Good work as a snapshot, though slightly deceiving. I think you included walk-ons because the only scholarship seniors I see on Michigan's roster are Llewelyn and Baker, who are grad transfers. And then to account that 1 of those 2 seniors has missed most of the season with a torn ACL.
Wow. A&M has been decimated in just a few turns. They've gone from 60 territories about 4-5 turns ago to now just 22. They went from 39 down to 22 in 1 day!
If Nebraska keeps winning, they could move from a Q3 win to a Q2 win for Michigan. They're ranked #92 right now in NET (top 75 home win is a Q2). It would obviously look better to have another Q1 win with MSU winning, but also not a bad thing if Nebraska won.
Shouldn't eligibility for Dickinson, Williams, and Jace Howard all be the same (Jr)? This is all their 3rd year out of high school (part of the 2020 class). Though Jace may have redshirted his freshman year, so he could possibly be So/Jr).
I have a good friend who is a lower-level college football referee -- does JCs, FCS, and practices/scrimmages for local FBS programs.
My friend says this is fairly textbook targeting. I don't know who made the video, but the argument in that posted video is that first contact is made by the side/logo of the TCU player's helmet before the crown makes contact with Loveland's back/neck, therefore it negates the "crown" part of the targeting rule. My friend says this is incorrect. Just because the TCU player's helmet happens to *glance* the back of Loveland's helmet on his way to hitting Loveland with the crown does NOT negate the fact that the TCU player "targeted an opponent with the crown (top) of his helmet". Refs are trained to look for where the hitter's eyes are -- if they are looking straight down at the ground (which the TCU player is), then it is likely crown/targeting. The rule also states, "when in question, it is a foul", so to bronxblue's point, if you're trying to justify not calling targeting by looking at every still-frame and split-second of contact, you're looking at it incorrectly and that is NOT how the refs are trained.
With that said, the only reason I was irritated at the non-targeting call was because of the egregious call to take away Roman Wilson's TD earlier in the game. While it wouldn't make up for it, I felt like the replay official owed us one.
My ref friend said the reversal of Roman Wilson's TD was especially bad because the replay official completely "over" officiated. On replay, he felt they could have justified saying the TD was "confirmed" because Wilson did not have possession until he was in the end zone, but was expecting the call to "stand" because there was certainly not "irrefutable video evidence" to justify reversing the call on the field.
Kentucky hit 9 threes in the game, and I would consider maybe only 2-3 of those as "wide open". Most of them were heavily contested.
Whereas Michigan continues to shoot poorly at the rim and Hunter misses at least 2-3 bunnies every game because he has ZERO lift. I'm not sure he's been a Camp Sanderson participant.
Free throw shooting is 1 of MANY issues -- and not the biggest issue -- this team has. Kentucky won the game and only shot 10/20 on free throws, worse than Michigan.
Defense. Jett is extremely talented, but may be the worst defender I have witnessed in a Michigan uniform. Yes, he's a freshman, but he's also likely a one-and-done and I don't see him making big strides on that end of the floor before the end of the season. If he's not hot on offense, he's a net negative because of his defensive struggles. Michigan played well when he sat for most of the first half, Kentucky was just unconscious from 3, making several that were heavily contested. Combine this with our guards inability to keep anyone out of the lane.
The media has been nicer about it then I would be, but Juwan's rotations are AWFUL. Why can't he sprinkle in bench players with starters like every other coach? Instead he does near-full line changes and teams almost always increase the lead during that time.
Some states actually do allow high school athletes to receive NIL. I'm not sure, but California may be one of them.
However, the state of Texas specifically put into law that high school athletes could not receive NIL, which is why Ewers left early to OSU. He left, collected his check to redshirt for 1 season, then transferred to Texas.
It seems to me like Zayden High is more of a college 4 with his skillset and could definitely play alongside someone like a Tarris Reed or Papa Kante. Or is he really just being recruited as a 5? I would be disappointed if we stopped recruiting him if Kante commits in the near future.
