I’m not sure who would win the majority of the games if the B1G-minus Michigan/OSU/PSU played a random collection of Group of 5 teams 200 times this year, but I AM sure I’d be unwilling to wager much money on the B1G.
Thank you. Decades of the entertainment industry Homer Simpson, Al Bundy and Michael Scott-ing us to death is not going to elevate women, IMO. Inspire everyone, please.
My half-baked theory on JJ last year is that lack of in-season practice time on the passing game caused JJ's performance to deteriorate throughout the season. He came out of gates with pinpoint accuracy in the first few games after (presumably) extended practice time for both running and passing plays afforded by the more-generous summer practice schedule. When practice time is more limited during the season, the team had to prioritize, and based on the success of the running game and the complexity of the running schemes as described by Brian & Seth, I'm thinking the team devoted much more time to running plays in practice. Then after a month off (again, with presumably more practice) JJ lights it up against TCU (outside of the two pick 6s).
The obvious flaws in this argument are that his drop-off in accuracy coincided with much tougher competition, that I'm backing this up with no data whatsoever, and that I have no idea what the team actually does in practice.
If we lose Kobe, Jett and Hunter, "back to the treadmill" seems really optimistic. The team has been flawed but serviceable the last two years. I would not expect a team without those three players (barring a windfall in the portal) to be serviceable. Maybe Seth is referring to a different treadmill than the one we've been on recently.
I have two college-aged kids, and I've heard them both use the word "glitch" as a synonym for "mistake". I recognize that that's how we older folks define it, but it's possible that's what Edwards meant.
Can’t help but read this and think it is a shame these two declared - seems like a lose-lose for everyone, or at least for the players and Michigan. I have a hard time believing they both wouldn’t have materially improved their draft stock next year (and thus their rookie contracts, if they even get one) had they stuck around. They were just starting to show flashes at the end of the year, but if I’m an NBA exec, they are a big dice roll given their respective shortcomings and the fact that 80%+ of their game tape from last year is mediocre or bad.
I think they got bad advice, but we’ll see what happens on Thursday.
I keep thinking the same thing every time I read Seth's evaluations of the defense: Hutchinson's departure might single-handedly cause the defense to yield an extra 14 points per game, or something of that order. He was a once-in-a-generation defensive player for any college football team other than Alabama: freak talent with 100% effort on every play. And then you have to factor in his leadership impact other players. Plus we have 2020's results as evidence of what the defense looks like without him.
I can easily see the offense being better next year, but if the defense is regressing this much (and with the added departures of Ojabo, Hinton and Hill, that seems likely), seems like a stretch to think the team will be anywhere near as good as last year's. I hope I'm wrong.
I REALLY hope we can run this team back next year (minus the obvious departures of Brooks and Jones, and I guess Hunter). Most of the players on the team are simply too young, and we’ve seen enough flashes and progress from each of the freshman over the course of the season to envision them becoming high end college players. But they simply aren’t right now - most nights they are below average B1G starting players when you look at it holistically (offense, defense, decisions, knowing where to be on the court, etc).
What I actually find most concerning was his lack of contrition in post-game press conference. I would hope that as a leader of men he would have taken responsibility for failing his players in showing self control and taking the high road in the conflict with the Wisconsin coaches. We all make mistakes, we all get emotional in the heat of battle, and we all do thing we regret. But good leaders recognize when they’ve failed and look to grow from it. He gave no indication that he recognized it, despite it being painfully obvious to everyone watching. I sure hope he was singing a different tune to the guys in the locker room.
1. There was an obvious difference in the level of preparedness and execution from day 1. I remember talking to a family member after the Western Michigan game and saying that was the best I had seen Michigan play (regardless of opponent) in four years. Few mistakes, good blocking and tackling, thoughtful play calling, etc. The Rutgers game was the only game this year that resembled the games of the previous 2-3 years, IMO. Harbaugh and the coaches were really dialed in
2. On top of that, the team benefitted from having a transcendent defensive player. Hutchinson is not only an elite talent at a position of high impact, but he gave 100% effort on *every* play (very unusual), and had significant leadership influence. If these things could be quantified, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn he was single-handedly worth something like 14 points/game
3. We had a selfless “gamer” at quarterback. Cade is extremely competitive, both in terms of how he battles within the games and his preparation before the games. But he also was very mature and team-first when it came to the McCarthy situation, which could have easily become a distraction.
