unverified voracity
santa ono
jim harbaugh nfl blah blah
warde manuel
warde manuel has been informed
matt weiss
matt weiss was a madden kid
matt weiss was a madden kid but now did computer crimes maybe
osu
gender reveals
100% hilarious futility
people in charge of things are just in charge of them for no reason
weird harbaugh stuff
pff offensive line grading puzzle
[Patrick Barron]

Unverified Voracity Has Notified Person Comment Count

Brian January 18th, 2023 at 11:28 AM

A sponsor note of a different variety. The long-term sponsor of this post, Richard Hoeg, is a good guy and and excellent lawyer who we've had on our podcast a couple times. He also recently suffered a stroke. His family has a gofundme up as he embarks on his recovery.

It's already done quite well because Richard had spent years building his own online community, which you may know if you leaked over from here to there. If Richard was important to you in some way I encourage you to donate.

I have informed the guy whose job it is to do the thing I just did. Harbaugh back, hooray, but also this is a pretty weird way to go about informing the world:

Ono tweets a lot about the stuff he's doing but as of yet I haven't detected a tendency to self-aggrandize. They're mostly anodyne boilerplate things. The Harbaugh's back tweet stands out, and has caused the conspiracy-minded sections of the internet to wonder if this is fallout from a frosty relationship between Warde Manuel and some combination of Ono and/or Harbaugh. Harbaugh's quote on the matter mentions Ono but not Manuel:

This kind of thing usually doesn't happen even if there is some tension between the parties. I'd caution against reading too much into it; on the other hand "I have communicated the news to our athletic director" is indicative of a process that the athletic director did not accomplish himself.

Also! Ono trolling Adam Schefter about Oakland still being in play…

…is sort of astounding since only very online Michigan fans would still be holding that grudge eight years later. Ono was at Cincinnati eight years ago. I think my man is the kind of twitter addict that knows about Temecula.

Good news/bad news on having a Madden kid. Matt Weiss was literally the Ravens' Madden kid—a young person who has played a butt-ton of Madden and thusly has a good grasp on end-game decision-making—and we hailed that sort of hire when it was made. Apparently one of the downsides of having a coach young enough to know how to use computers is sometimes they do crimes with them?

Michigan co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss has been placed on leave, according to an athletic department spokesman, as the school's police department told ESPN it is investigating a "report of computer access crimes" that occurred in December at the team's football facility. …

Last week, a neighbor of Weiss in Ann Arbor told ESPN that several unmarked cars showed up outside Weiss' home in what appeared to be some type of police presence. (The neighbor declined to be named.) The search of Weiss' home is believed to be tied to the university police investigation, according to sources. …

An entry from the university police's online daily crime log on Jan. 5 notes that police received a report about "fraudulent activity involving someone accessing university email accounts without authorization" at Schembechler Hall. It is the only report of police activity at the football facility in the past month.

Josh Henschke has a screenshot of the log if you want the primary source.

"Accessing university email accounts without authorization" rules out the most lurid possibilities. It also rules out the possibility this was  some sort of Wakeyleaks scandal that would get the broader football program in trouble. On the other hand, a bunch of police searching your home seems like this is something other than a slap on the wrist.

We'll have to see what the details are here. Boy am I sick of saying that! Seems like this is the third or fourth "hmm, seems bad but let's wait for the details" in the last year. At least the Mazi Smith details were the nothingburger foretold.

People in charge of NIL are just in charge of it. Bry Mac, of Opponent Watch and Punt/Counterpunt fame, details the (unintentionally?) hilarious rug pull from the dwarven goober in charge of OSU's NIL efforts:

And then, bright and early on Monday morning, the last day for players to enter the draft…

Brian Schottenstein isn’t just some dude. He is a member of “Columbus’s last dynasty” (which, despite what you would think when you hear “Columbus dynasty,” somehow doesn’t trace its roots to workout supplements or the band Staind). He’s also a founding member, along with Cardale Jones, of THE Foundation, an Ohio State Name, Image, and Likeness collective. It is one of the three collectives officially recognized and supported by Ohio State. The Board of THE Foundation includes such Ohio State luminaries as D’Angelo Russell, JT Barrett, and… /double-checks notes/… Urban Meyer. These guys are supposed to be the tip of the spear in this new age of college athletics. Just last week Schottenstein gave an interview talking about how THE Foundation is hard at work trying to “keep the players that are here.”

