Going back to the 90s, here's all the starting QBs for undefeated national champions.
Gino Torretta
Billy Joe Hobert
Jay Barker
Charlie Ward
Tommie Frazier
Brook Berringer
Brian Griese
Scott Frost
Tee Martin
Chris Weinke
Josh Heupel
Ken Dorsey
Craig Krenzel
Matt Leinart
Vince Young
Brian Johnson, if you want to count '08 Utah as an NC.
Greg McIlroy
Cam Newton
Jameis Winston
McKenzie Milton, if you want to count UCF.
Trevor Lawrence
Joe Burrow
Tua Tagovailoa
Stetson Bennett
JJ McCarthy
25 quarterbacks, two Super Bowl appearances/losses among them (Griese backing up Elway doesn't count). Burrow and Tua have been really good when healthy, Newton's peak value was high, a few others were at least above-replacement starters at some point. But it's not an impressive list of NFL careers on the whole. It's true that the list gets better as you go, QB play is more important now and the last ten are a lot better than the first ten. But the only drafting franchise that's never had any buyer's remorse is Cincinnati and that might change if we see more partial seasons out of Joe.
Is it my imagination or has this group had worse injury luck than normal? Griese, Tua, Burrow, Newton's Lisfranc and shoulder and a long list of minor stuff, Lawrence already a labrum tear and multiple knee/ankle sprains. Maybe any random collection of quarterbacks would look the same.
Oberlin wasn't far from the center line of the totality path. At one point a plan was floated for a department reunion (Physics/Astronomy) but the logistics would have been impossible. Where would people stay?
I went anyway of course. There was a concert beforehand (a piece called "L'Etoile Noir"), the electronic music and dance departments put on a show on the square, there was a "viewing event" out on the football field where the Astro 101 professor had set up telescopes and they handed out glasses and pinhole cameras.
Weather was great, some cirrus clouds but they didn't get in the way, if anything they added to the texture of the view. No real traffic, of course I-71 was along the path and it was probably a lot worse on the roads perpendicular like the turnpike.
Still can't believe we were able to see a prominence, but the one in the pictures at about 6:30 was visible to even my nearsighted eyes.
I got some shooters in college. I feel like a coach, I'm recruiting and signing. Look, I still be moving in silence. I'm balling in blue like I'm hooping in Dallas
Kentucky's only won one tournament game in five years. I can think of at least one out-of-work coach who won five times that many, and with less talent.
Except that in this case there is a LOT of money on the other side of the table. A billion in ad revenues, a couple of billion at the betting parlors...
This is most of the NCAA's revenue for the year. They might be willing to do Petitti's bidding where football is concerned but if he pressed this he'd be reaching into their wallets. And in the unlikely chance they don't understand that, CBS/Turner/Draftkings/MGM etc. do.
Must he and all dead life be borne back each time helplessly to suffer, to jerk anew on the same knives and die again until another energy exhumes him for the next performance?
A piece of the analytics that sometimes gets lost is that one of the reasons you go for it on 4th down close to the goal line is the positive value of the other team's bad field position even if you fail (inside the one it's about a field goal's worth all by itself).
"When you can no longer play, you coach, and when you can't coach, you die."
And at least this year he got to coach during the week. That wouldn't be true the next time we get caught leaving a toilet seat up, and sooner or later somebody's bound to.
I think the writing was already on the wall with the self-imposed suspension. Then the fight for the TRO was pulled (I think we got outmaneuvered but I could see it looking different from Harbaugh's POV). Maybe if the school's got $100 million at risk they'll fight it for real next time?
What I do NOT think is that Harbaugh was looking to get paid for not coaching. He wants to coach, the alternative is unthinkable. And he just got half a season of unthinkable.
I knew it was but I thought it was worth being explicit. The guy has the most wins and most titles in school history, at a school that's had three of the greatest coaches ever, and people are talking about him like he was some sort of failure there.
