If your pass pro is sketchy (and lets be honest so is run blocking) but you have elite WR talent and a QB who has ok but not great arm strength who is an athlete-you run a tempo driven dink and dunk get the ball out quick on O- not 12 or 13 personnel where you have 5-7 step drop backs and 2-3 guy going out on long, slow developing routes. Scheme killed this team offensively.
They had 2 choices to mitigate the overall unathleticism of the Oline: run a scheme that maxes the talent on hand and minimizes weakness (spread em out, get it out quick) or run a scheme that masks weaknesses by going heavy and favors TOP to keep the D fresh by playing in a phone booth. They obviously picked in their minds the “safe” route...but it obviously wasn’t the right route.
How Bush is an analyst and Jay is a coach? The HC cleaning house, restructuring and conspicuously keeping his kid employed in positions where there are other more qualified candidates out there is just bad juju.
If you play that much D due to the O's inability to do anything, you will get tired and give up points. There is no D in America that could carry this O.
Was one of the first, Class of 1952 Stadium has been around since the late 90s. Mens and womens lax played there. Its a so so facility. Barton stadium in Denver is really nice.
The new UM stadium is the nicest i have seen. Feels cozy, great stands, video board, locker rooms beneath stadium, they really knocked it out of the park. Has to be the nicest one I have seen yet, and I have seen them all.
Please stop insinuating that the fans were booing the players? They were clearly booing the playcalling. There is no need to put these guys on the defensive about booing towards them that wasn't directed at them.
I expected a major letdown this game and unfortunately got what I thought was going to happen.
Incredibly young team comes off an offseason of preparing like a bowl game for Florida, primetime game at Gerryworld, get the big V, come back to classes starting and a Cincy opponent who struggled with Austin Peay. Add the hype on campus all week they must have felt-getting HJs and BJs all week from male and female alike...Young guys first home opener. This was classic letdown material.
Yeah Speight is not great. Bad throwing motion, saling balls, fumbling. It wasn't all on him though. Playcalling, defense setting the edge, right side of the line, RBs except Isaac, special teams...it was far from a clean game in other phases.
Has to be frustrating for the staff to have an elite talent like Peters who could take the job but he just isn't showing the moxie/command/whatever required by the head ball coach to take that next step.
Hard to call a great game when half your Oline is green and your QB stinks.
I'll take Peter's lack of moxie and his arm and athleticism over what I am seeing any day.
Stares down recievers
Waits too long to throw
Laconic delivery
Sails a lot of balls
Going to lose some games w a qb who cant hit open guys (esp when the line gives him time), and is INT prone in big games.
I loved this kids HS tape and thought him very underrated.
That said, I see this as the coaches building depth across the line. Ulizio was also backing up Cole, and Runyan was also getting reps at G from some reports. Its a good thing that guys will get experience at multiple positions should injuries arise. Thats just good OL coaching. Guys are moving around in camp which should surprise no one. Hopefully someone separates, but gaining depth is never a bad thing.
Wasn't TW and Fisch only supposed to be here short term anyway? From when they got hired I always assumed they would be gone within a few years to pursue their professional aspirations and that this was temporary-get the propgram on the right track and head out on their career paths kind of situation. Seemed like there is no smoke here but people want to assume fire.
Best of luck to him. While he is talented and I am sure he will do well at Bama, he isn't a generational talent in the vein of Bo Jackson or AP. He was always going to Bama anyway, it is the safe choice. Honestly There were 4 other backs in the AA game I liked better.
Kareem Walker is essentially a 2017 frosh w a year of training table, practice and weights. I like what I am hearing about his progress.
OMS could be Evans 2.0, and Taylor has some great lateral ability.
There is a reason AL tailbacks are great at AL, and middling in the pros: they traditionally run behind an excellent O line in college and rarely get touched until they are already into the second level.
If we can improve our Oline (which we are) I expect the backs we have to be really, really good. Add to that some dynamic WRs, dominant TEs and an athletic QB - all developing or on the way- this is going to be a great team.
Don't sleep on Spanellis. Kid is massive, strong as hell (loves the weightroom) and is extremely smart (Ivy level grades at Gilman).
Without saying too much I think when it is all said and done the swap for Hamilton will turn out in our favor. Poggi knew what he was doing.
Ulizio's HS tape showed he played with a real edge.
I also love Honingford's tpe re: upside. Kid is a lean 285 and has great feet, and also a nice edge to him. Steuber IMO is a gaurd-another hidden gem.
I think in a few years we will be talking about how this staff was able to bring in studs, mine diamonds and make them into a formidable Oline factory.
