Enos is incredibly disliked in Mount Pleasant, though not as much as you would think for the results on the field, which were trending up when he left (as was recruiting)*, but because of his complete lack of interest in engaging with fans or doing anything that remotely involved reaching out into the community.
Why? I don't know. He was legendarily standoffish with boosters, community leaders, CMU's administration, etc. I suspect that's the main reason he decided to split for the OC job at Arkansas -- he really just didn't seem to enjoy being a head coach and all of the crap that goes with it.
So, if you assume that he's happy just being a coordinator then it could be a win/win hire because you may not have to worry about him jumping ship in a year or two for another gig if he's successful. Then again, some people tend to be worried about that kind of lack of ambiition.
I think overall he's a really smart guy who is self-aware of his abilities and limitations and could be a really good hire for UM. It actually kinda pains me to say that because I don't like the guy, but he's not going to step into Harbaugh's shadow and he knows his Xs and Os really well.
* - I could go into much more detail here regarding his negatives and positives as a head coach on the field, but I don't think it's very relevant. He was pretty overmatched his first year or two, but did improve.
Michigan is actually not favored by 1.5 goals. Hockey lines are typically expressed as -1.5, but if Michigan wins by two or more goals you get get back $190 for every $100 bet (for this game, at least at my sportsbook (William Hill US).
On the money line, Michigan is a -150 favorite (meaning you would have to bet $150 to win $100).
This can be converted into a win probability of 60 percent. So more accurate would be to say, the Vegas odds put Michigan's win probability at 60 percent.
I don't think it would be accurate to say Mexico doesn't care about American football. The NFL is extremely popular, especially in larger cities. I would however agree that most Mexican don't care about college football, which makes your point accurate in the regard that Texas playing there wouldn't really move the needle any.
For whatever it's worth, I'd bet $1 million the new OC at Tennessee will be Zach Azzanni (their current WR coach and a long-time assistant to Jones) UNLESS he takes the head coaching job at Central, which is a possibility. Azzanni is a CMU grad and it's a logical hire for a lot of reasons -- he's still well-thought of in Mount Pleasant and he's getting interviewed today.
The reporter in question is actually Graham Couch from the Kalamazoo Gazette and he's the homliest homer in the history of journalism. He was beating the drum for years that Hiller was better than CMUs' Dan LeFevour, 15,500 total yards of offense, three conference championship and four straights wins over WMU be damned.
In short, any he says is best ignored. He makes Drew Sharp seem reasonable and sane by comparison.
MAC schools (and Sun Belt/C-USA, et al) regularly outrecruit BCS schools, but only the best recruits at those schools and only over the marginal BCS schools.
(In other words, it's accurate that kids aren't picking Kent State over Ohio State or EMU over Michigan State, but there's LOTS of kids picking CMU over Indiana or Minnesota or UCF over Virginia, etc.)
I honestly wouldn't read anything into that one way or the other as far as his decision. I think we've seen those kinds of contract extensions before -- they're just designed to stabilize recruiting if a coach's contract situation is up in the air. Zeigler is on the hot seat next season, contract extension or not. That said, I still think Trey will make the decision that is best for him, not for his father.
Full disclosure -- Also a CMU alum.
As a Las Vegas resident, I can tell you there is a 0.0 percent chance you will find a sportsbook willing to show either of the hockey games. (You might have a 0.5 percent chance at the LV Hilton as they're only casino to have college hockey lines.)
The suggestion about trying to find an M alumni group in town that will be watching the game is a sound one. There are several Michigan bars in the valley and at least one will likely be showing the games.
I support Central being near the end of the poll. Central's best win (Michigan State) is better than Utah's (Air Force(!)) by leaps and bounds and their losses were to very decent teams (Arizona and Boston College, both on the road). Personally, I think their resume is better than Houston's, despite Houston's 3 BCS wins.
If you're going to include Michigan amongst the teams at the cusp of the Top 25 you should include Central Michigan as well. Compared to Michigan, Central's been more impressive pounding a team U-M had some trouble with (EMU) into jelly and actually a beating a team (MSU) that U-M, you know...lost to. I'm not saying CMU should necessarily be in the Top 25, but they have more of a claim to Top 25 status than Michigan does.
If he doesn't go to Central, I hope he goes to Michigan, but that being said, please, please, please let this be true:
Also: the Trey Zeigler rumblings have shifted towards Central Michigan, where his dad coaches.
