Josh Pate: "The last great CFB team" - six minutes on YouTube
Josh Pate posted an interesting six minute commentary on YouTube - with the title - "The last great CFB team". The team was - Michigan. He touched on the draft and focused on the team's approach - while touching on the pressure the team faced - and being "together". Regarding the pressure - Josh also addressed the end of season games - against OSU, Bama, and Washington. A loss in any of those three games would have meant - three seasons to the CFP without a win - "Always a bridesmaid and never a bride."
Of course - we know how it turned out. IMO - Pate highlighted just how focused this team was - and kept the "noise" of the transfer portal, NIL, and early draft entry out of the conversation. We've talked about culture and "Faith.. Family.. Football". I enjoyed listening to it - and, if you take six minutes to listen - I hope you enjoy it too.
Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UE3ECBt30A
Go Blue!
Kind of interesting considering his takes during the season with the stallions stuff
I am thinking the always knew it was a nothing burger considering EVERYONE in college football has a few staff members who do this. It's part of the game. Also, he knows that anything gleaned by Stallions was most likely worthless last season due to the fact that many teams, including OSU, knew about this in 2022 and changed their signs accordingly.
I didn't think he was too bad with the Stallions stuff. He was there for the PSU game and seemed to be very neutral, at worst, after that weekend.
To be honest, most of the complaining I noticed came from the ESPN side, and professional douches like Danny Kanell.
He was pretty hard on Michigan calling them cheaters and one of the outlets that kept stating he has his own guys investigating ready to unveil new information ready to bring the program down. At that point I unsubscribed to his channel
Yea Pate can go fuck himself.
Saw it earlier this morning and it's a spectacularly correct take. Every buckeye and sparty fan should be forced to watch this video every morning before they start their irrelevant day.
Listen, I love Michigan, but this is recency bias personified for YouTube clicks.
It’s SUPER impressive that Michigan was able to beat two opponents (one on the field, one off) every week after the bye, but calling us the “last” great playoff team is a stretch.
This is giving me “game of the century” - of which there are apparently three every year - vibes. It’s ok to enjoy our championship without declaring that ‘greatest’ is settled. Of course it’s the greatest: it’s ours. Our next one will be the greatest too.
I read this as the last great “team”, not “last” great team.
Similar to the Bad Boy pistons were the last great “team” for a long time in the NBA due to the Jordanification (clear out for one-on-one) of the NBA.
This next era of CFB is shaping up to be won by mercenaries and teams compiled to win it now. Where as this 〽️ team they stayed developed, lost and overcame together, as a team.
Is it recency biased for clicks on the internet? Ummm… I think this question answers itself.
That is how I took it as well. Michigan won with team play and development, rather than just starz and dollars. Yes, NIL helped keep some guys around that otherwise would have gone pro, but we were not throwing millions at kids on signing day and focusing on kids with a mercenary mindset. The title of the video is a little bit of hyperbole, but isn't too far off.
Even at Michigan you can see how things are changing going forward. We have already seen a player decide that he would rather get paid a little more (if UK even follows through on their promises) to play for a mediocre SEC team than play on one of the best defenses in the country and defend our national championship. And it looks like that is going to become more common across the sport until some major changes are made (contracts, revenue sharing, etc.).
All this is true, but I'm going to enjoy these stupid puff pieces while they last.
The point is that college football has reached an inflection point and what it will become is not what it has been for the past 3+ generations.
College football has had a few major inflection points. Of course actual change didn't occur in one day or even year, but there are symbolic dates where looking back, it was clear one era had wound down and another was winding up.
The sport allegedly began in 1869 and reached its first inflection point in 1906 with the introduction of the forward pass that took the game away from its soccer/rugby roots.
The next inflection point was 1954 when the Ivy League dropped athletic scholarships. This was the beginning of the current era of college football. For three generations, this was college football. Sure it was increasingly broadcast and commercialized, players got bigger, faster and stronger, so tactics changed. Nonetheless, for the over three generations, the game was recognizable as its own sport. Saying "college football" meant a brand of American football, that was distinct from professional football and instantly recognizable by fans. If someone time traveled from 1960 to the 2024 Rose Bowl, they would be impressed by the jumbotron and skills of the players, but would otherwise recognized what they saw as a college football game.
You might argue that the inflection point is past and once games started being hosted in Jerry World that the college football was already "dead". I opine that was the beginning of the end of an era and that this season may have been the end of the end or the nadir if you will. 2025 may not obviously look radically different, but the transformation has taken hold and is only headed in one direction.
I have said more than once that I am glad Michigan won this past season, while college football is still recognizable. The new era of college football is still being molded, but it is essentially a second pro league with different "branding". The essence of what has been college football for ~7o years is close to extinguishment.
Regarding the Ivy League, we may note that the NCAA only legalized athletic scholarships in 1950. Michigan didn’t give them out for another several years, nor did OSU, iirc. (MSU did, though, which was likely a big reason why they were so successful that decade.)
Of course 2023 Michigan was the last great team. There haven’t been any national championship teams since. QED.
Pate didn't say Michigan was "the greatest". He did specifically compare its construction to an Andy Griffith episode. From a bygone era. Last is the operative word.
Hopefully, Michigan wins another in the near future, but if it does (unless it's this year), it will be heavily NIL-driven.
Thank you for posting. In my experience, Pate is pretty consistent with reasonable takes - this was reasonable and fun!
Joel Klatt on Michigan's championship season:
"It's pretty remarkable. I'll say this: I've been around this sport my entire life. My dad was a high school football coach. I've been going to his practices and been around teams since I was two, three years old. So in 38 years now — I'm 42, so in 38, 39 years — that was the most unique team I have ever been around in my entire career.
They were completely unselfish. They were totally unfazed, and they were so specifically focused, more so than any other team that I've been around.
I don't know if there's a secret sauce outside of: They had a group of men that came together for a common cause that was bigger than themselves. And they did it to a degree that I've never seen before."
I could listen to Joel Klatt wax rhapsodic about 〽️FB ALL DAY LONG
Joel Klatt - American Hero
Klatt does seem to be the most knowledgeable and balanced analyst / media type covering college football these days. His passion for the game comes through - IMO, his reporting is pretty level headed, insightful, and balanced.
Huh....doing things the right way reflects well on collegiate, amateur athletes and tries to make them unbreakable (safe) and successful. Only someone weird would ascribe to that.
I am sure this philosophy won't catch on because....there is accountability. Very unpopular these days.
Amazinblu:
Typo-
FAITH, Family, Football.
Some of the comments are better than the actual video 🤣
Lotta butthurt whiney asses out there. Love it!