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Date	Title	Body
19 weeks 3 hours ago	I did a little amateur scouting of RBs	Don't ask. I had too much time and tried this just for fun. Here is my breakdown of Derrick Green. I also did an amateur breakdown on DeVeon Smith, Ty Isaac, Thomas Rawls, and Kevin Grady. If anybody, for some reason, wants more, I might post it. Derrick Green Weaknesses Number one is he has bad balance and therefore lacks any kind of lateral agility That can be partially explained by his high pad level. Another separate weakness is his lack of vision Strengths Runs with authority Hits the hole hard and fast Has good straight line burst Does have a good power base, not entirely sure if he will put it to good use every time Verdict: Hugely dependent upon a great O-line, he fits well with Michigan's philosophy of overpowering Ds   Metaphor: Wrecking ball. Or punch in the mouth. Mainly concerned with hitting you with power.   The ESPN scouting report(insider) also mentions that he just has to keep his pad level low and he'd be fine. And I also saw he was better in that aspect in his senior film. To me, he's not even a one-cut-and-go runner. Ty Isaac is. Derrick Green is more like a no-cut-and-go runner.
19 weeks 3 days ago	Also confirmed by TVH	You may be right about Wiltfong and Sapp, but this time TVH confirmed the news.
19 weeks 5 days ago	That OSU offer to Quick	That OSU offer to Quick guess it wasn't committable. Seeing how he's playing in this game, totally understandable. He's a bust. EDIT: /s just in case.
19 weeks 5 days ago	After two and a half hours watching	After two and a half hours watching, I'm convinced the organizers made a conscious effort to put Butt and Boutte on separate teams.
19 weeks 5 days ago	Don't know	how much inside you need to get, but last time I took a look at 11w they were at least 50-50.
19 weeks 5 days ago	Quick picking Louisville	Can we count this as a victory?
19 weeks 5 days ago	And	it was Jourdan Lewis who tackled him
19 weeks 5 days ago	Reschke?	Come on down!
20 weeks 1 day ago	Actually, it makes sense	I'm a former Phins fan and a longtime Jake Long fan. It was such a delight when they drafted him 1st overall. Long used to be the best LT in football two seasons ago. But that's not the case now, because of his injuries. Not only did he miss time, but even when he did tough it out(which is definitely commendable), the performance suffered. That's reason one. He was either the highest-paid or second-highest-paid OL since he was drafted under the old rookie salary rules. He hit some incentives and that pushed his salary even higher. It will not be easy to take a paycut, and taking a dramatic paycut while playing for the same team is damn near unheard of. Especially when your agent can get a lot more elsewhere. Reason number two. Just as Michigan is transitioning from RichRod's spread to Hoke's manball, Miami is transitioning  the opposite way. Sparano's run-heavy offense(Wildcat included) needed elite run-blocking linemen like Long. Philbin, the new coach, brought in the zone blocking scheme. Now Long can excel in both schemes, don't get me wrong. But whereas in a iso-blocking scheme nobody could come close to Long because of his individual talent, in the zone blocking scheme you can get away with relatively less talented OL and still somewhat get the job done. In short, you can get away with an LT half the price of Long but the product would suffer only a bit. Reason three. The Phins already have a replacement. They drafted Jonathan Martin last year, and he's a natural LT who played at that position all his life. He only moved to RT because Long was there. It would be easy to flip him to LT and find a cheaper RT. Reason four. With Long becoming increasingly injury prone and his contract expiring this season, Jeff Ireland and the front office made a lot of noise about an extension for the past two years but nothing ever materialized. And as I mentioned above, they went out and drafted Martin last year. When a local columnist suggested the possiblity that they might be planning to depart ways with Long, they(Ireland and co.) reacted with venom, angrily denying it and denigrating the columnist in the process. Which is, what they don't really do. Ireland is famous for asking inappropriate questions and being standoffish, not reacting to the media. IMO the front office was planning this all along. Reason five.
21 weeks 5 days ago	The robot from Asimov's Foundation	You'd have to consult the robot from Foundation. The robot(Chetter Hummin, I looked it up) has more data than anybody, not just recruiting-wise but every relevant gene, emotion, personality trait and sociological influence that is involved in selecting a BCS football scholarship. But even then, I think you'd have a hard time understanding his findings. EDIT: OK, after an hour or so with no response, I'm officially disheartened. #Mgoblog's nerd/geek o'meter #Crestfallen
21 weeks 6 days ago	He's a great college coach.	Perhaps one of the all-time best. Not denying that. And even more the reason why I think he'll stay. The way I understand it, strong personalities work better in college than they do in the NFL. Unless your name is Parcells, massaging egos is a critical part of the pro game. But in college, you can woo HS players and parents under the name of 'strong leadership'. I didn't think I was 'bagging' Saban, but I guess I was in the sense I don't worship him the way a lot of others do. Coaching ability-wise I said he's a good coach but not at the level of Bill Belichick. BB's genius is his flexibility, whereas the impression I get from Saban is he's pretty  rigid. And you don't hear BB making his staff absolutely miserable the way Saban did(or does, I don't know what the story is at Bama). I think his real strength is the ability to have total control over all aspects of the program. That's recruiting, information control, details, everything. But it's impossible maintain the same level of control at the NFL.
