Amazon All or Nothing Michigan discussion
So I have been waiting for someone to post a discussion thread, and nothing has been posted yet unless I missed it. I know you all binge watched it, don't act like you didn't. So what did you think, did you learn anything you didnt know?
I thought it was great. Very well done, as bad as things went last year I expected this thing to be a terrible watch, I was wrong.
Some things I learned
1. Pep Hmilton was calling most of the plays? I figured he was more involved when Drevno came down from the booth but it seems like he was calling them.
2. Chase Winovich is friggin hilarious. He should be mic'd up every game
3.Wilton Speight did not come off great. Honestly I just don't think I would find him likable even if he was a good qb.
4. Don Brown is even more likable then I thought. The guys personality is awesome. Rare combo of being a really nice guy, funny, and the best D coordinator in the country.
What do you guys think? I don't think they could have done a better job with this special, really a great watch.
Chase Winovich is funny with his restrained shit talking...the bearcat stuff was classic
No one has mentioned yet that Mark Harmon (YTMH) is the narrator. Nice touch :)
Please remember that this is a heavily edited version of whatever happened during the season. Even if they trailed each and every player, there would be too much footage to view and edit. I would guess that they picked a few storylines and stuck with them through the season, hence a disjointed imcomplete view of the program.
Overall I like it. Good to see the "kids" give their everything on the field.
Damn, watching Metellus drop the INT vs OSU was painful. Make that play and we win the game. Completely different season.
BTW, were some players mic'ed up during games or did they just have a boom mic that picked up everything, even in the huddle?
I hope they asked Rashan Gary if it was ok to leave in that scene with his mom at the restaurant. Some pretty heavy personal stuff.
Yeah, I felt uncomfortable watching that scene, which seemed very personal.
Most of the ones I know are decent guys. Of course, I live in Northern Michigan. So they may be nice because they are outnumbered.
The Spartan fans are the ones that get me. They just hate us in a small, petty way. I used to try to talk to them, but it's useless. If Ann Arbor had an explosion tomorrow with lots of casualties Sparty fans would claim it was a Jim Harbaugh publicity stunt and bitch about the media coverage.
But I would hazard a guess our lackluster season had alot more to do with poor O-line play, poor QB play and the team being very inexperienced vs. cameras in the locker room.or in the dorm room or on the sidelines.
I still have the last episode to watch (hard to watch these last 3 loses back to back to back), but overall I am happy I watched it. Really gives you a different perspective of these young men outside of what we see on Saturdays as just a football player.
Some of my observations:
- Think the biggest thing that irked me was with Speight talking to Pep on the phone during games. Made me cringe hearing Pep telling him what to go tell the line/offense and he go say the same thing verbatim. You shouldn't have to do that for a leader, which a qb is supposed to be.
- I'll be the 300th person to say this, but Don Brown man. WOW. Love his passion he shows and the way he communicates with his guys. I was ready to brush the dust off my cleats and throw pads on after his speeches!
- I seem to be the minority hear, but I liked JOK. The kid showed passion, leadership, and confidence throughout the whole series. He was just in way over his head, not a Michigan caliber qb. LOVED how he immediately was behind Peters when he lost his job, and was ready to for his name to be called again.
- Gary and Winovich are the heartbeat of this team, and I couldn't be happier to have them back next year. Both are just flat out ballers who play with so much emotion (as you could see after the MSU game) and truly care about this team.
- Finally, I think the Harbaugh critics are a little harsh on his pre game speeches. Most of your headcoaches aren't going to be your pump up guy (cue in Don Brown). Harbaugh proves to be a great teacher and role model in these guys lives.
Is it September 1st yet?! Can't wait to see this team next year.
Yes. The losses are painful to relive. But it also makes you realize how close we were to winning those games. We had leads in every game we lost except Penn St. When you think about all the returning talent you'll be pumped up for the spring game.
Chase is so funny on the field .. I love his trash talking .... but its in a very funny way. So good! I laughed often at his comments.
Pep - I like him and I see why JH likes him. He is a calm motivator. It really just seems the QB play was the issue along with the line. I did totaly get a different perspective on him and Drevno.
Don Brown - Man .... you just want to play for a guy like that.
Brandon Peters - Man .. he is so dry ... like no fire or other in him. He throws a better ball but he is just too laid back. Speight doesn't have a lot of fire either.
John O'Korn - He cares. He tried. He stepped up and said it was on him when it was. I just respect the guy a lot. He might not of gotten it done at all times but he certainly had fire to him.
Higdon - seems like a good dad (which I didn't know he had a child) and good dude (humble) and you can't help but feel for Newsome. I hope he gets to play again!
