Must Win and Q&A Day

Tonight is a must win for Michigan Basketball if they have any hope of getting an NCAA bid with out winning the Big Ten Tournament. The key to the game will be how Manny Harris deals with his poor performance and benching in OT against Iowa this past weekend. This game will be close and Michigan will need the Crisler Arena crowd to lift them to an important win.

Sporting News does a Q&A with former Michigan QB Ryan Mallett:

Q: You left Michigan after Rich Rodriguez replaced Lloyd Carr. How did that go down? A: We met after (Rodriguez) was hired, and I think we both realized his offense wasn't the right offense for me. It was a mutual thing. After we felt each other out, we knew it wouldn't work. There were no hard feelings. Q: The Internet rumors of your scout team performances are legendary. Can you shed some light? A: Well, I didn't want to stand on the sidelines the entire season. I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. So I had a lot of fun with it. I wanted to give our guys the best look they could get. I went hard every day. Q: Your fumbled snaps at Michigan were legendary, can you shed some light on that? A: I just didn't have my head in the game and I didn't like Mario Manningham yelling at me. -- Sorry that last question and answer, I made up. Also, I follow college football pretty closely and didn't hear anything about the legendary scout teams at Arkansas. I might have to look into that.

ESPN interviewed new Michigan DC Greg Robinson: Here's the highlights:

Q:You talked last month about not getting too wrapped up in 3-4, 4-3, alignment stuff. Is there a time where you'll start formulate that, or are you going to wait to see how guys look in the spring?
GR: No, we'll have a plan going into spring ball. You don't just go out there and play. We'll have the ability to be a four-man front and the ability to be a three-man front. I've done that, really, since I was at the New York Jets to the Denver Broncos to the Kansas City Chiefs to [University of Texas] and at Syracuse, where we have had some hybrid-type players who can play defensive end or linebacker. We'll continue to do those types of things. Then, as you get to working with people, you realize some strengths that maybe were unnoticed that you could take advantage of, and then you work hard to work those kinds of things into the scheme.

Q: You mentioned last month about building the attitude on defense. Are there things you do early in spring practice to form it? What needs to go into it?
GR: I would never imply that I'm trying to make something different than what things were. I'm just going to coach defense the way I know how to coach defense. I know this: This defense will not be outhustled. We will fly around, we will hit, we will play together as a group. You'll sense an enthusiasm about them that they really enjoy playing together. As we get to know the athletes that we like, their talents, we'll be a very tough defense to deal with.

Q: As far as Rich, how have those discussions gone and where are you two in terms of philosophy?
GR: We spent a lot of time talking about those things early, when I came in. I have a good feel for the things he believes in as a defensive football team. I don't think we're very far off in anything philosophically. I can adapt to anything that he has interest in. Philosophically, we're on the same page. The things that are really important to him, I feel very comfortable that I can satisfy those kinds of things. It comes down to effort, philosophical-type things.
As we've talked, I know that there's nothing that's a red flag where I say, 'This is something very different in the thinking.' I just go about my business.

Q:You mentioned talking a lot with the other defensive assistants. As a guy who didn't hire any of those guys, how has that process been with a new staff?
GR: I've been very pleased and I feel very comfortable with the group that we're working with. Bruce Tall, the defensive line coach, and Tony Gibson, the secondary coach, those guys have worked together a number of years. Jay Hopson is a guy that's been around their program. I'm very fortunate to have a group of guys who really know football. I like their foundation of fundamentals as well as understanding schematics and things like that. Our graduate assistant group is a good group to work with. Really, I've been very comfortable and I look forward to getting out on the practice field.