Nice Detroit News piece about Donlon: heading home
Let the hand-wringing subside; the guy has nothing but great things to say about UM, Beilein. He's a single father heading home.
Side note: did you know UM had the third best D in the conference last year, up from sixth the year before? You might not have known that if you listened to the critics.*
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/201…
*a couple of savvy posters dig into/question this below
Something odd struck me about that article. It notes that we went from 6th in the B1G in scoring defense in 2015-2016, to third in scoring defense in 2016-2017. Seems pretty good, but what that really meant is we went from giving up 67.4 points per game to 66.4 points per game. Statistically speaking, that is a big fat nothing burger, and could be just random noise. Not saying Donlon wasn't useful here or a good coach, but maybe his impact on the defense is being overstated as we worry about future assistant coaches?
Yeah that PPG number isn't pace adjusted. On Kempom they ended up 9th in the league, 70th in the country.
due to 3 pt made and it regressed to the mean and Michigan defense got better. They were a top 25 unit nationally since their loss to OSU.
This is exactly why all of the hate and venom...and arrogance was totally unwarranted. Take it or leave it, no counterstrike here. I work with and I'm close with one of his best friends.
I also consider Warde Manuel a colleague. So I was able to get both sides.
This was one of the hardest decisions he's ever had to make...choosing family and personal growth over professional growth. He was ill. And the reason I was getting so upset about people blaming Manuel and Beilein is because I knew for a fact Manuel asked him "what do we need to do to keep you here?" Money was never the issue (Maizen).
I also know Donlon effing LOVES Beilein. He basically said, come be co-head coach for me. I don't know you that well, but I trust you to run half our team.
Anyone that went to a game this year would notice Donlon in the middle of every defensive huddle with the white board. Meanwhile, Beilein would be standing outside the circle of players like some walk-on trying to see over the trees. That's an exaggeration, actually Beilein would be going over the offense and game flow with his student assistant coach (Andrew Dakich). He trusted Donlon that much.
They had an outstanding relationship and it truly made Billy SICK to leave...but if he was ever going to go home, now was the time and his connection to Chicago is real. And yes, it doesn't hurt that they made the tournament last year and have shown growth as a program...it's not like he's going to some DII school. He's still in the conference and on a team that played in March. This isn't even a Rutgers football situation, this is more like a Maryland football situation.
In all, this SUCKS, he was a great coach and his system was only going to get stronger. But I'm happy for him, we all should be. I'm nervous like hell for Beilein because this timing is TERRIBLE. Donlon actually took extra time to "sleep on it" out of respect for Beilein and Manuel, that's why we heard about the reports 2 days before it was even on the front page of MGoBlog. But the pull to go back home was just too great. Oh well.
I don't know if it was really about Donlon. A certain poster just seems mad at Beilein and Manuel in general, and this was just the object to displace his anger onto.
I saw it about Donlon, Beilein and Manuel.
Has anyone ever had a negative thing to say about working with Beilein? He always seemed like a coach I'd want to play for, coach for, recruit for.
On the positive side, at least we'll know how to beat NW with a baseball pass next season.
It's still too bad, but sounds as though he really needs his father / NW family close to him to be happy in life. Good for him.
Greg Mattison came back to Ann Arbor because of family concerns. You win some, you lose some.
Thank you, Coach Donlon, for your contributions to UM Bball; here's wishing you and your family all the best.