It completely mystifies me how some college football "fans" continue to rationalize how a school like Alabama last year or Oklahoma in 2006 can lose in a BCS game to Utah or Boise State and somehow try to use that as evidence that those teams don't belong in the BCS games.
So basically they're damned if they do, damned if they don't. When they lay an egg like Hawaii in 2007, it's because they suck...when they win it's because Alabama or Oklahoma didn't have enough to play for.
The current system is pretty fair towards non-BCS conference teams -- other than a playoff, I don't think there's much else that needs to be done. If a team like Central Michigan this year goes 13-0, beating Arizona, Michigan State and Boston College along the way, it's hard to argue that it isn't compelling to give them a shot in a major bowl against a team like Oklahoma or Ohio State (or whomever).
As a college football fan, those matchups are interesting to me. It sickens me that a lot of so-called "fans" of college football would rather see a three-loss Oregon team (for a random example) play in a BCS bowl.
I know a few people who are affliated with Central Michigan's athletic program and the rumblings I hear from them are that Ziegler is leaning towards Michigan. Nothing definitive or first-hand, but it makes a lot of sense.
Ironically, about the only thing that might screw it up is if Central has a dreadful season next year, his father gets the ziggy and takes an assistant coach job at some major conference school and Trey follows him. So you guys might want to root for CMU to have a good year in 09-10.
Trey Ziegler is going to go to Central to play for his father.
(OK, I don't really believe that, but a guy can hope. I do think he's likely to go to Michigan though. I don't see an outstate program getting him, nor do I see him going to State. It may really come down to Central vs. Michigan.)
Congratulations to Luke -- he's a great wrestler and worthy of being a national champion. I had hoped Miller might be able to pull off the upset, but there's always next year. As a Central fan, I'm cautiously optimistic about next year -- a top 5 finish might be in the cards.
What's the O/U on how many times this kid transfers for his career? He's up to three schools now and he's barely a sophomore yet in eligibility? (Yes, I know he's likely to transfer to FCS so he doesn't have to sit out another year.).
I'm pretty confident at this point that Ball State would roll anyone in the ACC. In fact, I'd take Ball State, Central Michigan and Western Michigan and let you pick the three "best" teams in the ACC to face them on a neutral field and I'd bet on the MAC winning two out of three.
Not only is Georgia Tech too high, I think you have three too many ACC teams in the poll.
Also, why exactly is Northwestern a top 20 team? They've beaten Syracuse, Duke, Southern Illinois, Ohio, Iowa and Purdue and got stomped by Michigan State. When Iowa or Purdue is your best win at this point in the season, that's not a Top 25 resume.
While I appreciate the sentiment, I would be completely and utterly
shocked if Bill Martin were even giving the smallest, most infinitesimal thought to firing RR. I'll say this -- if he did (at least after one
year), I would have to strongly consider rethinking my Michigan
fandom. But I think Martin (and most reasonable fans such as the ones
who largely populate this place) realize this year was going to suck
and are trying to accept things with sangfroid and looking forward to
brighter days, etc.
(Now writing a letter to RR letting him know we support him...I co-sign there.)
tOSU would be near the last of the one-loss BCS conference teams to get a shot and would probably be behind an undefeated Utah or BYU even. That assumes it can somehow run the table in the Big Ten as well.
If anyone is looking for a real silver lining, there's a lot of freshman getting significant playing time, which will bode well for next season. If you're going to lose, better to do it with freshman and sophomores than seniors.
Has no real business near the Top 25. Living in Vegas, I can tell you they're not that good (though improved from past seasons to be sure). I'm guessing they lose to Nevada on Saturday.
...I realize someone is going to likely insist I'm crazy for stating that Michigan QBs are going to regularly be able to approach those kinds of numbers (3,000/1,000) statistically, especially since it has only been done twice in NCAA history (Vince Young and LeFevour), but I really believe that.
Over 13 games, that averages out to about 240 passing yards and 85 rushing yards a game. I think that represents the kind of balance and effectiveness that we're likely to see out of the QB position eventually. Add in about 150 yards rushing or so per game from the RB position and that's about a 50/50 balance across rushing and passing.
bsb -- You're obviously right that Michigan has looked nothing like West Virginia, but that's also kind of the point I was trying to make.