OSU fans got in a frenzy about CJ Stroud potentially returning, only for Stroud to more or less immediately declare for the draft. The Schottenstein news was… a gender reveal.

The guy who argued, in public, multiple times, that being an Ohio State quarterback who went 0-2 against Michigan didn't define his legacy was never ever ever ever coming back, but a rich guy with a bad grasp of timing briefly got OSU's hopes up that they could once again score in the mid-20s against Michigan with the best wide receiver corps in the nation. What a country.

Hey! Actually, nevermind. Bill Connelly's list of the top 100 games of the season is almost devoid of Michigan games, which is largely because 12 of their games were blowouts. Personally, the OSU game was competitive into the fourth quarter and the sheer mindblowing way that game went probably should have warranted a spot. But if the reason The Game doesn't make the list is because it was a 22-poing shellacking… I'll take it.

The only games to make the list were the Illinois game and, well, yeah. TCU:

Earlier in the day, TCU and Michigan had put on one of the best three-act plays you'll ever see.

Act I: TCU benefits from a pick-six and a couple of scoreless Michigan red zone trips and builds a 21-6 halftime lead.

Act II: The third quarter was the wildest quarter in CFP history, as the teams combined for 420 yards and 44 points. Michigan cut the lead to 21-16, then watched it balloon back to 34-16 thanks in part to another pick-six. But it was 41-30 when the Wolverines recovered a fumble on the final play of the quarter and 41-38 when they scored 47 seconds later.

Act III: The fourth quarter was inferior only to the third. Quentin Johnston's shake-and-bake 76-yard touchdown and a Griffin Kell field goal expanded TCU's lead back to 51-38, but Michigan scored to make it 51-45 with 3:18 left and got the ball back with 52 seconds remaining. But after allowing 45 points and over 500 yards, the TCU defense got the last laugh, forcing a four-and-out and kneeling out a finals bid.

Ah well.

PFF OL grading, continued. Not just us:

FWIW.

Things are going well when… we get some Weird Jim content.

Steve Schilling's old school, FWIW.

Things are not going well when… this sentence appears in a post about your team:

With Rashada likely heading elsewhere to begin his college career, it should clear the stage for Mertz to start for the Gators in 2023.

That is the aftermath of Florida QB commit Jaden Rashada's inevitable request to be released after his ludicrous NIL deal fell apart.

Etc.: Important news about cooling off. Corpse of SI content is low-quality but this Miami site is speculating that Josh Gattis could be on the move again after he wasn't present for a high-profile transfer's visit. How you gonna do Jamal Crawford like that?

Comments

ShadowStorm33

January 18th, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^

 the dwarven goober in charge of OSU's NIL efforts

I glossed over that until I watched the announcement video. Damn that guy is short.

Maybe it's something the water down there. Ohio Governor DeWine and former OSU president Gordon Gee are tiny as well...

 

Joined: 07/22/2008

MGoPoints: 23366

mtzlblk

January 18th, 2023 at 12:30 PM ^

Important to keep in mind that Harbaugh has had issues with a good many people that had any kind of authority over him. It is a well established pattern.

As far as I know, this has not been an issue for Warde. 

Joined: 01/20/2009

MGoPoints: 5049

matty blue

January 18th, 2023 at 3:04 PM ^

right?  this notion that harbaugh can't get along with people is (imho) largely the product of having a crappy relationship with the dwarven goober in san francisco, is it not?

i don't know if that's actually true, i just wanted to find a way to use the phrase "dwarven goober," just to see if i liked it.  and yah, i surely do.

Joined: 08/01/2008

MGoPoints: 39328

mtzlblk

January 18th, 2023 at 3:21 PM ^

It was multiple people in SF, a good portion of the front office was on his shit list, and this is just the only widely publicized, open conflict. I live in SF and know people with connections to the team and yes Baalke/York are douchebags, but the juvenile behavior and douche-baggery was very much a 2-way street in that whole thing. 

I know Stanford/Alums and boosters that have indicated that when he left there there was some sense of relief (not saying happy) he was gone b/c he was a bit of a "wrecking ball" (their words, not mine) in terms of getting his way and felt like it was just a matter of time before there was some type of major problem or blow-up.

Mike Ditka, of course they love/respect each other overall, but he also drove Ditka nuts and fucked with his play calling and authority on a regular basis.

I was in school when Harbaugh played (I knew Kolesar and a few other players quite well), while he of course loved and revered Schembechler, he also drove him nuts a lot of the time being over arrogant and difficult to manage.