What I've noticed from my (untrained) eye is this:
The first few games, the deep balls McNamara was hitting he put plenty of air under the ball to allow his receiver to adjust and make a play on the ball.
Lately, he seems to have the Joe Milton disease of "driving" the ball down the field, not putting enough air under it, and it ends up being overthrown.
To me, he's trying to pinpoint and make the perfect throw when he just needs to make a good throw and let his receiver go to work. At least those types of throws give you a chance, whereas the alternative is 0% chance of being caught. It happened on the flea flicker and the deep flag route to Sainristil.
Also, it seems to me almost all deep throws have the defender with his back to the ball. Even an under-thrown pass has a much better chance for the receiver that is looking back (at least a lot sooner than the defender) and can adjust or at least draw a PI flag (joke's on me for assuming we'd ever get that flag). Don't be afraid to throw an interception because the probability of that happening is extremely low, and even if it does happen, it becomes essentially a punt anyway.
I went to the Utah State @ UNLV football game this last Saturday (wife is a Utah State alum). We didn't hear anything from the slot machine, just saw it on the video board when they used it (after touchdowns and turnovers). It's fine -- let the kids have fun if they like it -- but UNLV is going to have to get a lot more creative to generate more excitement for the football program. They were winless last season, are winless this season, and haven't been good since maybe the 70s? They have been to (4) TOTAL bowl games in their history. It was cool going to the Raiders new stadium, though.
On top of that, Kenneth Grant's recruiter and what-would-be his position coach at OSU is a nearly 70-year-old Larry Johnson. Let's talk about stability when the guy could retire at any time.
I would not be surprised at all to see a shake-up of the entire OSU defensive staff after this season and Johnson just ends up hanging it up.
Yeah, that and I would have Ojabo as the starter over Upshaw (not filled since they rotate so much), and maybe even take the blue out of Hill-Green's circle with how many snaps Colson got last week.
They're a cornerback factory because they recruit elite 5* cornerbacks out of high school. These recruits would be first round picks whether they went to OSU or Michigan or Ball State or anywhere else.
Seth harps on this often, and I believe he's right. OSU/Coombs recruit elite DBs out of high school, don't coach them (relying on their elite athleticism and raw ability), and then boast about all their high draft picks to attract the next round of elite recruits. Rinse. Repeat. It has nothing to do with their coaching/development at OSU.
Obviously, the strategy works for them, but OSU's DBs have consistently under-performed for years under Coombs compared to their lofty rankings out of high school. Shaun Wade is the latest example. A 5* recruit who showed promise before Coombs came back to OSU and then regressed this last season. His draft stock plummeted from a 1st round lock after his junior season to being selected in the 5th round.
While the stories are similar in that information was leaked, the similarities end there.
This Wisconsin situation comes off as petty in trying to get back at a coach for not being "likeable" enough. Gard isn't being accused of doing anything wrong (cheating) or illegal (abuse). It was also a private team meeting that was secretly recorded (illegal in some states), then leaked, by a either a former player or disgruntled former employee (rumored former intern that was passed over for an assistant coaching job). These kinds of interactions and meetings happen ALL THE TIME in college and professional sports.
On the other hand, ASU was exposed for blatantly cheating, and all during a global pandemic. Also, it wasn't leaked by someone passed over for a job. It was leaked by a former employee who left because they didn't want to be part of the toxic/cheating inner circle that Antonio Pierce had created at ASU.
"Dream schools" seem to mean so very little in recruiting. Yes, it likely gets that dream school into a top list and a shot, but you don't have to look any further than Michigan being Domani Jackson's dream school to know it doesn't mean a whole lot and doesn't mean that Florida is now all-of-a-sudden "the team to beat".
I'd say Filipowski reminds me more of Mo than Franz, and seems to be more advanced offensively at the same age. Franz is more G/F whereas Filipowski is more F/C.
That said, I'd love to get both Lively AND Filipowski after watching that film, with Lively as more of a defensive, dropoff 5 and Filipowski as the skilled stretch 4.
Correct. Sam Webb has said over and over on his podcast that the rankings have not caught up to Jordan Phillips film. He was basically predicting that Phillips would be bumped up to a 4* once the services are able to actually review his film.
