Hey: watchalong. We're going to do a watchalong for the hockey semifinal Saturday at 9 PM. Be there.

The culture is 8-24 and Jon Sanderson works for Illinois. An Athletic article from Brendan Quinn and Katie Strang reveals that an outside consulting firm has been brought into assess the culture of the basketball program:

…a makeshift meeting room was assembled inside Michigan Stadium last week. There, officials from Rankin Climate, an external firm specializing in organizational “climate assessments,” convened to conduct a probe into the culture of the men’s basketball program. Rankin officials asked some athletic department employees about their experiences in the program, Howard’s leadership and support offered by the athletic department. Those interviewed were told that participation was voluntary, according to multiple university employees granted anonymity because they are not permitted to speak about the investigation.

There's not a whole lot else that was new except some more details of what Sanderson sent the university via his lawyer; there are some disturbing claims:

Sanderson claims Howard approached his son, Jett, visibly angry during a 2022-23 practice and threatened, “I’ll slap the sh– out of you,” adding the incident “sparked a lot of internal conversation.” Sanderson said one coach on staff said he saw Juwan Howard “manhandle” Jett on the side of the court; that coach expressed that he was upset with how Jett was being treated.

As many have said in the aftermath of this article's release: it's the athletic director's job to know what the culture of his second-most important sport is. Hiring an outside firm to do your job for you is a waste of money and time. If the consulting firm comes back and says "eh this is fine," should Juwan Howard be retained? No. So what are we doing here? It feels like Warde Manuel wants someone else to make the decision for him.

Meanwhile the season is over for most teams that will be axing coaches. There are already 34 open head coaching spots in D-1, and the most attractive candidates will start going off the board soon as Michigan tries to figure out if the culture is bad on the worst Michigan basketball team in living memory.

Decisions made. Vandy—a program with much less recent historical success—just fired Jerry Stackhouse after Stackhouse went 9-23 in year five. The buyout is supposed to be north of 15 million dollars, which is wild. Vandy hired a guy with no head coaching experience who never got to the tournament and is stuck with that buyout after five years… and even that athletic director was able to see the writing on the wall.

[After the JUMP: football stuff! You should click. I promise.]

This sounds like goodbye. Dug McDaniel on his future plans:

McDaniel, a two-year starter with two years of eligibility remaining, was noncommittal about his future plans. Asked whether he intends to return to the Wolverines in 2024-25, the point guard replied, “I’ll worry about that later.”

He doesn't have a whole lot of later to worry in. The portal opens on Monday.

Yoink. As you've already seen, Michigan's search for a running backs coach didn't last long as Sherrone Moore poached Tony Alford from Ohio State during OSU spring practice. Moore isn't done now that his on-field spots have been filled:

Michigan is pursuing former NFL standout outside linebacker Pernell McPhee for a defensive support staff role, sources tell @247Sports.

McPhee played 11 seasons in the NFL, including seven with the #Ravens with new Michigan DC Wink Martindale. Coaches that have been around… pic.twitter.com/5Jk9RaASx2

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) March 13, 2024

McPhee was on RichRod's radar as a recruit, IIRC. He was from Pahokee, had to go the JUCO route, was a two-time All-SEC linebacker after transferring to Mississippi State, and then had a long NFL career with two different Ravens stints. This checks approximately all of my idiosyncratic "this is a good idea" boxes.

Zenitz also reports Michigan will hire Lionel Stokes as an analyst. Stokes worked with Lamar Morgan at Louisiana and was an HBCU defensive coordinator.

Yep. PFF's top ten returning DTs include a couple of familiar names:

1. MASON GRAHAM, MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

Graham was excellent in his first year at Ann Arbor, leading all FBS true freshmen interior defensive linemen with an 80.3 PFF grade. He took his game to a whole new level as a sophomore. According to PFF's wins above average metric, he was the fourth-most valuable defensive tackle in the nation and was sixth in that same group with a 15.9% pass-rush win rate. Graham was one of only two interior defensive linemen in the country to finish with top-10 grades as both a pass rusher and run defender. The other was Texas’ T’Vondre Sweat.

