Michigan Tuesday: NCAA Needs A Plumber

The NCAA prides itself on being a organization that doesn't comment on penalties or the insane out of date process they go through to punish an organization.  Unless we are talking about University of Michigan and specifically Jim Harbaugh.   The NCAA is an organization ruled by clowns that thinks we are still living in the 1970's.  They have very little power and to show you they still have a miniscule amount, they overuse it.  They're like a guy that doesn't ever leave the gym so he can gain some much muscles but can barely walk. 

Just to recap for you.  Jim Harbaugh bought a recruit a hamburger, forget he did that, told the NCAA he didn't and they found a receipt that he did.  Michigan also hired a military code breaker to be able to read the other teams signs.  He then sent his friends to other games to record iphone footage of assistant coaches signing in plays, so he could work non-stop and be the best in the business.   Those are the crimes against the NCAA, Michigan is charged with.  

Harbaugh is in the NFL and they can't touch him.  

Connor Stalions is coaching in high school football and they can't touch him. 

So who is the target now?  Sherrone Moore the head coach of Michigan Football who's crime was deleting messages off his phone.   

So to recap:  Man buys kid cheeseburger, Man out works everyone and breaks a code, Man deletes messages on his personal phone.   What the F are we doing here?

The leaky NCAA Organization is now in negotiations with Michigan on penalties, even though Michigan took a number of them during the 2023 season to put this damn thing to bed.   Sherrone will now serve a 2 game suspension (CMU and Nebraska) and I'm sure there will be some other minor penalties like recruiting restrictions and probably a fine.

What's funny about this situation is, college football is a better game and finally embracing technology after this entire soap opera.   College football programs now use the in helmet communication systems because Connor out smarted everyone in the sport. 

I have to tip my hat to U of M.  I would've fought this BS into the court system and made the NCAA look like the fools they are.  Sometimes its best to cut your loses and just make something go away.  Time for this story to go away forever. 

Michigan Friday: Grading Sherrone's First Year

Sherrone Moore was named Michigan's 21st head coach on 1/26/2024.  With the 2025 class wrapped up and the portal closed, I thought it was a good time to grade the first year head coach on his success or failures in Year 1.  

2024 Transfer Portal: D- (They only reason this is not an F is because he picked Michigan's MVP place kicker Zvada out of it) 

2024 Hiring of Coaches: C+, some bad hires and some bad situations.  Looks to be a solid staff but there were some mistakes. 

2024 Offense: D- (since he was the former Michigan OC, this is on him) 

2024 Defense: B-

2024 vs. Rivals: A (wins over USC, OSU, MSU, and Alabama)

2025 Recruiting Class: A 

2025 Transfer Portal: B+

Summary Before Final Grade:

Sherrone's biggest mistake of the year was not finding a QB in the portal.  Yes, I know after Michigan won the NC, it was slim pickings but IU made the playoffs with a MAC QB.  Michigan had to bring someone in.  Everyone knew this was a need and still Michigan did nothing without a viable starter on the roster.   

His second mistake was some bad road loses to Washington, Illinois, and IU.  All were winnable games with some type of offense and Michigan could not find any.  Michigan's defense which Wink was running needed to dominate and in those games they could not.  

The highlight of the year was the big wins.  Beating OSU and MSU is job #1 and he accomplished that.  Hitting the transfer portal in 2025 and signing a top recruiting class was his 2nd most important job and he did a really nice job in both.  There was a time mid-season, I didn't think Sherrone could do this job and his recruiting and OSU win saved the day. 

Overall Grade: B-

Sherrone got off to a rough start to his career.  The team did not play well in the first half of the year without a QB.  Then played terrible in the middle but ended with a huge upset of Ohio State the Peach Bowl Champion and Alabama in the Outback. 

I cannot forgive the huge miss at QB, that is a mistake a head coach or even the OC (his former role) can not make.  The man can recruit and pulled some great players out of the portal this cycle.  Grabbing Underwood was incredible in the 2025 class.  Michigan had historic talent on defense and rarely dominated any game under Wink's leadership. 