It goes both ways. You'll get talented P5 players who get buried on the depth chart and transfer to G5 schools to get more playing time. It has been happening already.
It's been "Musical Chairs" for several years now. It will now just have a lot more participants and a lot more chairs.
FSU -- historically and this year -- tries to block EVERYTHING. They are among the nation's leaders in blocked shots (#11), but they are also #247 in fouls per game. Pump fakes will be vital and will likely lead to a bunch of FTs, which Michigan has (usually) been very good at this season.
Mike Smith will probably have a hard time, but he can still certainly run the offense and create for others by getting into the paint.
Regarding how to utilize Franz defensively -- I would put him on that 5th guy (Hyatt) and have him really help off of him. While Franz is a great on-ball defender, he may be an even better help defender. Let him be aggressive in help defense on Thomas, Days, and Smart. When Thomas puts the ball on the floor, he's not passing, so you could almost double him once he starts to make a move.
Against a team like LSU, just make sure they're taking the tough shots and not getting easy ones. Don't send them to the line and REBOUND.
Also, Hunter needs to be more patient in the post. He has rushed since coming out of quarantine, which has led to turnovers. With the way refs have been calling this tournament, just go up strong without elbows and you'll very likely get FTs or an easy layup/dunk when they don't want to pick up a foul.
I get that, but I'm certainly not going to complain about this year's conference schedule. 4 of our "1 games" are against the next top conference teams (Illinois, OSU, Iowa, Purdue). We certainly lucked-out there for this season.
I don't think Vastardis is off to the league. Didn't see anything announced and it's not like he's on any draft boards. Plus, 2020 would have no effect on his eligibility. I would expect him to be back and be our starting C.
Uhh, yikes. Don't take any of those 3 schools you mentioned. If Nebraska is not a "good fit" as you say, those other schools are worse fits. The B1G does still have certain academic standards, and while I'm not totally in-the-know on those schools' academics, I'm pretty sure they are nowhere near even the lowest-quality academic schools in the conference.
I'd be fine dropping Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers; then adding Pitt (because F*** ND).
That would mean an assistant we are expecting to stay is leaving then (Moore, Jay Harbaugh, Gattis, Warriner). Right now they are at 10 assistants, which I believe is the limit.
This is great, but I also think further evidence that Domani Jackson is headed elsewhere.
I also don't believe Jackson and Will Johnson are 100% a package deal. We see recruits say that every cycle and it rarely happens. Even in Johnson's latest interview after his visit to USC, he was very non-committal about being a package deal with Jackson, basically saying "yeah, if we like the same school and it's the right fit for both of us."
Can you elaborate more on your previous comment that the last couple years have taken a toll on Jim Harbaugh? Are any of these new assistants being brought on as potential replacements to Harbaugh if he decides to retire or take a break?
I'd love to hire Moorhead, but I think that ship has sailed and there's not going to be room now anyway. Hart essentially replaces McDaniels on the offensive staff, and WOTS is Jim Harbaugh will be the "QB coach". Warriner - OL, Moore - TE, Gattis - OC/WR.
On the defensive side, I'm assuming MacDonald replaces Don Brown as DC, maybe Banks replacing Schoop as co-DC/Safeties, and then hiring a new CB coach to replace Zordich. Not sure on DL, though I'd like to see someone new there to replace Nua, and Jean-Mary remains as LB Coach. That's (5) offensive/ST assistants and (5) defensive assistants, which is the max (10).
It's pretty well-known that Jedd Fisch is one to bounce around from job-to-job FREQUENTLY, and he would do so in hopes that the next job would get him closer to being a head coach. This is why his name would always pop up for coaching positions, but never get hired -- his agent is fishing for him.
Even if we want to call Fisch a lateral move, one instance is still not a "common" theme.
I'll agree with you for the most part. And, honestly, Drevno seemed like a home-run hire initially because of his success at Stanford and with the 49ers. But promoting him to OC (and, in turn, picking him over Fisch) was what I would call a "miss" and a "bad hire". Drevno is a perfectly capable OL coach, but also failed on the recruiting trail.
