Like me you might be standing on top of your cliff of fandom for the Michigan Football program and wondering if it makes sense to stay or jump. You built this mountain since you were a little kid hoping Santa would bring you a Michigan jersey. Each area of your mountain has etched in imagines of Michigan legends and some of the great things they have done in your lifetime. This piece of rock was un-shakable, something that never could be damaged or even questioned. You are a Michigan Fan and proud of it.
Then things started to shake the foundation of that mountain. App State in 2007 took the first blow when the #5 ranked Wolverines weren't prepared to play. Carr had clearly stayed too long. Then another hit, when the coaching search seemed like a carnival. They settled on Rich Rod, who wasn't prepared to lead a program like Michigan. He failed and Brandon wasn't going to let that happen again and he hired a guy with managerial experience of the local car dealership store to run General Motors. He had worked for GM early in his career, so he must be a good fit.
This program hasn't been the same since App State walked away a winner 7 years ago. Many had thought last week had exercised those demons, Saturday proved them wrong. Ticket sales are down and people seem to have jumped from their own rock to enjoy other things. I jumped from my Michigan Basketball fandom during the Brian Ellerbee years. I walked away from NCAA basketball for the most part. I enjoyed March Madness but didn't really view the sport during the regular season. It was hard to get excited about NCAA Basketball when Michigan was a non-factor. The resurgence of this basketball program has been wonderful and I have enjoyed every minute. Watching this program now is like a blast of fresh air in your face, it's fun to watch a program playing the right way. We know this year might be tough with another young team, but we know this program is in great shape and will continue to get better and better, whether it's from game to game or season to season.
Saturday was a huge train wreck and could be on the same level as the App. State loss. Michigan fans would have been ok with a loss as long as Michigan had played competitively. It's difficult to play a night game at a rival and think your going to come away with a win. Michigan played better during the Alabama game then they did last Saturday. ND is a similar to Michigan and it didn't look like it all night. Michigan got dominated in every part of the game. Coaches don't survive losses to rivals like the one on Saturday. This was as embarrassing a loss as embarrassing losses go.
So Now What? How do I convince myself or even you, not to jump? What is on the other side if I do jump? I imagine it would be like a Lions fan, you support your team but your pretty sure your not making it to a Super Bowl. Your a football fan and could enjoy college games on Saturday but not plan your day around a Michigan game. You could ask your "other" friends what they do on Saturday for fun? The golf courses are probably pretty open for tee times.
What do you need to do to stay?
- If Michigan goes Akron like they did last year. All bets are off.
- After Saturday, The Big Ten is not good again. Michigan has a chance to finish high if they can figure out how to play on the road.
- Speaking of the road, MSU and OSU are both road games.
- If this season, goes 2013 season. Brady Hoke must be replaced. It seems like a perfect storm to get Harbaugh.
- I need to see effort and heart on the field when they are not playing a lesser opponent.
David Brandon the ball is in your court
You know I think David has made some really poor decisions as the AD. Sending home games to Dallas, rescheduling App. State, putting Michigan tickets on Groupon, and not fighting the Big Ten for getting the MSU game this year at a Ford Field instead of back to back trips to East Lansing.
His leadership or lack of it will now be in question. Harbaugh seems to be on his last leg in S.F. even though he keeps winning. Could David pull it off after the season? I highly doubt it, he had a chance to do it when he fired RR, but he decided to risk the program long term by not firing him in November and waiting for January. Those couple of million dollars he saved on RR's salary, seems like a really poor decision now.
11 comments:
Carr did a good job in 2007 bringing back the team that ultimately put a serious beat down on Florida and its coach in the bowl game. Let's see if Hoke can do the same thing. If he does, great and if not...so long. I'm not sure Gardner is a real QB, but the team is stuck with him. The coaches need to minimize his weaknesses...holding on to the ball too long/turnovers, etc and give him a chance to succeed and win.
