Unverified Voracity Dorfs It A Bit
photo does not fit with theme of bullet [Patrick Barron]
Pretty grim. Mark Titus on the state of Big Ten basketball:
We’re only four years removed from the Big Ten’s incredible 2012–13 campaign, when six different teams cracked the top 10 of the AP poll and the regular-season title came down to the final shot on the final day of conference play. A Big Ten national title seemed imminent then, if not in the 2013 tournament then certainly in the immediate years to come. Now, coming off a tourney in which the league’s champion got blasted in the Sweet 16 and its best team lost to a no. 15 seed, the Big Ten could fare even worse in 2016–17; its only hope of remaining in title contention by the end of the tournament’s opening weekend could hinge on Purdue, a team that blew a 14-point lead with five minutes to play against Arkansas–Little Rock in the first round of the 2016 tournament.
It's not great, Bob. Simultaneous collapses by OSU, MSU, Indiana, and (to a slightly lesser extent) Michigan have sapped the top of the conference. A few years ago there were 6 or 7 teams as good as any of the top end contenders this year and one to three teams who were legitimately elite.
Injuries play a role, but Matta seems to have hit a wall; Izzo and Beilein are 62 and 64, respectively, and may be slowing down as they near the end of their careers. Crean may be gone after this year.
Donnal departure is already agreed to, apparently. It's not like it's a huge surprise but Mark Donnal taking a grad transfer next year has migrated past "open secret" and reached "fait accompli":
Donnal is not being offered a fifth year at Michigan.
"There have been a lot of ups and downs," he said. "I really think my career here shaped me as a better person. Now I'm moving on."
Michigan has three recruits coming in and Donnal is the third senior. Without attrition they'd be full next year, but attrition is always a possibility. [CORRECTION: Michigan still has an open slot.]
Today in Big Ten refs. How did Iowa-Indiana go last night?
God, shucks, there were a lot of those, huh? 57 (!!) total in this game, with four Indiana players fouling out — something that likely cost a thin Indiana team this contest, ultimately.
Both sides of this game have reps on my twitter feed and both sides were incredulous at what they were watching. An explanation is not forthcoming.
Seriously, MLive asked after the Minnesota debacle and got this response from the league:
MLive requested a comment or clarification regarding the technical. Via a Minnesota spokesman, the Big Ten stated that the technical was a judgment call and, thus, the night's head official, Rob Riley, would not be made available for comment.
"We question the judgment of your officials."
"The judgment of our officials is not in question, the end."
This is gaslighting, right? Did I do that correctly? I'm not good with words and stuff.
The last unicorn. Indiana RB coach Deland McCullough is off to USC. With that move, Indiana has now lost the entirety of Kevin Wilson's braintrust. Almost everybody moved up. Greg Frey ended up at Michigan, McCullough at USC, Wilson himself ended up as OSU's OC, etc., etc.
Indiana responded by bringing in Mike Debord. While that's going to be bad for anyone who liked #chaosteam—and as a fan of a Big Ten team that managed not to lose to them—it's going to be great for anyone who wants to see what happens when you put a sloth in a NASCAR race. Let's gooooooo (not very fast).
The nation's foremost water-carrier. Tony Barnhart has always been a reliable mouthpiece for any rich guy involved in college athletics but this takes the cake. He writes an article about the spate of post-Signing Day coaching moves, which are cynically delayed until players are locked in to a LOI. He lists several examples, and then:
I did some calling around and the feedback I got essentially was this: “If this bothers you, then you’re being pretty naïve. Coaches leaving, or being asked to leave, right after signing day is just a fact of life in college football.”
Who did he talk to? Mack Brown and Rick Neuheisel. Both those guys—shock—think it's no big deal. This is like asking the head of Big Ten officials whether he sucks at his job. It's the full Greenstein right here.
Annual targeting revamp. Via Get the Picture, the NCAA is going to tweak targeting again:
As targeting ejections have doubled over three years, the NCAA Football Rules Committee is looking at changing the replay standards so a targeting ejection only occurs if the penalty is confirmed. Currently, if replay doesn’t have enough evidence to confirm targeting but can’t rule it’s not targeting, the call on the field stands and the player gets ejected.
