Actually went to this same high school, but a while back. I might be misremembering but I feel like there was talk about Syracuse putting in a big pitch for having Iffy play running back too, which he preferred, but Michigan wanted him to just be a pure DB. Seems like a great kid, great family and would have been real nice to have in the secondary, dismissive comments about New England recruits aside.
Ace isn't a politician or a surrogate, he's a guy with an opinion. If a donor has a problem with that, they can request a refund of their donation. If they do anything else, are they looking for anything besides attention? How does that meaningfully differentiate them from the people they're criticizing?
Life makes a lot more sense when you realize we don't really change after second grade, IMO.
Thanks, Rand. "Aside from defense" is doing an awful lot of work here though. And we might as well be accurate: medicare, medicaid, and social security are not part of the discretionary budget at all.
This donor could always stop looking for sympathy and take Brian up on his offer of a refund. Unless he'd prefer we all pay attention to how so very unique and special he is.
Are they recruiting Rocco Spindler at OL? Apparently his primary recruiter is Warriner, so maybe, but it seems like DT would be the fastest route to playing time and probably a greater position of need for the roster given how many guards we've recruited lately.
Yeah, exactly. I actually like LSU, and it's easy to point to them as evidence of great coaching and what can be done in a turnaround in terms of beating a rival after not having done it in ages, but it looks more like a blip than the start of a sustained success versus the rival. And, compared to LSU, Michigan is playing with a hand tied behind its back as it tries to close the recruiting gap with its rival.
Worth noting that despite all of the advantages that LSU has mentioned in this thread, it still took a Bama team with three freshmen starting on defense and an injury to the star quarterback to pull out a narrow win over their arch-rival.
Maybe we'll get some similar fortune, one of these days...
That 2016 team just breaks my heart still. Getting Kinnick'd, and Speight's injury there, sucked but I remember being at that Wisconsin game and feeling my heart drop out of my chest when future Senator Grant Newsome got hurt.
Reverse this program's cosmic misfortune for Grant, fellas.
When I was in grad school at UM I had the idea of trying to come up with a Maize and Blue cocktail made with Mellow Corn Whiskey and, uh, something blue, either Curacao or a clear spirit colored to be blue somehow. I never got around to finishing it, and I'm worried it would come out to being more green than anything because the Mellow Corn has a gentle yellow color to it, but one day.
Also, thanks for mentioning the Kirkland stuff, OP. I've been pondering getting a CostCo membership for a few months now and you might have just tipped the balance.
Just an uninformed feelingsball perspective here, but I think "zip" and "touch" on one's passes have a lot to do with mechanics, so that might be an indication that DCaff's are pretty good. Arm strength comes a little more into play when you're talking about throws that travel longer distances in the air-- mechanics can help there too, but raw strength is important to get your passes there on time.
Olympic basketball and hockey are both a lot of fun to watch with professional players. I'd bet they bring in an awful lot of eyeballs for all the advertising that the IOC wants to sell.
I read Gene Smith's comments earlier today and my brow furrowed a little. A federal regulation would be easier than 50 state ones for the NCAA, sure, but Gene Smith works at Ohio State, in Ohio, and is bound by Ohio laws absent federal ones-- it's not like his program has to navigate the other 49 theoretical state laws, right? Made me think that he's more worried about being at a competitive disadvantage if another state makes a law that's looser than one that Ohio makes in the future.
The local Pats reporters have mentioned that Chase has been playing some OLB and rushing from a 2-point stance, doing some coverage in the flats, etc. I wonder if he's slimmed down a bit because of that? Makes his low pad level on that sack even more impressive.
I think if anything the pass protection might be easier, schematically, on the line this year. The offense might pass more, but last year's offense liked long developing routes and deep-drop play actions and 2 man route combinations. All of those things can be useful sometimes, but they're rough on pass protection.
It looks like this year's offense will be a lot faster, both in terms of tempo and in terms of passing concepts. I think we're going to see a lot more quick developing stuff, ball coming out faster, and the line having to pass protect for less time.
I remember Brian making a comment on the podcast last year to the effect of the "cover your ass to win" culture in the institution drew a straight line of contonuity through the athletic department, the big sports programs, and to Larry Nassar. Even if nothing comes of this (or anything else) publicly, it almost feels like it doesn't matter.
It does really seem like at least a few of these SDE types will need to slide inside just to make the arithmetic work on the depth chart. Maybe the logic is to try to get some pass rush/penetration from that position by taking big DEs and giving Herbert the keys? It could be a long term plan, given the trend of offenses in the conference.
Hopefully there's some fire to that smoke. Of course Stanford has the edge on us academically, but it's not like Michigan is a slouch there. Hopefully the academic/athletic combination and his brother kicking some ass here can at least make it a race.