Oline more than anything takes time to build. Have to feel good about the future even though there are a lot of unkowns in 2017.
Story breaks that he asked AA game folks to "re-route" to AL. Mind you these are the same AA game folks who kept his original destination a secret for this long and now want to spoil it?
Not buying any of it.
Perhaps he was all ready to come to Ann Arbor and something made his change midweek (bonding w AL commits, hears that Scarborough is going pro, who knows)
This is fun and crazy but unless he confirms it it is all rumors.
Bamamag Guy recently posted something that doesn't really confirm anything except that nothing has changed and all these flight rumors and travel plans are just rumors.
Kid who hates the high profile-ness of the process picks UA early. Makes lots of UA friends.
Gets recruited to UM. Realizes he wants to go to UM but needs an easy way to let people he likes down. In order to not blow things up he remains coy w Bama friends but asks UM buddies to keep it a secret until he can just show up on campus. Once on campus somewhere there is virtually nothing anyone can do-he is gone and ain't coing back.
Bama friends scared of the unkown (who were obviously not instructed to keep his commitment private since it is a known thing) begin the first stages of grief absent of any new info and obviously haven't been told to keep it cool.
UM friends who know he is coming stay true to his wishes and remain silent.
He gets to let people he likes down slowly and begin his next chapter with minimal noise.
You all act like OSU and Bama play by the same rules UM does. There are ZERO admissions issues with OSU and Bama. OSU may as well be an SEC school with how they approach recruiting - bagmen and the like. No barriers to success at OSU. None. The guy left an SEC school to coach at OSU. You think he did that without knowing they would do like the SEC do? You're crazy. He knows he has that SEC juice at OSU.
On the other hand-you have a coach and a staff that has a proven track record of taking undervalued recruits and making them ass kickers...in a very short amount of time.
You all look at this year's team like Harbaugh put it together himself and this is the culmination of his and his staff's football acumen and ability to coach. These are mostly Hoke guys. Let that set in. Year 2 and they were on the cusp of the playoff with some really questionable talent at some major spots, including depth. Thats amazing.
This was a mediocre group that the staff has gotten to play exceptional football. If not for this staff some of these guys don't sniff the NFL.
In what world does that not give you a Grinch like grin?
Give me Kaleke Hudson's all day. ROI for UM will be greater than their rival over the time Harbaugh's here.
Started the game 3-12 for 29 yds and a fumble off the sack where he presumably got hurt. Then regrouped to go 13-18 for 200 yds and a TD, no picks all while banged up.
If this is Speight playing poorly, I will take it.
If you think Michigan is HUGE with hotbeds kids you are mistaken. Its a draw but not YUUUGE.
The brand is strong to be sure, but those kids can have their pick of the Ivies, Duke, Uva, ND, Cuse, UNC, Hop, MD, etc. depending on their relative levels of stupidity. UM may be in consideration but UM isn't bigger than those I just mentioned. its not that easy and thinking so is insulting to the coaches.
UM has taken the road of UNC, Hop, Uva to go early with recruiting. Marquette, Richmond, High Point have not. Hop seems to be putting it together this year but this is a team that hasn't been to the mountaintop in a while. With their history and resources that is a joke. It all comes down to being able to identify, and then coach up talent. The best do it and win. Time will tell with UM.
Denver is becoming some darling case study but lets be honest-Coach T was great at PU when admissions standards were lower, struggled when they were higher. Left to DU where they are laughable compared to the B10 or ACC schools. Bates, who replaced him, inherited those higher standards and you pair a bad fit of a coach to obstacles that can't be overcome... and Upenn puts 20 on you.
ND's rise comes with the expansion of the game on many levels. Their coaches didn't all of the sudden become great, their talent got better. They LUCKED into Sergio Perkovic. Kid wasn't even ranked. UM could have had him...it is what it is. ND gets a lot of Catholic kids from the east coast Catholic schools, who-10-15 years ago were awful and now many of them are powerhouses. That helps.
UM has a ton to offer, hell I would be so lucky if my 5yo could play and go to school there one day. My take on the program is they put too much into praying at the altar of the block M. The brand is not going to win games for you. Good coaching, good talent, and a will to compete every day do that.
Losing to Dartmouth is just a sign of softness. They should have beaten them by 7.
Let's be honest, this has more to do with the fact that Harbaugh is setting the bar, work ethic wise. No stone or idea gets left unturned. These guys mostly get the benefit of recruiting within 400 miles of their campus. Now they have a national media frenzy of a coach who will go anywhere and do anything (legal) to build a winner and get great players from anywhere. That is what this is really about.