There could be three different outcomes to targeting reviews:
- Confirmed: ejection, 15 yards.
- Stands: no ejection, 15 yards.
- Overturned: no penalty.
I'm not sure how many targeting penalties fall into that gray area in the middle, but we're about to find out. I guess a way to get calls like that Penn State targeting ejection less wrong is good?
Good ol' boys. It's still 1975 in Louisiana:
Ed Orgeron was just presented with a key to the local jail.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) February 18, 2017
Just in case, the sheriff says, an #LSU player finds his way into there.
After FSU and Baylor and Tennessee you'd think these kinds of wink-wink nudge-nudge events would be frowned upon. There are clear costs that have resulted in far worse things than the occasional drunken escapade on a stolen moped.
Indiana parallels. In depth piece on Indiana basketball finding its footing in a world where it's no longer the 1970s at the Crimson Quarry:
The factors that made Indiana a great job 30 years ago simply don’t hold as much water today. We live in a world that is now smaller due to cheaper travel, social media, national AAU programs and circuits, prep schools. Indiana is far less cordoned off than it once was, and college basketball in the state and nationally is far deeper than it was in the peak of the Bob Knight era. Bloomington isn’t an NBA market like Los Angeles. Indianapolis is known for quality, not necessarily quantity, in producing top-level recruits that power programs to titles.
The comparisons between Indiana basketball and Michigan football over the past 40 or so years aren't dead on but there are some parallel tracks:
- Bo and Bob Knight are both cantankerous program legends who cast a long shadow for anyone who follows.
- Immediate successors are assistants promoted to the head job. Gary Moeller is the hand-picked successor; Mike Davis is an interim after Knight goes off the rails late who eventually gets the head job. Both have decent teams that aren't good enough to keep people from yelling for their heads and don't last.
- Controversial outsiders Rich Rodriguez and Kelvin Sampson are brought in, have short, tumultuous reigns featuring NCAA trouble. (Sampson's are much worse, resulting in a five-year show cause penalty.) Both last just three years.
- Dorfy-looking head coaches with somewhat questionable credentials are next. Major difference here is that Crean inherited a disaster zone and Hoke inherited Denard Robinson, so Hoke's tenure looks like a man careening downhill on moguls he doesn't know how to ski and Crean had an upward trajectory until recently. Still: dorfy.
It's rough when you've done things one way for a million years and then have to adapt.
Etc.: More croot profiles: J'Marick Woods, Kwity Paye, Luiji Vilain, Deron Irving-Bey, Ambry Thomas. Nevermind on Michael Johnson, who took a WR job at Oregon because he is terribly unqualified. What if Michigan never returned to the Big Ten?
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:03 PM ^
Won't Michigan have room for four new players next year with Donnal leaving? UMHoops has Michigan with an open scholarship left open next year.
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:21 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:04 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:40 PM ^
Seen in this light, their desire for an early signing period is even more ridiculous and self-serving.
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:04 PM ^
Wait, I thought that LSU thing was a joke. Is it for real? Please tell me it's a joke. Is Brian joking about it here and I'm missing it?
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:33 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 3:45 PM ^
Ever heard of "kidding on the square?"
February 22nd, 2017 at 5:11 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:07 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:14 PM ^
I think one could argue that MAAR and Donnal are quasi-Dorfin' it.
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:15 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:30 PM ^
This mustn't happen!
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
#slothteam
Edit: actually... this would have my attention
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:18 PM ^
Position coach at Tennessee is more like the bunny hill. Hoke should be fine as long as he doesn't get mowed down by some other person who has no idea what they are doing.
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:33 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:36 PM ^
is B1G basketball Officiating
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:23 PM ^
The worst targeting call I remember is Bolden getting called for it after a MSU OL pushed/threw him on top of a downed player. I don't blame the refs for calling it when they saw a guy fly on top of a defenseless player but the replay guys should be taken out back.
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:01 PM ^
Malik McDowell actually got called for one worse than that at Indiana this year.
