It’s worth remembering that Harbaugh was never linked to any NFL jobs his first six years here. He dismissed any rumors out of hand as coming from “jive turkeys” and there was no reason to doubt him.
Things changed after 2021. Suddenly he was keeping his options open each offseason. It seems in retrospect that his relationship with Manuel was irreparably damaged around that point. Maybe it was the pay cut, or other issues like NIL, but something definitely changed between them. By 2023 we had him announcing to Ono, not Manuel, that he was staying, while Manuel chose to skip the team banquet in December. And the NCAA/Big Ten joint witch hunt probably didn’t help any.
He's clearly talented enough and an elite athlete, he would have killed it as a soccer midfielder.
In what way is he clearly talented in soccer? It requires completely different skills. Controlling a ball with your feet is nothing at all like doing it with your hands.
And as it is the world's most popular sport, you've really got to beat the odds to be a world-class soccer player. There are a lot of young men his size around the world, and most of them play soccer.
Those two 10-day NBA contracts he got already put him comfortably over six figures in earnings, in addition to whatever he made in the G-League, so I'd say he probably chose the right sport.
Moreover, I don’t see how the courts would restrict NIL when it’s perfectly legal for pro athletes to make money off the field. Any direct compensation from the schools is going to be in addition to NIL - not a replacement for it.
There may not have been fewer smart people, but back then U-M didn’t use the Common Application. That’s what’s caused applications to skyrocket. You can apply to schools all over the country with that one application, so people do.
For the trivial benefit of not having to fill out separate applications per school, today’s high schoolers have to face massively more competition for spots at every elite school.
Regarding the Ivy League, we may note that the NCAA only legalized athletic scholarships in 1950. Michigan didn’t give them out for another several years, nor did OSU, iirc. (MSU did, though, which was likely a big reason why they were so successful that decade.)
It doesn't matter if we knew, or didn't know, what play they were running. That's not a violation.
The alleged violation is over scouting teams in person, which is banned mostly for cost-saving purposes and most likely isn't going to amount to much (a Baylor coach found in violation of this rule a few years ago got a half-game suspension).
How does that compare to previous years? Curious if the portal has already changed things. If you're a star at a G5 school, you'll hear from bigger schools.
I agree with you. The rule was passed to not unfairly punish any 2020-21 players in case 1) the season had to be cancelled or 2) they chose to opt out.
As it turned out, the season wasn't cancelled and nearly all players opted in. They all get a free fifth year while the classes that enrolled in the fall of 2021, and beyond, don't. That doesn't quite seem fair. The 2021-22 freshman class has to spend its entire college career coexisting with the 2020-21 class because of this rule.
IMO, the NCAA should have waited until the 2020-21 season played out before deciding whether it should count or not.
What eases my anxiety is the fact that we’re reigning national champs. Whatever happens in 2024 happens. The warm glow of last season will last a while.
We didn’t actually call 32 run plays in a row. We had at least pass plays in the second half. One drew a pass interference and on the other (on 4th down) JJ scrambled for the first down.
Speaking of Braylonfest, we might add that it was about 70 degrees at kickoff. The temperature plummeted after the sun went down. Part of the craziness of playing outdoors.
As I understand it, Jake Rudock was the good QB who emerged as the season went on and “Jake Rudd(dddd)ock” his evil doppelgänger who couldn’t complete the deep ball.
The one that always blew my mind was people not knowing how to spell Beilein. The man was here a dozen years.
Maybe it's a little easier for May to work through this since he was casting a wide net (We need everything) whereas Juwan was usually looking for a specific skill-set and had less options
Hmm, I'd say just the opposite - that May seems to have a clearer vision of what he wants from his team. In three weeks he's put together what looks like our most coherent roster in a few years.
The main thing that left me bummed about losing Sanderson was that it would probably cost us his son as a recruit. But seeing how May is working the portal, I’m not worried about that anymore.
