Michigan Tuesday: Disaster Brewing

As we expected, Warde is fumbling and bumbling this coaching search.  He met with the team on Monday and wants to have a head coach in place by the Citrus Exhibition against Texas.    So the possibility of some hand shake agreement with DeBoer is now dead and Michigan is sorting through Plan B options.  Biff clearly wants the job and says he is going to clean up the 5 year mess.   It's a mess alright.  

Sam Webb is also saying stuff.  He said that Dillingham played Michigan, had a interview set up on Saturday which he cancelled after leveraging Michigan for a raise.   He seems to understand the Agents playbook very well.   The next step in the playbook is to leverage an NFL opening.  

Sam has also been saying that Jeff Brohm is a strong candidate and now expects an answer either way on or before Christmas Eve as his Louisville Cardinals play in the Boca Bowl today at 2:00 against Toledo.  

Just so I understand this, Michigan is going to hire a coach that is playing in the Boca Bowl that is offering free tickets if you donate a can of beans to charity?  MENTAL WARDE 

Below is Jeff's record with Western Kentucky, Purdue, and Louisville.  Those are some pretty nice Bowl Wins in there. What the Hell Are We Doing?

Year    Team   Overall   Conference   Standing  Bowl

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Conference USA) (2014–2016)

2014 8–5     4–4    3rd (East)        W Bahamas

2015 12–2    8–0 1st (East) W Miami Beach

2016 10–3    7–1 T–1st (East)  Boca Raton‡

Western Kentucky: 30–10 19–5

Purdue Boilermakers (Big Ten)  (2017–2022)

2017 7–6 4–5 T–3rd (West)      W Foster Farms

2018 6–7 5–4 T–2nd (West)       L Music City

2019 4–8 3–6 T–5th (West)

2020 2–4 2–4 6th (West)

2021 9–4 6–3 T–2nd (West)      W Music City

2022 8–5 6–3 1st (West)       Citrus*

Purdue: 36–34 26–25

Louisville Cardinals (ACC) (2023–present)

2023 10–4 7–1 2nd      L Holiday     

2024  9–4 5–3 T–4th     W Sun

2025 8–4 4–4 T–7th    TBD Boca Raton

Jeff is known as a good offensive mind but he is also known to be a bit nuts.  We have all seen that clip of his playing days in the XFL.  I'm sorry this would be a a terrible hire.  He is nowhere near a fit for Ann Arbor.  What is his best win, this year over Miami?

Folks, I'm at a point where Michigan should fire Warde, hire Jason Eck, ask Biff to stay, keep RB's coach Tony Alford, DL coach Big Lou, and OL coach Grant Newsome.  Hire a new young OC and a new young DC and start cleaning up this mess. 

Your thought might be, Jason who?  I get it.  He has turned around 2 dead programs very quickly.  Gave Michigan all they wanted in the opener and his known as great coach and a better person.  If Michigan is going to take a risk, get ahead of the curve, hire a guy that will be a hot candidate next year and lets start putting the pieces back together that Warde has destroyed.  

Michigan Friday: Should We Be Worried About The Offense?

I think we should.  The buzz out of Spring Ball is that the defense is dominating the offense.  That Michigan's defensive line and LB core are stifling the offense line and pressuring any QB that Michigan puts up there.  

In the end, I think Michigan's offense line will be fine, not too many opponents will have 2 NFL 1st rounders on it.  Michigan is solid at TE and RB.  The issue is with the passing game, Orji is more of a runner then passer.  Davis I'm sure is talented but still young and inexperienced, Warren looked really good in a Spring Game a couple years ago and we haven't heard about him since, Denegal is reportedly struggling this Spring and 10 year man Tuttle is injured.   So Fox wants to put this on National TV?

Michigan's top WR is Tyler Morris and the WR room is very limited.  Michigan needs two WR's from the portal as soon as possible.  Which is not a great position for the defending National Champs. 