He was "Passing Game Coordinator" at Michigan and left to become sole OC/QB at UCLA. It was not a lateral move. It has become a common theme to say all these guys left Harbaugh for lateral moves, but it's simply not true -- certainly not "common".
I have gripes with Harbaugh -- this is not one of them.
Is he that bad though? Sure he's had some misses, but he's also had his fair share of hits, only for most of them to get poached.
HITS: Don Brown (consistently put together top 5 defenses his first few years, just held on a year or 2 too long), Fisch (poached), Partridge (poached), Warriner, Sherrone Moore, Zordich (great coach, average recruiter), Mattison (poached), Washington (poached), Wheatley, as well as some analysts that were poached as well.
MISSES: Pep, Drevno, Gattis (so far IMO), Schoop (seemed out of Harbaugh's control, but don't know the story), Nua (so far), McDaniels
I'm sure I'm missing some in each category, but I would say Harbaugh's hit rate is certainly above 50% in assistant hires. I think the bigger issue are more administrative/organization/recruiting, and the turnover of coaches, which, if you hire well you're going to have.
Never once did I condone the actions today -- they are abhorrent and disgusting, quite frankly. I am not defending them by any means.
But to also say the views and actions of 1 extreme side is causing all the problems, while dismissing the views and actions of the other extreme side, is yes, part of the problem.
I don't have to pick a side, and neither do you. They can both be bad. Who says we HAVE to pick the lesser of two evils? I don't want to pick either of them. I want unity (that doesn't mean we have to agree on everything); I want peace. That won't happen unless BOTH sides come together.
1) The poster I responded to specifically mentioned this incoming 2021 class as being one that could get us over the hump to win big games. For 2021, we currently have 1 CB committed - McBurrows who is ranked 550. We have 2 4* DL committed (Somerville at 220, Bennett at 349), neither of which play DT, which is where most of our problems are happening.
2) QB is and has been an issue, but we've scored points against OSU in the past. We just can't stop them from scoring many more points because we're throwing out much slower, less athletic CBs against their 4* and 5* WR.
You can't make your head coach decision based on 1 recruiting class or a few recruits. Make the right new hire and those recruits likely stick anyway. Look, I want nothing more than for Harbaugh to succeed at Michigan. I think he's a great coach. But I also think he is not the same coach/person he was when he first started at Michigan. He made really good hires and surrounded himself with the right people and saw success. But we've seen his demeanor do a complete 180 and he has not hired good replacements for his initial hires that moved on. We extend him, fine, but he's gotta make a lot of changes to his staff and recruiting admin/support, and even with those changes, they are not likely to make a big difference within 1 season.
You mean this class without any top DTs or CBs -- which are the biggest issues holding the team back? Michigan has actually recruited fairly well at every other position, but outside of QB, DL and CB recruiting is the most important and it has failed and we're seeing the results. Particularly a Don Brown defense that puts a lot of pressure on the CBs. We are not winning any big game until those get shored up, so unless we pull in some transfers that can help right away, I'm not seeing it.
Harbaugh has had higher ranked classes and those didn't really come close to winning big games. The closest he has been was with a majority of Hoke recruits.
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Good work as a snapshot, though slightly deceiving. I think you included walk-ons because the only scholarship seniors I see on Michigan's roster are Llewelyn and Baker, who are grad transfers. And then to account that 1 of those 2 seniors has missed most of the season with a torn ACL.
Wow. A&M has been decimated in just a few turns. They've gone from 60 territories about 4-5 turns ago to now just 22. They went from 39 down to 22 in 1 day!
If Nebraska keeps winning, they could move from a Q3 win to a Q2 win for Michigan. They're ranked #92 right now in NET (top 75 home win is a Q2). It would obviously look better to have another Q1 win with MSU winning, but also not a bad thing if Nebraska won.
Shouldn't eligibility for Dickinson, Williams, and Jace Howard all be the same (Jr)? This is all their 3rd year out of high school (part of the 2020 class). Though Jace may have redshirted his freshman year, so he could possibly be So/Jr).
