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God Bless you and your Wife

Thanks for the personal story.  We lost a baby in a similar situation years ago and still refer to her.  We named her and think of her often (my wife was 8 1/2 months).  

You have your perspectives in order.  We love M Football but it is a game being played by 18 and 19 year olds.  Many here take it too seriously.  I want M to win badly but I am trying to enjoy the ride and not just worrying about the destination. These life lessons teach us this.

May God Bless you and hopefully you will meet your child in heaven.  

Go Blue!

I bet MD begged to get on these shows to counterbalance JH

First the news comes out that JH is on the NC broadcast and two days later the Sparty News (aka Freep) announces Dantonio on all these lesser media events.  No question they heard about all the media buzz Harbaugh is getting and decided they needed a counteroffensive to keep the Sparty brand front and center.  It will be really hard for Sparty to compete with the media machine JH is building.  Almost every day there is another major story or appearance by him.  Love it.

He has no business coaching this team.

He has taken nearly $16m from this university and has been a colossal failure. He was paid to do a job and he failed miserably. I would not call him great. If I failed spectacularly at my job I would not expect to have anyone call me great.

He has irreparably damaged these players. Many came here with dreams that are now shattered because of his incompetence.

He has damaged the brand of the university he says he loves.

He is not "great". If be had the character you say he would resign rather than continue to damage this program.

thanks for making me laugh

Great commnet.  

Is it just me, but the whole "we had a great week of practice" and "our team is really together" seem like statements of someone either lying or completely out of touch with what is happening with this team.  

thanks for making me laugh

Great commnet.  

Is it just me, but the whole "we had a great week of practice" and "our team is really together" seem like statements of someone either lying or completely out of touch with what is happening with this team.  

Bolt the doors, battle stations everyone in Fort Schembechl

They will not admit that Hoke made a bad call.  They will batten down the hatches and wait this one out inside Fort Schembechler.  

My guess is they know this was poorly handled and a bad decision.  However they have probably consulted their PR team and concluded that admintting it will hurt the program and school further.

Remember when PSU (Sandusky affair) and Ford (in the Firestone mess) did the same.  Not saying this is at the same level,  but neither turned out well.  

Denying responsiblity will not satisfy the barbarians at the gate of Fort Schembechler.  Hunker down DB!!  It is going to be a long next couple days. 

We are not getting anywhere near our money's worth

1.  Hoke is the #8 highest paid coach in CFB at $4.159M this year, behind only Urban Meier in tbe B1G (source USA Today)

2.  Our two coordinators are both in the top 10 in the US in pay at over $700k each per year. (source USA Today)

3. Michigan has the highest average student ticket prices in the country and among the top face value tickets in the U.S.  (Source: Michigan Daily).

I am a season ticket holder who spends $4,500 for the priviledge to buy $75 face value tickets.  For this massive investment we have an embarassing program.  I would be disappointed in Hoke if we paid him $1M.  But to think we are paying this man $4M for his lack of results is insulting and infuriating.  

Ifr he had the charaxter and love of Michigan he claims he should agree to voluntarily decline his salary until the results improve.... if he gets to keep his job.

The fact that we reached a new low today by making the ABC News national broadcast for the Morris incident is the final straw for me.

The worst part is Hoke and company are perhaps laughing all th way to bank.  Pathetic and disappointing.

Nuss - he was a HC candidate before he got here

Nuss should be the interim HC right away.  Give him the rest of the year to see what he can do to turn this around.  I believe this is what WV did when RR left.  Bill Stewart earned the HC job and did a very good job if my memory is right.

I struggle with the lack of accountability

I really struggle with the lack of accountability that Hoke always talks about.

We completely sucked in SB, but here is what we have heard this week from the coaches:  The OL did a good job, the DL did a good job, the corners played well, Devin made a lot of good decisions, the RB should not be blamed, the team was well prepared, the team as close as any team, the team has great leadership. 

So why did we suck?  we need to clean up our technique.  Oh, come on.  That is really the problem that caused us to be shut out for the first time in 30 years? 

I heard accountabilty from Nuss (I did not do a good job).   I heard some from Mattison (I should have been more prepared for what ND did).  Nothing else.