As far as the actual S&C stuff goes, I suspect most of these coaches are interchangeable, really.
The narrative that admissions was making it impossible to succeed was always hard to swallow when our football program won a national title while facing the same standards.
In retrospect, hiring a coach who had no college experience at all (other than as a player) was a bad idea. Communicating with admissions is one of a number of things that simply don’t exist in the pros. I don’t think we’re going to run into too many more Shannon/Love-type situations.
The issue isn’t with all undergrad transfers. Freshmen and sophomores’ credits generally transfer without too much issue. The problem is mostly with upperclassmen. Credits in upper-level courses often don’t get accepted here. If they’re able to graduate, then we can take them as grad students.
The problem with Shannon and Love is that they were in that category of non-graduating upperclassmen. We were counting on them taking courses in the summer, for which their old schools didn’t have to pay (since they were in the portal). Meanwhile, other schools offered them admission on the spot. We shouldn’t have counted on them coming.
Year five is a little different than the others, though. A scholarship promise is normally for four years. May and Jace will probably have discussions about next year, if they haven’t already.
I think Meyer was forced out over the Zach Smith thing. As a courtesy (and to avoid the fanbase burning the school down), they called it a resignation.
I actually don’t think the 2017-20 period would have been that different. The narrative certainly would have been different, and Harbaugh’s honeymoon with the fanbase would have lasted longer, but our weak 2014 and ‘15 recruiting classes were going to catch up to us. The 2017 team just didn’t have many talented upperclassmen. Also, Don Brown was going to be found out. I think we’d have probably still lost the next few OSU games and found ourselves struggling to break through, similar to PSU post-2016.
PSU might actually be the program that most affected by us winning the Game in 2016. That would take away Franklin’s one Big Ten title, which might have left him on shakier footing and possibly hurt his recruiting.
An innocent person might flee the cops in the heat of the moment, but is unlikely to engage in this kind of premeditated act (gathering up a passport, disguise and thousands of dollars days after the murder occurred). Particularly an innocent person whose wife was just killed.
There wasn’t really anything bad about Jordan’s time with the Wizards. He was still a good player, just no longer at a GOAT level. But he was also several years younger than Brady is now.
Also: that he tried to flee the country (he had his passport and a disguise in the Bronco), which an innocent person almost certainly wouldn’t do. For some reason the prosecution never brought it up during the trial.
The Big Ten also went 0-fer in the 1990s, too, despite having at least six teams in the FF that I can remember:
-1992 Michigan
-‘92 Indiana
-‘93 Michigan
-‘97 Minnesota
-‘99 MSU
-‘99 OSU
The one time the conference got over the hump in the last 30+ years, 2000 MSU got to play an 8 seed and 5 seed in the Final Four. Can’t get that kind of draw too often.
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It’s worth remembering that Harbaugh was never linked to any NFL jobs his first six years here. He dismissed any rumors out of hand as coming from “jive turkeys” and there was no reason to doubt him.
Things changed after 2021. Suddenly he was keeping his options open each offseason. It seems in retrospect that his relationship with Manuel was irreparably damaged around that point. Maybe it was the pay cut, or other issues like NIL, but something definitely changed between them. By 2023 we had him announcing to Ono, not Manuel, that he was staying, while Manuel chose to skip the team banquet in December. And the NCAA/Big Ten joint witch hunt probably didn’t help any.
In what way is he clearly talented in soccer? It requires completely different skills. Controlling a ball with your feet is nothing at all like doing it with your hands.
And as it is the world's most popular sport, you've really got to beat the odds to be a world-class soccer player. There are a lot of young men his size around the world, and most of them play soccer.
Those two 10-day NBA contracts he got already put him comfortably over six figures in earnings, in addition to whatever he made in the G-League, so I'd say he probably chose the right sport.
Moreover, I don’t see how the courts would restrict NIL when it’s perfectly legal for pro athletes to make money off the field. Any direct compensation from the schools is going to be in addition to NIL - not a replacement for it.