I have a good friend who is a lower-level college football referee -- does JCs, FCS, and practices/scrimmages for local FBS programs.
My friend says this is fairly textbook targeting. I don't know who made the video, but the argument in that posted video is that first contact is made by the side/logo of the TCU player's helmet before the crown makes contact with Loveland's back/neck, therefore it negates the "crown" part of the targeting rule. My friend says this is incorrect. Just because the TCU player's helmet happens to *glance* the back of Loveland's helmet on his way to hitting Loveland with the crown does NOT negate the fact that the TCU player "targeted an opponent with the crown (top) of his helmet". Refs are trained to look for where the hitter's eyes are -- if they are looking straight down at the ground (which the TCU player is), then it is likely crown/targeting. The rule also states, "when in question, it is a foul", so to bronxblue's point, if you're trying to justify not calling targeting by looking at every still-frame and split-second of contact, you're looking at it incorrectly and that is NOT how the refs are trained.
With that said, the only reason I was irritated at the non-targeting call was because of the egregious call to take away Roman Wilson's TD earlier in the game. While it wouldn't make up for it, I felt like the replay official owed us one.
My ref friend said the reversal of Roman Wilson's TD was especially bad because the replay official completely "over" officiated. On replay, he felt they could have justified saying the TD was "confirmed" because Wilson did not have possession until he was in the end zone, but was expecting the call to "stand" because there was certainly not "irrefutable video evidence" to justify reversing the call on the field.
Those +/- numbers can't be right.
But that happened months ago and then Cade got hurt so it didn't really matter anyway. This is something that happened very recently.
I don't buy that this is a NIL thing at all. That wouldn't explain All's tweets and seeming bitterness toward Michigan or someone at Michigan.
Kentucky hit 9 threes in the game, and I would consider maybe only 2-3 of those as "wide open". Most of them were heavily contested.
Whereas Michigan continues to shoot poorly at the rim and Hunter misses at least 2-3 bunnies every game because he has ZERO lift. I'm not sure he's been a Camp Sanderson participant.
Free throw shooting is 1 of MANY issues -- and not the biggest issue -- this team has. Kentucky won the game and only shot 10/20 on free throws, worse than Michigan.
Defense. Jett is extremely talented, but may be the worst defender I have witnessed in a Michigan uniform. Yes, he's a freshman, but he's also likely a one-and-done and I don't see him making big strides on that end of the floor before the end of the season. If he's not hot on offense, he's a net negative because of his defensive struggles. Michigan played well when he sat for most of the first half, Kentucky was just unconscious from 3, making several that were heavily contested. Combine this with our guards inability to keep anyone out of the lane.
The media has been nicer about it then I would be, but Juwan's rotations are AWFUL. Why can't he sprinkle in bench players with starters like every other coach? Instead he does near-full line changes and teams almost always increase the lead during that time.
Today was a big missed opportunity.
His 247 profile suggests more DE/Edge than a DB. I believe he plays WR and DE in high school.
Some states actually do allow high school athletes to receive NIL. I'm not sure, but California may be one of them.
However, the state of Texas specifically put into law that high school athletes could not receive NIL, which is why Ewers left early to OSU. He left, collected his check to redshirt for 1 season, then transferred to Texas.
It…
Appreciate the updates!
It seems to me like Zayden High is more of a college 4 with his skillset and could definitely play alongside someone like a Tarris Reed or Papa Kante. Or is he really just being recruited as a 5? I would be disappointed if we stopped recruiting him if Kante commits in the near future.
It's hard to tell how big that trash can is, but goodness, that is a HUGE raccoon!
While I would generally agree with you based on Funk's track record while he was the OL coach at Michigan, BYU actually does have a good OL.
What I've noticed from my (untrained) eye is this:
The first few games, the deep balls McNamara was hitting he put plenty of air under the ball to allow his receiver to adjust and make a play on the ball.
Lately, he seems to have the Joe Milton disease of "driving" the ball down the field, not putting enough air under it, and it ends up being overthrown.