I've probably heard a lot of crap from opposing fans like GCS mentioned and lately I've been starting to hear from Michigan fans that they don't think Rodriguez is going to be able successfully port his offense to Michigan, mostly I think because it hasn't looked anything like West Virginia. (And by look like, I mean not necessarily the success, just the similar emphasis on running the ball, especially by the QB).
My larger point that I maybe didn't elucidate clearly enough is that ideally the QB is always going to have a role in running the ball in the RR spread option. That's not going to be the case this year, partly because of the weakness of the OL, but mostly because that's not Threet's strength.
But the role of the QB running the ball in the spread option isn't predicated on taking away from the passing offense (as it seems to at WVU with Pat White).
A QB who can throw the ball for 3,000+ and run the ball for 1,000+ likely represents a perfect ratio for what the spread option will be able to accomplish in future years.
With the advantages Michigan possesses in recruiting I wouldn't be surprised to see Michigan QBs regularly approaching those kinds of statistics in future years.
A LOT of things would have to shake wrong for Michigan to not go bowling at 6-6. Remember, a couple of points...
1) Last year was the first time in forever that the Big Ten actually had more bowl-eligible teams than bowls. Looking at the schedules I don't see seven teams in the Big Ten winning seven games.
2) If there are other 6-6 teams, Michigan will get the bowl nod over them 100 times out of 100.
3) There are four more bowl spots this year, which means that even if points 1 and 2 don't ensure a bowl bid, there's a chance some other bowl might have a spot for a 6-6 team, which would bring point #2 back into play.
Retiring numbers is a little more problematic in football (esp. college) than other sports. Generally speaking, one or two is OK but more than that and you're having to send players out there with duplicate numbers. After 100 years, you wouldn't have any numbers left.*
* - I'm being half-serious. Think about a team like the N.Y. Yankees. They have how many retired numbers? 13? 14? Assume they retire Jeter's number and maybe A-Rod's number and a similar progression of retired numbers and they'll be out of numbers in a couple of hundred years.
There's plenty of precedent for suspensions for garden variety DUIs and that's what this pretty much is. Yeah, his BAC was pretty high, but thank goodness he didn't hurt anyone and hopefully will learn from his mistake. He obviously deserves a suspension but anything more than a couple of games would be unnecessarily draconian in my opinion.
Recent Comments
CMU grad/fan here to offer my two cents.
Enos is incredibly disliked in Mount Pleasant, though not as much as you would think for the results on the field, which were trending up when he left (as was recruiting)*, but because of his complete lack of interest in engaging with fans or doing anything that remotely involved reaching out into the community.
Why? I don't know. He was legendarily standoffish with boosters, community leaders, CMU's administration, etc. I suspect that's the main reason he decided to split for the OC job at Arkansas -- he really just didn't seem to enjoy being a head coach and all of the crap that goes with it.
So, if you assume that he's happy just being a coordinator then it could be a win/win hire because you may not have to worry about him jumping ship in a year or two for another gig if he's successful. Then again, some people tend to be worried about that kind of lack of ambiition.
I think overall he's a really smart guy who is self-aware of his abilities and limitations and could be a really good hire for UM. It actually kinda pains me to say that because I don't like the guy, but he's not going to step into Harbaugh's shadow and he knows his Xs and Os really well.
* - I could go into much more detail here regarding his negatives and positives as a head coach on the field, but I don't think it's very relevant. He was pretty overmatched his first year or two, but did improve.
Michigan is actually not favored by 1.5 goals. Hockey lines are typically expressed as -1.5, but if Michigan wins by two or more goals you get get back $190 for every $100 bet (for this game, at least at my sportsbook (William Hill US).
On the money line, Michigan is a -150 favorite (meaning you would have to bet $150 to win $100).
This can be converted into a win probability of 60 percent. So more accurate would be to say, the Vegas odds put Michigan's win probability at 60 percent.
I don't think it would be accurate to say Mexico doesn't care about American football. The NFL is extremely popular, especially in larger cities. I would however agree that most Mexican don't care about college football, which makes your point accurate in the regard that Texas playing there wouldn't really move the needle any.
For whatever it's worth, I'd bet $1 million the new OC at Tennessee will be Zach Azzanni (their current WR coach and a long-time assistant to Jones) UNLESS he takes the head coaching job at Central, which is a possibility. Azzanni is a CMU grad and it's a logical hire for a lot of reasons -- he's still well-thought of in Mount Pleasant and he's getting interviewed today.
Considering he can't keep Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan straight, I'd take anything he says with a huge grain of salt.