Since Stanford resumed football in 1918, David Shaw is...
first in wins
third in winning percentage behind Clark Shaughnessy and Pop Warner (which means ahead of Harbaugh and Walsh)
first in bowl wins
tied for first in conference championships with Pop Warner and Claude Thornhill
first in COTY awards, and more than all other Stanford coaches combined
If that's what we're getting with Sherrone Moore, bring it on. And if at the end of it all the "wheels have fallen off" and we're back to baseline like Stanford was, so be it. Our baseline isn't quite the same as theirs.
It's not about ego, greed, honor, love, money, Jesus. It's about coaching football.
When you can't play, you coach. When you can't coach, you die.
He just spent half a season not coaching on Saturday. The next time it happens they won't even let him work during the week. Either the university commits to doing everything in their power to make sure that never happens again, and takes a very wide view of their possible powers, or it's time for a separation.
I don't think it was about the indemnity per se, because it isn't really about the money. An indemnity would be Michigan putting skin in the game the next time the conference or association said Harbaugh couldn't coach his team. He's done with sitting on the couch on game days and I can't blame him.
At minimum he would have needed a clear signal that next time there was going to be a fight and not another self-imposed stint in the sin bin. Throwing the indemnity in at the last minute wouldn't be that, it'd be a sign of desperation.
There's one thing I'm absolutely certain of: he'd rather spend gameday coaching his team than sitting on his brother's sofa watching it play without him.
If we can't offer that (or at least a clear commitment that everything in our power will be done), there isn't much else to discuss.
Would we have? I honestly don't know--except for CMU (for sure nobody would have signed off on that) it wasn't obviously a violation and a fair amount of similar grey-area stuff (and some clearly outside the grey) seems to be going on out there elsewhere. I'm at least uncertain enough about what would have happened to be glad it wasn't put to the test.
Another great long-form article was the one on the Jacobs family (Emprise, Sportservice etc.) in 1972. Led to a successful criminal racketeering prosecution.
Stanford's a completely different baseline. They'd had two winning seasons in the last ten when Harbaugh was hired; we thought we were at a historical low because we'd only had seven in ten. They'd only been to one major bowl since Jim Plunkett graduated. We had nineteen between Plunkett (ugh) and Hoke's departure.
Historically they're basically Minnesota, holding on in the top-50 in all-time winning percentage thanks to the glory days of Pop Warner.
Or "this contract's going to outlive Warde and I have no idea who the next guy's going to be."
Ultimately it seems to that if the NCAA doesn't call off its vendetta (and there's no reason to think they will), Harbaugh needs to know the Regents have his back because ultimately that's where the decision to bring out the heavy legal guns would rest. One thing these demands do is push the contract decision to that level. Maybe that's calculated?
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Going back to the 90s, here's all the starting QBs for undefeated national champions.
25 quarterbacks, two Super Bowl appearances/losses among them (Griese backing up Elway doesn't count). Burrow and Tua have been really good when healthy, Newton's peak value was high, a few others were at least above-replacement starters at some point. But it's not an impressive list of NFL careers on the whole. It's true that the list gets better as you go, QB play is more important now and the last ten are a lot better than the first ten. But the only drafting franchise that's never had any buyer's remorse is Cincinnati and that might change if we see more partial seasons out of Joe.
Is it my imagination or has this group had worse injury luck than normal? Griese, Tua, Burrow, Newton's Lisfranc and shoulder and a long list of minor stuff, Lawrence already a labrum tear and multiple knee/ankle sprains. Maybe any random collection of quarterbacks would look the same.
Here's ten years ago.
Passing Efficiency:
Tajh Boyd
15. Derek Carr
73. Dak Prescott
83. Jared Goff
Passing Yards:
Keith Wenning
8. Manziel
9. Winston
10. Bridgewater
14. Mariota
18. Goff
82. Prescott
Completion Percentage:
Carr
14. Winston
32. Mariota
55. Goff
72. Prescott
Got to be Manziel, right? Or maybe Bridgewater (who admittedly didn't get a chance to prove himself in the NFL).