To me, he's trying to pinpoint and make the perfect throw when he just needs to make a good throw and let his receiver go to work. At least those types of throws give you a chance, whereas the alternative is 0% chance of being caught. It happened on the flea flicker and the deep flag route to Sainristil.
Also, it seems to me almost all deep throws have the defender with his back to the ball. Even an under-thrown pass has a much better chance for the receiver that is looking back (at least a lot sooner than the defender) and can adjust or at least draw a PI flag (joke's on me for assuming we'd ever get that flag). Don't be afraid to throw an interception because the probability of that happening is extremely low, and even if it does happen, it becomes essentially a punt anyway.
I went to the Utah State @ UNLV football game this last Saturday (wife is a Utah State alum). We didn't hear anything from the slot machine, just saw it on the video board when they used it (after touchdowns and turnovers). It's fine -- let the kids have fun if they like it -- but UNLV is going to have to get a lot more creative to generate more excitement for the football program. They were winless last season, are winless this season, and haven't been good since maybe the 70s? They have been to (4) TOTAL bowl games in their history. It was cool going to the Raiders new stadium, though.
On top of that, Kenneth Grant's recruiter and what-would-be his position coach at OSU is a nearly 70-year-old Larry Johnson. Let's talk about stability when the guy could retire at any time.
I would not be surprised at all to see a shake-up of the entire OSU defensive staff after this season and Johnson just ends up hanging it up.
Yeah, that and I would have Ojabo as the starter over Upshaw (not filled since they rotate so much), and maybe even take the blue out of Hill-Green's circle with how many snaps Colson got last week.
How so? Michigan's DB development has been very strong. Recruiting has been awful, but Zordich turned 3* and 4* DBs into draft picks.
Michigan certainly has its share of issues, but has a strong recent history of producing NFL draft picks, especially on the defensive side.
They're a cornerback factory because they recruit elite 5* cornerbacks out of high school. These recruits would be first round picks whether they went to OSU or Michigan or Ball State or anywhere else.
Seth harps on this often, and I believe he's right. OSU/Coombs recruit elite DBs out of high school, don't coach them (relying on their elite athleticism and raw ability), and then boast about all their high draft picks to attract the next round of elite recruits. Rinse. Repeat. It has nothing to do with their coaching/development at OSU.
Obviously, the strategy works for them, but OSU's DBs have consistently under-performed for years under Coombs compared to their lofty rankings out of high school. Shaun Wade is the latest example. A 5* recruit who showed promise before Coombs came back to OSU and then regressed this last season. His draft stock plummeted from a 1st round lock after his junior season to being selected in the 5th round.
I believe there is a family connection to Colorado. Like his dad played there or something.
While the stories are similar in that information was leaked, the similarities end there.
This Wisconsin situation comes off as petty in trying to get back at a coach for not being "likeable" enough. Gard isn't being accused of doing anything wrong (cheating) or illegal (abuse). It was also a private team meeting that was secretly recorded (illegal in some states), then leaked, by a either a former player or disgruntled former employee (rumored former intern that was passed over for an assistant coaching job). These kinds of interactions and meetings happen ALL THE TIME in college and professional sports.
On the other hand, ASU was exposed for blatantly cheating, and all during a global pandemic. Also, it wasn't leaked by someone passed over for a job. It was leaked by a former employee who left because they didn't want to be part of the toxic/cheating inner circle that Antonio Pierce had created at ASU.
"Dream schools" seem to mean so very little in recruiting. Yes, it likely gets that dream school into a top list and a shot, but you don't have to look any further than Michigan being Domani Jackson's dream school to know it doesn't mean a whole lot and doesn't mean that Florida is now all-of-a-sudden "the team to beat".
I'd say Filipowski reminds me more of Mo than Franz, and seems to be more advanced offensively at the same age. Franz is more G/F whereas Filipowski is more F/C.
That said, I'd love to get both Lively AND Filipowski after watching that film, with Lively as more of a defensive, dropoff 5 and Filipowski as the skilled stretch 4.