Yeah, but it’s still significantly less work than 20 years ago when each school would have a totally separate application.
U-M was one of the holdouts for awhile, but finally threw in the towel and went with the Common Application crowd.
If you’re from out of state, that may well be true. In-state your odds are still better though.
There may not have been fewer smart people, but back then U-M didn’t use the Common Application. That’s what’s caused applications to skyrocket. You can apply to schools all over the country with that one application, so people do.
For the trivial benefit of not having to fill out separate applications per school, today’s high schoolers have to face massively more competition for spots at every elite school.
Regarding the Ivy League, we may note that the NCAA only legalized athletic scholarships in 1950. Michigan didn’t give them out for another several years, nor did OSU, iirc. (MSU did, though, which was likely a big reason why they were so successful that decade.)
It doesn't matter if we knew, or didn't know, what play they were running. That's not a violation.
The alleged violation is over scouting teams in person, which is banned mostly for cost-saving purposes and most likely isn't going to amount to much (a Baylor coach found in violation of this rule a few years ago got a half-game suspension).
It's a local Michigan company (from St. Clair Shores) that does this, btw.
I was watching it live. The first highlight they showed was him playing for Michigan, throwing a TD against Indiana.
Admittedly, it's probably easier to be gracious in defeat when you've won seven national titles previously.
Officially, he'll count as a Seminole, like how Erick All doesn't count as one of our draftees.
How does that compare to previous years? Curious if the portal has already changed things. If you're a star at a G5 school, you'll hear from bigger schools.
The record is 15. We need two more.
I don't know if it's due to budget cuts or what, but it feels like that site in general is not what it once was.
I agree with you. The rule was passed to not unfairly punish any 2020-21 players in case 1) the season had to be cancelled or 2) they chose to opt out.
As it turned out, the season wasn't cancelled and nearly all players opted in. They all get a free fifth year while the classes that enrolled in the fall of 2021, and beyond, don't. That doesn't quite seem fair. The 2021-22 freshman class has to spend its entire college career coexisting with the 2020-21 class because of this rule.
IMO, the NCAA should have waited until the 2020-21 season played out before deciding whether it should count or not.
Well yeah, if you ignored him going 12-1 at Stanford and 3-1 against Pete Carroll. Or taking the 49ers to the Super Bowl.
What eases my anxiety is the fact that we’re reigning national champs. Whatever happens in 2024 happens. The warm glow of last season will last a while.
We didn’t actually call 32 run plays in a row. We had at least pass plays in the second half. One drew a pass interference and on the other (on 4th down) JJ scrambled for the first down.
Speaking of Braylonfest, we might add that it was about 70 degrees at kickoff. The temperature plummeted after the sun went down. Part of the craziness of playing outdoors.
As I understand it, Jake Rudock was the good QB who emerged as the season went on and “Jake Rudd(dddd)ock” his evil doppelgänger who couldn’t complete the deep ball.
The one that always blew my mind was people not knowing how to spell Beilein. The man was here a dozen years.
To be fair, a few years later they wrote another story on him entitled “The Incredible Bust.”
Posting from the other side of the international date line?
No lies were told.
That team did have Manny Harris, DeShawn Sims and Epke Udoh. Problem was, they were basically the only scholarship-caliber players.
Hmm, I'd say just the opposite - that May seems to have a clearer vision of what he wants from his team. In three weeks he's put together what looks like our most coherent roster in a few years.
This shouldn't come up too often. Introductory courses generally will transfer over. It's upperclass credits that are more problematic.
There's a reason why Saban and Calipari went to those schools in the first place. They're bluebloods.
The main thing that left me bummed about losing Sanderson was that it would probably cost us his son as a recruit. But seeing how May is working the portal, I’m not worried about that anymore.
As far as the actual S&C stuff goes, I suspect most of these coaches are interchangeable, really.