I agree with the premise of the OP. Over time, you would think money should be redirected to the players from other parts of the college football value chain (e.g., coaches, facilities), because it is a much more direct way for donors to achieve their goal of improving the product on the field. Could mean the Tucker contract does not age well.
Monorail to connect north & south campus. There’s really no quick fix to the aesthetics of the main campus buildings - a complete hodgepodge of architectural styles, most of which are garbage within their own genre (law campus is the obvious exception). Honestly, just tried to keep the roads from being in a post-earthquake state, and that would help.
Going to be fascinating to see how this plays out, because if Larry Brown actually has some degree of authority there (big "if"), and if these 18-year-old soon-to-be-mega-millionaires actually listen to him (bigger "if"), he could have a massive impact on them.
For all his faults, I think Brown is one of the top 5 basketball coaches of my lifetime, and tremendous at player development. He's particularly good with point guards. Their totally overmatched AAC opponent should allow them time to work out the kinks with few losses, so they should get a shot at the tournament, by which time they may or may not have learned something from him.
We can’t let 100 kids under constant supervision, testing and immediate quarantining play football, but we can bring 40,000 students to campus to form a human mosh pit under no supervision.
We think it is wiser to send the athletes home to live with their grandparents with preexisting conditions than have the student athletes on campus with largely impervious peers and some of the best healthcare in the world.
We are worried about liability when any athlete can opt out of football and those that want to play can sign a 1-paragraph waiver.
2020 continues to be an unending parade of morons making destructive decisions.
One thing about the bubble screens. Yes, they are an obvious choice to attack CBs who are playing 10 yards off the line. But they work much better if the QB can deliver the ball FAST. Maybe it’s just me, but to the naked eye it looks like Patterson’s lost some velocity on his fastball this year, which might be a reason they shied away from using them
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Having your daughter post something like this about you is worth more than a national championship
I’m not sure who would win the majority of the games if the B1G-minus Michigan/OSU/PSU played a random collection of Group of 5 teams 200 times this year, but I AM sure I’d be unwilling to wager much money on the B1G.
Thank you. Decades of the entertainment industry Homer Simpson, Al Bundy and Michael Scott-ing us to death is not going to elevate women, IMO. Inspire everyone, please.
Logged in to upvote. Awesome
My half-baked theory on JJ last year is that lack of in-season practice time on the passing game caused JJ's performance to deteriorate throughout the season. He came out of gates with pinpoint accuracy in the first few games after (presumably) extended practice time for both running and passing plays afforded by the more-generous summer practice schedule. When practice time is more limited during the season, the team had to prioritize, and based on the success of the running game and the complexity of the running schemes as described by Brian & Seth, I'm thinking the team devoted much more time to running plays in practice. Then after a month off (again, with presumably more practice) JJ lights it up against TCU (outside of the two pick 6s).
The obvious flaws in this argument are that his drop-off in accuracy coincided with much tougher competition, that I'm backing this up with no data whatsoever, and that I have no idea what the team actually does in practice.
Other than that, it seems irrefutable.
Probably because Houstan and Diabate seemed arguably less NBA-ready last year, and we saw how that went …
If we lose Kobe, Jett and Hunter, "back to the treadmill" seems really optimistic. The team has been flawed but serviceable the last two years. I would not expect a team without those three players (barring a windfall in the portal) to be serviceable. Maybe Seth is referring to a different treadmill than the one we've been on recently.
Foretelling the demise of its neighbor "sketchy Fletchy"? If so, good riddance
I have two college-aged kids, and I've heard them both use the word "glitch" as a synonym for "mistake". I recognize that that's how we older folks define it, but it's possible that's what Edwards meant.
Good grief - I forgot how good Ronnie Bell was (totally forgot about the blocking, in particular).
Please, please, please throw the ball more this year, Michigan
We've had 51 days over 100 here in Dallas this summer. An afternoon in the low to mid 80s sounds spectacular. Looking forward to it!
Read this in our local paper in Dallas last month about what SMU is doing. Will be interesting to see how this all gets sorted out.
https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/smu-mustangs/2022/08/08/sources-new-nil-collective-to-pay-smu-football-mens-basketball-players-36000-per-year/?outputType=amp
I think the Lions like their new teammate
Can’t help but read this and think it is a shame these two declared - seems like a lose-lose for everyone, or at least for the players and Michigan. I have a hard time believing they both wouldn’t have materially improved their draft stock next year (and thus their rookie contracts, if they even get one) had they stuck around. They were just starting to show flashes at the end of the year, but if I’m an NBA exec, they are a big dice roll given their respective shortcomings and the fact that 80%+ of their game tape from last year is mediocre or bad.