Sherrone showed he was a first year head coach many times last year.  This is a destination job and not a developmental one.   If a Billionaire doesn't fall out of the sky, Michigan gets beat in Columbus, and loses the Music City Bowl.   Sherrone might not even be the head coach today.  That is how close of line success and failure is in this job.  He was not ready to be Michigan's Head Coach and let's hope last year gave him enough experience to be much better next season. 

Michigan Friday: WOW Bryce is Blue!

Have you ever had year start really well and then go really bad? Case is point, Sherrone Moore.  He is the OC of the National Championship winning team and he receives the full time head coaching job when Jim Harbaugh moves to the NFL.   Spring Ball goes ok, outside of Michigan losing a captain to a knee injury.  

Then the season starts and its nearly a complete disaster.  His offense is one of the worst in the nation and he has hired a washed up DC that wastes 3 first round draft picks on defense.  Embarrassing loses to Washington and Illinois make this a .500 team with maybe a Music City Bowl invite as a reward for a bad season.   That is a long way from the National Championship game.  

How does Sherrone save his job and respond to people like the one that runs this blog, who thinks he is over his skis with this role?

He works with his new GM, fixes NIL, strangely gets an Oracle Billionaire who doesn't seem to have any ties to the school or program to land the #1 recruit in the nation who happens to live in U of M's backyard.  I have no idea if or why Larry Ellison is helping fund a Michigan NIL collective but I'm very thankful for the support! 

The highest ranked recruit in Michigan history QB Bryce Underwood flipped from LSU to Michigan yesterday.  I know some of you are thinking: How do we keep Bryce in the boat until signing day?  That is a fair question, but signing day is early this year on 12/4.  That is a week from Wednesday.  

Pulling Bryce is very important and getting him on campus as soon as possible is more important for next years team.   The next big thing are the recruits that follow Bryce to Ann Arbor.   Including Derek Meadows a 4-star WR who is considering flipping to Michigan or ND after also leaving LSU.   Michigan could easily end up with a top 5 class if things go well in the next 10 days. 

Today is a good day and Sherrone did a fantastic job in landing the biggest fish in the country. 

• Michigan Basketball played better in the 2nd half again and blew out Tarleton State.  If Michigan can fix the turnovers and rotation, this could be a decent team this year.  Not sure what is going on with Vlad as he is missing a ton of easy shots. 

The Northwestern Preview will be out later today.  Which is clearly not the biggest news of the week!

Michigan Monday: Coaching and Too Early Look at Illinois

Since College Football is now professional football we are starting to see talent be spread out across teams and conferences.  Back in Bo's time in Ann Arbor, he would just sign a 100+ really good players.  When one went down, another would step up.  The same thing could be said about Alabama or Georgia.  They would load up rosters so the next man up would be just as good or better then the player that started and got injured.  

Now rosters are skinny and lack depth even for those two SEC giants.  Any team can lose any Saturday.  Bama lost 2 weeks ago to Vandy and struggled to beat South Carolina this week.  We all know too well what Michigan is going through this season.  

Which leads me to an NFL game yesterday.  The Lions vs. Cowboys.  First off, I feel terribly for Hutch, he turned around Michigan and is turning around the Detroit Lions.  I hope the surgery last night was a success, that it was a clean break and quick heal up for next season.  

If you look at both rosters, its pretty close talent wise.  The edge might even go to the Cowboys.   The game is in Dallas and Dallas has won the last 5 games against the Lions.  One team has a washed up coach that was washed up when he left Green Bay, the other has an aggressive players coach with the hottest head coaching candidate as his OC.   You know the outcome.  Coaching matters, motivation matters and our Wolverines are lacking both right now.  