As fans we are told if we criticize the program and don't "believe" we are not real fans.  My PSD and $75 tickets demonstrate my commitment and belief. 

I want to see the accountability that is talked about.  Brady can you give us some indication that you have any idea why we got smoked and have any plan to fix it.  Then I will "believe". 

 

Great Assessment - can you do this every week?

Thank you for doing this. It was super helpful and insightful for me. I have probably read 25 articles about the disaster in South Bend and this is the first one that really quantifies what the problems were and whether the outcome was an anomaly or something we can expect to repeat.

Your assessment makes sense to me. It seemed the OL was adequate. Not great but serviceable outside of the few obvious failures and penalties. It also confirmed my suspicion that Gardner resorts to either heroball or panic which rarely works out well. I also question whether this can be fixed now. When things are going well he can manage. However, iwhen the going gets tough he freaks out and makes very and decisions. Most of the tough going is on the road against good teams - hence the recent history.

I am sure this was a lot of work, but for me it was great. I would encourage this analysis every time we suck. Great job!!

Classless egomaniac that embarassed himself

He made an ass of himself and looked like a classless egomaniac.  i bet Stanford fans cringed when he made those comments.  This is not the image anyone would want.  He may be a good player, but i bet a lot of fans who had no favorites in the SB will now root heavily for the Broncos.  

Peyton Manning is also a great player but just exactly the opposite of Sherman.  

Sherman remined me of Dennis Rodman.  Rodman was a great basketball player at one time but everyone hated him and the pistons because of the same kind of egomaniac out of control behavior.

I hope he gets his A-- beat by Peyton.

Great to see Nuss jumping in

Consistent with his reputation He is is jumping in right away into recruiting. Great to see an OC that is actually involved in recruiting.

Go Nuss GO Blue

What a concept - an OC that is engaged in recruiting

How refreshing. Was everyone else already aware that Borgess did not recr it because he did not like to travel? Isn't this unusual for an OC? I know !attison has been very involved in recruiting key talent.

Good riddance Al. Sorry it did not work out, but this seems to be a real upgrade for us.

Go blue

1. Devin Gardner, 2. Shane Morris

Having a competent offense will dramatically help DG.  Next year, Michigan will improve like Mattison did in his first year.  DG will be the beneficiary.  We already know DG is a hard worker and very ambitious.  Nuss just might help him become an NFL prospect.

Afterward, Nuss will be huge for Shane Morris.  Like Stanton and others, Nuss will held Morris achieve his potential.

It will be fun to watch.

 

MLB caved

A-Rod openly challenged MLB on this entire deal.  He ended up getting a light sentence in my view.  Given the pervasiveness of his alleged violation and the open challenge to MLB he got off easy.  If Johnny Peralta got half a season, A Rod should have gotten much worse IMHO.

Great Hire

Regardless of how it happened, I give Brandon and Hoke credit for upgrading the OC.  Better days are coming.

Perhaps they should implement the NFL Radio System

CFB is so big now, why make them motion signs. The coaches make huge money and most games are televised.  Perhaps they should just adopt a wireless system like the NFL?

 

Great info.  Thanks.  Any

Great info.  Thanks.  Any idea why Condoleeza Rice is qualified to select playoff teams.  Seems odd.  Is it tied to her connection to Stanford?

Tough to win on the road

Too bad Sparty won, but kudos to them.  All big ten games on the road are tough.  Like Michigan beating Nebraska, any road win is a good win.

The SEC may say they are the best fball conference, but no one debates the Big Ten is the best in bball.

 

The Only Hope

is if OSU is so overconfident they don't execute well and sputter on offense and we get some early breaks and momentum that causes the offense to awake from a 6 week funk.  I do not see either of these things happening, but stranger things have happened.  After all, we lost to App State.

So in summary, let's be App State and hope Ohio does not "show up".

My guess is that by series number 2 in the first quarter we will know the outcome.

Here's to 10% odds of winning.

More to the Story

As you point out, Mattison has created a competent defense of underclassman.  He also has recruited much better than gorgeous Al.  I would like to see analysis of our recruiting on O vs. D.  My guess is that most of the future talent is on D.  Since the coordinators also own recrutiing this is further indictment of Hoke+Borgess.