Last year he publicly stated to his current boss that he was all in and that this whole renegotiation thing was not going to be an annual thing, which turned out to be a compete lie. I'm not saying Jim shouldn't be renegotiating, he should, but he hasn't proved to be someone you can take for their word.

That's just people he worked/played FOR.

I'm all for Harbaugh, but don't act like he isn't a grade-AAA SOB on a good day and his history of conflict and shit-stirring is long and well documented. He's been involved in way more than his share of incidents, conflicts, barbs, friction, scenes with any number of subordinates, peers, players, journalists....etc., etc., to the extent that many on here posit that he occupies a fairly extended location out on the spectrum given his willingness to drop/sacrifice personal relationships and openly court conflict and discord. 

All I'm saying is, I wouldn't want to be Warde and have to negotiate with Harbaugh, especially when he is coupled up with a new agent who is willing to go scorched earth on you publicly to get the best deal possible. A great negotiating tactic would be to start leaking that Warde is the block to getting the deal done (happened) and keeping Jim in AA, then circumvent him and publicly go over his head to Santa. Smart, shrewd, hardball.

Would YOU want to be the person that had to sit Jim down in a chair a few years back and cut his pay, then go into renegotiations with him a few years later when Jim has all the leverage and is going to nail you to a wall. This is the nailing.

If Warde immediately caves in to every point and number in the contract, he is not doing doing his job and there would be an entirely different crowd going after him for different reasons. 

Do I think Warde is blameless? No. Do I think he is some demon AD that is taking big, dumb risks in keeping Jim in AA? No. Do I think there were items in those negotiations that where not in Warde's power to simply grant (transfer criteria being one of them, possibly the ability to simply go full bore with NIL) and that Santa would need to bless? Of course.

Also, I don't deal in simplicity and absolutes, I'm not saying Harbaugh doesn't get along with anybody, he has a huge number of ever loving fans, acolytes and admirers that say nothing but glowing things about him, also probably all true...to them. 

I would guess that if you are on Jim's good side, that is a great place to be. If you aren't, it would suck in an unimaginable number of ways.

Joined: 01/20/2009

MGoPoints: 5049

snarling wolverine

January 18th, 2023 at 5:58 PM ^

I'm sure Jim's not the easiest guy to deal with, but I don't see him as a money-grubber constantly trying to shake down his boss for every penny.  For one thing, he never even had an agent until now.  Not only did he take the pay cut two years ago (and then give his performance bonuses away) but a year ago, when he did sign a new deal, it paid him less than Tucker, Day and Franklin.  

Per various insiders, it seems that as the 2022 regular season wound down, he became dissatisfied with this deal (and given that he just won his second straight B1G title, can you blame him?) and/or wanted reassurances on NIL, and Warde was onboard with a renegotiation.  But then things apparently went south, Jim hired an agent, and the NFL rumblings started.

Warde was able to get Jim to sign below-market contracts two years in row.  In November 2022, he probably figured he could do it again.     

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 98770

mtzlblk

January 18th, 2023 at 9:21 PM ^

I never said he was a money grubber, not sure where you're getting that from, but I'm pretty sure he isn't that either. 

I hardly doubt Warde expected, or wanted, to try and sign Jim to a below market and would go down that path, he's not a moron. 

If anything Ono would be involved in things like potentially loosening restrictions on transfer credits, easing the academic load for athletes (I personally think that this does hurt us with some recruits that want very little to with playing school), approving a more open/robust approach to NIL, etc., etc. 

There is a very old and established "way" at M that involves a LOT more people than Warde and who Warde has zero control/influence over, very possible Harbaugh is just solidifying a relationship with a fresh, new PRez who has a more modern outlook on the sports world than those of the past who may not have been as supportive as he wanted.

My overall point is that really, we don't know anything and 98% of the "Warde BAD!!!" is based on pure ignorance and rampant conjecture on a few tweets that may mean nothing at all. 

The possibility that these tweets mean nothing at all is still more plausible than the absolute guessfest going by people trying to read between the lines of that few words and invent a shadow narrative of conspiracy and ill will/conflict.