I think they got bad advice, but we’ll see what happens on Thursday.
Gave up 34.5 per game in 2020, the last time Hutchinson wasn’t playing, so it would be an improvement over that
Super-insightful - thank you.
I keep thinking the same thing every time I read Seth's evaluations of the defense: Hutchinson's departure might single-handedly cause the defense to yield an extra 14 points per game, or something of that order. He was a once-in-a-generation defensive player for any college football team other than Alabama: freak talent with 100% effort on every play. And then you have to factor in his leadership impact other players. Plus we have 2020's results as evidence of what the defense looks like without him.
I can easily see the offense being better next year, but if the defense is regressing this much (and with the added departures of Ojabo, Hinton and Hill, that seems likely), seems like a stretch to think the team will be anywhere near as good as last year's. I hope I'm wrong.
I REALLY hope we can run this team back next year (minus the obvious departures of Brooks and Jones, and I guess Hunter). Most of the players on the team are simply too young, and we’ve seen enough flashes and progress from each of the freshman over the course of the season to envision them becoming high end college players. But they simply aren’t right now - most nights they are below average B1G starting players when you look at it holistically (offense, defense, decisions, knowing where to be on the court, etc).
What I actually find most concerning was his lack of contrition in post-game press conference. I would hope that as a leader of men he would have taken responsibility for failing his players in showing self control and taking the high road in the conflict with the Wisconsin coaches. We all make mistakes, we all get emotional in the heat of battle, and we all do thing we regret. But good leaders recognize when they’ve failed and look to grow from it. He gave no indication that he recognized it, despite it being painfully obvious to everyone watching. I sure hope he was singing a different tune to the guys in the locker room.
Biggest differences this year:
1. There was an obvious difference in the level of preparedness and execution from day 1. I remember talking to a family member after the Western Michigan game and saying that was the best I had seen Michigan play (regardless of opponent) in four years. Few mistakes, good blocking and tackling, thoughtful play calling, etc. The Rutgers game was the only game this year that resembled the games of the previous 2-3 years, IMO. Harbaugh and the coaches were really dialed in
2. On top of that, the team benefitted from having a transcendent defensive player. Hutchinson is not only an elite talent at a position of high impact, but he gave 100% effort on *every* play (very unusual), and had significant leadership influence. If these things could be quantified, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn he was single-handedly worth something like 14 points/game
3. We had a selfless “gamer” at quarterback. Cade is extremely competitive, both in terms of how he battles within the games and his preparation before the games. But he also was very mature and team-first when it came to the McCarthy situation, which could have easily become a distraction.
I agree with the premise of the OP. Over time, you would think money should be redirected to the players from other parts of the college football value chain (e.g., coaches, facilities), because it is a much more direct way for donors to achieve their goal of improving the product on the field. Could mean the Tucker contract does not age well.
Monorail to connect north & south campus. There’s really no quick fix to the aesthetics of the main campus buildings - a complete hodgepodge of architectural styles, most of which are garbage within their own genre (law campus is the obvious exception). Honestly, just tried to keep the roads from being in a post-earthquake state, and that would help.
Going to be fascinating to see how this plays out, because if Larry Brown actually has some degree of authority there (big "if"), and if these 18-year-old soon-to-be-mega-millionaires actually listen to him (bigger "if"), he could have a massive impact on them.
For all his faults, I think Brown is one of the top 5 basketball coaches of my lifetime, and tremendous at player development. He's particularly good with point guards. Their totally overmatched AAC opponent should allow them time to work out the kinks with few losses, so they should get a shot at the tournament, by which time they may or may not have learned something from him.
We can’t let 100…
Insane.
We can’t let 100 kids under constant supervision, testing and immediate quarantining play football, but we can bring 40,000 students to campus to form a human mosh pit under no supervision.
We think it is wiser to send the athletes home to live with their grandparents with preexisting conditions than have the student athletes on campus with largely impervious peers and some of the best healthcare in the world.
We are worried about liability when any athlete can opt out of football and those that want to play can sign a 1-paragraph waiver.
2020 continues to be an unending parade of morons making destructive decisions.
One thing about the bubble screens. Yes, they are an obvious choice to attack CBs who are playing 10 yards off the line. But they work much better if the QB can deliver the ball FAST. Maybe it’s just me, but to the naked eye it looks like Patterson’s lost some velocity on his fastball this year, which might be a reason they shied away from using them