Unverified Voracity Sends Everyone Everywhere Comment Count

Brian

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Alex Kile's pointless game winner [Bill Rapai]

And it was the most pointless of all events. Michigan got a 2-2 tie out of a tightly contested game against a quite good Ferris State outfit on Wednesday, and fans were treated to a shootout at the end. The shootout decided nothing and meant nothing and took about 85 shooters to complete, but it was superficially fun all the same. Wow experience.

Anyway, Michigan staged an epic comeback in the shot department after a first period that Ferris dominated there and on the ice. M went from 14-4 down to 22-22 after two and went toe-to-toe; in the third they were held without a shot for a long time mostly because they kept tipping the puck two inches wide of the post, agonizingly. Ferris's tying goal came on a screened shot where it looked like Nagelvoort was unaware of who even had the puck and was badly positioned; other than that he was pretty damn good.

Michigan needs Kevin Lohan back, and soon, so they can sit Clare. Clare saw a potential two-on-one developing at center ice and decided to charge it, for the rare center-ice pinch. Upside: Clare gets the puck just outside of the blue line with three M skaters in the offensive zone. Downside: two on one featuring Sinelli as the last guy. Completely insane decision, one of many.

Other than that, a damn good game between two good teams without a lot of offensive wizards on their roster.

GO AWAY. EVERYBODY GO AWAY. Pat Narduzzi turns down the UConn job, which makes perfect sense. Bob Diaco then takes it, which doesn't but does mean Notre Dame has lost both its coordinators this offseason. Offense hardly matters since that's Brian Kelly's show; Diaco's departure might put some wobble in a unit that's been pretty good ever since he figured out how to defend Navy.

ND players certainly freaked out about it. Stephon Tuitt in a since-deleted tweet:

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It is called that, Mr. Tuitt, and my suggestion to you is to do the same.

As for Narduzzi, he seems to be holding out for a job that is not an AAC death trap. This is probably the right idea. Unfortunately for Michigan fans hoping for some shakeup in the MSU program, with all the heads on the table save Mack Brown it doesn't look like there's going to be an opening of appropriate attractiveness this offseason unless someone gets poached by the NFL late. I'll pencil him in as Illinois's coach starting next year.

Coaching trees. Diaco is the third Brian Kelly assistant to get a head job (Charlie Molnar is at UMass and Chuck Martin was just hired at Miami). Current head coaches from Carr/Hoke era assistants after Ron English (understandably) lost his mind at EMU:

  • Brady Hoke, Michigan
  • This is not a tree.
  • You need branches for that.
  • It's a coaching line.

With Mattison and Borges not candidates for head jobs due to a variety of factors, that's not going to change. Hell, the only Michigan guy under 50 to have reached a coordinator spot is Scot Loeffler, who may not be long for that role after one-year stints at Temple and Florida were followed by a miserable opening year at Virginia Tech.

That's alarming. Compare Carr's coaching tree to Bo's… actually don't even bother doing that, compare it to Gary Moeller. It's not good that the only major school still willing to hire Michigan coaches is Michigan.

YES GO AWAY. Braxton Miller's looking at the NFL:

“It’s tough,” Miller told the Tribune. “I just don't know. I’ve really got to sit down and go through the pros and cons. I’ll talk to my parents, take it slow.
"Hopefully ball out on January 3rd and see what the scouts are looking at.”

The NFL is looking at Braxton Miller and seeing a guy who's nowhere near an NFL quarterback right now, so this probably won't come to anything. But it should. Go away!

I like big Butt. Sorry. Inevitable that was going to happen at some point. It couldn't be helped, really. Here's why it happened:

Butt entered his first year at Michigan as a scrawny, 6-foot-6, 209-pound prospect with potential.

He'll leave it some 37 pounds heavier, at 6-foot-6, 246-pounder with 11 percent body fat and an appetite for much, much more.

"(The coaching staff) wants me at 255, but I think I can get to 260, I'm a skinny 246 right now," Butt said. "I can put on more."

That is a crazy amount of weight in one year. Contrast that to Devin Funchess, who was listed at 235 as both a freshman and sophomore. While that lack of weight gain was mostly due to the roster lying its ass off about Funchess as a freshman, hey look one of those guys is a tight end and the other one is a wide receiver who occasionally puts his hand down.

If Butt can get to 260 by next fall, Michigan could have an actual dual threat tight end. This would make everyone happy: Borges would have a guy who's an actual matchup issue and I wouldn't have to watch Borges put tight ends on the field over guys like Dileo when that makes no sense at all.

Come on baby.