Never seen a softer bunch of "men" than these SEC coaches/admins.
What I hear about Hamilton and his work ethic and toughness is disconcerting. Great body and frame, but Aleric only lacks the development that Hamilton has, not the frame, and certainly not the athleticism or toughness. Bulk him up, teach him the skills and his cieling is much higher squarely because to survive you have to have a want to and will to, as Drevno and Harbaugh always repeat.
If you are a high rated OL recruit at that size and lift less than DBs on your HS team, I don't want you.
Have friends at Gilman, this is a great pickup. Hamilton isn't exactly a weight room guy but this kid is. Get them both 'shirted and in shape and they will maul people for the forseeable future.
That Rey is a former Jedi trainee (of Luke's) who us uber strong with the force (moreso than Kylo) and was hidden when Kylo killed all of Luke's Jedi trainees (of which Kylo/Ben was one and was seduced to the Dark side by Snoke). Luke goes into hiding after. She was mind wiped and gets her memory and feeling of the force backduring this movie (maybe... an awakening of some kind)--I suspect more of her past will come out in 8 a la Luke and Vader in 5. This is Disney after all and formula is their thing.
When he stands next to 6 ish footers he is almost there. There is a pic of him with his dad and Derrick Brooks (both 6') and he only looks a hair shorter. Not worried about it.
You have a TO and there is one last hail mary play left in the game. Take the TO and get settled. Put Megatron back there to track and bat it down...jesus that was awful coaching.
As a Giants fan I won't lose sleep. Living in Detroit I root for the Lions when I can but holy shit that was bad coaching. Someone needs to tell Caldwell TOs don't rollover to the next game.
Mattison had a top 10 D and Durkin comes in with tons of returners (and an added PEPPERZ) and makes them top 4? I assume that is expected. He didn't work miracles, he worked his job.
The LBs stunk this year and I am not willing to simply concede that they just didn't take the coaching. Maybe the LB coaching sucked and they sucked as a result.
Recent Comments
Tarik Black not blocking is becoming problematic.
If your pass pro is sketchy (and lets be honest so is run blocking) but you have elite WR talent and a QB who has ok but not great arm strength who is an athlete-you run a tempo driven dink and dunk get the ball out quick on O- not 12 or 13 personnel where you have 5-7 step drop backs and 2-3 guy going out on long, slow developing routes. Scheme killed this team offensively.
They had 2 choices to mitigate the overall unathleticism of the Oline: run a scheme that maxes the talent on hand and minimizes weakness (spread em out, get it out quick) or run a scheme that masks weaknesses by going heavy and favors TOP to keep the D fresh by playing in a phone booth. They obviously picked in their minds the “safe” route...but it obviously wasn’t the right route.
Please stop insinuating that the fans were booing the players? They were clearly booing the playcalling. There is no need to put these guys on the defensive about booing towards them that wasn't directed at them.
I expected a major letdown this game and unfortunately got what I thought was going to happen.
Incredibly young team comes off an offseason of preparing like a bowl game for Florida, primetime game at Gerryworld, get the big V, come back to classes starting and a Cincy opponent who struggled with Austin Peay. Add the hype on campus all week they must have felt-getting HJs and BJs all week from male and female alike...Young guys first home opener. This was classic letdown material.
Yeah Speight is not great. Bad throwing motion, saling balls, fumbling. It wasn't all on him though. Playcalling, defense setting the edge, right side of the line, RBs except Isaac, special teams...it was far from a clean game in other phases.
Has to be frustrating for the staff to have an elite talent like Peters who could take the job but he just isn't showing the moxie/command/whatever required by the head ball coach to take that next step.
Wasn't TW and Fisch only supposed to be here short term anyway? From when they got hired I always assumed they would be gone within a few years to pursue their professional aspirations and that this was temporary-get the propgram on the right track and head out on their career paths kind of situation. Seemed like there is no smoke here but people want to assume fire.
Don't sleep on Spanellis. Kid is massive, strong as hell (loves the weightroom) and is extremely smart (Ivy level grades at Gilman).
Without saying too much I think when it is all said and done the swap for Hamilton will turn out in our favor. Poggi knew what he was doing.
Ulizio's HS tape showed he played with a real edge.
I also love Honingford's tpe re: upside. Kid is a lean 285 and has great feet, and also a nice edge to him. Steuber IMO is a gaurd-another hidden gem.
I think in a few years we will be talking about how this staff was able to bring in studs, mine diamonds and make them into a formidable Oline factory.
Oline more than anything takes time to build. Have to feel good about the future even though there are a lot of unkowns in 2017.