What does this all mean?  I said this earlier this year and as Spring Ball continues, I continue to believe it.  Michigan 2024 will be playing like Alabama 2023.  Michigan will win with a superior defense, a mobile QB that runs, and a very good RB.   Donovan Edwards is the best player on offense and reports are he is healthy and strong.  My hope is they use him like Reggie Bush as a RB and WR.   Whoever plays QB and I expect it will be Orji, number one priority will be not turning the ball over.  You thought JJ didn't throw enough, Michigan might pass less then 10 times a game next season.  Yes, there is a concern there will be some Iowa comparisons.    Fox, are you sure?

• Will Tschetter will be back for Michigan Basketball 

• Terrance Williams will look at the NBA Draft and hit the portal.  So he is hitting the portal. 

• Seems Louisville lost the Dust Battle, but now will focus on getting FAU players in the portal with big NIL checks for Nick Boyd and Johnell Davis.  Small issue, the Cardinals new coach who was at Charleston last season had a issue with The Owl players when they played in Boca last season.  Probably won't be an issue with a check with a lot of zeros in it. 

Michigan Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving to the entire Michigan Fan Base!

Juwan Howard's team passed a test on Wednesday beating Iowa State but will have a real big test today as they face #6 North Carolina.  It was nice to see Franz Wagner back on the court and he hit two 3 pointers and finished with 6 points.  Michigan had balanced scoring with a side of 22 turnovers, which of course is way too much.  DD had another nice scoring game from the bench with 14 and Simpson sniffed a triple double (but had 8 TO's of his own).   Livers was again the top scorer with 17 points and Castleton's 10 points was a bit of a surprise.   Good Luck to Michigan today with NC and with Duke's loss it now looks like they will be playing the #1 ranked Louisville Cardinals next week.

• It seems Michigan maybe interested in former 2018 5 star WR Justin Shorter who is transferring from Penn State.   He did have a Michigan offer before signing with Penn State.   Justin is no longer on PSU's roster, so expect him to find a new home for next season.   As you may know, Josh Gattis was Justin's recruiter at Penn State. 

• Speaking of Penn State,  James Franklin seems to be on the top of FSU's wish list.   Reports are there is mutual interest.   Franklin could also be a candidate for USC if they make a coaching chance and don't hire Urban.

• BC's Steve Addazio is interested in the Rutgers job as he is probably on the way out at Boson College.  

Michigan Monday: The Upside, Injuries, and an Early Look at IU

The media likes to say, "Michigan is peaking at the right time".  Which is a pretty accurate assessment with the #1 defense and Shea Patterson playing well under center.   What's exciting about this team is that the defense is much closer to the ceiling then the offense.

The Rutgers game is an example of that.  Michigan didn't put anything new on tape and Shea had the best performance of his college career.   Michigan's #1 rusher had less then 50 yards but still scored 2 TD's.   What I have really enjoyed this season is Shea's accuracy and that he doesn't turn the ball over.   After the ND game, he has done a great job at protecting the ball.

We also have to "call out" the offense line, who for many years have been one of the main reasons Michigan has struggled on offense.  This unit has greatly improved and has taken leaps and bounds forward.   Michigan is finally playing that downhill style that Jimmy loves.

I believe this offense is still running at about 80% of its capabilities.   Here is why:

• Michigan hasn't put too many RPO's on tape this season and we know that is all the rage in football.
• Tarik Black has been back for two games but hasn't seen too many targets yet 
• How about the slot position?  Grant Perry is losing snaps to Martin and Bell as that position is playing very well. 
• Evans is now just starting to look like 2017 Evans
• Gentry has 28 catches and could easily have 20 more
• Screens!  Michigan could be killing it on RB screens but have only ran a few all year 
• The read option pass! 
• Having to game plan to cover guys like Black, DPJ, and Collins has to be a nightmare

Those are a few reasons, I believe Jimmy is keeping 20% of this offense in the vault for the trip to CBus and anything after that. 