You wouldn't even recognize my blocking (back in the spring compared to know), I didn't know which foot to step with or where to put my hands, it's night and day," Butt says. "I look at the film and wonder 'who is that kid?' The coaches here put a complete transformation on me."

They're going to play tight ends; hopefully they'll have one worth playing.

This used to happen all the time! Michigan's safety play was not great this year but got a lot worse once Michigan started futzing with their starters, inexplicably at first and then apparently injury-forced, and I still don't get why Michigan was so down on Thomas Gordon. Was he great? No. Did he do this?

For instance, below Michigan State packages mesh with a smash variation combining a corner and swing route. The goal is to put a man beater to the boundary and a hi-lo stretch to the field against a cover 2 corner.

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At the snap, Cook reads cover 2, so he knows he is going to the wide side of the field, where he has the 2 on 1 against the squat corner. Cook knows that the corner must cover the swing to the wide side flat, and he can throw the flag pattern before the cover 2 safety can react.

So Michigan State has a good call against the Buckeye coverage. But a completion is one thing. Throwing gasoline on the fire, Corey Pitt Brown takes a horrible angle, coming under the throw and violating a cover 2 safety's primary rule, which is not get beat deep. Seventy-two yards later Michigan State was up 10-0.

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No. He was a boring person who did boring things like be a step late on well-thrown corner routes. This is pretty good in the grand scheme of things.

Given what we saw out of Avery and Furman when they were inserted it's clear no one was pushing through; messing with the safeties was a counterproductive move likely borne out of panic about the offense making the defensive coaches try anything that might improve the defense. By the OSU game their hand was forced by Wilson's injury, which is one of about ten things that may have cost Michigan that game.

Compare and contrast. Michigan State got inundated with Rose Bowl ticket requests to the point that they had a choice: cut out some low end folks or reduce available tickets for big ballers from 6 to 4 and medium ballers from 4 to 2. They went with the latter.

"At some point, you have to be true to the character of your institution, your history and fanbase. We're not elitist. We realize we have tremendous fan support and we know the sacrifices people make to be donors.

"The decision was made to be in line with the inclusive character of our university," Schager added. "The bottom line is Michigan State University wants to accommodate as many people as possible (for) this experience that everybody wants to be a part of."

As soon as Michigan got a good basketball team, they reseated Crisler such that people who had put in the time to watch ten years of dreck got booted upstairs if they weren't huge donors.

And there's not going to be a pep band on Saturday… for some reason. The pep band people are irritated, so it's not them, but it seems insane for even Dave Brandon to try to milk some 100 extra seats out of one regular season basketball game. That appears to be the case, though.

One of these athletic directors is making decisions based on building loyalty with his whole fanbase; the other is still running a company that markets cardboard as pizza.

Amir Williams! Oh man I feel your pain, Amir Williams.

Etc.: Bowls are popular. WH Frank Beckmann tribute.

Comments

wile_e8

December 13th, 2013 at 4:27 PM ^

FWIW I don't think hiring ex-coaches is necessarily bad - all other things being equal, it would probably be better to have someone familiar with the program. The problem is when you combine a reluctance to hire anyone but ex-coaches with coaching trees sparse on anyone qualified to coach the program. Which is where we are going to be sooner or later unless Hoke starts making his own coaching tree, and not being able to start that with either Borges or Mattison makes it more difficult.

WolvinLA2

December 13th, 2013 at 4:38 PM ^

That's fair, but what isn't being noted here are ex-Michigan players, who aren't necessarily from a Michigan coaching tree, are currently coaching.  Guys like Hart, Wheatley and Sheridan don't show up on any M coaches' coaching trees, but they would certainly qualify for what you're referring to.  People say that Harbaugh is a part of Bo's coaching tree, even though he never coaches under him, so Hart should be attributed to Carr's tree, Wheatley to Moeller, etc.  

Additionally, Roy Manning qualifies as a hot young assitant.  He was beloved at Cincinnati as an assistant and was scooped up here as soon as there was an opening.

wile_e8

December 13th, 2013 at 4:55 PM ^

Yeah, I'm sure they would be acceptable to the Michigan Man segment. One other person I had in my head was Jerry Montgomery. The problem with all these names though is that they are all young and several years away from being qualified head coaching candidates, assuming they even reach that point. As long Hoke is here for a long time one of them (or another unnamed assistant or player) should break through and earn the job for reasons other than Michigan Man-ness. But if another hire is needed in the near future, it could get icky.