Everything Sherrone does is a test to see if he can handle this job at Michigan.  Getting better during a bye week is a test.  Recruiting a top 10 class is a test.  Getting the most out of his staff is a test.  Motivating the team to play on the road is a test.  Fixing the offense is a test.   Fixing the holes on defense is a test.  Outside of recruiting Sherrone is failing most of these tests.  

What Iowa did to UW this past weekend was embarrassing to the Michigan Football Program.  I don't care where they played the game, when Iowa puts 40 on you and Cade throws for 100 yards, there is an issue.  Do you think Michigan can play with Oregon or OSU?  Not right now they can't.  Wink was a terrible hire and Sherrone is looking more like the Central Michigan TE coach then the head ball coach at Michigan.   I don't disagree that Sherrone did an excellent job the last 3-4 years at Michigan with the offense line but the offense was Harbaugh's not his and its showing right now.  Sherrone's calling card of being a great OL coach is also not showing this season.  When Harbaugh had some heart issues on the sidelines on Sunday, Jesse Minter stepped in as head coach for a few series.  Do you think the defense would be playing like it has if Jesse was the head coach of Michigan?  Coaching matters. 

Too Early look at Illinois:

Record: 5-1

Best Win: #22 Nebraska

Only Loss: Penn State 

Last game: Beat Purdue 50-49

Pass: 242 (58th)

Run: 139.5 (87th)

Score: 31 (51st)

Give up: 20 (32nd)

Illinois has been sneaky good this year with early wins over a ranked Kansas and Nebraska.  The only bad outing was a trip to Happy Valley where they only scored 7 points.   The Purdue game was a bit of a disappointment when the the Boilermakers went for 2 and the win but didn't succeed 50-49.  Illinois was a 3 TD favorite. 

Line: Michigan -1

• In the good news file, Michigan did receive a prediction from Wilfong for 2025 5-star OT Andrew Babalola.  

• Mikey got his first NFL Interception

• Speaking of coaching, did Oregon put 12 players on the field to stop Ohio State and run the clock knowing it would only lead to 5 yards?

• Ryan Day is 2-7 against top 5 teams 

• Over the weekend, every former Urban Meyer head coached team lost.  Which includes Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, Ohio State, and JAX Jags. 

• Roman Wilson is back from injury and played for the Steelers on Sunday. 

Michigan Tuesday: Tuttle Time

I don't listen to Sherrone's radio show and sometimes read what he said during his regular press conference.  He learned from the master on not sharing anything relevant that your next opponent could use to their advantage.  Which means if a player is not seriously injured and out for the year, expect "he is working through something".  Which sounds like someone having a blister treated.  

During his radio show on Monday, someone asked him: what the plan is at QB? He replied: "I think right now he (Tuttle) gives us the best chance to win. We'll continue to process that as an offense, as a team, but that looks like the direction we're heading."

He also added this: "The biggest priority for me is to make sure our run and pass game are complementary — formationally, structurally. ... I want to see more down-the-field shots, the play-action game come alive."

My follow up question would have been: What the hell have you been doing all summer?

I'm still at a loss for what the expectation was this summer?

• Orji all of sudden becomes a passer?
• An injured Tuttle?
• Warren has zero experience playing college QB but he could be the answer?

Sherrone is lucky he is in his first year because not addressing this in the off season is a fireable offense.  He knew better then anyone Michigan had whiffed at QB recruiting the last 3 years.   

PS: A rich Michigan Alumni needs to buy Wink out of his contract.  

• Peppers believes he is innocent of the situation he got into over the weekend.  

• Dak Hill has an ACL and is out of the year. 

• Detroit Tigers!!!

• Moody has a high ankle sprain and the 49'ers have to sign a kicker 

Michigan Monday: Has That Same Feeling Again

Before we get started, this is not a "fire Sherrone" post.  I like Sherrone and he needs to continue to work his way into this job. 

