WTKA Roundtable Thoughts on McElwain
Brian is pretty down on the McElwain hire, which goes against what many on the MGoBoard think in the thread below.
His points center around the fact that McElwain is another coordinator thrown into the pot rather than a specific skill position coach, awkward (shark thing and weird Florida press conferences) and poor Florida recruiting AT Florida (which is hard to do).
The roundtable is still collectively down on Drevno and baffled regarding Michigan's Oline issues for the past 3 years. They also hope that Warinner has a big influence on the line this upcoming year.
It feels like we're in the twilight zone when Brian is the most negative guy on the roundtable.
Craig with the bold prediction of Newsome starting tackle next season as well with Hudson on the other side.
Speight is looking at schools ranging from oSu to Texas Tech.
A caller brings up a question on whether Harbaugh's odd approach to offense is hindering Michigan from hiring a bonafide offensive coach.
February 15th, 2018 at 4:18 PM ^
The points above about why the season didn't go well due to personnel are valid and if it was simply that, I think Brian would be ok.
We had a coach end the season by needing to literally apologize to the group he coached. That is F'd up. I know some have made arguments about the merits of doing this. That doesn't change the fact the OC had to admit to his players he let them down in some way.
Throw in the questionable recruiting results and that is the essence of "Whatever" and the lack of focus/content from Brian on football the past month.
You have guys being given all of the resources needed to be successful, and yet it's clear the offensive coaches are the primary parties responsible for the poor results. And, amazingly, although there has been significant staff turnover, here we sit on 2/15/18 and the two biggest culprits (Drevno & Hamilton) are still in a position to influence the 2018 season.
February 15th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 12:23 PM ^
When APP st. upset Michigan, and the subsequent coaching search. It became maybe the first viable fan site on the internet. Dispite the turmoil surrounding the program, Brian was probably ( though I can in no way speak for him) excited at the prospect of this new venture.
Now his creation, after a decade is probably becoming more of a burden, as freeloaders complain of all matter of things and its has taken on a life of its own. I think this blog perhaps "Humped the Shark" with his tear down of McEwain, and this whole season has been going through the motions. THIS BLOG is late Carr. As he did back then, perhaps the man needs some significant time away. Though as with the program I will keep coming back.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:29 PM ^
Brian also has a kid now, if I'm not mistaken.
If his life has gone anything like mine, once kids come along, your focus on and approach to everything else changes.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:39 PM ^
If I could wave a magic wand it would be for Brian to leave for atleast 2 months. LIke not even log in... But that is extremely unrealistic, because I cant even do that for a week.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
I can understand this level of thinking on his end if this were just some hobby he does in his spare time but the guy makes a living writing about Michigan.
We all have shit in our jobs we hate. That's why it's a job and not super-happy-fun-time.
I'm willing to bet a vast majority of fans would happily write about their favorite teams and talk about them on the radio as their job rather than type spreadsheets or read legal briefings.
February 15th, 2018 at 1:21 PM ^
agreed...for awhile. But after enough time anything can be "work"-and feel as such
February 15th, 2018 at 1:59 PM ^
Covering any sport/team you love for years on a daily basis will turn what started as a labor of love into a daily slog of a job.
February 15th, 2018 at 1:53 PM ^
very accurate summary +1
February 15th, 2018 at 12:41 PM ^
on his keyboard now. In previous coaching iterations he had girlfriend, fiance, young bride. Now he has Denard Cook with a Charles Manson hairdoo, with intenstinal problems and whooping cough. Come the end of November "whatever" is what came out of his keyboard and then he changed another poopy diaper.
February 16th, 2018 at 12:36 AM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^
The "Whatever" and the giving up on UFR's, which the blog claims to be it's core product, is pretty telling. Seems like reading too many hot takes and getting inTwitter battles finally got him down.
Brian, put down the twitter and pick up the remote (or whatever you use for UFR). Tell us if South Carolina was a disasterous game plan or a terrible effort by the players or Peters holding the ball too long. Tell us about the dozens of wrinkles we busted out to make the OSU defense look pedestrian, QB performance nonwithstanding. Beside the obvious troll and schtick accounts - THIS is what most people are here for.
