February 7th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^
Sorry, this is a bad narrative.
Young coaches come up and prove themselves all the time. Look at Kirby/Lincoln Riley at OU/Scott Frost in the past year alone.
February 7th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
True, but history is full of up and coming coaches who take bigger jobs and never pan out. If you go that route you better get it right or you just set yourself back another 3-4 years.
February 7th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
LOL!! Both Smart and Riley inherited teams LOADED with talent. Frost hasn't even coached a game yet, and you're putting Nebraska in the same sentence as UGA and OK. Brilliant thought processing there...
February 7th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
Frost just won a National Championship with UCF!
February 7th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
FIU, Maryland, Memphis, Cincinnati, ECU, Navy, Austin Peay, SMU, UCONN, Temple, South Florida, Memphis (giving up 55 pts), and Auburn.
That is UCF's schedule that resulted in an undefeated season. Auburn was their big win, give them credit. However, many teams would have been undefeatd with that schedule. There's a reason they weren't in the playoff.
February 7th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 10:59 AM ^
I don't think you can say only two are going to be more talented. MSU returns pretty much everyone, Wisconsin just reloads every year, and Penn State is no slouch either. Michigan's defense is obviously elite, but their offense is still pretty middle/bottom of the pack when it comes to the Big Ten.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:03 AM ^
Since people are worried about recruiting rankings, that's what I'm referring to. I doubt the average recruiting rankings of the Wisconsin, MSU, and PSU players are above Michigan's. I'm too lazy too go back and do the math, but PSU only has two years of recruiting at a really high level. And Wisconsin and MSU have none.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:07 AM ^
Penn State had offensive coaching too. It will be interesting to see how this season goes with their new OC. They have signed 3 5 stars and 11 4stars in this class though, currently ranked 6th.
Franklin is looking better than Harbaugh at this point.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
Yeah, that's kinda my point. Recruiting rankings don't mean too much. Its what you do with the talent once you have it that matters, and few have been better at turning talent into results than Wisconsin and Michigan State. So you've got OSU and ND that might out rank them recruiting stars wise, and then you've got UW and MSU that outrank them when it comes to development. Jury is still out on Penn State since they piled up losses on the field and on the sidelines.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
Wisconsin plays an easier schedule than Michigan. And Michigan beat them in 2016. Michigan also bombed PSU in 2016. Don't get too caught up in a single season's results.
But Wisconsin and PSU have/had some very good coaches. PSU had excellent coordinators the past couple of years. I don't think Franklin is anything but a recruiter. Wisconsin has very solid coaches. It's not obvious that any of them are better than any of Michigan's. I absolutely do not think Chryst is better than Harbaugh.
Michigan went 8-5 this year with an extremely young team that lost its starting QB, best receiver, and (if you count Newsome) starting LT. Very, very few teams would have overcome that.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 6:11 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 6:27 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:07 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^
If Harbaugh wasn't a Michigan legend, a coach with his resume would not have considered the Michigan job in the first place.
Georgia went 8-5 last year while looking (and playing much) worse than 2017 Michigan. The 2018 schedule is very tough, but 10 wins and a Big Ten championship would have Michigan in the thick of the playoff race.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:20 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:31 AM ^
Did you watch last year (or read my full reply)? It would not be "an all time turnaroud". It happened just last year!!!! Georgia's 2017 turnaround was more dramatic than the hypothetical scenario I posited.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 6:31 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
I try to look at the fact that Michigan had one of the youngest teams in all of FBS last year. Not to mention the fact that Michigan had a new Passing Game Coordinator and TE/OT coach. Both new hires attempted to modify schemes and that directly affected the upperclassmen's ability to thrive.
I believe that the underclassmen will progress. Given the horrid OL and QB play last year, we were still in all of the games we lost (minus PSU). Can you logically see the OL and QB play progressing (even if just a little) and all other positions improving on their game? If so, then you should easily be able to see where someone could objectively see Michigan's Ceiling being as high as 10 wins and a B1G Championship.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
If Harbaugh wasn't a Michigan legend, he would only be the most highly touted NFL coaching prospect available who also turned around a 1-11 Stanford team in 4 years. And Jake Rudock, an Iowa backup who now has a job in the NFL, seems to have been developed.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:24 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:35 AM ^
Iowa developed Ruddock. Harbaugh developed Rudock.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^
Landing Calvin Anderson and Patterson being eligible would go a long way to erasing those questions marks.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
He means Shea Patterson.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:34 AM ^
No worries. I could have taken the time to type "Shea" in order to clarify which Patterson I was referring to...
February 7th, 2018 at 6:45 PM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
Yeah. It's a bit astounding just how worked up people are given one down-ish recruiting cycle. per the 247 average, they are around 15th nationally. It's not a high like before, but good lord are people acting like the world is falling apart.
Also, these threads always devolve to shitting on the current commits, which feels like the biggest waste of time.
February 7th, 2018 at 10:47 AM ^
At LB? Fine.
Singleton was a 5 star before he tore his ACL but has had 2 years to recover.
Anthony was a high 4 star as was Ross.
McGrone is a borderline 5 star.
That's a true freshman, 2 RS freshman, and a true sophomore.
As far as recruiting outlook going forward... not great.
Concerns with guys in Georgia sticking in Georgia (the Hinton brothers) and just a lack of big name signing on the national stage.
February 7th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^
Sorry - didnt mean at LB. In general it appears the recruiting has taken a signifigant drop off and our on field play is just as bad
February 7th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
Need a stellar 2018 season. Hopefully Harbaugh threw his Benzos in the trash, so we can get fiery Harbaugh back instead of the wilted one from 2017.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:03 AM ^
Honestly THAT is what really concerned me last year. I know Jim said he was more controlled on the sideline to cut down on the penalties he received the year prior but man....really made me think he knew what we had and just saved the fire.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^
I'm convinced it has a lot to do with what happened on the field this year.
You don't go from being a highly public figure known for crazy antics to calm, docile over a few months without something changing.
February 7th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
On how "fucked" finishing 8-4 and 3rd/4th in the B1G East every year looks in your eyes.
February 7th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
So were pretty fucked
February 7th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^
get your fucking head checked for fuck's sake.
February 7th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 10:45 AM ^