21 weeks 6 days ago	As a former Phins fan	As a former Phins fan, I'm familiar with that episode. Wright was what, a fifth round supplemental draft player? That kid wasn't an established pro like Zach Thomas was. He was a rookie, and not even a first rounder with some leverage. That episode further shows how Saban tries to intimidate players.
21 weeks 6 days ago	It's the opposite	I agree 100% on his personality. Disagree 100% that pro coaches don't have to deal with any of that. You can't scare pro players the way Saban scares his college players. And you absolutely have to kiss behinds of, the owner to start with, and depending on the structure of the team perhaps the GM.  In college you are king as long as you recruit well and win games. We saw that movie at Penn State.
21 weeks 6 days ago	He's not going	As a used-to-be diehard Miami Dolphins fan, I had a chance to follow him as the coach of my favorite team for two plus seasons. Here are the reasons: First of all, it was very, very tough to pry him from LSU. It was almost like he didn't really want to go pro but his ego telling him that he had to prove he could win there forced him to. The Phins at that time was a marquee coaching destination. They still had a good defense(Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas) and the number two pick in the draft coming up.  He will never enjoy the power he wields at the college level. He berates his assistants. He scares college players to death, but pro players, especially when things aren't going well, tend to push back to those tactics. Even the players that liked him just tolerated his attitude. A Dolphins employee dared to say 'Good morning' in the hallway to him and his special teams coach warned that employee to never do that again or he/she'll get fired. He bullied media, which he still does, but towards the end of his second year the Miami media really had an axe to grind, and that all came out when he left. He can't out-recruit every team like he does in college. He didn't draft well at all, and mind you he inherited plenty of draft picks. Word was he just couldn't make his mind on who to pick, making every draft choice an agonizing selection. He made one mistake choosing Culpepper over Brees, and that basically wrote his story at Miami. One of the strongest reasons he quit was his wife. She liked being a college HC's wife where she is the queen of that little kingdom. She didn't have as much influence in Miami's diverse culture and where she was just about middle in the pecking order, the owner(and his wife) being higher-ups. He never struck me as a genius coach. Sure, he's friends with Bellichick, but being a close friend of a genius does not equal you being a genius. He can coach defense, especially DBs as long as they don't revolt. But it's not at BB's level. I know, too many words but simply put, he's not going pro because he can't bully everybody the way he does in college.
22 weeks 2 hours ago	Is it DB's job to make you happy?	I don't know. I'm asking all of you. Isn't that the central issue here? Is his job closer to Mary Sue's, or the president of the Detroit Lions?
23 weeks 1 day ago	Joe Mixon	Add Joe Mixon(CA) to the list of longshots. To me this '14 kid looks as good as, if not better than anybody in the 2013 class. Magnus could you do a scouting report on him?
24 weeks 17 hours ago	Hudson Houck	Man I wish Hudson Houck, the old OL master was coaching White. The man is a living legend of OL coaching when it comes to man-blocking—of course there's Alex Gibbs and Ferentz when it comes to zone blocking. Just a few days with Houck could have potentially changed the future careers of LTT and Kugler. What a bummer. And I absolutely HATE that he's coaching ND's kids(Bivin and McGovern)!
24 weeks 2 days ago	Fine. You're probably right.	I am a UM grad but I didn't grow up in Michigan. I'm rather OK with not playing MSU every year, but that doesn't mean I can't understand your point. It'd hurt the competitive balance but I guess we could put MSU in the East division and switch one of Indiana and Purdue back to West. Or continue with the dreaded 'protected rivalries'. Problem is if the B1G adds two more east schools in the future then somebody will have to move West anyway.
24 weeks 2 days ago	Just Can't Get Over	the idea of splitting one division far east and far west.  And if we're following the money, the whole idea of expansion started from getting Michigan and OSU to play on the east coast. Instead, according to your plan, Minnesota and Iowa get that privilege. Here's my two divisions, um cents: East Division - Michigan, OSU, PSU, Maryland, Rutgers, Purdue, Indiana. West Division - Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Illinois, MSU. The pickle with this alignment is obviously MSU. But I'm curious to see how they'd do on their own. And if we do away with the protected cross-divisions, then it's not like we'd never see them again. I say it's about time little brother moves out.
