Thursday, July 23, 2015

Michigan Thursday: Keith Heitzman Didn't Want To Sing For His Dinner

Former Michigan DE/TE didn't want to "tryout" when Michigan's new staff arrived: "Obviously, Harbaugh coming in was going to change things at Michigan — do things his way," Heitzman told the paper. "But I didn't know if I wanted to try out. That definitely took me off-guard. I was bummed out."

Keith is wrong and right at the same time.  When a new staff comes in, everything is off the board and you have to prove that your a starter or even worthy of a roster spot.   Mostly if your a 5th year senior.   As a 5th year guy, you also hope there is some loyalty to you as you have showed loyalty to the program.   But at some point we all need to face the music and move on and I think Keith who has played a couple positions did just that.  Sending 5th year seniors home with a degree is common practice for every major program in the college football.

Keith has decided to play his final year of football at Ohio University.   We wish him luck on and off the field!

  • It what seems to be un-fortunate timing, top rated LB Xavier Kelly is set to announce his decision on Friday.  Xavier has always had Michigan high on his list but it seems other schools have recently taken Michigan's spot.   Many are predicting a Clemson decision on Friday.  

  • David Reese Update! Let me refresh your memory on David's recruitment:  He was once committed to Louisville and then was one of Jimmy's first commitments to Michigan's as a full back.  After re-thinking things and taking some visits David decided he wanted to play LB at the next level and not FB.  So Louisville and others come back into play.   The word from some of the recruiting services is that his father sat down with Jimmy this week and they agreed to give David a shot at LB in Ann Arbor.   There is also some discussion on him enrolling in January if everything works out.  

  • The Big Ten is looking to break the bank in a year with a new TV contract.  This article speculates that Fox might just over pay for the league and try to rip it from ESPN and others.  We know ESPN's revenue is down (which seems to be a trend that will be getting worse not better) and Fox is looking for a big deal to send to Fox Sports 1.   As you know, Fox is the network behind the curtain for the BTN.

3 comments:

ScottyDoggs said...

I am with Harbargh 111 per cent that 5th year players need to audition for their position... this is a direct postulate to the theory that "best man plays"... anything else, is not congruent with team goals. Holy smokes, Dallas cheer leaders have to try out every year, some get caught being overweight, out of shape; are history.
I also believe that if a younger player(fr., So.) is equal to an older player ( senior, junior), the younger player should start > has more potential.. your not going to have a top quality team unless you cut out the stuff like grandfathering in players just because it is their fifth year... learn from Saban... but maybe not everything, like over recruiting.

Scott K said...

41 Days till kick off..... GO BLUE

Voice of Reason said...

If the truth be known, every coach evaluates their potential 5th year players. They may not call it an audition but that's what it is. If they don't see a player being good enough to hang on, they pull him aside and have that discussion with them. It's done so quietly that no one notices. Haubaugh was simply open and above board about calling it what it is...an audition for your job. Coaches that simply keep all 5th year players on for loyalty purposes will almost always end up former coaches. IMHO!!!