Joined: 01/20/2009

MGoPoints: 5049

matty blue

January 19th, 2023 at 9:23 AM ^

nicely done, you took a half-assed, flippant comment from me and expanded it into something of actual substance ;-)

back in the eighties, one of the bill james baseball abstracts included a discussion of joaquin andujar - a incredibly talented but prickly starting pitcher that seemed to be headed out of the league for basically being a big pain in the ass to everyone...until he got to the cards, and one of smarter managers you ever saw, one whitey herzog.  whitey recognized that andujar basically wanted to get the ball every fifth day, and if he didn't he became an even bigger pain in the ass.  so he gave him the ball and worked everyone else's schedule around him.  danny cox and dave lapointe and bob forsch would go on varying schedules, but andujar went out like a metronome and finished in the top-five in the cy young three times.

the point is that andujar (and whitey, come to think of it) was a miserable SOB when he felt that something got in the way of the Game.  when those things didn't pop up he was absolutely superb.

and i think that's part of harbaugh's "problem," if there is one.  he's an incredibly strong-willed person, and he really doesn't give much of two shits about anything but winning; if he thinks you're keeping him from doing that, he (rightfully or wrongfully) is gonna have a problem with you.  that can lead to huge success, but also some burned bridges.  part of warde manuel's job is to manage that those inevitable prickly stretches.  i think it's safe to say that there's some disagreement hereabouts as to whether he's been effective in doing so.

Joined: 08/01/2008

MGoPoints: 39328

Wendyk5

January 18th, 2023 at 12:36 PM ^

It's not limited to our fan base but seeing how many of us jumped to the worst possible conclusion on both Warde and Weiss is discomfiting. The Warde bashing -- entire threads of it -- was also ugly and unnecessary. I guess that's just the internet in general and social media in particular. People feel free to say whatever comes to mind because there are no repercussions, no social consequences. I hope we can collectively not go there anymore though I'm not holding my breath. If Warde's time is up, so be it, but can we just give the guy some basic respect and not boo and hiss at him on his way out? 

Joined: 11/20/2008

MGoPoints: 68559

1VaBlue1

January 18th, 2023 at 1:25 PM ^

"He's done a poor job..."

Other than not supporting coaches and teams like most of us would prefer (myself included - there are times when public support is needed), please explain his "poor job".  The Ath Dept has a bevy of teams competing for championships (B1G and national), has great representation from student athletes and coaches, is easily solvent financially (despite the ravages of Covid), and is still recognizable as a national 'brand' (please excuse the Dave Brandon reference).

If he's been actively standing in the way of re-signing Harbaugh, he needs to go.  Otherwise, Ono has a decision to make because Warde has run the AD very well from a business standpoint.

Joined: 01/31/2016

MGoPoints: 127788

Sambojangles

January 18th, 2023 at 3:03 PM ^

Letting the Harbaugh negotiation become public two years in a row is one negative mark - for recruiting and general PR reasons. It's a bad look all around. I don't think it's good to play hardball with your head football coach that has just won back-to-back conference championships, and equally bad that he has to play hardball (go through public NFL conversations) with you. 

Second, the hockey situation and ultimate dismissal of Mel Pearson was a totally unforced error. Not renewing Pearson's contract and leaving everything in limbo through August is poor management. The most charitable thing to say is that he was indecisive (or indifferent to hockey) and picked the wrong horse to back, the worst thing is that he willingly tolerated a coach who was disliked by players and employees.

It's possible that Beilein and Bakich were gone no matter what Manuel did, but the fact is they left under his watch. I think an excellent Athletic Director would have found a way to keep one, if not both, or at least have better succession plans for if and when they did leave. I think these support a narrative that Manuel does not have deep, close relationships with his most important head coaches, which seems like his primary job (outside of fundraising). Maybe there is evidence to the contrary, but little that I've seen. 

Joined: 12/15/2008

MGoPoints: 10996

matty blue

January 20th, 2023 at 9:00 AM ^

there's something to be said for being restrained in speaking about things that we know little about.

you must be new here.  

seriously, though, i completely agree. this internet-age expectation that every conversation needs to be public, all the time, and if you're not doing it publicly it's not happening (i'm specifically referencing the whole "fire warde for not freaking out about 2016 ohio state" thing that gets thrown around)...well, it's not only not useful, but (imho) keeps people from actual understanding.

Joined: 08/01/2008

MGoPoints: 39328

kehnonymous

January 18th, 2023 at 5:13 PM ^

Well said.   I will say that for my part, I am not super inclined to give Manuel a lot of grace because, to me, he's come across as having pattern of reacting to dicey situations in a way that, as Don Canham would say, make a one day story a one week story. His nonhandling of the Mel Pearson saga comes across particularly bad in this regard. 