February 16th, 2018 at 8:40 AM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^
and I think everyone's projection when he took over was something a little more optimistic by this time. Also Harbaugh himself appears to be more somber and less enthusiastic than in years past. It's legit scary times around the blog these days.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:07 PM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^
He needs hip replacement surgery and will have it done soon. People need to realize that one can not fully be themselves when they don't feel well. Am I making an excuse for our record? Nope. I am pointing out that things will improve when our coach is back to himself.
Remember all those gifs that were created due to Harbaugh's animated physical rants where Jim was tossing things and running up and down the sideline last season? Me neither. It didn't happen.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:37 PM ^
interesting. Where did you get that information from? That actually would explain a lot.
February 15th, 2018 at 1:04 PM ^
that it was in an interview between him and angelique chengalis (love her writing). But I have not been able to independantly confirm this.
February 15th, 2018 at 1:10 PM ^
just confuses me a little bit because I think Harbaugh ran out of the tunnel as recently as the Outback Bowl. In the year proceeding my dad's hip replacement he had no wear "no tie" shoes because he could not bend down to tie them and used a walker to get up the stairs. Obviously no hip issues are created equal but it was not evident from watching him that there was that severe of a problem. Either way, if it is accurate, hope a replacement takes care of it. Hip issues are really, really painful.
February 15th, 2018 at 2:14 PM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 2:51 PM ^
Noticeably. Every time I see him. That doesn't necessarily mean "hip surgery" to me, but if somebody suggests that, I'll buy it.
February 15th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
know what, you're right. I hadn't really thought much of it, just kind of thought he favored that leg, but it has become more pronounced.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:37 PM ^
I'm wondering if Jim's surgeon told him to quit the antics and stabilize that blood pressure for his pending hip surgery.
That could be a plausible explanation.
Then again, pure conjecture as well.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
Any source on this? This is the first i'm hearing.
February 16th, 2018 at 9:37 AM ^
I had a conversation with him in December when he was recruiting a student in my area. The question at the time was if the procedure was going to be anterior hip replacement (less invasive) or not.
I do believe Angelique is also in need of hip surgery and she has mentioned this in a podcast.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^
This is my new favorite excuse. MGoBlog's going to shit? Well yeah, Brian had a baby. Jim Harbaugh is a shell and Michigan is tanking? Well yeah, he had a baby.
You guys are all assholes. Don't take offense, I have a baby.
February 16th, 2018 at 10:36 AM ^
Not saying it's the only factor, but it is a factor. My youngest turns 5 tomorrow, so I mostly get to sleep these days (except we just got a puppy), but the first 2 years of each of my kids lives, my wife and I were zombies subsisting on 40 minute naps and caffeine. It takes a toll.
February 16th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
I have two kids - both younger than your youngest. Thanks for MGoSplaining that to me, though. Very helpful.
Also, while flinging your brain-spasms at the wall, you may want to consider that Jim Harbaugh has 7 kids, a stay-at-home wife and grandparents living next door. This is not new ground and he has way more help than most parents. He has 4 kids with Sarah alone, whom he married in 2008, which by my monkey math tells me he's basically had an Under-2-year old his entire head coaching career.
But I'm sure little John is extra colicky. Probably diaper rash - that's why we lost to State.
February 16th, 2018 at 2:09 PM ^
You're cranky today. You must have young children and sleepless nights.
February 16th, 2018 at 6:47 PM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
People are somber because we are 9-8 our past 17 games.
We had no viable options at QB last year, Year 3 of Harbaugh.
Our OL got our QBs injured, or the playcalling, either way, not good.
Our Recruiting this last class was not up to par unless you view this program in the same light as Nebraska and Tennessee.
We've witnessed a coaching carousel which just completed with an "interesting" hire.
Harbaugh doesn't have the enthusiasm unknown to mankind he did in the previous years.
I'll stop here.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^
Beat MSU and South Carolina and its 11-6.
It's fine that you are defending him, but let's be honest, his last season was not up to par.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:32 PM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^
Beating 1 team that ended the season above .500 (Purdue) is not what fans should be expecting. When you take that job at this University and are paid what he is, your expectations are greater.
February 15th, 2018 at 1:19 PM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^
Again though, that is 1. an anomaly among his 3 seasons so far and will remain an anomaly going forward, and 2. still what most people expected this year. Most had our record at 8-4 or 9-3, before Wilton went down. If you're a reasonable person you probably deducted at least one win, if not two, from the projections after that. Then you're looking at 8-4 or 7-5.