Injuries:  Insiders are saying the following:

-Hill is in the concussion protocol and very questionable for Saturday

-Paye is expected back on Saturday 

-Metellus is expected back on Saturday 

-McCafferty had surgery and is out for the rest of the season

Early Look at Indiana Football:

5-5 

Best win: Virginia  

Worst Lost: Minnesota 

They pass for 255 yards per game ranked 44th 

Rush for 155 ranked 82nd 

They score: 28 points per game ranked 78th

Defense gives up: 30 points which ranks 84th

To get bowl eligible IU needs a win over Michigan or Purdue.  So Purdue.  

A few thoughts from the weekend:

• The MSU offensive performance on Saturday against a questionable OSU defense was pitiful.  It was clear they had the wrong QB in and didn't have a game plan.  

• The new Louisville opening will be very interesting for Michigan for two reasons, 1 - that is Purdue's head coach Jeff Brohm's job to lose or turndown.  2- If Jeff does decide to go home, that could mean great things for Michigan and 5 star George Karlaftis.

Michigan Friday: Interesting News and Notes

• Louisville Basketball is being punished for having a prostitute in the dorms entertaining recruits.  They might have to vacate some wins including the National Championship game against Michigan in 2013.   Does that mean, Michigan would be the National Champion that year?  No, the history books will show there wasn't a winner in the game.    I think we should claim as the National Champion that year!  Give Spike the MVP!  Side Note: NCAA if you really want to penalize a University for cheating, take away their National Championship and give it to the team they played and followed the rules.

• Speaking of Michigan Basketball, they got a 2019 commit in Clarkston big man Taylor Currie.  Taylor is 6'8 and probably has a few inches still to grow still.   He is young big man that rebounds and can shoot the 3.   Many of the 2019 rating are not in yet but Scout has him as an early 4 star.

• Michigan lost a QB recruit last night when Tyler Shough committed to North Carolina.   I hear the reason he committed was he knew the "Ceiling is the Roof" when it comes to Carolina Football.   Michigan was in early on Tyler who grew up a Michigan fan, my guess is he has a clearer route to playing time at NC over Michigan.    In Ann Arbor, there are going to be guys with the names of Milton and McCaffrey in his way to playing time.

• Michigan's Band will be heading to Dallas for the opener against Florida.

• 2018 3-star OT Raiqwon O'Neal has a Michigan offer and is expected on campus for a visit next week.

• Top ranked 2019 TE Grayson Boomer visited Ann Arbor yesterday and was offered.

• I'm a sucker for these types of photos.  I love that Coach Mattison had his DL unit over for dinner.  Lawrence Marshall looks huge! I also like seeing Aubrey Solomon in the photo. 

Hat tip to Mgoblog

One More Game Baby!

What would of your prediction have been of the Syracuse Final 4 game last week if the following happened?

Total Points:

Burke = 7
Hardaway = 13
GR3 = 10
McGary = 10
Stauskas = 0

I would have guessed a double digit win by the Orangeman.  Not a 5 point win by the Wolverines.  I expected Burke would struggle against the zone but I expected the likes of Nik and Tim would have to had big nights shooting the 3.   That didn't happen either and Michigan still won!  I'll take it!

Michigan won because of passing and rebounds of Mitch McGary and the bench play of Spike Albrecht, Caris LeVert, Jordan Morgan and Jon Horford.  Spike and Caris gave Michigan some much needed scoring in the first half when they added 4 three point shots.  Horford hit a big free throw and Jordan Morgan took a game saving charge. 

You could say this was a team win where 8 different players scored.  Props also has to go out to Coach Beilein and Michigan's coaching staff who developed some nice plays to beat the zone in the first half.   Michigan struggled against the zone and pressure of the Syracuse's press in the second half.   I think Michigan needed better ball handing on the court and I would have liked to have seen more Nik and Spike to help Trey with breaking the press. 