Three destinations: AL, MI or CA.
Denies he is going back home.
Denies he is on same flight as Bama QB recruit.
Story breaks that he asked AA game folks to "re-route" to AL. Mind you these are the same AA game folks who kept his original destination a secret for this long and now want to spoil it?
Not buying any of it.
Perhaps he was all ready to come to Ann Arbor and something made his change midweek (bonding w AL commits, hears that Scarborough is going pro, who knows)
This is fun and crazy but unless he confirms it it is all rumors.
Bamamag Guy recently posted something that doesn't really confirm anything except that nothing has changed and all these flight rumors and travel plans are just rumors.
Any story on this kid will get clicks...
I think this has the potential to be a transformative class. They have a great mix of elites, studs and sleepers.
Here is what I see:
Kid who hates the high profile-ness of the process picks UA early. Makes lots of UA friends.
Gets recruited to UM. Realizes he wants to go to UM but needs an easy way to let people he likes down. In order to not blow things up he remains coy w Bama friends but asks UM buddies to keep it a secret until he can just show up on campus. Once on campus somewhere there is virtually nothing anyone can do-he is gone and ain't coing back.
Bama friends scared of the unkown (who were obviously not instructed to keep his commitment private since it is a known thing) begin the first stages of grief absent of any new info and obviously haven't been told to keep it cool.
UM friends who know he is coming stay true to his wishes and remain silent.
He gets to let people he likes down slowly and begin his next chapter with minimal noise.
Its a great move IMO.
You all act like OSU and Bama play by the same rules UM does. There are ZERO admissions issues with OSU and Bama. OSU may as well be an SEC school with how they approach recruiting - bagmen and the like. No barriers to success at OSU. None. The guy left an SEC school to coach at OSU. You think he did that without knowing they would do like the SEC do? You're crazy. He knows he has that SEC juice at OSU.
On the other hand-you have a coach and a staff that has a proven track record of taking undervalued recruits and making them ass kickers...in a very short amount of time.
You all look at this year's team like Harbaugh put it together himself and this is the culmination of his and his staff's football acumen and ability to coach. These are mostly Hoke guys. Let that set in. Year 2 and they were on the cusp of the playoff with some really questionable talent at some major spots, including depth. Thats amazing.
This was a mediocre group that the staff has gotten to play exceptional football. If not for this staff some of these guys don't sniff the NFL.
In what world does that not give you a Grinch like grin?
Give me Kaleke Hudson's all day. ROI for UM will be greater than their rival over the time Harbaugh's here.
Coaches need to stop getting cute with the playcalling.
OSU is going to jail sex this team unless they find both a brain and a pulse.
Started the game 3-12 for 29 yds and a fumble off the sack where he presumably got hurt. Then regrouped to go 13-18 for 200 yds and a TD, no picks all while banged up.
If this is Speight playing poorly, I will take it.
Please find a better way to ask a question reporters.
Some of you are educated.
Want:
1952-55 Willys Jeep Wagon
1969 Chevelle SS
1972 VW Superbeetle
I have an 84 CJ7...but love those old Wagons.
If you think Michigan is HUGE with hotbeds kids you are mistaken. Its a draw but not YUUUGE.
The brand is strong to be sure, but those kids can have their pick of the Ivies, Duke, Uva, ND, Cuse, UNC, Hop, MD, etc. depending on their relative levels of stupidity. UM may be in consideration but UM isn't bigger than those I just mentioned. its not that easy and thinking so is insulting to the coaches.
UM has taken the road of UNC, Hop, Uva to go early with recruiting. Marquette, Richmond, High Point have not. Hop seems to be putting it together this year but this is a team that hasn't been to the mountaintop in a while. With their history and resources that is a joke. It all comes down to being able to identify, and then coach up talent. The best do it and win. Time will tell with UM.
Denver is becoming some darling case study but lets be honest-Coach T was great at PU when admissions standards were lower, struggled when they were higher. Left to DU where they are laughable compared to the B10 or ACC schools. Bates, who replaced him, inherited those higher standards and you pair a bad fit of a coach to obstacles that can't be overcome... and Upenn puts 20 on you.
ND's rise comes with the expansion of the game on many levels. Their coaches didn't all of the sudden become great, their talent got better. They LUCKED into Sergio Perkovic. Kid wasn't even ranked. UM could have had him...it is what it is. ND gets a lot of Catholic kids from the east coast Catholic schools, who-10-15 years ago were awful and now many of them are powerhouses. That helps.