WolvinLA2

December 13th, 2013 at 5:18 PM ^

Agreed.  If another HC is needed within <5 years, we would have to go outside the tree (assuming guys like Miles or either Harbaugh aren't it).  Beyond that, we might have some options.  The Mallory brothers should probably be included on this list as well, and they aren't as young as guys like Hart or Sheridan.

247Hinsdale

December 13th, 2013 at 10:49 PM ^

But I don't have enough points. What does it mean to be a Michigan Man. To my knowledge, the phrase was most famously used by Bo when he fired Frieder on the eve of the NCAA tournament, stating that a Michigan Man would coach Michigan. I don't think it mattered to Bo whether one has a history at the University of Michigan, it was about dedication in the present. It was about ideals, not pedigree. Some outsiders (such as Bo himself) could exemplify those ideals, but not everyone can.

bronxblue

December 13th, 2013 at 2:13 PM ^

Miller should probably leave but won't, though I kind of doubt his stock will be much different to NFL teams. I guess he should at least get a degree.



Kudos to MSU for making tickets available to their fans. I would counter that they still struggle to fill their stadium against many teams, so some of these requests may just be coming from front runners. I do think people should stop being surprised that Brandon is kind of a dick when it comes to non-revenue generating people, though.

Sac Fly

December 13th, 2013 at 2:18 PM ^

The concern with Kevin Claire is that his biggest mistakes are coming on the backboards.

Against Ohio State he skated behind the icing line with open ice and an outlet pass. He reversed the puck right at an OSU forechecker for the tying goal.

Against Ferris it was the same situation, except he tried to take it himself. It was the right read, but he was skating so slow the Ferris forechecker ran him over and took the puck for the tying goal.

There are ways to hide a defensemen in the other zones, but not there.

enlightenedbum

December 13th, 2013 at 2:48 PM ^

I thought it was Serville who made the totally insane neutral pinch?  At least the one that led to Ferris' first goal.

I basically don't trust any of our defensemen besides Bennett and De Jong.

TWSWBC

December 13th, 2013 at 2:56 PM ^

I called the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts here in Grand Rapids to inquire about the Medora documentary being shown at their theatre. They said the Mgoblog mention wouldn't get anyone in for free. Just wondering if there is a secret password or series and cadence of door knocks that I need to get in. Thanks

blueuphoria

December 13th, 2013 at 3:12 PM ^

In the short time I have been on this site, I have not seen a more incisive summarizing quote than this one when it comes to my problems with Michigan Football:



"It's not good that the only major school still willing to hire Michigan coaches is Michigan."

4godkingandwol…

December 13th, 2013 at 3:13 PM ^

... my mentor once told me something along these lines:

There are two type of successful people in business, those that are good at making money and those that are good at building.  You want both on your team, but only one is qualified for leading it.

Given the businesses he's built at the company at which I'm employed, I knew which one he meant. 

BlueinOK

December 13th, 2013 at 3:27 PM ^

ND coordinators want to leave so they don't get yelled at anymore. I bet those coaches meeting are just red-faced Kelly ripping into all of them. He seems like the type where he's never the problem so it must be the other coaches' fault. 

lunchboxthegoat

December 13th, 2013 at 3:59 PM ^

I understand the meme and where it came from...

but this is his fourth school where he's had good success...can we knock it off with the 'Kelly is a moron and people must hate to associate with him." Chuck Martin has been with Kelly for a LONG time. Diaco worked for him multiple times. 

Its not as if he's losing coordinators every year or tons of transfers. They've had a lot of success as a group, both are young enough to move on...they're leaving because they're both good coaches, not because Kelly is an ahole. 

WolvinLA2

December 13th, 2013 at 7:33 PM ^

First of all, Brian Kelly is a good coach and few dispute that.  He is also an asshole, and few dispute that as well.  

Chuck Martin absolutely followed Kelly to many of his spots, but that could simply be because Kelly was his mentor and kept getting promoted, so of course Martin would join him upward.  This doesn't mean that Martin thinks Kelly is a great guy.  

If my boss got promoted, and then named me his successor, I would probably take the job even if my boss was an asshole (assuming that was the route I wanted to go).  Following my boss to better jobs doesn't mean I like him as a person.