McGary seems to be getting better each game and his passing and offensive rebounds were key to Michigan's win.   If he can find a way to make free throws, Michigan will be in great shape.
Let's hope Louisville doesn't go with the "hack a Mc" strategy on Monday.  The best line of the night was when Clark Kellogg said, "McGary just went Magic Johnson on me!"  When the big fella delivered a no luck pass to GR3 for a dunk. 

I thought Michigan was just a couple of shots from blowing the Orangemen out.  The GR3 missed dunk would have brought the house down, a missed transition 3 by Hardaway in the second half when U of M was up 10 or so and if Nik had hit 50% of his shots.

With all Michigan did to get a good but ugly win on Saturday night they will need a Florida game type performance to become National Champions.  Here are my Sunday Morning keys to victory:

• Burke must be Big - a no brainer
• Stauskas must see the ball go through the hoop.  He needs to get a early basket or get to the free throw line.  He can't put up another donut.
• GR3 must play better 1 on 1 defensive. 
• Hardaway needs to stop dribbling - he really isn't very effective off the dribble.  Hit him for open 3's.
• Spike needs more minutes for ball handling against the Louisville pressure
• Hit pressure free throws - If it's a close game, it's clear the Cardinals will put the Wolverines on the line.  If they can't hit them, they will struggle to win a close game.

So the Michigan staff has plenty of work to do and it's great for Michigan fans everywhere that they have a couple more days to work.   Time to avenge the Webber Time Out!

Another great day to be a Michigan Wolverine!!!

Michigan Tuesday: News and Notes

• Demar Dorsey is now at Louisville and the first transfer from USC after the NCAA brought the hammer, linebacker Jordan Campbell is also transferring to Charlie Strong's ball club. 

• Adam Rittenberg at ESPN wonders out loud where Michigan's 2010 recruiting class now ranks?  It's a fair question on a slow news day but this is life on the recruiting trail.  Not all students you sign make it to campus, it seems to happen every year.   Don't blame RR for Michigan admissions department or kids not being able to get the work done in the classroom or with the SAT or ACT.

•  3 star Safety from Columbus, Ron Tanner is expected to pick Ohio State on Friday. 

• Jon Bills a Michigan Football Player is doing well after a serious car accident.

• Anthony Zettel's top 6 are Cincinnati, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and UCLA.  Michigan is still his leader and best.

• Mvictors shares some new photos of the stadium. 

Michigan Monday: Recruiting Update

Since this is the silent period, not much is happening in recruiting circles these days. With that said, there are a few updates regarding the Wolverines.

• Jibreel Black a DE from Cincinnati will visit Ann Arbor in January. Jibreel is currently a verbal to University of Cincinnati and was formally committed to Indiana. Jibreel and the Michigan coaches have stayed in contact during his recruitment.

• Todd Chandler, a four-star DT prospect from Miami (FL) Northwestern might visit Rich Rod and Ann Arbor on 1/22. He is currently a South Florida commit. He is also being recruited by Charlie Strong the new head coach at Louisville. Todd is also a teammate of current Michigan recruit Torrian Wilson, who maybe attending Ann Arbor with Todd on the 22nd.

• Johnathan Hankins a DT from Detroit might announce his college decision this week. His father said a few weeks ago that Johnathan would announce before Christmas which didn't happen. His final 3 are Michigan, Ohio State, and Florida with some recruiting insiders suggesting the Alabama might be making a late run at him.

• It seems Michigan has some interest in Tennessee committed linebacker Mike Taylor.

• Michigan's recruiting pipeline at Detroit's Cass Tech might have take a quick detour with CB Dior Mathis who many believe will end up an Oregon Duck.

• Michigan Seniors Brandon Graham and Zoltan Mesko are going to play in the Senior Bowl in Alabama.

