Amazon All or Nothing Michigan discussion

I have a friend who was a walk-on during spring camp last year. I asked him who I would be surprised about positive and negative. He said Speight and Nordin we're complete entitled douchebags. He said Bush was special and Khalid Hill was lazy as long as he could be but hilarious and ridiculously gifted.

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.

What ever happened to Khalid Hill in the bowl game? Did that ever come out? I don't recall seeing him play, could be wrong.

Submarine submersion >>>>> Reality TV series

I thought the framework of the coaching staff was an issue, but I'm purely guessing. It took two guys to call plays, and that's assuming Harbaugh wasn't calling any as well. Drevno was supposed to worry about the offensive line, but also had to worry about when he'd be called upon to chime in with a run play. Pep is calling pass plays and then giving motivational telephone calls to the QBs between possessions. Harbaugh is giving feedback to the QBs before and after Pep calls. There were some serious blurred lines between the offensive responsibilities. Maybe that works just fine in practice, but I thought it looked clunky on gameday. There were a lot of times when neither the QBs nor the OCs knew which QB was going to be in the game, because that was Harbaugh's call and he was caught up in the game. Felt like sometimes 3 different guys had to make a decision just to get a play in.

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?

Pep doesn’t look good because of editing, its cuz he is good. His play calling was always fine but there is no good play call choice when your qbs suck, ol sucks, and you can’t run because opposing defenses know the first two.

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. 

Watch the 3rd episode. Watch that play...in real time it is an egregious late hit that possibly changed parts of the season. The dude had no business doing it and should've been tossed from the game.

I haven’t watched in. Should I? I’m inclined not to want to re-experience last season. I’m not a masochist.

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.

1) The hit that broke Wilton's neck was incredibly dirty. They had a great slow-mo replay from the side where you see the defender clearly change his angle and launch while Speight is sitting on the field. 2) My wife mentioned that Harbaugh seems like he's on the autism spectrum. I absolutely think she's right.

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:

1. 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
2. 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.
3. I recall less of the bad moments from last season, thank god. I remember the feelings after each game though. 
4. Don Brown is a great DC, everyone has already mentioned why and I agree.
5. Our offense seemed lost while our defense had an identity from game 1 and on..
6. 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.
7. Winovich is a dude, a blonde dude, and his hair stylist doesn't follow sports. Also Winovich has a very convincing bear growl.
8. Mo's Uber pickup was a funny scene. Definitely the average student.
9. The trip to Rome was great and I wish more kids could experience such things. 
10. 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....
11. 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.
12. Brittney Papadopolus, the academic coach talking to Gary. That was a great scene.
13. These kids work their asses off and it makes me proud to be a wolverine.
14. 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.

...are just soooooo...michigan fan.

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.

.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.