February 22nd, 2017 at 6:03 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:25 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 6:17 PM ^
and they all sucked...
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:40 PM ^
i would also add that not only was mike davis not handpicked, he was only made the interim after a player revolt requesting that he get the job...when the players are asking that you be hired, that's a pretty good sign that discipline is not exactly high on your list of priorities. knight never would have picked him, and if i recall correctly he was pretty dismissive of davis on several occasions. i'm guessing bobby would have chosen pat knight to take over, proving for the 10,000th time that letting someone pick his successor is a bad idea.
davis was also pretty clearly overmatched (despite making the national title game in his second season) and got canned for being resoundingly mediocre, while moeller was relatively successful (if disappointing) as bo's successor. i dont' recall too many calls for his head pre-excalibur.
February 22nd, 2017 at 6:18 PM ^
Bo Ryan picked his successor against the wishes of his AD and it seems to have worked out well.
February 23rd, 2017 at 1:36 PM ^
greg gard wouldn't be the first coach to ride a couple of good seasons with the last guy's players.
he looks good right now, but he's got a lot of seniors on that team, and ethan happ committed to bo ryan in 2012 (!). gard's recruiting has been just okay.
February 23rd, 2017 at 4:09 PM ^
True, it's early, but they were predicted to be awful last year and they've been quite good the last two instead.
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:32 PM ^
Brian notes
Gary Moeller is the hand-picked successor; Mike Davis is an interim after Knight goes off the rails late who eventually gets the head job. Both have decent teams that aren't good enough to keep people from yelling for their heads and don't last.
My memory is different. I think Moeller was doing pretty well at Michigan when he was fired. He had won three B1G championships, and won the B1G Coach of the Year twice. He won four out of five bowl games, including the Rose Bowl. He ended with a 44-13-3 overall record (and a 30-8-2 B1G record). His worst years were 8-4, which were not great and came at the end of his tenure. But still, I don't recall people calling for his head one bit.
What did Moeller in was the famous May 1995 incident at Excalibur in Southfield. Moeller got drunk, created a scene in the restaurant, and got tossed in jail. While in jail, he had a tearful rant that got released to the media. When the audio hit the airwaves, Moeller was pretty much cooked.
The source of the domestic strife, reputedly, had to do with marital issues that were Les a matter of inches than Miles.
Oh, and why was the audio released to the press? If memory serves, you'd have to ask the MSU grad/fan p.o. who thought it would be a good idea to release it to media outlets. Is there a legitimate policing reason to do that? Not that I can think of.
Link - http://articles.latimes.com/1995-05-05/sports/sp-62736_1_michigan-football-coach
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:35 PM ^
As noted below, this is consistent with my recollection.
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:01 PM ^
Thanks - I meant to append the following to my original:
Moeller was not reputed to be much of a drinker, so it was out of character that he'd be drunk in public and making a scene with his wife. Underlying this, reputedly, were some marital problems. (I also recall that he was suffering a bit of general pressure due to the consecutive 8-4 seasons, but nothing that approximates the hot seat some are recalling.) The heavy drinking in public was, from what I've seen, a one-time incident.
I'm not inclined to name the reputed marital interloper. The marital strife did not result in a drunk driving incident - regardless of the cause of the dispute, Moeller did not drive an inch, much Les any number of Miles.
Joe Roberson was also pretty protective of Michigan's reputation, and in a pre-internet era the audio garnered a lot of unsympathetic attention. It's a shame, because he was a great coach (IMO), and by most accounts a decent person. I was happy at the time that we finally were winning bowl games and usually in the hunt for the B1G championship.
Each time I think about this, I'm always a bit surprised that Moeller was there for five full seasons. In my memory, my sense is that it was a three year tenure!
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:05 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:54 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:38 PM ^
Agreed that the Excalibur incident did Moeller in, but two consecutive 8-4 seasons (each with three Big Ten losses) left him vulnerable to firing for bad behavior. He was definitely on the hot seat before his episode of public intoxication -- not a good idea to give ammunition to those who were looking for an excuse to show him the door.
