Nice post! Thanks.
considering everyone is all over denard's balls today.someone's gotta mention the man's character. Beyond his ridiculous athletic ability, all the interviews I've seen with him he just seems like an awesome dude with a great attitude and he loves to play. Roundtree is the man too. forget everyone that says RR doesn't recruit character.
April 18th, 2010 at 10:10 AM ^
+100000000
Thanks for pointing this out.
Denard just seems like a generally happy kid who's having the time of his life playing football for one of the premier college programs in the nation, and that's really the best you can hope for attitude-wise in your team's players.
I think this is what Brian Kelly was getting at a few weeks ago when he expressed frustration about having to motivate his players to get them to want to come out and practice when it was 70 degrees outside and they're playing football for freaking Notre Dame.
Denard doesn't come with that "entitlement" attribute some highly recruited players have, and it's clear from his performance this spring that he's put in the time (settle down, NCAA) and effort to earn whatever rewards may be coming his way. I'm very happy that he is a Michigan Man.
Denard's reaction to the guy asking about the 97 yard TD was the best.
They are "reverse angle" to what BTN showed. Nice to see those plays from both sides.
It's funny how everyone is happy about the Spring, and then the question is brought up about what to do between now and August. The smiles become noticeably less pronounced. The thought of spending another brutal Summer with Barwis seems to puts a slight damper on everyone's happiness. Gotta love it!
April 18th, 2010 at 10:54 AM ^
Can anyone tell me exactly what the players do from now until August? I mean EXACTLY, not just "they do conditioning and stuff". Someone out there must know the answer.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^
Conditioning and stuff, seriously.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:56 AM ^
The coaches will set various goals for the players (weight, strength, and football improvement). Almost all of the players will spend the vast majority of the summer in Ann Arbor doing organized lifting with the strength staff and informal 7 on 7 and other drills with their teammates. The best teams have veteran players that can get the players organized to actually improve over the summer.
April 18th, 2010 at 12:16 PM ^
The only ones who can tell you EXACTLY are RR, Barwis, and the players themselves. They will chime in here any second now, so just sit and wait. I suggest not posting in any other threads, lest you miss your information as soon as it is posted here.
Are you an NCAA investigator or something?
What exactly did RR mean when he said his guys didn't keep the punts "in between the stadium?"
April 18th, 2010 at 10:28 AM ^
the punters didn't keep the ball on the field.
April 18th, 2010 at 10:44 AM ^
He said "in between the white lines."
April 18th, 2010 at 11:10 AM ^
..at ~3:34 mark in the first video he clearly says "...stadium, there." No mention of white lines. Most likely he just misspoke.
April 18th, 2010 at 12:46 PM ^
He DID say "in between the white lines." It's possible he said something else elsewhere in the interview, but I just replayed the first half-- didn't note the time mark, because I wasn't actually looking for it-- but the phrase was clear enough for me to notice since I'd already read these posts.
At different times during the interview. The "stadium comment" was early in the first video, white lines was in the second.
His comment about the punts referred to the atrocious punting in the kicking drills. Almost every punt was a shank. The best punt of the day was done by Tate Forcier on 4th down play where they lined up like they were going for it and he kicked it away.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:06 AM ^
On the television broadcast it really looked like we were trying to make these kids do the rugby style kick. I doubt they have had much practice on that style and the Punters motion looked akward to say the least. When RR came in they made Z do the same rugby style as situation called so RR likes the style for his reasons but not sure if the panic button needs to be pushed yet.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:29 AM ^
I thought this was deleted from the board for some reason until I noticed it got bumped to diaries. Looks like I just set an unbreakable record for fewest words in a diary post.
Tate looked horrible.......
April 18th, 2010 at 10:31 AM ^
he was going up against an actual D-1 defense, not a bunch of walk-ons and 4th stringers.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:45 AM ^
Given that Tate's highlights in this compilation are fantastic, how could you come to the conclusion that my post was anything other than sarcastic?
April 18th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^
I don't know, I watched him throw a ball off a defender's chest, throw a really bad pitch, and fumble. Two of those are turnovers against an okay defense.
He has to stop having those extreme negative plays to be a viable player. He may only be a sophomore, but he has started for a whole season already.
April 18th, 2010 at 12:54 PM ^
You mean the one over the rushing attacker's head that his running back dropped?
The defense was in the backfield every play. It would have been nice to see what Tate could have done playing behind the first string O line.