Has he not graduated? He’s finishing up his fourth year right now.
The narrative that admissions was making it impossible to succeed was always hard to swallow when our football program won a national title while facing the same standards.
In retrospect, hiring a coach who had no college experience at all (other than as a player) was a bad idea. Communicating with admissions is one of a number of things that simply don’t exist in the pros. I don’t think we’re going to run into too many more Shannon/Love-type situations.
The issue isn’t with all undergrad transfers. Freshmen and sophomores’ credits generally transfer without too much issue. The problem is mostly with upperclassmen. Credits in upper-level courses often don’t get accepted here. If they’re able to graduate, then we can take them as grad students.
The problem with Shannon and Love is that they were in that category of non-graduating upperclassmen. We were counting on them taking courses in the summer, for which their old schools didn’t have to pay (since they were in the portal). Meanwhile, other schools offered them admission on the spot. We shouldn’t have counted on them coming.
Is this the first case of an Olympic athlete having (basically) the same name as the host city?
I suppose there might have been an athlete named London in 2012 or the other two times they hosted.
Year five is a little different than the others, though. A scholarship promise is normally for four years. May and Jace will probably have discussions about next year, if they haven’t already.
They could leave, but could also stay. May took FAU to the Final Four and then successfully convinced all of his starters to stay. At FAU!
If we land Goldin, I don’t think we’ll miss him that much.
But good for him.
I think Meyer was forced out over the Zach Smith thing. As a courtesy (and to avoid the fanbase burning the school down), they called it a resignation.
I actually don’t think the 2017-20 period would have been that different. The narrative certainly would have been different, and Harbaugh’s honeymoon with the fanbase would have lasted longer, but our weak 2014 and ‘15 recruiting classes were going to catch up to us. The 2017 team just didn’t have many talented upperclassmen. Also, Don Brown was going to be found out. I think we’d have probably still lost the next few OSU games and found ourselves struggling to break through, similar to PSU post-2016.
PSU might actually be the program that most affected by us winning the Game in 2016. That would take away Franklin’s one Big Ten title, which might have left him on shakier footing and possibly hurt his recruiting.
Unless you are actually Jim Harbaugh himself, I don’t know how you can state this for a fact.
The NFL was certainly a reason, and quite probably the biggest one, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have others.
I feel that this is still missing the larger point, which is that sign-stealing isn’t against the rules.
The alleged infraction relates to in-person scouting, which exists as a rule for financial reasons and not due to any perceived competitive advantage.
An innocent person might flee the cops in the heat of the moment, but is unlikely to engage in this kind of premeditated act (gathering up a passport, disguise and thousands of dollars days after the murder occurred). Particularly an innocent person whose wife was just killed.
There wasn’t really anything bad about Jordan’s time with the Wizards. He was still a good player, just no longer at a GOAT level. But he was also several years younger than Brady is now.
The 5-year clock actually starts once you take your first class.
Also: that he tried to flee the country (he had his passport and a disguise in the Bronco), which an innocent person almost certainly wouldn’t do. For some reason the prosecution never brought it up during the trial.
Wisconsin could well have beaten Duke in 2015.
It was a 3-point game when Burke got hit with the phantom foul on the block. We absolutely could have won.
And in 1976, two Big Ten teams played for the title.
The Big Ten also went 0-fer in the 1990s, too, despite having at least six teams in the FF that I can remember:
-1992 Michigan
-‘92 Indiana
-‘93 Michigan
-‘97 Minnesota
-‘99 MSU
-‘99 OSU
The one time the conference got over the hump in the last 30+ years, 2000 MSU got to play an 8 seed and 5 seed in the Final Four. Can’t get that kind of draw too often.
You seem to be suggesting that we had some kind of ceiling under Beilein. The man took us to the national title game twice.
Calipari took UMass and Memphis to the Final Four before UK. He's been an excellent (if a bit shady) coach throughout his career.