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:42 PM ^
...i remember saying that if he was coming off a couple of 10-1 / rose bowl seasons he would've kept his job.
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:38 PM ^
Not sure where Brian is getting people were caling for Moeller's firing. There was maybe some frustration with the back to back 8-4 years, but I don't recall his seat being warm, let alone hot.
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:04 PM ^
"The source of the domestic strife, reputedly, had to do with marital issues that were Les a matter of inches than Miles."
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^
Moeller did a very good job as coach. Thought he brought a much needed improvement to our offense as he opened things up more as we finally moved away from the 3 yards in a cloud of dust days.
February 22nd, 2017 at 3:15 PM ^
... and as I recall it was recorded in the back of the police car. It was several days after the actual arrest, and things were actually dying down a bit. I was a student at the time, and suddenly it was back in the news, and was playing almost unceasingly on WJR radio - then on Channel 7 evening news.
To paraphrase, it was something like "Don't you know who I am? You guys are just arresting me because I'm the coach of the football team". That, as they say, was that. It would have been really tough for him to stand up in front of a football team and tell them not to expect special treatement by local law enforcement after that.
A couple of 4 loss seasons didn't help, of course, but he had a long leash at that time. A heisman trophy winner, a very progressive update of Bo's offense to a no-huddle, and some impressive recruiting classes. He may have survived it if for those two middling seasons, but after the audio tape it would have been tough even then.
FWIW I was around Mo a LOT in those days as a student manager. Although all the coaches would have a beer or two in the hotel bar on road trips (always staying sober), Mo never EVER had a drink in public.
EDIT: I just read the LA times article. It says Moeller was going to continue to recieve his salary of... $130,000. My how times have changed.
February 23rd, 2017 at 1:49 PM ^
...my brother was also a student manager at that time, and he said the same thing - that mo never ever had a drink in public. he's always said it was totally out of character for him.
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:31 PM ^
I think they're wrong about Moeller. He was 44-13-3 over 5 years. It wasn't his record that forced him out. From Bentley:
"Taking over for the legendary Bo Schembechler in 1990, Moeller guided the Wolverines to four bowl victories in his five years, including a 1993 Rose Bowl triumph over Pac-10 champion Washington. Moeller's list of accolades include directing teams to three Big Ten championships, two outright Big Ten titles, five bowl appearances ('91 Gator, '92 and '93 Rose, '94 Hall of Fame, and '94 Holiday), and five straight finishes in the nation's top 20.
"Moeller's Wolverines set a Big Ten record by winning 19 consecutive conference games between 1990-1992. By winning the Big Ten title in his first season as head coach, he joined, Bennie Oosterbaan and Fielding Yost as the only coaches to accomplish this feat in school history."
February 22nd, 2017 at 3:08 PM ^
??? Michigan tied for first place in the conference in Mo's first year. A guy named Schembechler did the same thing in his first season.
February 23rd, 2017 at 1:36 PM ^
Good catch. Maybe they meant the only coaches to win the title their first 3 years. Or maybe they just made a mistake.
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:32 PM ^
Best quote from the Titus article:
Ohio State finishes every game by finding a new way to shoot itself in the dick.
https://theringer.com/big-ten-basketball-subpar-indiana-maryland-purdue…
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:37 PM ^
Good ole boys from LSU--go in dumb, come out dumb too. - Randy Newman
February 22nd, 2017 at 1:56 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:52 PM ^
This is the first mention I have ever heard of this possibility. I just don't see it - is there other credible speculation of this or did you just come up with that yourself?
February 22nd, 2017 at 3:25 PM ^
seems to have gone from something that somebody mentioned in passing as a remote unverified possibility to something that is definitely, for sure, going to happen in the course of a couple of hours.
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:00 PM ^
Creen brought about his own demise by being a shithead. It's all a direct result of his oversigning and I couldn't be happier to see him lose games because of it.
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:05 PM ^
What's the (presumably Teddy) Greenstein reference about?
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^
He interviewed a B1G bureaucrat -- can't remember if named or unnamed, head of officials, etc., and don't care enough to google it -- who assured him that the calls in the game were 100 percent correct, nothing to see here.
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