bronxblue

August 29th, 2017 at 9:18 PM ^

We won a spot, and I'm rooting for him to succeed.  But these depth issues along the line were always the ticking time-bomb of the coaching change.  I honestly think Ulizio will be solid because there was real competition at RT; he didn't just get handed the spot.  Still, would have been nice to have him as a backup at a couple spots.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171777

MGoShorts

August 29th, 2017 at 9:21 PM ^

Ulizio is massive. He was coveted by one of the nation's best offensive line coaches in Harbaugh's first class. He's only ever been coached by Harbaugh staffers. And he's apparently put the RT job on lock.

I can't see this as anything other than a huge win for the offense. 

Joined: 07/28/2017

MGoPoints: 2518

Hammer of Thor

August 29th, 2017 at 11:03 PM ^

I got on the youtube and started watching the 2015 season. It's amazing how much the team plays with a different passion under Harbaugh, et al.. I would say that where there are gray areas, our coaching will make a difference. We may not win em all because of youth, but man are we getting close with this coaching staff. Who's got it better than us...and maybe we will???

Joined: 10/06/2015

MGoPoints: 12879

stephenrjking

August 29th, 2017 at 9:24 PM ^

Wow.

Well, we're forced to wait and see. This could be a sign of disaster--the RT position is such a mess that a guy who's not ready was able to edge two guys who just don't have it.

Or it could mean that Ulizio is turning the corner and some of the hoped-for OL accumen is finally paying off.

He could be Graham Glasgow. Or he could be freshman Kyle Kalis. We start finding out in four dayus.

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20143914

swn

August 29th, 2017 at 10:08 PM ^

It can't be a great sign given how long it took. It would be one thing if Ulizio had grabbed ahold of the position (or Runyan for that matter) in the spring since either one would have been definitively beating out a known commodity. I guess the upside is that at least Ulizio fits the tackle profile a bit more than Runyan. Still, it goes without saying Newsome was an enormous loss for us as JBB doesn't seem to be able to capitalize on his physical gifts for the position. Let's hope for a late bloomer in Ulizio.

Joined: 08/29/2017

MGoPoints: 8105

swn

August 29th, 2017 at 10:17 PM ^

Unless you have a Stribling/Clark type battle where you legitimately believe it's a battle between two high quality players, usually you are hoping for someone to definitively win a position especially when the competition is known and not great (being generous).

Joined: 08/29/2017

MGoPoints: 8105

EGD

August 29th, 2017 at 10:31 PM ^

Well, that kind of assumes the two players are starting from roughly equal positons. JBB and Runyan have both been in the program for several years and appeared basically tied for the RT spot heading into fall--so if one of them had clearly won the job, that would strongly imply significant improvement by that player. Of course, it's also possible that both players improve significantly and that's why the competition remains close, but I do acknowledge that probabilities will always favor one player making a development leap over multiple players doing so. The difference with Ulizio, however, is that he was starting from a place way behind JBB and Runyan. So for him to have overtaken them at all implies marked improvement. But it seems to me thst we have no way of knowing whether the reason it took Ulizio all camp to accomplish this is because of how far behind Ulizio was to begin with, or because JBB and Runyan held him off by improving their skills too, or some combination.

Joined: 09/16/2009

MGoPoints: 35199

swn

August 29th, 2017 at 10:48 PM ^

I have no problem with Ulizio and agree with most of what you said. Nevertheless, I would feel a lot more comfortable if coming out of spring camp we had heard someone had this position on lockdown and not for him to be claiming the job, however tenuously that might be, late in fall camp. Maybe he pans out down the line, but what I can guarantee is Cece Jefferson is champing at the bit.

Joined: 08/29/2017

MGoPoints: 8105

RemembertheGatorBowl

August 29th, 2017 at 10:20 PM ^

I don't follow either. This just seems to be how Harbaugh does things. Keep the competition until the last day. He's not going to say so and so passed so and so in an interview.

Joined: 08/12/2017

MGoPoints: 520

Gentleman Squirrels

August 29th, 2017 at 9:41 PM ^

Basically when the news came out that Ulizio was practicing at RT, somewittyname went insane about how this is terrible and set a record for getting the most downvotes in one thread (breaking Mr. Yost's previous record). Then to top it all off, they created multiple threads sarcastically claiming that Michigan is going to be amazing because Ulizio is competing at RT.

Joined: 06/03/2014

MGoPoints: 43421

HAIL-YEA

August 29th, 2017 at 9:27 PM ^

congrats to Nolan Ulizio! I remember when he committed, I felt like Harbaugh has to see something most others aren't seeing. I have a good feeling about him, we shall see.

Joined: 07/15/2009

MGoPoints: 10810

mgogogadget

August 29th, 2017 at 9:40 PM ^

more than any other player, just to spite sumwittyname. While I didn't completely disagree with the sentiment, I sure hated the self important-style argument he/she made. Here's to hoping injuries don't completely expose any lack of depth along the Oline!

Joined: 08/22/2017

MGoPoints: 1388

cletus318

August 29th, 2017 at 9:43 PM ^

Whoever ended up starting at that spot was almost certainly going to be the best of a group of suboptimal options. If Ulizio can be average, that's probably a win for the position.

Joined: 04/01/2016

MGoPoints: 3107

PunchTheKeys

August 29th, 2017 at 9:48 PM ^

And he's gotten a couple years of coaching from some of the best in college football. I don't get the doom and gloom of this. It's not like our whole team is filled with 3 star recruits. Sometimes, I know this sounds INSANE, guys develop into great players over time.

Joined: 05/22/2015

MGoPoints: 1524