I watched all 8 ..... I really came away with a new perspective on this program. With the new coaches coming in (esp with the new strength coach) I really think offensively we are going to see a much better team in that area. Our D will still be great. Coaches can only coach so much but the players have to make the plays ( mainly QB and O-line). Overall just a great series and I really enjoyed it. JH has passion and he really has the knack for picking good coaches (morally and positive based) and it showed in this. I really liked it alot. It was still of course painful to watch the losses again but it was equally nice to see how many of the players cared and how much emotion they showed when they lost. This is a team ... they all care and it was nice to see.
JH has made some really key changes this off season and I really think it will show on the offensive side this year. Our D will be as usual. The show gave me a profound new respect of behind the scenes look which will make me change how I post on here when I am feeling a bit too critical.
They did a great job I think.
Was already rethinking my own Pep hate. Nick Baumgartener (I know, who cares what he thinks) talked about there being wide open receivers all year but the QB not finding them. While I think it can be lazy to blame a team's struggles on execution, I think it was pretty clearly the issue in the passing game last year.
I didn't think the documentary reflected great on Michigan. Kinda took the shine off of Michigan, and I'm a Michigan fan. If I were an outsider, I don't think it'd make me interested in Michigan.
JOK and WS were softies. No wonder they both stunk.
Speight's girlfriend was annoying. Who talks in twitter lingo? At dinner, she goes 'Retweet' after WS said the season was passing by too fast. Another time she goes 'hashtag' something something.
Jack Harbaugh had the best speech of the entire year. I hope I have half that much fire at his age.
Just found the show last night. Binged 5 eps. Happy that we have a show to watch that goes behind the scenes like this. You can tell a lot is edited out, but this is for fans so it's only for entertainment. My few thoughts:
- Harbaugh is a dad. Dad jokes, dad stories, dad actions. A Dad. He is very different and intense but I don't think they captured that in the series. That's fine, we don't need to see everything
- Some things I think we should not be privy to seeing. Gary's mom is amazing, Gary is a great player and seems like a great son, but I felt like I was given front row seats to a very private family talk when he and his mom were at that restaurant. On a side note, I love how his mom is all about Rashan giving a diva face in photos and getting a manicure and pedicure.
- I recall less of the bad moments from last season, thank god. I remember the feelings after each game though.
- Don Brown is a great DC, everyone has already mentioned why and I agree.
- Our offense seemed lost while our defense had an identity from game 1 and on..
- Devin Bush's dad seems awesome and in general I liked all of the family elements displayed in the series. Reminds everyone it's more than a game.
- Winovich is a dude, a blonde dude, and his hair stylist doesn't follow sports. Also Winovich has a very convincing bear growl.
- Mo's Uber pickup was a funny scene. Definitely the average student.
- The trip to Rome was great and I wish more kids could experience such things.
- That Purdue hit on Speight still pisses me off. How was that not called!??! look at the guy he had to wear torso brace. Later on in the episode he talks about how he tried sitting for the first time, because he couldn't initially. wtf....
- The versions of Speight and JOK portrayed on the show need to look inwards before blaming others. I feel that coaching staff knew how lacking their were at QB long before the season.
- Brittney Papadopolus, the academic coach talking to Gary. That was a great scene.
- These kids work their asses off and it makes me proud to be a wolverine.
- Next year will be great.
Okay, now everyone give someone a high five!
- The biggest takeaway is that I don't see an issue with the playcalling by committee approach. It seemed to work fine. The process was much more streamlined than has been made out on this blog. Even the bad play calls were not a clusterfuck of 5 voices argueing.
- However, there was a remarkable difference between in-game defensive and offensive coaching. We cannot have more than 1 offensive coach in the booth next season. Brown and Mattison were constantly coaching and pumping their guys up and the results showed. Offensive coaching amounted to a 10 s phone call to the QB. No wonder things snowballed into futility as the games went on. I really hope only 1 of McElwain/Pep are upstairs and the other is on the sideline.
- Not a good look for Speight, the way he conducted himself. That being said, I can't imagine having a film crew at dates with my gf, seems pretty awkward and I think some of his comments were him trying too hard to seem cool for the cameras so I'll cut him a little slack. Also the comment about giselle was clearly something he just threw in to score points with his gf because there was a camera there.
- I am probably more sympathetic to JOK now than before. Yes he yelled at Gentry, whatever it was a heat of the moment thing. He clearly knew that the RBs were carrying the offense and was constantly supporting them. His air of confidence had a sort of "fake it till you make it" vibe. He just doesn't have what it takes to be the starting QB at Michigan, doesn't make him a bad guy.