UM has a ton to offer, hell I would be so lucky if my 5yo could play and go to school there one day. My take on the program is they put too much into praying at the altar of the block M. The brand is not going to win games for you. Good coaching, good talent, and a will to compete every day do that.
Losing to Dartmouth is just a sign of softness. They should have beaten them by 7.
Good Times Bad Times-Led Zeppelin
Sweet Jane - Mott the Hoople
Baby Blue- Badfinger
Slow Ride-Foghat
Street Fightin Man- Rolling Stones
Dear Mr Fantasy - Traffic
Fox on the Run-Sweet
Surrender-Cheap Trick
Sweet Emotion-Aerosmith
Down on the Corner- CCR
American Girl-Tom Petty and the HBs
Low Rider- War
Boys are Back in Town-Thin Lizzy
Search and Destroy-Iggy and the Stooges
There are so many---that was an age of cruisin...
Almost all of them do this, but Princeton was the first, starting this kind of program in 2000-2001.
And...
Let's be honest, this has more to do with the fact that Harbaugh is setting the bar, work ethic wise. No stone or idea gets left unturned. These guys mostly get the benefit of recruiting within 400 miles of their campus. Now they have a national media frenzy of a coach who will go anywhere and do anything (legal) to build a winner and get great players from anywhere. That is what this is really about.
Never seen a softer bunch of "men" than these SEC coaches/admins.
If I could upvote this more I would.
What I hear about Hamilton and his work ethic and toughness is disconcerting. Great body and frame, but Aleric only lacks the development that Hamilton has, not the frame, and certainly not the athleticism or toughness. Bulk him up, teach him the skills and his cieling is much higher squarely because to survive you have to have a want to and will to, as Drevno and Harbaugh always repeat.
If you are a high rated OL recruit at that size and lift less than DBs on your HS team, I don't want you.
Has same measurables as Hamilton, but is much tougher and love that he plays hoops (Renaissance ain't no joke).
Come on Down!!
Will not be dissapopinted to see Hamilton go, based on what some have told me about his toughness and strength.
Give me a huge bodied 3* with a 5* work ethic and a nasty streak all day. Playing O line is dirty work.
Perfectly encapsulates the Harbaugh philosophy:
"If you want to be the man, you have to beat the man!"
He looks more 6'6 320 than he does 6'5 295. Everyone carries weight differently but he looks big next to Hamilton, who is 6'6 290.
Have friends at Gilman, this is a great pickup. Hamilton isn't exactly a weight room guy but this kid is. Get them both 'shirted and in shape and they will maul people for the forseeable future.
Recruiting is a brutal business.
This kid will have offers and likely take one to a first class institution.
This kid will be playing somewhere for a free education next Fall.
Get ready, because this is only his first recruiting cycle.
About this kid. Love the route running ability. That polish is going to serve him well at the next level.
On another note, Chris Evans reminds me of Cadillac Williams. Most folks look at him as a slot but...don't sleep on him playing RB.
Some jamoke downvoted you for this?
Big ups to the grapplers. BIG win vs the Sucknuts.
To be the man, you have to beat the man.
That Rey is a former Jedi trainee (of Luke's) who us uber strong with the force (moreso than Kylo) and was hidden when Kylo killed all of Luke's Jedi trainees (of which Kylo/Ben was one and was seduced to the Dark side by Snoke). Luke goes into hiding after. She was mind wiped and gets her memory and feeling of the force backduring this movie (maybe... an awakening of some kind)--I suspect more of her past will come out in 8 a la Luke and Vader in 5. This is Disney after all and formula is their thing.
When he stands next to 6 ish footers he is almost there. There is a pic of him with his dad and Derrick Brooks (both 6') and he only looks a hair shorter. Not worried about it.
There is some chatter on the 247 Board that Nauta may not be as far out of the fold with this announcement as thought.
I truly hope anonymous internet people are correct. They are never wrong right?!
You have a TO and there is one last hail mary play left in the game. Take the TO and get settled. Put Megatron back there to track and bat it down...jesus that was awful coaching.
As a Giants fan I won't lose sleep. Living in Detroit I root for the Lions when I can but holy shit that was bad coaching. Someone needs to tell Caldwell TOs don't rollover to the next game.
wow.
Mattison had a top 10 D and Durkin comes in with tons of returners (and an added PEPPERZ) and makes them top 4? I assume that is expected. He didn't work miracles, he worked his job.
The LBs stunk this year and I am not willing to simply concede that they just didn't take the coaching. Maybe the LB coaching sucked and they sucked as a result.
I know a good many Twerp fans, and they are...less than excited about this.
Not quite the splash they were expecting.
Would be an improvement.
Poop was Poop.