Probably a question without an answer for the moment, but has anyone heard any buzz on Myles Hinton? A bunch of the recruiting analysts don't seem to think that Stanford commit will stick.
I really hope some of these cornerbacks are a hit, the looming attrition there is giving me a little bit of heartburn.
My favorite is probably that Peppers sweep fake to flea-flicker/double pass, whatever the term is. Clever way to make a defense overplay their hand and get some chunk yardage out of it. Also reminds me of how kick ass Chesson was for us.
Also a fan of that little trips right/HB wheel play against Rutgers in 2017. It's not exactly a trick play, but it's a nice, quick developing play and a clever route combination. Not every play can be a trick play, of course, but most of them can/should be well-designed like that.
Involuntarily clenched my teeth at the 2017 OSU play. Great play design, but hard to tell what's part of the fake and what's O'Korn having an error:404 moment in his brain, leading to a bad pass thrown an hour too late. Woof.
Thanks for putting this together, Piston Blue, very nice.
I definitely agree with you there. I'd love if he made his speeches to the teams and drop ins to Schembechler Hall more regular though, even if they're just one or two a season. I think it would do good things for the program, in between living somewhere between Cambridge, Greenwich, or the Bay.
I think Brady has the X and O tactical mindset for coaching, and I think he's a good leader who can get a lot out of his fellow players. I'm not sure of his ability or desire to do some of the non-football type stuff involved in being a college head coach though, like recruiting to some extent but also fundraising and outreach. I'd love if he became even more involved in Michigan football in some capacity after he retires though.
I think it'll be a good year for Michigan all over the place, but I feel like Khaleke Hudson might really ball out this year. A lot of the new guys on defense around him, especially on the DL, are better suited for one of run defense or pass rush/coverage for the moment, but he's going to be the man for just about every alignment and every situation. Let the man blitz!
I don't mean this to be a criticism of the scouting, but it seems to me that "right tackle or guard" comes up from scouts all the time regarding big OL who are maybe a little stiff as juniors in high school. Are the types they like as sure-fire LTs now the basketball stretch-forward types who have quick feet and will eat lots of steak in the next few years? That does seem to be the trend in the NFL, but Georgia's LT a few years ago was only 6'3 or so and he ended up being pretty good.
I like/agree with Brian's take that Keegan isn't necessarily unable to play tackle at all, and that RT isn't all that different from LT nowadays. Obviously I have Michigan Fan Tempered Expectations, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Keegan ends up being a legit tackle one of these days.
Also, I use twitter, since both the football and basketball handles post lots of info about each game before they happen. I've already thoroughly got brain worms so the extra time on the website doesn't hurt none.
I think Oregon might be a bit of a surprise to some folks this year. They've got that QB coming back and one of the best offensive lines in CFB, potentially, and the PAC12 could be winnable with all the attrition at UW.
All caveats about the general shittiness of this list and weirdness of this OP apply. But still, how do you design a metric that takes a program that produced a number of high-profile NFL failures, one promising rookie, and Carson Palmer, to the point that "USC quarterback" became shorthand for bust potential, and calls them QBU?
I read All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren in grad school at UM and it's still one of my favorites. It takes place in a state that is Not Louisiana during the 1930s and has a character who is Not Huey Long, but it's not really a book about politics per se. It's a great read, lots to chew on, and some really excellent prose.
If you're into nonfiction/analysis, White Trash by Nancy Isenberg is a good one.
I'd also like to second the nominations of American Gods and Catch-22 that others brought up, they're fantastic books.
Congrats on your graduate program! I would say you should definitely buy them. I very recently did grad school at Michigan as well, and there was a big group of people within my program that went to every game and it was a blast.
Of course, much of that depends on your grad program, I imagine some are smaller and maybe less people will want to go to a game, but as others have said, you'll have 110,000 of your closest friends right there in the stadium. Worst comes to it, you could almost certainly sell your tickets well above face value after-market. Go for it!
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Actually went to this same high school, but a while back. I might be misremembering but I feel like there was talk about Syracuse putting in a big pitch for having Iffy play running back too, which he preferred, but Michigan wanted him to just be a pure DB. Seems like a great kid, great family and would have been real nice to have in the secondary, dismissive comments about New England recruits aside.
Fire Harbaugh!!!!!!
A vaccine by fall? I appreciate your optimism...
Ace isn't a politician or a surrogate, he's a guy with an opinion. If a donor has a problem with that, they can request a refund of their donation. If they do anything else, are they looking for anything besides attention? How does that meaningfully differentiate them from the people they're criticizing?
Life makes a lot more sense when you realize we don't really change after second grade, IMO.
Seconding Magnus here. The Michigan subreddit is lame as hell. Be careful what you wish for.