 

I believe we have a HC that knows nothing about offense and is not a strategy & execution genius.  He is a good guy that relies on his coordinators and recruits well. 

On D this works because he has a stud DC that recruits, teaches and coaches up his recruits.

On O this fails because the HC cannot overcome the incompetence of the OC and the OC is incompetent.

Therefore we will see in future years the opposite of RR.  Strong defense and incompetent offense unless changes are made IMHO.

Good advice but there needs to be progress

Good advice and yea we need to see beyond a few games. We did want a change.

However, I think the thing that has us most concerned that after the second rebuilding stint and 6 years we are all worried we have to do rebuilding 3.0 because the rebuilding 2.0 coaching staff is incompetent. That is the real issue here. We can be patient as long as we see progress. This year has been the opposite and caused us to question whether we are on the right track or need to think about rebuild 3.0.

Can we make Mattison HC?

We are so lucky to have Mattison. Otherwise their would be no hope. Notice the difference in his press conferences and those from Borgess (meaningless babble) andHoke (we need to execute better). He has real insight into each player and has a genuine insight and support for his players

Fire Hoke and Borgess. Hire Mattison and let him lead. He has the best leadership skills and intelligence of the coaching staff.

Best Post Ever Brian!

I could not agree with you more Brian!! You are a very good writer and you nailed it in your post. Brandon, Hoke and Borgess don't get it. This is so evident from their comments. They are immune from this and are getting paid regardless of the pathetic product their produce.

The joke is on us because we are the ones paying the ridiculous prices and keep showing up hoping the Michigan we love reappears. I fear it is gone forever. I have little hope these mental midgets have any chance to compete at the level needed.

Sad but true. Brian nailed it and the systemic problem is much greater than the symptom that was exemplified in Hoke and Borgess comments.

I can relate to you but disagree

I have a son with special needs and handicapped so ican relate to having a child that is rejected and disappointed. He knows people look at him funny and talk about him. But he handles it all with dignity and never blames others.

At the same time, I am a season ticket holder who is despondent over the crap we watch every Saturday from paid professionals. The players are armatures but the coaches are not. They are paid very well and have systematically delivered a crap product. If this was a pizza company no one would by the product. It sucks in a huge way and the pizza barons are laughing all the auto the bank. It makes me want to commit to know the a-- clown OCis the 3rd highest in CF.

Unlike your son and my son, they are not innocent. They are being paid very well by our ultra genus "donations" and deliver crap pizza.

totally agree

Let's be honest.  Most of us had reservations when we hired a coach with a mediocre record at mediocre schools.  We are seeing the result now of that hire decision.  We are all kidding ourselves if we think these problems are the result of youth.  You cannot convince me that youth explains the incompetent game plan and execution against Akron.  Same with Uconn.  You cannot convince me that our 4 and 5 star line cannot block really mediocre players at Akron.  Come on.  Who are we kidding.  these are excuses and there are some fundamental problems here that we cannot run the ball on anyone but Indiana.  We have a mediocre coach incapable of coming up with any kind of creative or effective game plan.  We are destined for mediocrity unless we get lucky and one of our 5 star recruits wills the team to success.

Perhaps our Coach is just not that good

Perhaps Denard masked what none of us wants to admit  - that the is a very mediocre coaching staff.  Sure Hoke can recruit but he has not showed he can coach.  His best contribution was recruiting Mattison and getting top recruits.  He has done nothing with the talent.  We give him a break because of 2011.  Is it possible that season may be more about the key players on the team than the coaching staff turning the program around.  The bottom line is Hoke was an average coach (in terms of wins) at middling programs.  He had not won anything as a head coach and I am afraid we are in for years of mediocrity until the alumni get so fed up they force a change.  Sad but true

Coaching is a major problem

Hoke should get no slack IMHO.  the Penn State loss was totally on Hoke.  Horrendous decision making at the end of that game created the situation where we had to beat Sparty.  The team was not prepared, period.  Sparty did nothing new but this coaching staff was unable to develop any effective strategy despite two weeks to prepare.  Lewan said they ran the same exact blitzes as they did ini 2011.  So what was our plan to address that?  Have a 190 lb running back block an all american blitzing linebacker.  No excuses.  These are Hoke's players and it is his coaching staff.  He needs to show improvement. period. 