I want to strangle someone when we play that bad. We have good players and I can't understand why we are not competitive. No we are not going to win every game but against your rivals that should be the games u get up for and these last few years those games have Seen a lifeless michigan team get stomped. I really like Hoke as a person I think we all do but this program needs a coach not a friend or father figure. I don't wanna see any person lose his or her job but he's had long enough either get it done vs MSU and Ohio St or its time to go simple as that
Gardner makes poor decisions, just like denard did... the difference was denard could turn on the jets and run for 20 yards... it looks like DG is trying hard NOT to do that.
Al screwed denard by calling run, run, 25 yard pass. because denard was not a drop back qb, it would have seemed short, quick, high percentage pass plays would have given him a chance to build some confidence in his passing, and would have opened things up for the run. Needless to say we never got to see if that would work.
Although DG has more 'QB tools' than denard had, he needs to be put in a position to succeed and build confidence, or he will struggle the same way. A big step toward getting the running game going, would be to move the chains passing. We have enough talent at WR, that there is no reason we can't move the ball with 5 to 7 yard passes, slants, outs, etc.... move the damn ball, back the defense off the line and play dink n dunk... just move the chains, build momentum and confidence...
IMHO
I may have a different outlook than some other readers. I grew up a block from Woody and I now live in Granger (South Bend), Indiana. When most of you folks are watching TV, I am at Michigan games and have been for a long time. The notre dame game the other night was the second game in the 42nd season of my regular attendance and I have missed a total of nine games, home AND away, during that time. I went to a lot of home games after graduation from law school before we started the "all games routine." My perspective is that I have seen a lot of great games (wins and losses) during that time and as long as I can continue to do so, I plan to do it. Obviously, I am upset by what has happened at and since AppStateOne but I sure enjoyed Under the Lights One (from a seat in the southwest corner, where we have sat during those 41+ years) and Under the Lights Two. There are a whole bunch of great memories but last Saturday ain't one of them. If Brandon replaces Brady (or even if someone replaces Brandon), I will not be unhappy but whether or not that happens, I will continue to be a Wolverine supporter. Do any of you want to travel with us to Rutgers and Northwestern and michigan state and ohio state this year, or would you prefer to sit in front of a TV and bitch? Dave W
I may have a different outlook than some other readers. I grew up a block from Woody and I now live in Granger (South Bend), Indiana. When most of you folks are watching TV, I am at Michigan games and have been for a long time. The notre dame game the other night was the second game in the 42nd season of my regular attendance and I have missed a total of nine games, home AND away, during that time. I went to a lot of home games after graduation from law school before we started the "all games routine." My perspective is that I have seen a lot of great games (wins and losses) during that time and as long as I can continue to do so, I plan to do it. Obviously, I am upset by what has happened at and since AppStateOne but I sure enjoyed Under the Lights One (from a seat in the southwest corner, where we have sat during those 41+ years) and Under the Lights Two. There are a whole bunch of great memories but last Saturday ain't one of them. If Brandon replaces Brady (or even if someone replaces Brandon), I will not be unhappy but whether or not that happens, I will continue to be a Wolverine supporter. Do any of you want to travel with us to Rutgers and Northwestern and michigan state and ohio state this year, or would you prefer to sit in front of a TV and bitch? Dave W
I grew up in Saline just minutes from the stadium. I babysat for Little Shemy once. I went to as many games as I could get tickets to and followed the Wolverines all over the Big Ten. One loss will not change my love for the University of Michigan footba, basketball, volleyball, MMB etc...
Even Bo had an embarrassing shut out in 84 to Iowa. Bo knew his leaders were nowhere to
be found and so it fell on him, no excuses.
What is missing is leadership. We have a
coach who refuses to.manage the game using a very necessary headset and claps and cheers as players come off. They don't need cheering, they need coaching. Athletes performing at this level need in your face
coaching.
Anybody who has been around athletics knows that a team leader who has no confidence will not lead. This falls on Brady Hoke, no excuses.
Everybody is jumping on Hoke...which is fair. But what about Mattison?? I might be wrong, but that guy is part of the problem. Great resume?? He was a DC for one of the greatest linebackers ever?...yes. For how long? Take a look at his past and it sounds better than what it is in my opinion. I think he got demoted in Baltimore and then jumped over with Hoke. Anyway, this is a mess. They will come back and just hammer the piss out of their opponents in the next few games. Lose to PSU and then get stomped by MSU and OSU. Hoke needs to be demoted to recruiting coordinator and a new HC should be in the works. This loss was historical....ND is not that good.
