Larry Foote: Harbaugh likely not coming
From the Detroit News, via 97.1.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2014/11/11/foote-um-f…
November 12th, 2014 at 1:24 AM ^
November 12th, 2014 at 1:25 AM ^
* you're
(as in YOU ARE)
November 11th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^
Thats more a product of coaching. Harbaugh would turn these players into tough SOBs in the blink of an eye.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^
A very good point, Hoke's softness permiates our whole program, you are right.
You and Avon straight these days?
November 11th, 2014 at 2:34 PM ^
LOL, we screwed each other over pretty good.
November 11th, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^
no matter how many stars you had in high school .. . .
November 11th, 2014 at 2:35 PM ^
It sure must be fun to alter your on stance on people simply to suit your argument...
November 11th, 2014 at 2:45 PM ^
Equating toughness to poverty is ridiculous. It is a stupid argument. If that is the case, there is nearly 5 billion in this world that should be way better than us and most of Europe and I don't see that. Because they live in the "hood" or worst than our "hood".
Toughness is nothing to do with where you grew up. It comes naturally to some people. Harbaugh's teams played tough football in Stanford. Stanford being private institution, I bet you they didin't have too many students from lower income class.
This is a stupid stereotype by Larry and your comparison to tits doesn't sound right to me either. Not the best way to describe what you are trying to describe.
November 11th, 2014 at 8:09 PM ^
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November 11th, 2014 at 3:40 PM ^
IIRC, Jalen stated that Michigan needed to recruit Detroit better when Beilein was hired, and that couldn't have been farther from the truth. Former players are just that. I will trust any good coach over a former player in terms of whom to recruit. Larry is just being Larry.
November 11th, 2014 at 4:24 PM ^
Yeah, we play soft (at times). There are also teams who play soft with lots of recruits from "the hood." UNC recruits all kinds of players who apparently don't give a s*** about academics; they're currently #124 in total defense, giving up 510 yards/game, and they're 4-5.
By the way, I'm not going to get into saying which players are "from the hood" or not. I used Clark as an example because of that recent story about him growing up in L.A., being sent across the country alone, etc. But there are others, and it doesn't take much to figure out who they are.
November 11th, 2014 at 5:32 PM ^
I guess we should only recruit players from the inner cities as they are the only one's who play tough.
Foote's comment could actually be interpreted as a bit racist. Imagine if Tom Brady came out and said "Recruiting's the problem. We need to recruit more from the suburbs and less from the hood". How do you think that would be interpreted?
November 11th, 2014 at 7:44 PM ^
How many Affliction t-shirts do you own?
November 11th, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^
I don't really see how that refutes Foote's point. Frank Clark is the best player Hoke and Co. have brought in, probably by a significant margin. If Foote is saying "We need more guys like Frank Clark on the team" I don't know that he's wrong.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^
The point is you dont need to "recruit the hood" to have tough-minded players. Thats something that a coach should be able to instill in his players.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:43 PM ^
Obviously the wording is silly and Foote is making dumb generalizations with respect to race and class. But I'd disagree about a coach instilling that toughness in players. So would the guy everybody seems to want to be the coach at Michigan.
Jim Harbaugh made it a point at Stanford that the first thing he looked at when evaluating a recruit was toughness, presumably both mental and physical. Obviously he didn't focus exclusively on inner city kids, but he didn't bring in kids expecting to change them. He prioritized the traits he wanted his players to have coming in.
That differs a bit from "The Profile" we've been hearing so much about the last few years.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:48 PM ^
Im sure thats something that every coach looks for, no one wants to recruit a notably soft player. But im of the belief that the team takes on the identity of its coach. Thats why the Niners became one of the toughest teams, particularly defensively, once Harbaugh joined. His identity projects onto his players. Thats why Michigan has become soft, when they f up their greeted by Hoke clapping his ass off. I dont think MSU recruits tougher kids than we do, theyre just a much tougher team because of guys like Dantonio and Narduzzi.
November 11th, 2014 at 3:03 PM ^
to descend into racism and/or accusations of same. Suffice it to say that Jake Long and Stehan Humphries are/were just as tough as Larry Foote and Lamarr Woodley. We need to find kids who can play and be a credit to our University.
November 11th, 2014 at 5:45 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 2:48 PM ^
If that is what he meant, there is nothing wrong with that at all. Everyone deserves an opportunity. But Larry seems to indicate that "trust fund" types are not tough. That is stereo type and is hard to prove.
November 11th, 2014 at 4:03 PM ^
who lead Clark in tackles this season.
November 11th, 2014 at 4:18 PM ^
Jake Ryan is just as good or better than Clark. Is Jake Ryan from the hood?
November 11th, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
In fact he didn't offer him, even at SDSU.
Obviously the "hood" comments are dumb. That doesn't mean there isn't a major issue with talent identification on this staff. And it's an issue that doesn't magically go away if we bring in a new coach next year. Just because Larry Foote is not so great at diagnosing the problem, doesn't mean he's missing the point entirely.