I agree

I agree with your point and think Hoke needs to look in the mirror and have some serious reflection on his O Coaching staff.  He has more talent now than he did in 2011 and this team has steadily regressed since then.  Maybe Denard was a bigger positive influence than we even thought and masked a very poor offensive coaching staff.  they have a 5 star QB that was arguably the best QB in the state for 2 years before he came to Michigan.  He just got beat by a no-name sophmore 2 star.  Hoke talks about accountability and how players need to earn their position eveyr week.  Perhaps he needs to look in the mirror and he and Borges need to win their position also.

totally agree

No excuse for this ineptitude.  Can anyone really say that our young O-line shouldn't be able to block Akron, or Uconn?  this is coaching.  We have all seen teams in business and sports that had lots of talent and underachieved.  It is almost always a leadership issue.  I am not sure if the leadership problem is on the team or on the sidelines but there is no other way to explain this ineptitude.

Where is the Accountability he always talks about

What about saying "our game plan did not work and that is on me".    Really disappointing how he deflects everything.  I am tired of HEARING we need to get better.  He is the f----ing coach it is HIS job to make them better and I just do not see that happening.  We have been talking about the O line for 6 weeks and there has been no improvment.  Experience alone does not explain the complete incompetence of the running game.  Very disappointing.

We deserve much better

Michigan fans are among the most loyal and active in the FBS.  We spend a pile of money on apparel, tickets, ridiculous seat "donations" and we get this for a return on our loyalty.  Unbelievably disappointing.  there needs to be some serious ass kicking going on inside this program.  The performance of this team for what we are paying for this program and coaches is totally unacceptable.  If this were a business and this pathetic display was our product we would be out of business.  Kick some asses Dave Brandon.  We deserve much better than this!!!

I agree

Pathetic.  this is worse that Rich Rod years.  At least then we had some hope that the spread might get it going and we could compete.  I had no optimism today and the team still disappointed me.  Pathetic.  I am done with them.  Here's to getting my Saturdays back.

Totally Agree

Horrible coaching.  Unprepared team.  running right into the strength of the defense.  unbelievably incompetent coaching.  Heads should roll.  I hope some people light up Brandon's phone.  this is unacceptable after 3 years with a Senior quarterback getting our ass kicked by a 2 star sophmore.  Pathetic and inexcusable.  Fire somebody

I love it all

I love it all....the ESPN interview yesterday where the AD bitches that Sweatervest did not appologize until he was told to, and now this pearl from Jack.  We all have suspectd for a while that the bucknuts were dirty and now it is coming out.  This is way better than Clarrett-gate and Pryor's mysterious summer car rental. 

Michigan was hung out because of 20 minutes of practice time while the NCAA looks the other way when Cam Newton's Dad is peddling his eligibily like girl scout cookies. 

The NCAA will be forced by the utter defiance of this latest incident to hit them hard.  But first tOSU will get to twist in the wind while the very slow NCAA process takes place.  This will haunt them all year and Tressell will have to answer for this in every interview from now on.  I bet it creates dissention on the team and a few sleepless nights as these clowns all wonder if they will get caught for their questionable acts.  I am betting they perform poorly because of it all.

I am looking forward to these bastards getting their just due for years of abuse, but almost don't want this to end.

Enjoy.   

God Bless You Man!

I could not agree more.  Very well put.  Make him twist and turn for the next 9 months while the NCAA tries to figure out what to do.  Let him rot from the inside out as he worries about the inevitable retribution for his obvious intentional deception.

I love the fact that his defenders talk about his development of young man.  This is a joke too.  His team know that he looks that other way and it encourages them to bend the rules.  If you know your father is going to kick your ass if you do something wrong, you avoid it or only do it knowing that you will get your ass kicked.  If you know your father will look the other way, you are more likely to take chances. 

He is a snake.  He knows it, his teams know it, and the american people know it now.