Coaching Searches are Not What They Used to Be

Michigan was in the market for a new head coach two short years ago. As a Michigan fan, I was excited for the first time in 40 years to bring in a high quality coach. I was really surprised that Michigan didn't have it's choice of any college football coach out there. I thought high profile coaches would be lining up to coach the Wolverines. I was wrong and so are the ND fans that are throwing around names like Urban Meyer and Bob Stoops.

Here is what I learned regarding coaching searches. So fans from Notre Dame, Louisville, and Virgina please take note of the following bullets:

• Coaching Searches help current coaches get extensions and raises: The coaches that stay at their programs are the big winners in coaching searches. The mention of their names with any opening gets them big raises and contract extensions. For example look at TCU and Gary Patterson, he just got an extension yesterday on the belief teams would be asking him to interview. Notre Dame made one of the biggest mistakes in the history of college football when Charlie Weis name came up for an NFL job and they quickly gave him a 10 year - $40 Million contract.
• Big name jobs are not what they used to be: With the big name programs comes big spotlight. If coaches can stay at Iowa or Rutgers and still make the same money, why move? The expectations are lower and the pressure/stress is lower. Look at Rich Rodriguez as the example. He took the Michigan job: has won 8 games in two years, paid a large buyout, has an entire state hate him, been called a "Snake Oil Salesman" by another Big Ten coach and had a local newspaper accuse him of overworking his players which has lead to an NCAA investigation. I'm pretty sure none of those things would have happened to him if he had stayed in West Virgina. Good thing Ann Arbor is a great place to raise a family.
• Coaches are hired to be fired: Remember the last time ND was looking for a head coach? They went after all the big names like Shanahan, Gruden, Meyer, etc. Well, Shanahan, Gruden, and Belichick are Super Bowl winning coaches and available. What? They are not on a short list at ND now? Why? Because they got fired? They are still the same coach they were five years ago.
• If your at a major program and make big dollars why move? What would be the motivation for a Bob Stoops or Urban Meyer to take the ND job? I can't think of one reason. Both are at top successful programs that compete for national champions each year. Why would they want to rebuild ND?

So where do you go if you need a head coach?

You need to look at coaches at schools that can't match the money your going to spend. For example, University of Cincinnati can't pay Brian Kelly $4 Million a year. If your Louisville, Central Michigan can't pay Butch Jones a couple Million a year. That is where you have to look for your next coach. Don't forget Ohio State found Jim Tressel in Division 1A.

So ND swing for the fences and talk to Urban and Bob through third parties and have them tell you quietly "no thanks" and move on to the Brian Kelly's of the world quickly. The longer this plays out the worse it's going to get. You almost have to do what Ole Miss did a couple of years ago; Houston Nutt left his job at Arkansas and 10 minutes later was announced as the coach at Ole Miss. You almost need to have a "silent and quiet" deal with the replacement before you let your current coach go. That is why Athletic Directors hire 3rd party firms, so they can contact the coaches and gauge interest, salary, buy out, etc.

BTW: Terry Bowden is doing a great job at the University of North Alabama and is available to interview anytime you like.

Must Win Tuesday

I'm not a big fan of the term "must win" it's way overused in the sports world. It's almost as bad as using coaching "genius", but tonight is a "must win" for the Wolverines. In fact, all of the games for the rest of the year are "must wins" for Michigan if they have hope of breaking their NCAA tournament drought.

The remaining schedule looks like: MSU tonight, at Northwestern, Minnesota, at Iowa, and finishing the year at home against Purdue.

Michigan needs 20+ wins to be in the conversation of the NCAA. Let's hope the "moral" victory against #1 UConn can help propel the Wolverines to a late year win streak.

Being Lane Kiffin: So you get fired from the Oakland Raiders for basically not communicating with the 200 year old owner, you land on your feet by getting a high profile college gig at Tennessee, you hire your father as defensive coordinator, you tell a 5 star QB "thanks but no thanks", you steal a high profile Florida WR from the Gators on signing day, you call out the National Champions head coach by saying that he "cheated" when he really didn't, you get reprimanded by the SEC for making those comments and now this....................