Yes, shouldn't have pitched that ball and he played a lot with some of the first team lineman, but obviously not with the first team skill players.
I'm not badmouthing him, he's a kid trying really hard, and I don't really care about moving the ball with twos. I just worry about the awful decisions. The pitch over the defender is a pitch that should never be made, it's asking for a turnover. His decision making would probably improve with protection--but OSU is going to put a ton of pressure on the QB and he can't keep turning the ball over when he's pressured.
point it looked like the ball went forward, although I haven't watched the BTN feed to verify. Regardless, he put the pall in a perfect spot for the back to make a play and he dropped it. That isn't on Tate.
The ball went backwards, it was a stupid play, and it was 98% on Tate. The running back probably should've caught it, but that doesn't change the fact that it was really risky and ill-advised.
Nice post, shows that the guys on the team are just great people.
All the guys look super happy, and that attitude is contagious. Thanks for posting these clips.
April 18th, 2010 at 12:29 PM ^
without evening playing the interviews. Look at those faces!
April 18th, 2010 at 12:50 PM ^
DRob is hungry in his.
April 18th, 2010 at 10:00 AM ^
It seems that Rich Rod has become a bit more humble and less "aww shucks" if that presser is any indication. That is nice to see. I really hope the guy sticks and is successful at Michigan.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:58 AM ^
I hope that he stays and proves the "fans" wrong and makes them look like idiots.
April 18th, 2010 at 12:50 PM ^
As usual, the QBs got the majority of the attention, I thought Odoms looked like his usual quick self and Roundtree continues to prove he is a reliable/sure-handed first option; plus he has a knack for getting open.
April 18th, 2010 at 12:55 PM ^
Thanks for giving me 27 minutes of great stuff to soak in. I cant wait for the season to start. I think this will be Rich Rod's break out year. We will ten games this season and it will be because Denard is sick at the qb position, and our defense will be much improved. Not great, but much improved. Sparty is definitely going down big this year and 2011 will be the year of dominance!!! Gardner must red-shirt. That way he has 2 years of eligibility after Robinson graduates. Tate will have transfered by this time next year. GO BLUE!!!
Can we stop the idle speculation about Tate transferring? There is zero evidence to back this up.
2 qb system is not going to work forever. As soon as Denard passes Tate (I think we all agreed that he has the higher ceiling), which might have already happened, Tate will be his back-up. I do not think Tate's competitive nature and pride will let him be the back-up. So this is not idle speculation, and there is obviously no evidence to back this up (unless you look at the family history). This is just my honest opinion of what will happen. You can call me the sooth-sayer of my generation IF this happens.
It's just not funny the second time.
On the compilation of Top Plays, the one that gets #2 was a little controversial. RVB looked to have Tate caught, but let up because he's a QB. On the replay, you can just start to see RVB flip out at the ref for not calling Tate down.
After that play, RVB was livid, he threw helmet off, and he had to come off the field for the next play.
I know Spring Game, and all, but the dude is competitive, and I like it. There are going to be some sore offensive linemen on opposing teams come this fall.
I really don't know how the refs didn't catch that.
they might have been going by a sort of judgement....because there were a few times it looked like the QB clearly got touched but they didnt call it....perhaps because it appeared to the ref that he would not have gotten tackled in the situation?
in judging if a QB would be down. I've seen some times where Tate looks like he would be down but the ref didn't blow it dead. For Denard, he basically juke the shit out of a defender and is about to blow by with the defender flailing his arm at him, the ref blew the whistle to blow the play dead.
We can't judge part of the scrimmage accurately in that respect because of the non-contact rule on the QB.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:04 PM ^
That wouldn't have been a sack. RVB barely got a hand on him. True,he did stop pursuing Tate, but (A) play till the whistle and (B) he wouldn't have caught him anyway.
Denard seems like a great character guy from everything ive seen. im as happy to see a player like that at Michigan as i am seeing them bring in great talent.
i will always be impressed with the way RR and staff recruited Denard. it wasnt easy getting an athlete like Denard from Florida's backyard. we've got him for 3 more years and we are just seeing the beginnings of what he can do on the field.
Love the nickname "Tree" for Roy! Looks like the boys are having a lot of fun! Can't wait for the UConn game. Go Blue.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:03 PM ^
I hope it's his last name and not recreational habits that got him the nickname...
lol please don't negbang me but I can't be the only guy who thought of weed after hearing that
the spring game is always a great fun event to go watch
The fuck do you think you're trying to do, get back up to 20 points with relatively innocuous comments?
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