Monday, December 2, 2019

Michigan Monday: Picking Up The Pieces

We have a new normal folks and that normal is Ohio State is better at football.  It's really not even a debate.   They have had coaching changes, NCAA probation, a sexual abuse scandal, and they just keep beating Michigan year after year.   Harbaugh was quoted as saying last summer, "It's hard to beat the cheaters".  Are they cheating? maybe.   But they are getting away with it and just have better players then the Wolverines.

Bill Belichick the best football coach of my life, said to win you have to understand your teams weakness and attack the weakness of the other team.   Michigan didn't have the advantage at any position group on Saturday.  Yes, this Michigan team has enough talent to beat 90% of the teams out there, they just don't have enough talent to beat the very elite teams.     When elite teams don't make mistakes, your not going to win the game.

Michigan's weakness on the defensive line, showed brightly against the top 2 offensive lines they saw this season: OSU and Wisconsin.   Neither game was close and Michigan must do a better job at recruiting the DT position.  I'm not excited about Ryan Day owning Don Brown, but we could've had Belichick at DC and I don't think we win that game on Saturday when OSU plays clean.

I'm also concerned about some of the higher academic schools continuing to be competitive at the highest levels.  Teams like Michigan, ND, Stanford all struggled this year.    Those 3 schools combined for 13 losses this year.  To be fair, Stanford had 8 of those losses but this could be the beginning of a trend.   Is following the recruiting rules and high academics standards to high of hill to climb to be competitive at the highest levels?  This isn't Bo vs. Woody anymore when Michigan could have 110 players on scholarship.  I mean Justin Fields said earlier this season he is just taking on-line classes.  He is there to play football, not school, as a current XFL QB once said.

I know some of you maybe thinking:  How can Auburn compete with Alabama?  They are closer in talent then Michigan is to Ohio State.  Plan and simple.  I don't believe for a second that Auburn has better coaches then Michigan does.

  • EPSN predicts Michigan to the Holiday Bowl to play either USC or Washington.  CBS thinks Gator Bowl against Auburn.  

  • Michigan Basketball will be ranked today when the new AP Top 25 comes out.   They also get to play probably the #1 team Louisville Cardinals tomorrow. 

  • House cleaning has started at a number of programs:  Texas cleared out both of their coordinators, ASU fired its OC,WR, TE coaches and Northwestern fired its OC.   BC, Ole Miss, USF, and Missouri fired their head coach.  With the Ole Miss firing,  RR is out of a job again.  He was the OC this year. 

  • There were reports that Clay Helton at USC was about to be fired, those reports came up false. 

  • Rutgers put the coaching golf cart in reverse and came to terms with Greg Schiano. 

  • Another thing you might be thinking?  Could Don Brown in a candidate for the head coaching job at BC?  Possbily.  


12 comments:

Coach Anderson said...

I FEEL that if Case Young would have played at Michigan, ND, or Stanford that he would have been banned for all four of the last games and every game he played in would have been a forfeit. Probably a loss in some scholarships as well… But for osu, al, sec…… they play by a different standard!

ScottyDoggs said...

Unbelievable that OSU Quarterback is taking only line classes only... a new low... where is the NCAA when you need them!

Bringing Patterson over was a decision based on the fact that Patterson was streaky (hot/cold), exactly was he displayed at Michigan.

Wait so many months until players can accept money, Ohio State will take that kick and run with it (for all it's worth)

Nobody else talks about it, but in time you will all be concerned about it.

I still like to know what Harbaugh did about the shoe incident, we are better than that, or under Harbaugh have we sunk to a new low (like the bottom of a septic tank).

College football is heading into uncharted waters, and being a old sailboat person, I do not want any part of it.

Harbaugh should talk from the heart and apologize to his fans, and say what his future plans are.

Practice time is limited severely anymore, time wasted on that goofy extra point play exemplifies some of the absurdities going on at Ann Arbor.

Cmfgoblue said...

Makes sense to me ScottyDoggs! Why would you keep an old guy in a modern world? ... No doubt in some occupations this is necessary...but certainly not in College Football.. No one is doubting that Harbaugh is a decent coach... but just like anything in the “Elite” category you have to stay on top and always change...Harbaugh has tried new coordinators and new schemes and has a “good” record... but by no means at any time in his tenure has he been “elite”... so its simple boys and girls... get your popcorn ready... Michigan is about to let you know if they are about winning national championships or not.... if they keep him.. than a new standard is set... if you beat Msu and have a .750 or so winning percentage than you are just fine...

Cmfgoblue said...

Michigan Basketball ranked #4.... let history be known that Mr. Howards first ranking was in the Top 5... WHOA!! Solid proof that new heights can be accomplished..... Mr. Charles Howard should be given a whistle!!!

Cmfgoblue said...

Woodson! Haha... calm down a little cmf....

szanreno said...

Please remember Mr Howard is there because the old coach left. It wasn't like we pushed out the old to bring in the new.

Cmfgoblue said...

Thats a very good point.... we have found the right coach either way... and these coaches around the country all respect him...

szanreno said...

So far so great. Hold your breath.

Unknown said...

How is Michigan going to recruit with OSU when recruits attending The Game see the seats between the 30 yard lines MOSTLY RED !? The pathetic losers that own those seats probably because their parents bequeathed them and put them out for open sale DON'T DESERVE THOSE SEATS AND SHOULD BE STRIPPED OF THEM BY ATHLETIC DEPT. Thousands of end zone ticket holders and thousands of M fans on a waiting list for tickets would love those seats. Don't they have any friends that are M fans ? They probably don't have any friends. I would flush my tickets down the toilet before I would ever let a buckeye fan use them.

MichiganMan said...

😆

Chowman said...

Look college football is big business. It's a cash machine. The NCAA knows that and that's why the teams at the top, the elite will always operate under different rules. NCAA isn't about to kill a golden goose. That being said, there's no reason that Michigan, with its branding, and resources (cash) can't be part of college football's elite programs. Now to do so would take some changing of culture. No more playing the ethics card or thumping their chest about academics. Football would be the business, and in business sometimes you have do deal from the bottom of the deck. If fans and alumni don't have the stomach for it, then get used getting mauled by the better teams. If going 9-3 or 10-2, but losing to the best 2 or 3 teams on your schedule every year works for you, then great. My only suggestion is with 8 to 9 wins baked into the schedule every year with the non-cons and the likes of Rutgers, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, and MSU of the schedule, you probably can get by with a cheaper HC than Harbaugh. As much as you wish to argue it, Harbaugh was brought to AA and paid $7-8M/yr to get UoM to the level OSU is at now. After 5 years that's a pipe dream and many fans are moving the needle to having 9 or 10 wins per season and going to a decent bowl. Which is funny, cause those results are exactly what ushered in the end of the Lloyd Carr Era.

rklans71class said...

Bob, you mentioned the old scholarship limit of 110 players. The intent of the rule, I had thought, was to make the "smaller" teams more competitive and retain the collegiate spirit for football. Well, maybe it's time to re-exam the policy, as apparently it is not working as intended. Perhaps the limit should be adjusted to limit a team to 2 scholarships per year for 5-star out-of-state recruits, realizing that no limit should be placed on in-state recruits. To qualify for in-state status in a state, the recruit would have to have attended his entire high school career in the state. In my opinion, as there currently are only 50 recruits ranked as 5-star, the new limit should enhance collegiate football competitiveness. Lastly, if the 5-star limit fails to work as intended, then perhaps we should consider further modifying the limit to include 4-star candidates.