The biggest risk in hiring Sherrone as the Michigan Football Head Coach is that he didn't have any head coaching experience.  That is a big leap for anyone.  Michigan is a final destination job in college football and the top of the ring for many coaches.  This job is too big for most coaches.   It was too big for both Rich Rod and Hoke who had lesser head coaching jobs prior to Ann Arbor.  If we go back a few years you can add Gary Moeller to that list.   There is no honeymoon period for this job.  Even when Harbaugh was struggling, I knew this job was not too big for him. 

Michigan's Basketball program is another example.  Michigan hired a legendary former player that learned from one of the best head coaches in the NBA.  The Michigan job was too big for Juwan.  In fact, every coach since Fisher it has been outside of Coach B and hopefully Dusty.  Remember Brian Ellerbe?  I think he left basketball all together after his time in Ann Arbor.  

Sherrone might turn out to be a great head coach or he could be a great coordinator.  This year has to be a whirlwind for him: National Championship, Harbaugh and staff leaves for LA, and now gets the keys to the castle.  

Michigan right now has some fundamental issues that falls on Sherrone's desk. 

• Running an offense that was built for JJ and Blake.  You have to reboot your playbook every year to match your roster.  That clearly hasn't happened.  

• If your not going to reboot your playbook, you have to find a transfer QB that can run it.  Michigan has the largest and richest alumni base in the nation.  There has be a way to find a QB that fits your system. 

• Your staff seems like a deer in headlights during games.  No adjustments on anything.  Every coach has to be better on game day.

• Complete miss on Donovan Edwards.  I love Big Game Don, but he should be used like Reggie Bush at USC or the way the Ravens uses Dax brother Justice Hill. 

• The only reason to hire Wink is he was the original designer of this defensive system.  The guy was not hireable in the NFL and left a long line of teams not wanting him.   HE WAS FIRED BY A HARBAUGH.  I hope he is renting  a house in Ann Arbor.  

• Orji is the QB for two reasons, 1 - to run the ball and 2 - to not turn the ball over.  He ran for a total of 12 yards on Saturday (2 good runs).  20 yards if you remove the sacks.   He is so scared to make a mistake in the passing game, he is not throwing the ball accurately.  Something he never has done successfully not even in high school. 

I have a hard time believing this was the plan going into the season.  We have to be missing something, right?  Was Tuttle expected to be the starter?  If it was Orji, where are the running plays designed for him?  Also very few offenses drive the ball down the field in the passing game.  It's a bunch of dump offs and 8 yard crossing rights.  I assume Orji can complete those. 

I dd see some new formations on Saturday.  I like having both Edwards and Mullins in the game at the same time.  I'm still sick on that pick, when Edwards is all alone running down the sideline and Orji throws it right at the safety.  Michigan should have won that game by 21 points on Saturday.   

I don't know if this football travels.  The defense and special teams will have to continue to win games if it does. 

Too Early Look at Washington

Record: 3-2 

Last game: Loss to Rutgers 21-18

Best Win: Northwestern 24-5

Pass: 296 Yards (24th)

Run: 173 (61st)

Score: 27 (84th)

Give up: 12.4 (10th)

This is a National Championship rematch and I'm not sure these teams will recognize each other after only playing a few months ago.  2 new coaching staffs and 2 completely different programs.  Michigan will be playing a head coach from the Harbaugh tree in Jedd Fisch.   Washington has a transfer QB in Will Rogers and a Belichick running the defense. 

Game time: 7:30 NBC 

Line: Wash -2.5

• Is Nico the best WR in the NFL? 

• Michigan somehow moved up to #10 in the country. 

• Harbaugh lost a close one to The Super Bowl Champs

• Will J. Stewart and Will Johnson be ready for Saturday?

• Ever see a conference make a business decision on a replay call?  The ACC did that on Friday night.  

• Alabama and Georgia played a classic on Saturday night.  

• Is Indiana good?  Worried about that road trip. 