The rising junior has a relentless motor to combine with ridiculous agility that makes him nearly unblockable. Even if an offensive lineman gets a clean shot on him, he has great power at 6-foot-3, 318 pounds to shed the block and find the ball carrier. Graham’s a nearly complete defensive tackle who’ll continue terrorizing Big Ten offenses on his way to likely becoming a high selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. If he was eligible for the 2024 draft, he’d likely be the first defensive tackle off the board.

I said he'd be equal to Mazi Smith, a first round pick, in the season preview and while I'm giving myself a point for that, I was too conservative.

And you can't have one without the other:

6. KENNETH GRANT, MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

Between Grant and Graham, the defending national champions have easily the best defensive tackle duo in college football heading into 2024. That’s despite losing a projected second-round pick at that position in Kris Jenkins.

Among returning Power Five interior defensive linemen, Grant was the sixth-most valuable according to our wins above average metric. That’s despite playing in a rotational role on Michigan’s defensive line. The sophomore’s 78.4 PFF pass-rushing grade in 2023 was a top-15 mark among defensive tackles as well. With Jenkins gone, Grant should only shine more as a full-time starter next to Graham.

Nutty. Remember when we were really hoping to get George Rooks because the DT room was extremely mediocre? The 2021 class is going to be legendary by the time they're done.

The even nuttier thing: the #2 guy on the list is former Cass Tech DT Deone Walker. Michigan got an official from him on December 8th; a week later he committed to Kentucky.

Meanwhile, Josiah Stewart makes their list of DEs:

9. JOSAIAH STEWART, MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

After excelling as a pass rusher at Coastal Carolina for a couple of years, Stewart took his talents to Ann Arbor for the 2023 season. Despite playing only the fourth-most snaps among Michigan edges, he made his presence felt. His 17.1% pressure rate this past season ranked third among Big Ten edge defenders. He also became a much better run defender, earning an 84.9 grade in that aspect, which placed him fifth among Power Five edges.

Stewart doesn’t have great size (6-foot-1 and 245 pounds) but makes up for it with his explosiveness and ability to convert speed to power. Expect him to become more of a household name as a full-time starter next year.

When third-year riser Derrick Moore projects as Michigan worst DL, per PFF, things are going to be just fine on that side of the ball.

Area for improvement. It still blows my mind that OSU watched Alabama's center screw up a critical drive by not getting the ball to the quarterback and said "let's get that." I mean:

Most Botched snaps in 2023:

1. Alabama 21
2. Buffalo 20
3. Houston 15
Texas Tech 15
5. Louisiana 14
Texas A&M 14
Sam Houston State 14
8. Utah State 12
Wisconsin 12
10. Bowling Green 11
Virginia 11
12. Oklahoma State 10
13. Georgia State 9
14. Liberty, Troy, New Mexico,…

— parker fleming (@statsowar) March 15, 2024

If not for Buffalo Seth McLaughlin would have been #1 in this department by six botches.

In. They're in. FWIW, the hockey game Saturday night is not make-or-break. Sweeping Notre Dame has just about locked them into the tournament. CHN's pairwise probability matrix has them at 99.6%  to make the field. Those scenarios all involve bid thieves, usually multiple ones since only 1% of their outcomes have Michigan dropping to 14th in Pairwise. They have an almost 90% chance to be a three seed, and since the two line currently has a couple of Big Ten teams you can more or less call Michigan's regional now. They will play Maine or Quinnipiac in the first round in an eastern regional, with BC or BU to follow. Tough road.

Etc.: JJ's probably going top six. Jenkins to the Steelers? Wetzel on the SEC and Big Ten wringing the money sponge. Colston Loveland is PFF's top returning TE.