I was curious how predictive those statistics are so I pulled up the NCAA archive pages. Here's five years ago:
Passing Efficiency:
Brock Purdy
10. Jordan Love
12. Trevor Lawrence
37. Justin Herbert
65. Joe Burrow
Passing Yards:
Ryan Finley
14. Love
22. Lawrence
27. Herbert
35. Burrow
Completion Percentage:
Murray
21. Lawrence
31. Love
65. Herbert
79. Burrow
Haskins was the future pro in that group, obviously. I'll grant you Tua, but in general it doesn't look like a great projective method.
They did the Beanpot. And it shows (first game wasn't much better).
The question he was responding to was something like "tell us what you liked about Boston College in that first period." They aren't subtle.
Oberlin wasn't far from the center line of the totality path. At one point a plan was floated for a department reunion (Physics/Astronomy) but the logistics would have been impossible. Where would people stay?
I went anyway of course. There was a concert beforehand (a piece called "L'Etoile Noir"), the electronic music and dance departments put on a show on the square, there was a "viewing event" out on the football field where the Astro 101 professor had set up telescopes and they handed out glasses and pinhole cameras.
Weather was great, some cirrus clouds but they didn't get in the way, if anything they added to the texture of the view. No real traffic, of course I-71 was along the path and it was probably a lot worse on the roads perpendicular like the turnpike.
Still can't believe we were able to see a prominence, but the one in the pictures at about 6:30 was visible to even my nearsighted eyes.
I suppose it's an aesthetic question. Do you like Speed In Space or do you prefer the precise application of overwhelming force?
You're allowed to be moving. She was in legal guarding position--squared up and in front--and she took it in the chest.
Always lose as many games as possible in your first year on the job.
I got some shooters in college. I feel like a coach, I'm recruiting and signing. Look, I still be moving in silence. I'm balling in blue like I'm hooping in Dallas
"I always knew JJ McCarthy would be a great NFL quarterback. Said it before he was even drafted."
--Chuck Robinson, January 2030
He also has a very quick release.
We pause for this public service announcement from Tom Izzo...
"What's happening now, everybody likes the upsets on the first weekend, but I'm not sure moving on that's what's best for the game,."
Kentucky's only won one tournament game in five years. I can think of at least one out-of-work coach who won five times that many, and with less talent.
If your assessment of a coach depends entirely on the result of a single game, you're doing it wrong.
Except that in this case there is a LOT of money on the other side of the table. A billion in ad revenues, a couple of billion at the betting parlors...
This is most of the NCAA's revenue for the year. They might be willing to do Petitti's bidding where football is concerned but if he pressed this he'd be reaching into their wallets. And in the unlikely chance they don't understand that, CBS/Turner/Draftkings/MGM etc. do.
What's good for Tom Izzo is good for America.
He had a really impressive four-game win streak 14 years ago.
And KC still can't get anybody blocked.
It used to be illegal here too.
The Rose Bowl doesn't need a DJ. OSU/Michigan doesn't need a DJ. The Super Bowl does.
Probably because the ball gets moved back to the point of the fumble.
Oh, that's just great. Reminds me of a James Tiptree story...
A useful rule of thumb is that Duke's basketball revenues are roughly equal to their football revenues.
A piece of the analytics that sometimes gets lost is that one of the reasons you go for it on 4th down close to the goal line is the positive value of the other team's bad field position even if you fail (inside the one it's about a field goal's worth all by itself).
At the end of the half that value disappears.
First the DFB should give him a chance to win a world cup. He can always go back to club coaching afterwards.
This is eventually going to happen somewhere.
The truly unique double that I doubt any of us will ever even see sniffed again would be the Harbaugh brothers.
Still? What could be done in court now? We can't undo the suspensions and there's no plausible claim for damages.
A lot has happened since "less than a year ago," including six weeks of gameday suspensions that Harbaugh may well lay at Manuel's feet.
(That said, I will also take this with a grain of salt unless we find out who JUB's sources are.)
"When you can no longer play, you coach, and when you can't coach, you die."
And at least this year he got to coach during the week. That wouldn't be true the next time we get caught leaving a toilet seat up, and sooner or later somebody's bound to.