If you told people that Michigan was going to go 8-4, they obviously would have picked our losses to come from the group of OSU, PSU, MSU, UF, and UW. That's what happened. The fact that only 1 of the 8 teams we beat is above 500 is mostly irrelevant if the outcome of the year conforms to expectations for that specific year - we can't control how teams perform outside of our games. We won as many games as we were expected to win. All you can do is continue to build our team so that we can win more in the future, which Jim has done.
February 15th, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^
Your argument is level and vaild, however, I think it misses a couple key points.
Much of the year's expectations for 8-4 or 7-5 were based on needing to rebuild large parts of the defense. Thankfully, that unit performed significantly better than expected. You probably need to add a couple wins to your expectations based on that. So by the time the season was underway, expectations switched from 8-4 because the defense may not be as good to 10-2 or 11-1 because the defense seems to be as good as the year before.
Now the season is going along with higher expectations and the O-line does not seem to be progressing like expected. Speight seems to be off. Now Speight is broken and O'Korn seems the same or, maybe even worse than last year. How could a coach take the broken pieces that was O'Korn and smash them into finer dust? Either way, we should still beat a poor MSU team recovering from a 3-9 season at home, that will make me feel good. Huh, Michigan just tried throwing it again in a monsoon. Interesting strategy coach. How about Peters? He's the hope for the future and, wait, he seems to be a lesser player than he was in high school and he's in his second year. What have they been doing with him the past 18 months? We could still beat our main rival at home if we can just pull it together for one week. Wow, the team is playing differently. This is great. Surely O'Korn will start hitting some of those open receivers once he calms down. Well, I guess not. At least we get an easy match up in a bowl game. Wow, if Michigan can beat South Carolina like they should, the B1G will go undefeated in the bowl season, what a nice way to end the...what the fuck was that?
If you take those points into account, I agree with you completely.
February 15th, 2018 at 1:24 PM ^
starting QB. Stop making excuses and defending Harbaugh's overrated and overpaid ass.
February 16th, 2018 at 3:14 AM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
I mean...we lost our #1 QB and our #1 WR. They were obviously other issues, but we can't just look at last season and ignore the fact that offense was hampered by that (and Hoke's QB/WR recruiting)
February 15th, 2018 at 8:31 PM ^
That, and it underscores the point differential in those 17 games. Without looking, I'd bet the point differential is very low, which could be the mark of a young team or a team new to a system that is about to turn a corner.
February 15th, 2018 at 1:15 PM ^
I agree that the offense was tough to watch last year. But, it is interesting to me that few tend to point out that the defense exceeded expectations.
"We had no viable options at QB last year, Year 3 of Harbaugh." First off, while Speight looked off in the early season, he could very well have been "viable" had he not gotten hurt. I think JOK kinda just was who he was and wouldn't have developed under any coach. So, the critism I inferred from your comment that no qb was developed doesn't apply to JOK. McCaffery was reportedly too skinny and was a true freshman. Yes, true freshman qbs can be successful, but they normally have to be surrounded by more talent the Mi had. So, that leaves Peters. To me, that was the miss. But, misses happen. If the trend continues, I'd worry but I wouldn't put too much emphasis on one miss in one year.
February 15th, 2018 at 11:29 PM ^
It's the rivalry games that kill me. Each year its just a new reason why we lost. I don't care if a flukely play happened, or if a player was injured, or if the refs sucked...I just want to beat msu and osu. 2-8 vs msu in the last decade and 1-13 vs osu in the last 14 years. I expected Harbaugh would have had more success in these games and it is soul crushing that he hasn't yet.
February 16th, 2018 at 3:46 AM ^
February 15th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
As for his accomplishments by year 4...I think if you told people before he coached a game that he’d be averaging just over 9 wins a year going into year 4, most people would think that was pretty good/spot on. That’s because nobody expected 10 wins in his first year. I think a lot of the negative takes on Harbaugh now are based on him outpacing expectations in the beginning, and people aren’t handling a “come back to earth” year very well.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
on man. Referring to the changes in Harbaugh's manner as "sideline attitude" is a kind of straw-man. It is not just his sideline demeanor. There has unquestionably been a notable change to his personality toward this job in the past year and it is not hard to see. I think that everbody that is willing to admit it will also readily admit that IT COULD BE NOTHING, long term, and that the sky is not falling. But to try to refute that it has transpired is willful blindness.
February 15th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^