There's something to be said for saying nothing instead of saying the wrong thing, but it feels like he tacks way too far in that direction. That all said, I can only really comment as another UM alum with a vested interest in our athletic department not looking like a clown show.  Obviously he has a lot of other duties, but managing public perception is one of them and in that regard, as a member of the public, I think he comes across as passive and ineffactual. 

However, I also recognize that I am not nearly informed enough to say for sure, and an only evaluate based on my limited infomation.  Maybe he is actively playing the fall guy because he knows a type like Harbaugh has to have someone to pick on. (I love Harbs too but let's not pretend he isn't abrasive AF) Maybe he's doing a ton of stuff that'll never see the light of day to keep the various plates spinning.  So, to that extent I am willing to grant some benefit of the doubt, but based on what I have seen I am ambivalent at best.

Joined: 11/25/2011

MGoPoints: 33261

Wendyk5

January 18th, 2023 at 6:20 PM ^

It's clear we all have our opinions about him, from one end of the spectrum to the other, and that says a lot to me about how much we don't really know about his actual job performance from the inside. We're basing our opinions on perception and appearances. That's human and not unreasonable but I figure speaking negatively about someone publicly should really be based on facts and not our own perceptions. And to the guy who asked why do I care if someone is hated on the internet, I care because I think he's acted in good faith and doesn't deserve to be shitcanned by people who don't know him. He's an alum and cares about the university. I personally don't know what kind of job he's done and so don't have a strong opinion either way. I hope he gets a fair assessment. 

Joined: 11/20/2008

MGoPoints: 68559

BJNavarre

January 18th, 2023 at 1:11 PM ^

I might be remembering this wrong, but didn't Harbaugh insist on reporting directly to the president when he was hired? I'm not sure if there's really anything unusual about this, other than the actual reporting structure, which predates Ono & Warde.

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 4434

DaftPunk

January 18th, 2023 at 1:14 PM ^

the OSU game was competitive into the fourth quarter 

 

I guess.  I just saw a video of Sainristil's season highlights, and noted that when his endzone PBU happened in the 3rd quarter the score was 31-20; not particularly close, and even if you disregard The Don's two long TD's as An Ohio U slappies are wont to, they only got within a TD plus 2 point conversion. Our D shut their ass down in the 2nd half.

Joined: 08/21/2018

MGoPoints: 6295

DetroitDan

January 18th, 2023 at 4:30 PM ^

Right, but before Sainristil's play of the decade, it looked like Ohio St would score a TD and the lead would be down to 3 or 4 points. So it was competitive in that Ohio St was moving the ball well and within striking distance.  Then we pulled away.  So it didn't go down to the wire.

DAMMIT - FOR US MICHIGAN FANS THAT WAS AN EXCITING GAME!

Joined: 01/14/2021

MGoPoints: 4087

BornInA2

January 18th, 2023 at 1:15 PM ^

Bellevue High School (not our) Wolverines got in deep a few years back for sending football players to a private instructional school that was, upon further review, issuing grades and diplomas for pay, not actual school work. Let's hope that's cleaned up now and all the football players graduating from the school actually get an education.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/high-school/bellevue-highs-football…

Joined: 02/15/2014

MGoPoints: 12802

MGoGrendel

January 18th, 2023 at 1:55 PM ^

The OSU article has some good writing, like this gem:

A stunned, spray-tanned Buckeye Nation, having only recently gotten their hopes so high, came crashing back to reality. 

 

Joined: 01/21/2013

MGoPoints: 70500

leidlein

January 18th, 2023 at 9:56 PM ^

I've met Santa personally at my son's band concert. My son takes a 1-credit hour concert band class that has a concert at Hill Auditorium every end of semester. Went there with my wife, sat next to him, realized "holy shit you're the new president". (I left the holy shit part out). 

He was very gracious, talkative, and friendly. From a personality standpoint he is everything I would want in a president. He asked lots of questions about my son, asked if he could record "well the official stance is no but you are the University President so you can probably get away with it" but he did not. At the end he asked me to point out my son and told me to congratulate him. 

Everything I have seen before and after this encounter makes me feel like we hit a home run. This is the first president I have liked since, well since I was an undergraduate. Here's to hoping he stays a long time and is not "onto the next better opportunity".

Joined: 09/23/2015

MGoPoints: 1108

mlGOBLUE

January 19th, 2023 at 12:01 PM ^

For those that did not go down the echidna cooling-off methods rabbit hole, you also might be interested in this fun fact from Wikipedia:

"Male echidnas have a four-headed penis."

Nature is so amazing!

Joined: 01/21/2010

MGoPoints: 1345