I think the writing was already on the wall with the self-imposed suspension. Then the fight for the TRO was pulled (I think we got outmaneuvered but I could see it looking different from Harbaugh's POV). Maybe if the school's got $100 million at risk they'll fight it for real next time?
What I do NOT think is that Harbaugh was looking to get paid for not coaching. He wants to coach, the alternative is unthinkable. And he just got half a season of unthinkable.
I knew it was but I thought it was worth being explicit. The guy has the most wins and most titles in school history, at a school that's had three of the greatest coaches ever, and people are talking about him like he was some sort of failure there.
Since Stanford resumed football in 1918, David Shaw is...
If that's what we're getting with Sherrone Moore, bring it on. And if at the end of it all the "wheels have fallen off" and we're back to baseline like Stanford was, so be it. Our baseline isn't quite the same as theirs.
"Those who leave will be champions"
--Joe Burrow
It's not about ego, greed, honor, love, money, Jesus. It's about coaching football.
When you can't play, you coach. When you can't coach, you die.
He just spent half a season not coaching on Saturday. The next time it happens they won't even let him work during the week. Either the university commits to doing everything in their power to make sure that never happens again, and takes a very wide view of their possible powers, or it's time for a separation.
Is there anything left to litigate? The penalty's already been paid, and in a form that doesn't allow for reimbursement if it was wrong.
I don't think it was about the indemnity per se, because it isn't really about the money. An indemnity would be Michigan putting skin in the game the next time the conference or association said Harbaugh couldn't coach his team. He's done with sitting on the couch on game days and I can't blame him.
At minimum he would have needed a clear signal that next time there was going to be a fight and not another self-imposed stint in the sin bin. Throwing the indemnity in at the last minute wouldn't be that, it'd be a sign of desperation.
"I'm as serious as I can be without serving jail time" said a Florida insurance agent.
Ignored? It wasn't even a month later that Chris Day was filing his legal papers and preparing to quit his day job.
Ignored by the authorities, sure. But OSU damn sure took notice.
They don't mind because it's booster money. Suggest that the actual revenue pipe should be tapped and see what happens to you.
It's an interesting legal question...how nonzero does a probability need to be to not be considered fraud?
Should you buy alien abduction insurance?
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his windfall condo profit depends on his not understanding it.
There's one thing I'm absolutely certain of: he'd rather spend gameday coaching his team than sitting on his brother's sofa watching it play without him.
If we can't offer that (or at least a clear commitment that everything in our power will be done), there isn't much else to discuss.
I'm pretty sure it was a loophole already being exploited by others, including the very people that turned him in.
Would we have? I honestly don't know--except for CMU (for sure nobody would have signed off on that) it wasn't obviously a violation and a fair amount of similar grey-area stuff (and some clearly outside the grey) seems to be going on out there elsewhere. I'm at least uncertain enough about what would have happened to be glad it wasn't put to the test.
His kids were on a recent cover as "The Chosen Sons."
Another great long-form article was the one on the Jacobs family (Emprise, Sportservice etc.) in 1972. Led to a successful criminal racketeering prosecution.
Stanford's a completely different baseline. They'd had two winning seasons in the last ten when Harbaugh was hired; we thought we were at a historical low because we'd only had seven in ten. They'd only been to one major bowl since Jim Plunkett graduated. We had nineteen between Plunkett (ugh) and Hoke's departure.
Historically they're basically Minnesota, holding on in the top-50 in all-time winning percentage thanks to the glory days of Pop Warner.
I think the question is, what will the university do when the NCAA says he can't coach any more?
Bill Self's still coaching; it can be done. Even Will Wade's still coaching, if not at the same school.
Or "this contract's going to outlive Warde and I have no idea who the next guy's going to be."
Ultimately it seems to that if the NCAA doesn't call off its vendetta (and there's no reason to think they will), Harbaugh needs to know the Regents have his back because ultimately that's where the decision to bring out the heavy legal guns would rest. One thing these demands do is push the contract decision to that level. Maybe that's calculated?
Harbaugh interviewing with Vikings in person on Feb 2
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