(He has M playing Eastern Michigan, despite EMU being a #6 seed in the MAC Tournament. I'd bet my salary he means Western Michigan, the #1 seed.)
Don't forget Jeff Quinn at Buffalo as well.
The reporter in question is actually Graham Couch from the Kalamazoo Gazette and he's the homliest homer in the history of journalism. He was beating the drum for years that Hiller was better than CMUs' Dan LeFevour, 15,500 total yards of offense, three conference championship and four straights wins over WMU be damned.
In short, any he says is best ignored. He makes Drew Sharp seem reasonable and sane by comparison.
MAC schools (and Sun Belt/C-USA, et al) regularly outrecruit BCS schools, but only the best recruits at those schools and only over the marginal BCS schools.
(In other words, it's accurate that kids aren't picking Kent State over Ohio State or EMU over Michigan State, but there's LOTS of kids picking CMU over Indiana or Minnesota or UCF over Virginia, etc.)
"The Michigan State game is a cool rivalry because it's like a state championship game."
...though last year it was to determine second place.
Not only is Georgia Tech too high, I think you have three too many ACC teams in the poll.
Also, why exactly is Northwestern a top 20 team? They've beaten Syracuse, Duke, Southern Illinois, Ohio, Iowa and Purdue and got stomped by Michigan State. When Iowa or Purdue is your best win at this point in the season, that's not a Top 25 resume.
While I appreciate the sentiment, I would be completely and utterly shocked if Bill Martin were even giving the smallest, most infinitesimal thought to firing RR. I'll say this -- if he did (at least after one year), I would have to strongly consider rethinking my Michigan fandom. But I think Martin (and most reasonable fans such as the ones who largely populate this place) realize this year was going to suck and are trying to accept things with sangfroid and looking forward to brighter days, etc.
(Now writing a letter to RR letting him know we support him...I co-sign there.)
tOSU would be near the last of the one-loss BCS conference teams to get a shot and would probably be behind an undefeated Utah or BYU even. That assumes it can somehow run the table in the Big Ten as well.
If anyone is looking for a real silver lining, there's a lot of freshman getting significant playing time, which will bode well for next season. If you're going to lose, better to do it with freshman and sophomores than seniors.
...I realize someone is going to likely insist I'm crazy for stating that Michigan QBs are going to regularly be able to approach those kinds of numbers (3,000/1,000) statistically, especially since it has only been done twice in NCAA history (Vince Young and LeFevour), but I really believe that.
Over 13 games, that averages out to about 240 passing yards and 85 rushing yards a game. I think that represents the kind of balance and effectiveness that we're likely to see out of the QB position eventually. Add in about 150 yards rushing or so per game from the RB position and that's about a 50/50 balance across rushing and passing.
bsb -- You're obviously right that Michigan has looked nothing like West Virginia, but that's also kind of the point I was trying to make.
I've probably heard a lot of crap from opposing fans like GCS mentioned and lately I've been starting to hear from Michigan fans that they don't think Rodriguez is going to be able successfully port his offense to Michigan, mostly I think because it hasn't looked anything like West Virginia. (And by look like, I mean not necessarily the success, just the similar emphasis on running the ball, especially by the QB).
My larger point that I maybe didn't elucidate clearly enough is that ideally the QB is always going to have a role in running the ball in the RR spread option. That's not going to be the case this year, partly because of the weakness of the OL, but mostly because that's not Threet's strength.
But the role of the QB running the ball in the spread option isn't predicated on taking away from the passing offense (as it seems to at WVU with Pat White).
A QB who can throw the ball for 3,000+ and run the ball for 1,000+ likely represents a perfect ratio for what the spread option will be able to accomplish in future years.
With the advantages Michigan possesses in recruiting I wouldn't be surprised to see Michigan QBs regularly approaching those kinds of statistics in future years.
A LOT of things would have to shake wrong for Michigan to not go bowling at 6-6. Remember, a couple of points...
1) Last year was the first time in forever that the Big Ten actually had more bowl-eligible teams than bowls. Looking at the schedules I don't see seven teams in the Big Ten winning seven games.
2) If there are other 6-6 teams, Michigan will get the bowl nod over them 100 times out of 100.
3) There are four more bowl spots this year, which means that even if points 1 and 2 don't ensure a bowl bid, there's a chance some other bowl might have a spot for a 6-6 team, which would bring point #2 back into play.