Thanks, Rand. "Aside from defense" is doing an awful lot of work here though. And we might as well be accurate: medicare, medicaid, and social security are not part of the discretionary budget at all.
This donor could always stop looking for sympathy and take Brian up on his offer of a refund. Unless he'd prefer we all pay attention to how so very unique and special he is.
Old people are so soft and entitled. Yeesh.
Clemson should hire an elite DC! So tired of settling! What about Brent Venab--
Are they recruiting Rocco Spindler at OL? Apparently his primary recruiter is Warriner, so maybe, but it seems like DT would be the fastest route to playing time and probably a greater position of need for the roster given how many guards we've recruited lately.
CB CB's a CB to Michigan. Great news.
"Uche but taller" seems promising. Maybe he'll end up being 2016 Taco Charlton?
Yeah, exactly. I actually like LSU, and it's easy to point to them as evidence of great coaching and what can be done in a turnaround in terms of beating a rival after not having done it in ages, but it looks more like a blip than the start of a sustained success versus the rival. And, compared to LSU, Michigan is playing with a hand tied behind its back as it tries to close the recruiting gap with its rival.
Worth noting that despite all of the advantages that LSU has mentioned in this thread, it still took a Bama team with three freshmen starting on defense and an injury to the star quarterback to pull out a narrow win over their arch-rival.
Maybe we'll get some similar fortune, one of these days...
Brady Hoke shouldn't come within ten miles of Washtenaw county.
That 2016 team just breaks my heart still. Getting Kinnick'd, and Speight's injury there, sucked but I remember being at that Wisconsin game and feeling my heart drop out of my chest when future Senator Grant Newsome got hurt.
Reverse this program's cosmic misfortune for Grant, fellas.
As Michigan fans, I think we're uniquely qualified to say: why not both
When I was in grad school at UM I had the idea of trying to come up with a Maize and Blue cocktail made with Mellow Corn Whiskey and, uh, something blue, either Curacao or a clear spirit colored to be blue somehow. I never got around to finishing it, and I'm worried it would come out to being more green than anything because the Mellow Corn has a gentle yellow color to it, but one day.
Also, thanks for mentioning the Kirkland stuff, OP. I've been pondering getting a CostCo membership for a few months now and you might have just tipped the balance.
Just an uninformed feelingsball perspective here, but I think "zip" and "touch" on one's passes have a lot to do with mechanics, so that might be an indication that DCaff's are pretty good. Arm strength comes a little more into play when you're talking about throws that travel longer distances in the air-- mechanics can help there too, but raw strength is important to get your passes there on time.
In fairness, the Patriots defense has been pretty good since Patricia went to the Lions shortly after that game. :(
Good to see you, Wade Phillips.
You do not "hold" an offense to 34 points.
Olympic basketball and hockey are both a lot of fun to watch with professional players. I'd bet they bring in an awful lot of eyeballs for all the advertising that the IOC wants to sell.
I read Gene Smith's comments earlier today and my brow furrowed a little. A federal regulation would be easier than 50 state ones for the NCAA, sure, but Gene Smith works at Ohio State, in Ohio, and is bound by Ohio laws absent federal ones-- it's not like his program has to navigate the other 49 theoretical state laws, right? Made me think that he's more worried about being at a competitive disadvantage if another state makes a law that's looser than one that Ohio makes in the future.
This post title is improved greatly if read in the Gossip Girl cadence.
"ties to" is putting in a full day's work here, re Forrest and the organization he founded and was the original leader of. Woof.
Good news(?)-- Chase's Michigan tradition of getting held and not drawing the call appears to be continuing.
The local Pats reporters have mentioned that Chase has been playing some OLB and rushing from a 2-point stance, doing some coverage in the flats, etc. I wonder if he's slimmed down a bit because of that? Makes his low pad level on that sack even more impressive.
Sorry, are you implying that the Loins finished prematurely?
I think if anything the pass protection might be easier, schematically, on the line this year. The offense might pass more, but last year's offense liked long developing routes and deep-drop play actions and 2 man route combinations. All of those things can be useful sometimes, but they're rough on pass protection.
It looks like this year's offense will be a lot faster, both in terms of tempo and in terms of passing concepts. I think we're going to see a lot more quick developing stuff, ball coming out faster, and the line having to pass protect for less time.
I remember Brian making a comment on the podcast last year to the effect of the "cover your ass to win" culture in the institution drew a straight line of contonuity through the athletic department, the big sports programs, and to Larry Nassar. Even if nothing comes of this (or anything else) publicly, it almost feels like it doesn't matter.
All the local Pats media is saying that Chase had an excellent practice yesterday. He's been playing some OLB and apparently taking to it really well.
I'm genuinely worried for what happens when rookie haircut day comes around.
