Michigan Tuesday: The War of Warde

You know how I feel about Warde as Michigan's leader of the athletics department.  He is way over his head and has overseen the most roller coaster time in the history of the program.  My opinion is, that Warde should not be leading this program any longer, his good things (hiring Dusty and Coach Whitt) does not over weigh his huge mistakes.  It's amazing to me how such a powerful University can't find a true leader to lead this athletics organization. 

Angel did an interview with Warde and his answer were very by the book.  My biggest takeaway is that he has no fear of losing his job.  

Q: So you don't have any concerns about your job security?

A: No.

Q: Why are you so confident?

A: I'm confident in what I've done and how I've done it, and what I've asked people to do. Again, I'm not perfect, and I don't know anybody who is, but I'm confident that I have done everything to make sure that we do things the right way within the department. The rest of it, I don't sit and worry. I worry about moving us forward and continuing the success that we've developed over the years since I've been here.”

Let me clear something up completely.  You don't pay a law firm millions of dollars to do an investigation on the Athletics department if your not expecting a change of leadership.  If the findings come out negative or troublesome, there is zero chance Warde retains his job.  Signs are pointing to a negative finding is that the expectation was this investigation was to be completed in January, it's April, and law firms get paid by the hour.  

Want more proof that Warde is poor leader and not getting his message received by the people he leads?  (bold is mine).  The question was did you or the regents ask for the investigation into the athletics department?

You’d have to ask the Regents their conversations about it. The next morning (Dec. 11, 2025 after Moore was fired), I talked to Domenico, and I said I would like the Office of Equity, Integrity and Compliance to work with me to find someone to come in and do a cultural assessment, because apparently my words are not getting through. So I’d like some help in what else can be done.

When you tune out your leader, you don't respect that leader.  There is an old saying in the business world, "employees don't leave companies, they leave leadership"

Michigan Monday: Spring Game Not So Deep Thoughts

I recorded the Spring Game and got to fast forward the commercials.  It was nice being able to watch a game in a short amount of time.   That is if you could call Saturday's afternoon scrimmage a game.  The first quarter highlighted Bryce and Marshall but no tackling.  The rest of the game was full contact unless you are a QB. 

Many Michigan fans thought Bryce had a poor to bad freshman year leading the team at the QB position.  I was a little more warm about his first year as Michigan's QB.  Going from High School to playing on the road at Oklahoma, is a Grand Canyon jump in competition.  No, he didn't light the world on fire, but all that experience goes into his memory bank.  If you remember, JJ was not really even allowed to throw the ball his Freshman year. 

Now Bryce has a new staff, a QB coach, and his even hired his own QB coach.  On Saturday we expected to see a guy that is better with his fundamentals to match his immense talent.  What we saw, was some of the same troubles he had last year.  Bad footwork, bad decisions, and inaccurate throws.  As many of you know, guys with incredible arm talent, sometimes lack the proper QB fundamentals as they can just rely on their powerful arm.  This is what I see with Bryce, his fundamentals go out the door when he gets pressure. 

Now the offense line looked terrible in the first quarter as Bryce had zero time to pass the ball.  The protection seemed to get better as the game went on.  

To make the pressure even worse on the former 5 star, his true freshman backup Carr had a very nice day and looked like the more competent QB.  If Bryce is going to become a better QB, he has to do it when no one is watching.  The time is now and the time is this summer.  I watched Justin Fields at Ohio State's first Spring Game, he was awful and couldn't complete a pass.  He got a ton better in that summer.  It's time for Bryce to do the same. 

• I was very concerned about the offense line in the first quarter.  They still have a ton of work to do and getting guys back from injury. 

• The defense line looked pretty good but was that them stepping up or the offensive line being bad?

• Hiter is going to be special, he did not look like a true freshman.  Brown also looked very good.  The RB room is in great shape! 

• Carr was incredible and like I said above, was the best QB on the field.  He threw accurately and even has some speed to get outside and first downs.  MVP of the Day. 

• In a 7-6 game, the defense is way ahead of the offense, which is not uncommon at this stage.  Nothing to worry about. 

• There was a couple drops at WR, but I do like the talent in that room and Michigan looks like they are good shape with all the transfer coming in.  Moa could be special but needs the summer in the weight room and the nutrition program.

• Bobby Kanka local kid, made a huge hit on 4th down on the goal line.  

• It was hard trying to watch the secondary on BTN, but they looked like they were fundamentally in the right places and were breaking up passes.

• Didn't love the Pitt kicker missing a makeable field goal.  There was no punting or kick returns. 

The Spring Game is meant to show like 10% of the offense and defense.  Bryce has a lot of work to do and Michigan needs to take many more steps forward to be playoff worthy next season.  I'm going to trust Coach Whitt that the team is together and got better during this period.  That is all you can ask for.  During the summer, they need to take another big step forward.

Michigan Friday: Spring Game - What I Want To See

Michigan's Spring Game and the first one under Coach Whitt is tomorrow.   It looks to be a chilly, windy, and maybe a rainy day.  Perfect Football weather! 2:00 on BTN

Here is my wish list of what I want to do see:

1. Nothing - I want to see the most vanilla offense and defense possible.  The coaches are smart enough to not show anything important. I actually would prefer not to see Bryce, Marshall, Marsh and any other important player.  It's ok, if Hiter has a couple runs but not many! 
2. Fundamental Football - Good Blocking and Tackling
3. Depth on both lines
4. A Freshman WR that can contribute next season
5. Better Special Teams 
6. Good Field Goal Kicking and Punting
7. Did Michigan get the best Carr QB?
8. A star TE in the making
9. Strong LB play 
10. Good depth at CB and Safety 
11. Herbie's kid getting snaps 
12. A similar smile on Coach Whitt's face like Harbaugh had when he realized in his first Spring Game, that he really is the Head Coach of the Michigan Wolverines. 

The most important thing - No injuries! 

Enjoy the day! 

Michigan Thursday: News and Notes

• Yax was at Golden State @ Clippers last night.  We wish him good luck with the NBA Draft! 

• I trust Dusty, but the lack of transfer portal commits is making me a bit nervous 

• It seems the new Michigan Football staff is finding its footing for the 2027 class.  Always a slow start when you have a brand new staff. 

• Michigan and Marquette has signed a home and home.  First game is at Crisler next November.

• Mara seems to be leaning to the NBA Draft while keeping his college eligibility

• Not sure we are going to learn much from the Spring Game this weekend if its the 2's and 3's.  Which is fine with me.  Keep the real offense and defense under wraps.

• New Michigan President has brain cancer and will not take office, we wish him well and good health through this process.

• Oscar Goodman is back next year for Michigan Basketball.