- I was not a fan of the Pep hire, but the show displayed him in a positive light. However, multiple times they showed his door sign which said "QB & WR coach", and he never once said a word to the young WRs. Thats a problem. Also the way he ran the QB meetings was a problem I think. As noted, Speight seemed disinterested and Peters showed no fire. While some of that is on the players personalities, I dont think Pep did them any favors with the way he ran the meetings.
- Harbaugh is even more likeable than he already was. SEC-loving media types try to paint his persona as a contrived shtick. On the contrary, he seems completely genuine. Yes he's weird and goofy, but all the stories he told and the way he acted seemed like he was a genuinely good guy. I have a hard time picturing other B1G coaches diving in a pool, most college coaches have an inflated sense of self importance. Harbaugh doesn't. The baby story was odd, but I totally believe that he actually did that and actually had those thoughts running through his mind in the middle of the night walking through his house in the dark.
TLDR: playcalling by committee is fine, offensive in-game coaching terrible, college kids say wierd things when you film their dates, JOK good teammate bad QB, Pep still has a lot to prove, glad we have Harbaugh
My wife is from an MSU family and she was encouraging me to keep playing episode after episode. The personal stories were the best. Well done Prime. As others have stated, nice to have a little peek behind the curtain.
Harbaugh is still my hero. His blank expression at home after a loss is just like me. He loves god, family (football family too) and football. I believe he cares deeply for his players. Quirky? Abosolutely, but who thought otherwise?
Don Brown is not paid enough.
Rashan Gary will be a top 5 pick in NFL next April. He will have a beast of season. I have so much more respect for him. His mom always seemed like a great mom before this series, and this only provided further evidence she is real. Our new S&C coach will have the players in the best shape of their lives this year.
Winovich is a dork in a good way and brings awesome energy that other players feed off of.
QB's proved devastating to season. Both Okorn and Speight thought they were better than they were. There were plays to be made all season, but bad decisions or errant throws were costly. The coaches put them in a position to be successful and they both didn't execute. I hope Speight does not come back to Michigan. Wish them both well, but time to move on. I got the sense both Harbaugh and Pep knew the QB's were achilles heel from camp on.
Next to poor QB play, Blacks injury had a big impact. No reciever stepped up for balance of season. Not Perry, not DPJ or any of the TE's. There were flashes, but no one was ascending like Black. Hope he is 100% and DPJ steps up. Those two could make any QB look great.
I believe this series will help recruiting more than hurt. But at the end of day, winning is the best recruiter.
Wide receivers rarely excel at the freshman level; not to say that you dont have the great ones but a lot of pressure were placed on the freshmen QBs and very unfair if you ask me.
...are just soooooo...michigan fan.
April 10th, 2018 at 10:20 AM ^
Really liked the series and the insights it gave into the program. The personal stories were done well and you felt like you really did get to know the coaches and players.
Random takeaways:
Man, Jack Harbaugh needs to give ALL the pregame speeches! For real.
I so badly want to just kick it with Don Brown. Love that he has chosen to coach college ball because of the impact he feels he can make forming young boys into men. He is a DUDE.
O'Korn had exactly the demeanor you wanted to see from your starting QB. I wish he had the game to go along with it. But I really, really respected how he carried himself as a young man throughout the year. Impressive.
Interesting how the struggles of the O Line were not focused on at all in the documentary. Maybe it just made for better TV to focus on other storylines, but it is interesting to me that it wasn't even hinted at when following the QB storyline. Does this mean that the QB play was a much bigger problem than the OL play?
I got sick all over again watching us go up 14-0 on OSU and then go on to lose The Game.
Pep came off as very likeable and seemed like he knew what he was doing. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see what happens next season.
I feel like putting up WANTED posters to ask the AA community to continue the search for Brandon Peters' personality. Pep - can you please, please get him to spend some time with Winovich - maybe some of Chase's personality can rub off on him? The QB needs to be a leader of men. I could not even see that Peters had that buried deep inside of him.
I wonder how much of a distraction this documentary was. While it does a good job of capturing the moment, if I were a player/coach I would feel annoyed about the cameras and the eventual show tbh.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
.torrent of the entire series (30GB /1080p resolution) - https://goo.gl/VjUNBx
I am on the Minnesota Brown Jug episode. This series is really well done, tasteful editing and beautifully shot for a reality show.
It is a time capsule.
I am surprised to see all the positive comments about Pep on this board and on the mgoblog roundtable this morning. Through 5 episodes, I see Pep giving the QBs very little instruction to correct their mistakes. Most of his communication with them seems to be bland motivational comments.
There are at least some clips of Harbaugh trying to teach Speight how to hold the ball more securely on handoffs, and instructing JOK to go through his progression better.