Correct. Sam Webb has said over and over on his podcast that the rankings have not caught up to Jordan Phillips film. He was basically predicting that Phillips would be bumped up to a 4* once the services are able to actually review his film.
Make no mistake, this would be a great get.
It goes both ways. You'll get talented P5 players who get buried on the depth chart and transfer to G5 schools to get more playing time. It has been happening already.
It's been "Musical Chairs" for several years now. It will now just have a lot more participants and a lot more chairs.
FSU -- historically and this year -- tries to block EVERYTHING. They are among the nation's leaders in blocked shots (#11), but they are also #247 in fouls per game. Pump fakes will be vital and will likely lead to a bunch of FTs, which Michigan has (usually) been very good at this season.
Mike Smith will probably have a hard time, but he can still certainly run the offense and create for others by getting into the paint.
Regarding how to utilize Franz defensively -- I would put him on that 5th guy (Hyatt) and have him really help off of him. While Franz is a great on-ball defender, he may be an even better help defender. Let him be aggressive in help defense on Thomas, Days, and Smart. When Thomas puts the ball on the floor, he's not passing, so you could almost double him once he starts to make a move.
Against a team like LSU, just make sure they're taking the tough shots and not getting easy ones. Don't send them to the line and REBOUND.
Also, Hunter needs to be more patient in the post. He has rushed since coming out of quarantine, which has led to turnovers. With the way refs have been calling this tournament, just go up strong without elbows and you'll very likely get FTs or an easy layup/dunk when they don't want to pick up a foul.
Well, he IS over 40 years old, so he probably got "forced" out for being too old...
#ageism
/s (if it wasn't obvious)
I get that, but I'm certainly not going to complain about this year's conference schedule. 4 of our "1 games" are against the next top conference teams (Illinois, OSU, Iowa, Purdue). We certainly lucked-out there for this season.
I don't think Vastardis is off to the league. Didn't see anything announced and it's not like he's on any draft boards. Plus, 2020 would have no effect on his eligibility. I would expect him to be back and be our starting C.
Love the Drake.
Uhh, yikes. Don't take any of those 3 schools you mentioned. If Nebraska is not a "good fit" as you say, those other schools are worse fits. The B1G does still have certain academic standards, and while I'm not totally in-the-know on those schools' academics, I'm pretty sure they are nowhere near even the lowest-quality academic schools in the conference.
I'd be fine dropping Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers; then adding Pitt (because F*** ND).
That would mean an assistant we are expecting to stay is leaving then (Moore, Jay Harbaugh, Gattis, Warriner). Right now they are at 10 assistants, which I believe is the limit.
This is great, but I also think further evidence that Domani Jackson is headed elsewhere.
I also don't believe Jackson and Will Johnson are 100% a package deal. We see recruits say that every cycle and it rarely happens. Even in Johnson's latest interview after his visit to USC, he was very non-committal about being a package deal with Jackson, basically saying "yeah, if we like the same school and it's the right fit for both of us."
Mike Hart says Hi.
Along with JFW's question - what about the college game is frustrating for Jim?
If he is seriously considering retirement, the contract with Michigan makes more and more sense, for both parties.
Can you elaborate more on your previous comment that the last couple years have taken a toll on Jim Harbaugh? Are any of these new assistants being brought on as potential replacements to Harbaugh if he decides to retire or take a break?
I'd love to hire Moorhead, but I think that ship has sailed and there's not going to be room now anyway. Hart essentially replaces McDaniels on the offensive staff, and WOTS is Jim Harbaugh will be the "QB coach". Warriner - OL, Moore - TE, Gattis - OC/WR.
On the defensive side, I'm assuming MacDonald replaces Don Brown as DC, maybe Banks replacing Schoop as co-DC/Safeties, and then hiring a new CB coach to replace Zordich. Not sure on DL, though I'd like to see someone new there to replace Nua, and Jean-Mary remains as LB Coach. That's (5) offensive/ST assistants and (5) defensive assistants, which is the max (10).
