Marcus Ray at UM Flint

Submitted by carolina blue on
(Please excuse any formatting as I am on my phone.) I just attended an alumni club dinner where Marcus Ray was the guest speaker. First off, he has an amazing story and is a captivating speaker. He took us through his entire life experience from high school to now. A few bullets to help make this not tl;dr: • Peyton Manning was almost a Wolverine • Marcus was homeless in 2010 • Staying for his senior season was the right decision but he lost the chemistry he had with woodson, so he didn't perform as well • Says Nick Saban could legitimately come to Michigan, acknowledging how crazy he sounds. • Hoke's mistake is the assistants and that he would keep Hoke on two conditions: 1) if the right candidate is not available and 2) if he replaces four coaches. Overall he is a man of excellent character making his own path through life with some great ideas for the program. He's looking to get into perhaps FS1 or ESPN soon. Looking forward to seeing what's in store for him in the years to come.

In reply to by WoIverine Devotee

joeklein35

November 25th, 2014 at 8:45 PM ^

Uhhh... How is Mike Babcock coming to Michigan even remotely on the same level as Saban? Babcock is in state, has kids who attend here, has made comments in the past (even as jokes).



Saban doesn't really have much legitimacy as far as signs and is of course nick Saban.

In reply to by WoIverine Devotee

gwkrlghl

November 25th, 2014 at 9:40 PM ^

I know that's a fun one to mock, but that's a pretty well sourced rumor. Probably less likely now, but people in the Michigan hockey world (incl. Brian IIRC) had heard Mike was a serious candidate to follow Red.

justingoblue

November 26th, 2014 at 12:43 AM ^

Do you have any insight as to what Babcock's workload now is compared to the hours a top college coach puts in? I kind of doubt he comes just because it seems like there's no compelling reason, but a bunch of little things adding up could make the rumors more believable too.

In football it seems like an NFL coach should be able to have a life during the offseason instead of recruiting 24/7, but the NHL season is way longer than the NFL season is, and I don't know if a hockey coach is recruiting as much as a football coach.

WoIverine Devotee

November 25th, 2014 at 11:38 PM ^

We must be jealous because we're not members of the Wolverine Devotee fan club.

Or maybe it's because most of us who have been around long enough got tired of the overused jokes, over the top fanboying, or seeing him say something ridiculous and have to eat crow on an almost weekly basis.

flashOverride

November 25th, 2014 at 8:47 PM ^

Probably not Jackson, as he coached when Ray was there, so I'll guess...

Ferrigno, Hecklinski, Mallory.

EDIT: just saw the bit about him liking Hecklinski, so...Nussmeier? Personally, I think if you keep Hoke, you have to keep Nussmeier. Morris with his third OC in three years? No thanks, unless it's because a top-flight head coach is coming in.

Mocha Cub

November 25th, 2014 at 8:47 PM ^

#1 is Heck to me followed by Ferrigno, Jackson and then Funk. I don't think the offensive line has been as bad as what everyone thought it would be. I think the WR's have been atrocious and no one ever talks about Ferrigno, but special teams just hasn't cut it. I think replacing Jackson with someone younger would be good, maybe Hart? Seems like he's done pretty well at Western this year.

BayWolves

November 26th, 2014 at 10:45 AM ^

Funk has to be on the list.  Okaly, so the O-line improved - but they still aren't that good and development is at a snail's pace.  Did you see what MSU did a couple years back with a youthful o-line?  Had them playing at a high level in no time.  Funk has been unable to match MSU and with better incoming talent.  Sheeeeeeeiiiiiittttttt.

Funk

Ferrignl

Hecklinski

Mallory.

Pack your shit and get on the bus. Of course, I think Hoke ought to go too but I'm not sure if Ray is at the point where he agrees with the muggles yet.

TennBlue

November 25th, 2014 at 8:48 PM ^

be privy to any special information, and if he was, why would he be spilling it?

 

I don't see much credibility in this. It seems to be Marcus offering his own opinions, which is fine but not terribly informative.

GOBLUE4EVR

November 25th, 2014 at 8:44 PM ^

and I went back and forth about the Peyton Manning coming to Michigan on twitter a while ago... they took their official visits together and Marcus said that Peyton would have committed on that visit if he would have been given the starting QB job his freshman year... needless to say that didn't happen...

JTrain

November 25th, 2014 at 8:48 PM ^

Funk

Fred Jackson

Special teams coach

Manning



I like that manning can recruit but he's not a DB coach. Our db play (think ND play development demonstrates this.)

k.o.k.Law

November 25th, 2014 at 9:00 PM ^

always good to be careful about rating people on hearsay

 

Marcus spoke at a UM Club of Greater Detroit meeting and got a standing ovation, the only time I have seen that in my 15 or so years of attending.

bighouse22

November 25th, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^

I enjoy a great story about someone overcoming adversity.  As a person, I don't have anything bad to say about Marcus.  I just question his objectivity when it comes to Michigan Football and Hoke.  The fan rant really rubbed me the wrong way, but it shouldn't overshadow everything he has been able to accomplish.  

I wish him well in his life, but am not interested in his opinions on the team.

DFW_Michigan_Man

November 25th, 2014 at 9:01 PM ^

come up....considering Texas backed the Brinks truck up to his home and that didn't work, I think he retires in Bama. He has become an icon there and is Bama football royalty. I need to get some of that good herb Marcus is smoking because Saban ain't coming to A2!

carolina blue

November 25th, 2014 at 9:12 PM ^

He said that Michigan is Saban's dream job. He didn't elaborate a whole lot on that and then said something to the effect of "just trust me and I'm not saying anymore". Again, impossible to know what, if any, info he would have on Saban's dream, but he seemed to think it was more realistic than any of us would. He also brought up Saban. Noone asked him about Saban.

UofM Grad 2009

November 25th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^

I know the reason he left MSU was because there was simply no way he could get the resources needed while competing against us. Still though, that doesn't mean he would leave a program that he basically has on autopilot to come here for a rebuilding job.