Our two favorite sports might be in for a bit of a shake up. The football team has under achieved the last two years and the basketball team is coming off a nice run to the Final 4 and NC game last year and is currently tied for the lead in the Big Ten. The concern is next year for both programs.
Let's talk football first:
Coach Nuss better be a miracle worker because Michigan has a huge issue with one of the worst offensive lines in the country. During the off season fans expectations are that players will get better with Spring Football and off season workouts. Which is a fair expectation, but the problem is Michigan is losing two NFL Tackles out of that group and Taylor Lewan is expected to be a top 5 or 10 pick. That is a very scary situation and has to be the teams #1 issue going into Spring and Fall camps.
ESPN continues to try to sell us Michigan will be having a QB battle for next seasons starting job. No way is that happening. Yes, Devin had a poor year last year but he had zero running game and very little pass protection. A 5th year senior vs. a sophomore is a no brainer. Shane might have shook off his year 2 redshirt with a decent bowl game but he is still not ready to take over the program full time. How much better would Devin had been with even an average running game at the tailback position?
I was reading ESPN and saw something interesting on Michigan's ACL's injuries:
- Michigan has had nine ACL tears in three years.
- Five of the nine ACL tears happened during practice or conditioning.
I'm always excited for a new season of Michigan Football but the offensive line situation is very concerning.
Basketball:
John Beilein, Zack Novak, Trey Burke, and Nik Stauskas have all helped bring back Michigan Basketball to being relevant again. I had checked out on Basketball for what seemed like a decade before really starting to feel the passion again for the Basketball Program. Watching Beilein build this program has been a fun ride that I hope continues to move forward with more Big Ten titles and NCAA Tournament runs.
What concerns me is next year. Michigan has the possibility of losing Nik Stauskas, GR3 and Mitch McGary all to the NBA. Considering Horford (RS JR and has one more year) and Morgan are seniors that could be devastating to the program for a couple years. If this was the case the remaining starter would be current true freshman Derrick Walton.
Michigan's recruiting (from Rivals) has one 4 star player and three 3 star players coming in the next class. With Austin Hatch's status still TBD after all he has gone through.
So BigHouse Blog readers, which concerns you the most for next year? Our offensive line or losing guys to the NBA draft? Vote above.
11 comments:
I'd be very surprised if all 3 left, but our frontcourt situation is concerning espec. given that we are having issues as is without McGary. If McGary comes back, we may be able to make a tourney run, but if he plays well, it may push him to the NBA.
Horford is a RS JR FYI He has another year of elgibility.
We have a top 25 player coming in next year and will contribute. And the chances all three go pro is probably slim at best.
Lastly, Irvin will get better as will Walton.
What concerns me the most is HOKE. Remember the OL is his recruits. Can not blame RR any more. Will be lucky if this team matches last years results.
I gotta say football, not just because of the O-line.
I think we had kids that could play football at every position, the kids that struggled last year were highly recruited high school players.... Coaching, coaching, coaching.... They aren't being developed, trained, taught, prepared. Lets hope that changes, soon.
Coach B can recruit, he had a perenial contender at WV. Last year all the talk was how can we possibly have a decent season without Burke and Hardaway? The kids came together and outperformed expectations, even without Big Mitch.
When Mitch went down if somone would have said we will beat three top 10 teams in 7 days and will be tied for the Big Ten lead at the end of Feb. who would have believed it?
The O-line i think is a symptom, not the problem. The quality of players should not be an issue. Any 4* or 5* kid can flame out, but keep in mind, Brady's previous two classes (not counting 2014) have been nationally ranked in the top 10.. Football is a concern because Brady hasn't proven he can succeed on this big a stage..
I think Coach B has.
At least that what i think.
Don't about worry about hoops. Coach Belein is great and will find a way. Brady Hoke's a different story. Watch for Cosch Nuss to move up after another mediocre year. Brady's toast.
I think both sports will be fine. The Nuss hire turned me around on this football team. There is a ton of young talent but I think scheme alone could be a MAJOR game changer. I just refuse to believe we missed on all these kids. Go Blue!
Good call Eric, I thought Horford was for sure gone next year. It seems like he has been in the program more then 4 years.
BTW: LeVert is starting to get some NBA looks as well. He isn't ready but if he has some big tournament games, he could jump. I think McGary has to go pro, since he went to prep school he is old for a sophomore.
I am so glad that the basketball program is relevant again and can be said to hold its own against any team in the nation. However, football is the program that pays the bills and if football ain't happy, then ain't nobody happy. IMHO
Optimistically, next year's football team will end up 8-4 (not including a bowl game). I suspect it will be worse than that. Then a change will be made. Maybe Nussmeier, maybe someone else.
There shouldn't be too much stock put these different recruiting rankings. They are nothing but opinions that vary greatly from one person to the next. Most of these people have only seen some short footage of the players they rate.
I agree with what Funk said about this Oline has no choice but to get better. I think if they can field 5 guys and keep them healthy they will be 1000 times better than last year. Big Al had them zone blocking then man blocking then combination blocking and those kids had no idea what to do. Nuss will simplify the blocking schemes and just and FYI Derrick Green is already down to 225 so his fat ass has figured out that he needs to be in better shape coming into camp. Big Al brought no enthusiasm to those kids. From Nuss reputation he is a high motor guy who will bring big intensity to the Oline and the whole O period. Beilein will be fine he is a reload not rebuild guy and Mitch isnt going anywhere till he heals the NBA is not going to take a multi-million dollar chance on his back till they see him play a full season with it.
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