It's pretty well-known that Jedd Fisch is one to bounce around from job-to-job FREQUENTLY, and he would do so in hopes that the next job would get him closer to being a head coach. This is why his name would always pop up for coaching positions, but never get hired -- his agent is fishing for him.
Even if we want to call Fisch a lateral move, one instance is still not a "common" theme.
I'll agree with you for the most part. And, honestly, Drevno seemed like a home-run hire initially because of his success at Stanford and with the 49ers. But promoting him to OC (and, in turn, picking him over Fisch) was what I would call a "miss" and a "bad hire". Drevno is a perfectly capable OL coach, but also failed on the recruiting trail.
He was "Passing Game Coordinator" at Michigan and left to become sole OC/QB at UCLA. It was not a lateral move. It has become a common theme to say all these guys left Harbaugh for lateral moves, but it's simply not true -- certainly not "common".
I have gripes with Harbaugh -- this is not one of them.
Is he that bad though? Sure he's had some misses, but he's also had his fair share of hits, only for most of them to get poached.
HITS: Don Brown (consistently put together top 5 defenses his first few years, just held on a year or 2 too long), Fisch (poached), Partridge (poached), Warriner, Sherrone Moore, Zordich (great coach, average recruiter), Mattison (poached), Washington (poached), Wheatley, as well as some analysts that were poached as well.
MISSES: Pep, Drevno, Gattis (so far IMO), Schoop (seemed out of Harbaugh's control, but don't know the story), Nua (so far), McDaniels
I'm sure I'm missing some in each category, but I would say Harbaugh's hit rate is certainly above 50% in assistant hires. I think the bigger issue are more administrative/organization/recruiting, and the turnover of coaches, which, if you hire well you're going to have.
Nimari Burnett is a true freshman.
Never once did I condone the actions today -- they are abhorrent and disgusting, quite frankly. I am not defending them by any means.
But to also say the views and actions of 1 extreme side is causing all the problems, while dismissing the views and actions of the other extreme side, is yes, part of the problem.
I don't have to pick a side, and neither do you. They can both be bad. Who says we HAVE to pick the lesser of two evils? I don't want to pick either of them. I want unity (that doesn't mean we have to agree on everything); I want peace. That won't happen unless BOTH sides come together.
I'm not playing the "keeping score" game between the 2 extreme sides. There is no "scoring system" for any of this behavior.
"Oooohh, yeah but what we did is less bad than what they did."
Playing that game is, honestly, part of the problem.
*Extremists on both sides are the scourge of the US.*
Fixed it for you.
1) The poster I responded to specifically mentioned this incoming 2021 class as being one that could get us over the hump to win big games. For 2021, we currently have 1 CB committed - McBurrows who is ranked 550. We have 2 4* DL committed (Somerville at 220, Bennett at 349), neither of which play DT, which is where most of our problems are happening.
2) QB is and has been an issue, but we've scored points against OSU in the past. We just can't stop them from scoring many more points because we're throwing out much slower, less athletic CBs against their 4* and 5* WR.
You can't make your head coach decision based on 1 recruiting class or a few recruits. Make the right new hire and those recruits likely stick anyway. Look, I want nothing more than for Harbaugh to succeed at Michigan. I think he's a great coach. But I also think he is not the same coach/person he was when he first started at Michigan. He made really good hires and surrounded himself with the right people and saw success. But we've seen his demeanor do a complete 180 and he has not hired good replacements for his initial hires that moved on. We extend him, fine, but he's gotta make a lot of changes to his staff and recruiting admin/support, and even with those changes, they are not likely to make a big difference within 1 season.
You mean this class without any top DTs or CBs -- which are the biggest issues holding the team back? Michigan has actually recruited fairly well at every other position, but outside of QB, DL and CB recruiting is the most important and it has failed and we're seeing the results. Particularly a Don Brown defense that puts a lot of pressure on the CBs. We are not winning any big game until those get shored up, so unless we pull in some transfers that can help right away, I'm not seeing it.
Harbaugh has had higher ranked classes and those didn't really come close to winning big games. The closest he has been was with a majority of Hoke recruits.