• Purdue fires its OC Graham Harrell 

Wolverine Wednesday: This is Pro Ball

There is no pretending any longer that college football is an ameutur sport. Many programs are investing $20M into the portal and god knows how much into recruiting 4 and 5 stars.  Don't hold your breath when it comes to Michigan recruiting 5 star talent, Michigan will not be paying those fees anytime soon.  

I was even surprised yesterday when I looked up when Maction starts on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  Answer is: not until November.   I was surprised, as I thought the MAC could be getting more viewers starting it now.  Probably has something to do with the Baseball Playoffs.  Side note, I told my son after N. Illinois beat ND, that they would lose their next game.  They did to Buffalo this past weekend.

The latest example of college football being a pro sport happened this morning when UNLV 3-0 starting QB Matt Sluka has decided to redshirt for the rest of the year after he says, " it became clear these commitments would not be fulfilled"  UNLV is surrounded by PAC 12 talk and is a solid candidate for making the college football playoffs.  UNLV quickly leaks he was getting NIL deals from other schools to leave.  I can not confirm or deny those calls were made by me.   😀

It's a new world in college football. 

• Michigan USC averaged 6.3M viewers, topped out at over 10M

• Sherrone won Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week 

• Josaiah Stewart won the Chuck Bednarik Player of the Week 

• Michigan was named the #3 Public University by US News and World Report

• This weekend is Military Appreciation Game vs. Minnesota

Michigan Tuesday: The Orji Decision

I'm starting to get concerned about Sherrone and the Michigan job.  This is a really difficult place to be a head coach for the first time.  Having all the eyes on you.  Yes, he did a great job on game days last season when Harbaugh was at Cedar Pointe or Frankenmuth, but we need to remember Harbaugh was there 6 out of the 7 days of the week.  

I don't want to compare Sherrone to RR but RR was a head coach at West Virginia before coming to Ann Arbor and this job broke him mentally.  If you didn't know RR was in Washtenaw County again this past weekend taking on EMU.  Rich is currently the head coach of Jax State, a school not in Jacksonville, Florida.  He left the area a loser in OT to the Eagles.  Nothing has changed.  

Decisions that concern me:

• Going into the season without a viable QB option 
• Choice of new defensive coordinator who was not hireable in the NFL
• Offense play calls that seem to be geared to Team 144 not Team 145 
• Announcing a QB change the Monday prior to a big game 

Sherrone yesterday announced that Alex Orji was going to start at QB.  Davis Warren has been a turnover machine with 6 picks since getting the starting role.  This is the right decision, announcing it 5 days prior to the game is not.  Something Harbaugh wouldn't do unless it was a no brainer and your starter is JJ.  

This decision is bad if Michigan continues to run the same plays.  The secret sauce to Michigan's offense last season was JJ being able to move the ball through the air when the running game stalled.  Everyone and their brother is going to know Michigan won't pass with Orji so this plays into a defense that will continually load the box.  If Michigan starts zone running plays and/or has an option game plan with Mullins and Orji then Michigan will have a chance.  Edwards and Mullins with Orji in the backfield would be interesting.  Play action should be wide open as well. 

I'm going to break my TV if I see another Edwards run directly into the line on first down. 

• Mullins was the top rated RB on PFF last weekend. 

• Utah vs. OK State this weekend has two QB's at the age 24 and 25 who are 7 year seniors.  One of those QB's is of course Alex Bowman who was on Michigan's roster for a couple years. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Contract Signed

Warde didn't want to give Sherrone a contract until Michigan lost a football game.   Of course, that is not accurate.  Who knows what it takes to get a head coach contract approved at Michigan?  I'm sure it has to go through the Regents and everyone.  Many folks didn't know Bo didn't have a contract until late in his career. 

Sherrone has signed his contract and now has to worry about winning a Big Ten Championship.  

• Denard, Braylon, Mike Martin, and Shawn Crable are suing the NCAA and BTN for $50M for lost NIL rights.  Good luck guys. 

• Can we have a Butch Davis CAM this weekend?

• Jake Moody is the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week