 

We will see what the NCAA is made of

The NCAA looked the other way when Cam Newton's dad tried to sell his eligibility and looked the other way when Tatoo-gate started and let Pryor and the other criminals play in the bowl game.  We thought this was unfair since they hammered Michigan for 20 minutes of practice time.

What's different this time is that they have proof of the violation.  The NCAA hammered Michigan because it was very public, and they had proof.  The same here.  I think they will give OSU a much stronger penalty than the self imposed joke of a penalty.

If you want to provide your comments directly to the NCAA, click on this link.

http://www.ncaa.com/contactus

Go Blue

 

Exactly

Can only get better from now on.

Mattison gets 50 and we don't lose

Imagine what we could do if our offense can average 30 points and GM gets the defense to be mean and nasty.  Could be fun again.

I was also a fan of "change" from Lloydball and supported RR

My only point is I am not excited about return to Lloydball, but I have some hope that these guys "get it" and will run a more multi-dimensional offense that leverages the talent we have now.  At the same time having a lttle more discipline, toughness, and better preparation for the Big 10 beasts can only be good. 

My point on the spread was that we had a really exciting offense when it worked, but lets face it we got shredded by every physical team we played.

We were all Barwis fans but....

I am not sure we saw the great advantage we expected out of Barwis.  His stories are legendary and the guys looked great and in shape, but outside of the NC games did we see any games that we can say conditioning won the game?  I cannot remember any (but then again we did not win that many games :(  ),  Perhaps Barwis advantage was offset by the fundamental problems of having 180 lb guys trying to shed blocks of guys over 300 lbs. 

Hoke is big on physicality and if he thinks the new S&C guy will create this, I am all for it.

Personally, I give Hoke a lot more benefit of the doubt with his major coup of Mattison.

Go Blue.

WOW

This kid sounds perfect for Michigan.  He's a leader (team captain), he is smart (4.0) and his father and grandfather are Michigan men.

It seems that things are falling into place in a positive way after 3 years of utter chaos, heartbreak, disappointment and MIchigan Coaches, DB, and Kicker hating God mayhem.

Interesting Analysis

Your analysis is interesting.  8 wins seems about right given the maturity of the team offset by scheme changes. 

Do you take into account at all the coaching performance?  Do you have similary +1, 0, -1 for the coaches?  If so, what did you assume for last year and what are your assumptions for next year?

Can you summarize any news here?

Anything insightful?

For the first time in 3+ Years

things are moving in a positive direction.  Thank God the experiment is over and we are once again gaining some momentum as a program.

Kudos to Coach and the new assistants.  Making a difference already and GM will only further help.

I wonder if the GM hire helped convince Kellen?

Go Blue

To be GERG requires a wierd stuffed animal fettish and good hair

May GERG RIP.  Onward and upward.  No more amazingly uncovered receivers multiple times per game on the same play.  No more stuffed beaver petting.  No more "I have no idea what to do" looks by the DC.  No more switching players around just to try something different.  And no more 3-3-5.

God Bless America and M Football!

Welcome GMAT!

Twitter feed says he is also ST coach...Hooray!

Having a ST coach > not having a clue

Twitter also says "Lou" is spending time with the all american kicker prospect Wile.  Hope he can muscle him into the fold.

For Sure "I know a few people in the league"...

Great hire.

Hoke seems to be able to recruit, as advertised

I admit I was skeptical of the Hoke hire, but he seems to be able to recruit and close key people.  First he closes Denard, now Mattison.  This says a lot about his ability to lead and recruit.  I am much more bullish that a guy with the reputation of Mattison would want to work for Brady.  Mattison knows him and wants to uproot his family and come here.  This speaks to Hoke's leadership skills and the confidence that people who know him have in his ability is remarkeable.

Brian, I am surprised you did not point out that apparently the "Michigan coach hating God" has left town, hopefully for the next 6 years. 

 

God Bless American and Michigan Football!!

Are you sure this beats Gerg?

Can we really think that this is better than a retread former HC that was fired and comes with his own stuffed animal mascot.  Oh please...

Fantastic news.  Hoke is batting 1.000.  He got Denard committed now Mattison.  He does seem to have a way to get people on board and to believe!!

Seems like the Michigan coach hating God has left town.  God Bless America and Michigan Football.