Friday, July 23, 2021

Michigan Friday: Needed A Culture Change

As  I have mentioned all week, we rarely get any good information out of Big Ten Media Days.   We might hear Jimmy say something funny or a reporter ask him why he hasn't beaten OSU or MSU enough.  This year we did get a few nuggets:

  • Jimmy said Mike McDonald was next inline to be the Ravens DC and his brother and others in the NFL spoke very highly of him.  
  • That Michigan will beat Ohio State or die trying.  This is what fans want to hear. 
  • That McNamara is the #1 QB coming into Fall Camp.  Not sure I have ever heard him say that.  
  • Hutch was very honest in this comment:  “Clearly in 2018, 2019, something wasn’t right about the culture,” he said. “We shouldn’t be getting blown out by Ohio State if we’re competing at just as high a level as them, and it just didn’t make sense. Coach Harbaugh has been doing a great job of adapting and seeing what our team needs and changing what needs to be changed.”
  • He also said this: "I actually didn’t think about culture too much until probably last year or this year. I thought it was more about Xs and Os and about being in the right gap or guys not being in the right gap, and that's why we’re losing ballgames. I was kind of enlightened by (Mike Macdonald). He came in and we kind of discussed this, talking about culture and the importance of it. And he kind of opened my eyes to how you can have the greatest Xs and Os or the greatest plays, but if your team is not fully bought in and 1,000 percent invested in what you’re doing, it’s going to fail.”

I appreciate Hutch's honesty and giving us a glimpse into the dysfunction that has been Michigan football for the last couple of years.   We're all tired of OSU running out their offensive scheme and 5 star talent and beating Michigan before they get off the bus.  Michigan was about consistency through the Bo years and even during Carr's time.  Yes, the App. State loss was a bad deal but that team played pretty well after that and beat Tebow in the Citrus.  Since then, this program has been about "change".

RR turned out to be a poor head coach after people figured out his offense. 
Hoke is a good head coach in the MAC or at a smaller school 
Jimmy comes in after coaching in a Super Bowl and rebuilding the 49'ers and still isn't getting the wins we expect. 

Change is not easy but its needed in most cases.  You have to change game plans that are not working.  You have to change players, who are not making plays.  You have to change coaches who can't adapt or recruit.   Change has to be the consistent with this program moving forward, as OSU is not taking a step back anytime soon.  Losing to them has to start changing as well. 

  • Seems LB Sebastian Cheeks is starting to trend away from Michigan to NC or Texas. 
  • Michigan is expected to have two very high draft picks in the NHL Draft, maybe 4 in the top 10.  
  • The Big Ten might start rotating the Championship game.  My guess is Ford Field would be one of the candidates. 


2 comments:

Ron said...

RR, wasn't a bad coach because people figured out his offense there's nothing wrong with his offense it's a potent offense it works.. it was a bad fit for him here, he never connected with Michigan tradition and that was a big problem. The seniors didn't like him and all the players that Carr recruited didn't like him

Voice of Reason said...

I think culture and preparation are just as important. Your preparation helps you to focus on what to do, while your attitude (mindset and philosophy) helps you to understand and fuel why you do what you are doing. There is a saying, "Winning is an attitude." So when you go into a stadium, yes, you expect your opponent's best, but you want to say to yourself, "Wait till they get a load of me...I've got something for your ass!" Then do it! Have no regrets.

But these guys (who are very talented) have been bitch slapped so badly over the years that when they play osu that they may feel snake bitten when they go into the stadium with a knot in their stomachs not expecting to win the game. osu has developed a culture of beating Michigan as their priority. They give out "gold pants" key chains to their guys for winning that win. Every week they focus some practice time to prepare for Michigan. They reportedly practice when they're not suppose to practice (violating NCAA rules), just to prepare for Michigan. So what do we do? "One game at a time." Going 11-1 with a loss to osu means that the season still sucks.

This past year we lost to msu, who proved that they couldn't tie their own shoes. Michigan had more talent than msu (but less experience), but you could tell that we gave up during that game and didn't want to be there. That was a coaching issue on so many levels. If I'm Harbaugh, I'm not going to let me staff let these guys sleep walk through any game this season...or languish with poor play calling or player substitutions.

It "looks" like this group of coaches won't let that happen. IMHO!!!