many upperclassmen. Coming into 2016, there were major questions at LB, QB, and OL to some extent. Ben Gedeon turned out pretty good (somehow couldn't get past Joe Bolden), so did McCray. I believe we are all about to witness what Bo did in his career - we simply reload each year.
I will also predict a huge win vs OSU next year. This game played out just like Sparty in '15 - tough, competitive, just not enough to snuff them out. Look what we did to Sparty this year. We have the right coaching staff to ge the job done, and I for one am tired of all the "sky is falling" and we will never beat OSU.
Damn Brian, what a line today - can it be Saturday already! Been reading this column for as long as I can remember and you hit it today. Nothing can get satisfy my thirst for this game to be here - not hype videos, highlights or anything. And I'm not even a grad of UM, just a die hard Michigan kid growing up during the end of the Bo era. I'm nervous and excited about the possibility of us pulling the W in the 'shoe.
Go Blue from a mis-placed Michigan farm boy living in Iowa.
Wearing my #5 to the game tonight; here's to the real #5 getting into the endzone!
Go Blue. Beat the Hawkeyes!
This will be a close game for a quarter, maybe two. Wierd things happen at Kinnick, but Iowa's team this year is very bad. Most of my friends and neighbors who are Hawkeye fans all think this will not be the case and expect Michigan to win in a route. We'll see.
Gonna be a long cold night for the Hawkeyes - and for those of us in the stands. Here's to not being the obnoxious visiting fan in my section on Saturday night! Win with character, win with cruelty (cheer with character,
cheer with cruelty).Go Blue!
Just got my hands on severely discounted tickets to the Iowa-Michigan game. I think the locals know what is about to transpire. So pumped, hope to be able to contain my excitement when we clobber the Hawkeyes.
Win with cruelty, win with character.
Go Blue!
All I can say is damn, great write up regarding Dantonio. I don't hate anyone, but that guy has irritated me to death with all the feigned disrespekt the past several years.
Rankings are fun for the fans, but are irrelavent provided we keep winning.
Onward. Better today than yesterday. Better tomorrow than today. Improvement will lead to success.