Let me say this, I give the D a halfway "pass" because we were down 2 starting CB's against a quality team that runs a lot of multi-receiver sets in the normal offense. So those 2 injuries hurt us more in this game than in most games.
Until the O-Line can establish the run game vs a quality opponent, it will be much of the same. Devin Gardner is not going to throw us to wins playing behind the sticks all game long.
If the O-Line gets fixed, the defense will look A LOT better.
So, to me, the problem is pretty easy to identify.
I admit it, I am spoiled. I was a student when Bo was coaching and the Michigan team was beating the snot out of the Big Ten and we expected to beat OSU every year (even though that didn't happen every year), we thought we owned the right to go to the Rose Bowl every year.
I admit it, I was spoiled. Now fast forward so many years later and I don't even recognize "the team." Wisconsin and MSU looks more like the Michigan of old than this Michigan team and the dreck that they've put on the field the last several years even under Coach Carr.
I admit it, I will stay spoiled because it can't be alright for the school to roll out just any set of clowns in a winged helmet on Saturdays and say, "This is Michigan." Hell NO!!! it ain't Michigan. It's a good imitation of a bad team.
The interesting thing about this team is for those sports astrologers who are star gazers, Michigan "can" put just about a four or five star player at every position except snapper, holder and kicker. If these kids are as good as the scouting services claim they are, and the teams is as bad as we see that they are, then the problem may not be with the kids, it's got to be with the coaches.
I remember hearing Bo say years ago when he got to Michigan that his challenge was to find the right coaches to coach the kids that he had. He apparently found the right coaches, and the late AD Don Canham found the right coach, but why is it that David Brandon can't seem to find the right coach?
Why is it necessary to get the right coaches? Because coaches prepare players, and properly prepared players perform properly. IMHO!!!
I admit it, I am spoiled. I was a student when Bo was coaching and the Michigan team was beating the snot out of the Big Ten and we expected to beat OSU every year (even though that didn't happen every year), we thought we owned the right to go to the Rose Bowl every year.
I admit it, I was spoiled. Now fast forward so many years later and I don't even recognize "the team." Wisconsin and MSU looks more like the Michigan of old than this Michigan team and the dreck that they've put on the field the last several years even under Coach Carr.
I admit it, I will stay spoiled because it can't be alright for the school to roll out just any set of clowns in a winged helmet on Saturdays and say, "This is Michigan." Hell NO!!! it ain't Michigan. It's a good imitation of a bad team.
The interesting thing about this team is for those sports astrologers who are star gazers, Michigan "can" put just about a four or five star player at every position except snapper, holder and kicker. If these kids are as good as the scouting services claim they are, and the teams is as bad as we see that they are, then the problem may not be with the kids, it's got to be with the coaches.
I remember hearing Bo say years ago when he got to Michigan that his challenge was to find the right coaches to coach the kids that he had. He apparently found the right coaches, and the late AD Don Canham found the right coach, but why is it that David Brandon can't seem to find the right coach?
Why is it necessary to get the right coaches? Because coaches prepare players, and properly prepared players perform properly. IMHO!!!
Dont hang it up on this site!!!
It just seems like Hoke is out there to clap & not get into the game like hes on the sideline but his mind is in candyland. I mean not saying we will get JH but do you see him on the sideline with the 49ers the guy is a pure coach always to steps ahead of everyone in terms of game knowledge we need him or someone like that & the Michigan job is lesser way lesser than it used to be. I put it on Lloyd not having ppl in place & the damn place just thinking because they got this big time stadium with these great helmets teams are just gonna fold when we play them or go to there place. NO TEAM AT ALL IS SCARED OF MICHIGAN NOT AT ALL ANYMORE. DGardner be a leader & put urself into the wide receiver line up & lets see what Shane Morris has. Enough of this mickey mouse stuff.
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