It does really seem like at least a few of these SDE types will need to slide inside just to make the arithmetic work on the depth chart. Maybe the logic is to try to get some pass rush/penetration from that position by taking big DEs and giving Herbert the keys? It could be a long term plan, given the trend of offenses in the conference.
Hopefully there's some fire to that smoke. Of course Stanford has the edge on us academically, but it's not like Michigan is a slouch there. Hopefully the academic/athletic combination and his brother kicking some ass here can at least make it a race.
Probably a question without an answer for the moment, but has anyone heard any buzz on Myles Hinton? A bunch of the recruiting analysts don't seem to think that Stanford commit will stick.
I really hope some of these cornerbacks are a hit, the looming attrition there is giving me a little bit of heartburn.
My favorite is probably that Peppers sweep fake to flea-flicker/double pass, whatever the term is. Clever way to make a defense overplay their hand and get some chunk yardage out of it. Also reminds me of how kick ass Chesson was for us.
Also a fan of that little trips right/HB wheel play against Rutgers in 2017. It's not exactly a trick play, but it's a nice, quick developing play and a clever route combination. Not every play can be a trick play, of course, but most of them can/should be well-designed like that.
Involuntarily clenched my teeth at the 2017 OSU play. Great play design, but hard to tell what's part of the fake and what's O'Korn having an error:404 moment in his brain, leading to a bad pass thrown an hour too late. Woof.
Thanks for putting this together, Piston Blue, very nice.
I definitely agree with you there. I'd love if he made his speeches to the teams and drop ins to Schembechler Hall more regular though, even if they're just one or two a season. I think it would do good things for the program, in between living somewhere between Cambridge, Greenwich, or the Bay.
I think Brady has the X and O tactical mindset for coaching, and I think he's a good leader who can get a lot out of his fellow players. I'm not sure of his ability or desire to do some of the non-football type stuff involved in being a college head coach though, like recruiting to some extent but also fundraising and outreach. I'd love if he became even more involved in Michigan football in some capacity after he retires though.
I think it'll be a good year for Michigan all over the place, but I feel like Khaleke Hudson might really ball out this year. A lot of the new guys on defense around him, especially on the DL, are better suited for one of run defense or pass rush/coverage for the moment, but he's going to be the man for just about every alignment and every situation. Let the man blitz!
I don't mean this to be a criticism of the scouting, but it seems to me that "right tackle or guard" comes up from scouts all the time regarding big OL who are maybe a little stiff as juniors in high school. Are the types they like as sure-fire LTs now the basketball stretch-forward types who have quick feet and will eat lots of steak in the next few years? That does seem to be the trend in the NFL, but Georgia's LT a few years ago was only 6'3 or so and he ended up being pretty good.
I like/agree with Brian's take that Keegan isn't necessarily unable to play tackle at all, and that RT isn't all that different from LT nowadays. Obviously I have Michigan Fan Tempered Expectations, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Keegan ends up being a legit tackle one of these days.
Also, I…
Very carefully!
Also, I use twitter, since both the football and basketball handles post lots of info about each game before they happen. I've already thoroughly got brain worms so the extra time on the website doesn't hurt none.
I think Oregon might be a bit of a surprise to some folks this year. They've got that QB coming back and one of the best offensive lines in CFB, potentially, and the PAC12 could be winnable with all the attrition at UW.
All caveats about the general shittiness of this list and weirdness of this OP apply. But still, how do you design a metric that takes a program that produced a number of high-profile NFL failures, one promising rookie, and Carson Palmer, to the point that "USC quarterback" became shorthand for bust potential, and calls them QBU?
No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, but I am biting my thumb!
I wonder how legit that 6'5" measurement is? That feels on the taller side for the interior OL, which could be interesting.
Did they pull that pitcher?
I think I'm still among the 2008. RIP :(
I read All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren in grad school at UM and it's still one of my favorites. It takes place in a state that is Not Louisiana during the 1930s and has a character who is Not Huey Long, but it's not really a book about politics per se. It's a great read, lots to chew on, and some really excellent prose.
If you're into nonfiction/analysis, White Trash by Nancy Isenberg is a good one.
I'd also like to second the nominations of American Gods and Catch-22 that others brought up, they're fantastic books.
At least they'll be prepared for starting a series with no end in sight (because GRRM doesn't want to finish it) :(
Congrats on your graduate program! I would say you should definitely buy them. I very recently did grad school at Michigan as well, and there was a big group of people within my program that went to every game and it was a blast.
Of course, much of that depends on your grad program, I imagine some are smaller and maybe less people will want to go to a game, but as others have said, you'll have 110,000 of your closest friends right there in the stadium. Worst comes to it, you could almost certainly sell your tickets well above face value after-market. Go for it!