Tennessee notified the NCAA it found a Southeastern Conference coach committing recruiting violations - the Volunteers' own Lane Kiffin.

In letters to the NCAA and SEC, the Tennessee athletic department said the secondary violations occurred in January. One violation occurred when nine prospects on an official visit to the school participated in a mock press conference at Neyland Stadium's media center.
Another violation occurred when a fog machine was used as a recruit entered the field at Neyland Stadium during his official visit on Jan. 9.

A fog machine and a pretend press conference? Are you kidding me? Were the Business School and Law Schools closed? Did the Library get flooded? I guess Coach Kiffin needs gimmicks to sell recruits on the University of Tennessee. Which is sad and sends the wrong message to 18 year-old kids.

BTW: Kiffin joked he got 39 out of 40 on his NCAA recruiting test? I'm guessing me might need to retake it!

Coach you just got hired on December 1st. What is going to happen when they start playing games?

Does anyone want to coach at Louisville? I wrote an entire post on the coaching turnover at Louisville recently. It's been downright crazy. They have pretty much replaced their entire staff in less then a year, with only the offensive coordinator Jeff Brohm staying on board. Until yesterday of course, when head coach Steve Kragthorpe let Jeff go. This program is in complete disarray.

State's turn to schedule a D1A School: Montana State will play Michigan State in its season opener in 2009, traveling to East Lansing, Mich., for the Sept. 5 game.

Louisville Football is losing more then games

As Wolverine fans, we have shared the pain of losing lots of things over the past 14 months or so. We have lost a 5 star QB, an offensive lineman that didn't like to run, a number of recruits, and 9 football games.

It seems if there was bad news in college football it was somehow related to Ann Arbor and our historic Michigan program. Well, hold your heads up high Wolverine fans. There is another program that is going through similar struggles and seem to be losing people and games at a higher rate.

The Louisville Football program hasn't been the same since Bobby Petrino left for his brief visit in the NFL. Louisville has had a similar hard time adjusting to"big change" and their new head man Steve Kragthorpe who is now starting his third year. The wins and losses on the field are one thing, but Louisville is losing coaches and players at a very alarming rate. Let's just take a quick look at the coaches and players that have left the program just this off season.

• Ron English, DC left for the head coaching job at Eastern Michigan (Ron was there for one year)


• Eric Lewis, DB Coach followed Ron to EMU to become the DC


• Bill Miller, was promoted to Louisville DC's and then quickly left for Kansas


• Tony Nelson, Running Backs coach left for Notre Dame


• Mark Nelson, Special Teams Coach was not asked back


• Matt Simms, Son of former NFL QB Phil Simms and brother of NFL QB Chris decided to transfer. Matt would most likely have been the starter heading into Spring Ball.

How can one program suffer so many losses in a matter of a few months? How are these changes going to effect recruiting? How can there be any stability in this program that is trying to rebuild itself back into a Big East power?

I don't have any answers to those questions, but it's easy to see how this program could struggle for years to come. This program has zero consistency right now. A coach can not rebuild his staff from scratch every year and think they will be competitive. Kids won't want to come to Louisville and even the kids in the program wonder if this is the right place for them. We all know recruiting is the lifeline to success in College Football and right now Rivals ranks Louisville's 2009 recruiting class #71 in the country with 18 verbal committed recruits and only 1 four star player.

As Michigan fans we feel Louisville's pain, let's just hope our turnaround is quicker and we don't see similar losses on and off the field.

Cardinals Speaking English

ESPN is reporting that Ron English will become the next DC at Louisville. The Cardinals are in need of defense (any defense) and Ron might just be the guy to do it.

This article quotes Ron saying that he is considering the job and that Louisville has been very aggressive. Southern Illinois passed on Ron as their next head coach.