24 weeks 3 days ago	Jadeveon, not Javedeon Brian	Jadeveon, not Javedeon Brian
24 weeks 6 days ago	Head scratcher for sure	A smallish OLB good at pursuing outside runs. Too small to be a rush end, but ESPN isn't listing any coverage skills either... sounds like a special teams ace to me. This isn't a preferred walk-on offer, because he's a NC kid already with a VT scholarship offer. Might this have something to do with Urban Meyer? The only way this makes sense is Greg Mattison wants to use him as a spy on Braxton Miller(and all those mobile QBs who'll take his place). He does seem to do a good job tracking down mobile QBs in his highlights. In fact, that's all he does.
25 weeks 2 days ago	How I read the OP's first sentence:	You can't play manball without a sun-blocking OL. How I understood the OP's first sentence: (Nodding along) Yes, of course. You need some O-linemen so huge they'd block the sun. Wait a second, sun-blocking? Did the OP mean the whitey stuff? I know some players play with built-in visors, but sun-block??
25 weeks 3 days ago	Good question.	This is just a theory I came up with, and even if this really is Delany's end game, it may eventually turn out to be unfeasible. Plus it's hard to know how these things get sorted out in the B1G because you rarely hear about it. Presumably there's a phone call here and there, and all we see is Delany announcing and the presidents backing him unanimously. Still, after the UMD and RU annoucement, who is the AD most actively talking to the media? It's our very own Dave Brandon. Makes sense if you think Michigan is the driving force behind this expansion. Supposedly Brandon started this with the (lukewarm? idk) approval of Gene Smith, then PSU wouldn't have a reason to oppose. That's the three biggest voices. If Delany pushes the plan to put Michigan, OSU, PSU with UMD and RU, then that could cause some bad blood with Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa, like we saw in the Big12. Perhaps Delany offers up MSU as a sacrifice, and puts Sparty in the West. (to which Wisc-Neb-Iowa probably responds with a McKayla not-impressed) I admit I didn't closley examine the academic angle and other sports except the explanations given to us — AAU members, UMD is a good basketball school, etc. But what we do know is, football programs feed the rest of the athletics and the Michigan-OSU football combo is what makes the B1G the most successful conference in the land. That combo doesn't get to trump everything, but at least we know that's probably where the momentum is coming from.
25 weeks 3 days ago	Smart Football	I read a Chris Brown interview somewhere, and he said if you have top talent in CFB, it probably doesn't matter which offense you run — pro style or spread. And by top talent I think he meant the top 20 or so recruiting classes nationally, in which range Michigan will always be. But for a college team with lesser talent, he suggested a spread offense gives you a chance to compete against more talented teams, and might give you a leg up against similarly talented teams. Veering a little bit off topic, it's an old story but I always thought therein lied the problem with RR, who many said wasn't a "cultural fit". RR was always the upstart who competed with relatively less talent and a brilliant scheme. He just wasn't used to the idea of smothering the opposition with talent, UM's M.O for decades. You see this everyday in business, most notably Disney hiring and then firing Michael Ovitz. There is something to be said about being more manager than innovator as the company grows in size, and one thing that struck me from the 60 minutes segment on Michigan football was how pronounced the manager side of Hoke was. Given that angle, Meyer is an interesting case. He's definitely more innovator than Hoke and more adept at managing than RR. To me though he seems closer to Hoke than RR. But one thing to keep an eye on is his tendencies to rely heavily on the Tebows and Harvins: the star-centric system. This is true with his offensive schemes but also reportedly with how he runs his locker rooms. Hoke on the other hand is more even handed, in my opinion more suited for the Michigans, NDs and USCs of CFB. Not right or wrong, but better suited.
25 weeks 4 days ago	No	He got fired too soon. I'd rather see him fired in later. I wouldn't be surprised if the new coach comes in and Derrick Green falls in love with HIM.
25 weeks 4 days ago	Sending The Game down the Toilet (Puns intended)	They had more talent on the field, we had better coaching(well, defensively anyway). Here's the real reason yesterday's game is so frustrating: our less talented but well coached defense(the strength of our team) handily beat their supposed strength, the Meyer coached no.1 offense in the B1G. We just couldn't keep our critical weaknesses(interior Oline, Toussaint out, inexperience at QB) from sending The Game down the Toilet.  Our defense and our special teams clearly outplayed their counterparts. But with the offense in full sabotage mode, no defense was going to win the game for us in that situation. If the offense had just a sub-par game or even a bad game instead of the I'm-making-sure-we-don't-win-this-game abomination in the second half, we should have won.  You know when you accidentally cut yourself, the blood is gushing out and you realize how deep the cut is? You just know it's going to leave a scar for a long, long time. A day after the cut, I can't stop staring at it.