November 11th, 2014 at 7:10 PM ^
Then what are we talking about?
Foote's point is that we don't recruit from the hood. Hoke recruited from the "hood" and got Frank Clark. Clark is good at football.
Regardless of who recruited Jake Ryan, Jake Ryan is not from the hood. Ryan is good at football.
Two people. From two different regimes. Who are playing for the current coach. One is from the hood. One is not. Both are good.
Are they products of their childhood environment? Or are they products of their current coaching situation? Or is it a little of both?
I'd say it's a little of both, and that goes back to my original point: Teams are made up of all kinds of people.
November 11th, 2014 at 7:45 PM ^
Ok, so Rich Rodriguez also recruited a variety of players, like every program in the country.
You say Foote's generalizations are dumb yet you're actively glossing over them and missing the point.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:10 PM ^
PAGING DR MULLEN - PAGING DR MULLEN
MICHIGAN STADIUM STAT - CODE BLUE
November 11th, 2014 at 2:11 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
Ron English would cause me to stop following Michigan football.
November 11th, 2014 at 3:54 PM ^
Could be that other Ron once of EMU, Ron Cooper.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 2:34 PM ^
I remember my dad advocating for English when Carr retired and I sorta thought it was a feasible idea. I think if Ron English had been coaching Michigan it would make Hoke look like Nick Saban.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:45 PM ^
This might be one of the few CC threds we haven't seen yet, which gives me hope that we as a fanbase have not come totally unhinged at present. I was actually thinking we would browse through the blog's file on NAIA coaches before we got to English, but I could be way off on that depending on how the next few weeks go, I suppose.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:52 PM ^
Yeah.... English as DC, maybe, HC, no.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:58 PM ^
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November 11th, 2014 at 2:11 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 2:12 PM ^
Agree and Agree. Harbaugh seems like a fantasy given the money it will take. As far as our players being soft I think Larry is right. Let's go back to the ghetto. We need to regain that Eye of the Tiger...
November 11th, 2014 at 2:12 PM ^
when it comes to Harbaugh's future. If anything, my guess is JH is a hardcore contrarian and is more likely to land in Ann Arbor if it seems unlikely to happen.
All that said, I'd be surprised if JH comes and I still like Larry Foote.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
He must not have heard Schlissel's take on academic standards. I think Larry Fotte is going to be disappointed with the direction of our recruiting.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
staff here, just my opinion.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
No news here.
Back to the "Freedom of Speech" post to see if it made it to the Supreme Court yet.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
That's click bait.
I don't think that Michigan has that many trust fund baby players
November 11th, 2014 at 2:18 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 2:20 PM ^
This isn't happening? Because Larry Foote offered his opinion about this on the radio? OK.
We all know Harbaugh's employment at Michigan is hardly certain or even likely depending on whatever you want to rely on in getting a lead on his thinking.
I think from Foote's POV his outlook makes total sense. But he doesn't know Harbaugh's mind or priorities. In any case, I think Foote makes a more a valid point about the type of player Michigan has been recruiting and why the competitve edge seems dull among those on the roster under this regime.
Whether guys are just happy to be at Michigan, you know the type of personality and competitive fire drove former players at the school because some of its best players off its last national championship team are still competing in the NFL at a high level.
This isn't to say that guys that play for Michigan aren't high quality, high character kids. I truly believe they are. But there is something missing in the makeup of this team that even Foote finds little difficulty diagnosing from afar. And if it's edge, toughness based on background and upbringing, or just plain satisfacton for playing for Michigan, instead of competing to hold the Block M banner high, this team just doesn't manifest it. And Foote is correct on that point.
November 11th, 2014 at 3:16 PM ^
There is something missing. I thought we were seeing a little of it when Bolden did his stake trick in e lansing, but alas no. Watching Woodson slap down Boston, Tai Streets slap Antoine Winfield, Glen Steele slap Orlando Pace. That was straight toughness. Andy Cannavino, Harbaugh, Ray, the Messners, Chris Perry, Simpkins .... We've had some bad men play for us. It just doesn't seem to be there now.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:26 PM ^
Makes it seem like he has some special insight on the topic, which after reading the actual comments, does not appear to be the case.
Instead he's just spouting off opinions, which don't seem to be very carefully evaluated. I mean, our problem is recruiting too many "trust fund babies"? Really? Our 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes were ranked #7 and #5, respectively, on Rivals. These players were highly touted coming out of high school. I'm thinking the problem has more to do with what they do once they get here rather than their socioeconomical status (and I highly doubt that matters in any case). Sounds more like Larry is trying to rationalize the scenario in a way that subscribes to his preconceived worldview, rather than critically evaluating the facts.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:21 PM ^
November 11th, 2014 at 3:16 PM ^
Larry real hard.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:24 PM ^
Regarding recruiting the way he said it was probably wrong, but overall is he wrong? Where are our guys like Santonio Holmes, Tedd Ginn Jr, and Chris Gamble that I hated watching beat us and make huge plays year after year but they went after guys and weren't afraid to get in peoples' faces.
November 11th, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^