Cromulent

December 14th, 2013 at 1:03 AM ^

Kelly offered Martin the DC at CMU, but he stayed back to become the head coach. Kelly then offered Martin the DC position at Cinci, but Martin stayed home. He only joined Kelly when he got the ND job. Kelly would have liked to give Martin the DC job in South Bend, but no way is ND going to allow a lower div coach to jump up all the way to a major BCS coordinator position without some top shelf experience.

lunchboxthegoat

December 14th, 2013 at 5:09 AM ^

I just have a tough time believing that both Martin AND Diaco followed Kelly to multiple stops and passed up on other good opportunities to stay with Kelly (rumored Diaco was offered Wiscy job last year) but now all of a sudden they're leaving because they can't stand him. I'm sure Kelly is a tough guy to get a long with some of time (lots of coaches are) but if he were a total asshole and an insufferable human being, I doubt he'd have highly thought of guys (like Diaco, at least) following him around the country to work for him. 

los barcos

December 13th, 2013 at 3:53 PM ^

the only one that thinks the thomas gordon - nebraska safety swap could have been more of a doghouse-type situation? as in, thomas gordon might have broken some amorphous team rule and was thus delegated to special teams duty?

 

it just doesnt make sense otherwise to take out a multi-year starter at safety for one game.

gobucs_not osu

December 13th, 2013 at 3:59 PM ^

It might not be a bad idea for Braxton Miller to take off this year. There are a lot of NFL teams that need QBs and the idea of having a spread QB is also tempting. He obviously has issues with accuracy on shorter throws but those won't go away with another year playing college football. Plus, next years' QB class is really impressive. He could potentially be a top 5 QB this year, but doesn't have a chance to be one next year.

 

(Wishful thinking)

Ron Utah

December 13th, 2013 at 4:31 PM ^

While I agree that it is probably in Braxton's best interest to leave this year, I can't see him being a top five QB.  He's just not a polished enough passer, and this season the NFL is showing that the running QB idea may have been just a '12 gimmick.

Here are the guys that I would draft ahead of Braxton:

  • Bridgewater
  • Carr
  • Manziel
  • Murray
  • Boyd
  • McCarron
  • Hundley
  • Mettenberger
  • Mariota

Here are guys that might be better:

  • Hogan
  • Mannion
  • Fales
  • Price

There are more...but my point is that Braxton was better as a passer this year, but if you're drafting him as a QB, I don't think he gets picked until day three of the draft.

jmblue

December 13th, 2013 at 4:40 PM ^

You don't have to draft him as a QB, though.  He's an impressive runner and could well make a good tailback or receiver.  He's rushed for over 3,000 career yards and has topped 1,000 each of the past two years, despite missing a few games this year.  He just put up 142 yards and 2 TDs on the ground on MSU's defense.  

Cromulent

December 13th, 2013 at 4:48 PM ^

"Offense hardly matters since that's Brian Kelly's show; Diaco's departure might put some wobble in a unit that's been pretty good ever since he figured out how to defend Navy."

 

Um, no. Chuck Martin had more of Kelly's trust than anyone else he's ever coached with. If Kelly had Martin on the offensive side of the ball there was a good reason for it.

 

And no, Diaco never figured out how to defend Navy. He just had massively superior defensive lines. Look at the #s ND gave up when they removed the first string defenders. It was not pretty. Birddog covered this in some detail.

Ty Butterfield

December 13th, 2013 at 5:40 PM ^

I didn't realize that ND has lost both coordinators. It will be interesting to see who they hire. I wonder if they will wait until after the bowl games or promote from within?

Bluegriz

December 13th, 2013 at 5:42 PM ^

It would indeed be nice to have a band. However you could also view this move as a way to get as many fans into the game as possible, which you deemed favorable when mark Hollis did it with rose bowl tickets. I mean, we are so desperate to bash DB that we are actually using Mark Hollis as the poster boy? As in, mark Hollis, from "lol mark Hollis" fame? The guy that that gave Glenn Winston a vote of confidence and gave trey Burke unsolicited twitter advice? I will never think Hollis is a better option than Brandon. Deep down I bet you feel the same.



And they didn't just reseat crisler... They built a new stadium! Different seats, different number of seats, etc. they wouldnt be able to make everyone happy if they tried. And they didn't do it just because the team had improved. We all know DB plans to upgrade everything. So to imply DB was conspiring for an opportunistic money grab can't be disproven, but also, on the spectrum of reactions you could have, maybe give the guy a break once in a while.

gbdub

December 13th, 2013 at 6:51 PM ^

The problem was they announced the "no band" thing the same day as they revealed there were a bunch of unclaimed student seats being put up for sale. So it was pretty much a money grab, and all things considered the alumni band probably contributes a lot more to the experience than 100 random fans.

m1jjb00

December 14th, 2013 at 12:01 PM ^

Listening to Bill King the other day, a domer calls in.  With their D-coach leaving for UConn, who does he want to hire?  Narduzzi.  King didn't even obther pointing out that Narduzzi was offered the job first, so why would he replace the guy who then took the job?