26 weeks 1 day ago	If it's just the east coast alumni	If the end game is just the east coast alumni, then wouldn't it be easier to just schedule one east coast OOC game every year? Extending membership seems like a very steep price to pay for just that. And Delany is repeatedly being quoted that this expansion is about demographics. Pundits seem to interpret this as TV sets, but it may have to do more with recruiting as I said above. Also there's already talk about moving games to the MetLife and Yankee Stadium and more surprisingly, whether it was a prerequisite for conference entry(it wasn't).
26 weeks 1 day ago	Srry, double post	.
26 weeks 1 day ago	Thanks for reading the long post	I wouldn't put it past Delany and Michigan/OSU to put the five states in the same division. It would probably upset a few teams, but I think the Michigan-OSU-Delany trifecta has the power and incentive to do so. Hey, if you split the B1G down the middle all 5 of them go to the east. And I'm not doubting PSU's clout, but within the B1G they're still relatively new and, if my prediction holds true they get to be in the East division too! I totally agree that making the B1G the richest, most profitable conference in the nation is the end game. But it already is. The question is how does it maintain, and get even more profitable?
26 weeks 1 day ago	End Game Theory	I'd start a new thread if I could but since I can't and I'll post it here: What is the end game here? Is it, as the OP is assuming, to make RU or MD another USCe? Why? Sure, RU and/or MD would be thrilled, but why would Delany do that? The more important question is - who is making decisions here? What is the goal of that said decision-maker(s)? The easy answer is Delany and he's doing it for money. But really, who is Delany working for, and does that boss demand short-term profits from him? If Delany does a lousy job, who fires him? All the B1G presidents? No. It's basically Michigan and OSU. Just look at the crude fan numbers that Nate Silver charted. OSU and Michigan are one, two in the whole nation. And if Michigan and OSU really wanted short term profit, they'd do something akin to the Longhorn network and squeeze every penny out of the B1G network. Oh, it's possible. Who is there to stop them? MSU? They're lucky to be in the B1G. PSU is, and will always be an outsider when it comes to B1G decision-making, and they won't be able to persuade Wisconsin and Iowa to side with them against the Michigan-OSU controlling party. So the way I view it, Delany largely works for Michigan and OSU, and what Michigan and OSU wants isn't really the short term profits. Then what could M&O possibly want? Of course, they want LONG TERM PROFITS! The way they structured the B1G network contract where everybody gets a fair share of money, you could even argue M&O is giving money away to the likes of Minnesota and Purdue. But it helps maintain conference stability. And in the eyes of M&O, maintaining conference stability is more profitable long term than squeezing every penny out of the little 10 short term. So establishing viewership in the NE TV markets definitely is a step in that direction, long term profits. Or is it? The problem with that is, as Brian and a lot of others pointed out, it's not a given those NE TV money would roll in after a few years. And even if it does, you'll have to divide it by 14, minus the investment and the exit fees. Doesn't exactly scream long term profts, especially for the two B1G decision-makers. Furthermore, Delany isn't stupid. He knows adding RU and MD is going to dilute the whole product, which will NOT help with the long term profits. Then why? My theory is, Michigan and OSU want long term profits, but not in the way you think(TVs). Did you watch the 60 minutes segment, where alabama tripled its revenue after hiring Nick Saban? What changed? Yes, they won national championships. I think Michigan and OSU want to secure long term profits by winning championships, or at least coming close to it. Now, how it the world does adding MD and RU help M&O win championships? That's the tricky part. I think it's two prong. The first prong's been well documented, the power game where B1G has more influence on the playoff format, which will presumably help Michigan and OSU. The second prong, which people mention a lot but not in the vein of Michigan and OSU specifically is, recruiting. YES, I said it, Delany is doing this to help Michigan and OSU recruit 5 star kids. Far-fetched? Ridiculous? Perhaps. But the midwest from a recruiting perspective is in a dire situation. They can field a competitive team, but admit it, they're short on blue-chip talent. The Northeast has some blue chip talent. Not a lot, but probably enough to satisfy Michigan and OSU, and hopefully enough to vault one of them into a national championship game. And my guess is, Michigan and OSU will not be willing to share that blue chip talent with other B1G teams, unlike they do with the B1G network money. So here is where the division alignment comes in. In my humble opinion, Michigan and OSU will be paired with the east teams, PSU, MD, and RU. Maybe not immeidately, but probably sooner than later. And those rumors where the B1G will strong arm RU and MD into playing their home games in larger stadiums such as MetLife against M&O, I think they'll turn out to be true. And the B1G will likely have a heavy hand in MD and RU's decision-making, because they'd want to get them to at least a competitive level. You think Delany won't do that? Hey, that's what a B1G membership and the subsequent bailout money buys for you these days.

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