FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Mr. Ypsi:



BTW, what do you think about the report that Weis is going to leave the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL to go to Miami as OC?  IMO, I think his talents and philosophy belong more in the NFL rather than the college game.  Not sure why he would want to leave since he actually did a great job with their offense this year.  One ESPN report said that it could be the $, however, I question that as I can't imagine he doesn't have enough $ from his past coaching jobs (even if he didn't win his frivilous lawsuit against his cardiac surgeons, which he should not have anyway ).  Maybe he just wants to go south for the warmth!

It was reported that Weiss didn't see eye to eye with someone within either the KC organization or coaching staff.    Muschamp wants to run a pro-set offense, and you know......Weiss and his schematic advantages and all.   Plus, yes Florida was able to throw a nice truckload of money at him to be an assistant.

[Mr. Ypsi]

The one bit of good news is that I can't imagine that Dave Brandon won't totally clean house.  Both defense and special teams absolutely stink, and even the offense (RR's only hope for redemption) could only score 14 first quarter points against a team that just wasn't THAT good.

Mississippi State's 4 losses were to #1 Auburn, #8 Arkansas in OT, #10 LSU and #15 Alabama.  Their record belies their abilities.  This was a mismatch from the day it was announced.  Michigan should have been in either the Texas Bowl or Insight.com bowl giving up 50 points to Missouri or Baylor.

Yeah, I'm aware that the southern MSU lost only to really good teams, but I watched much of the game - they are not THAT good.  We already knew that the defense and special teams sucked; today we learned that the offense is not THAT good either.

I hope than Brandon will clean house.  And, considering their recent record against MSU teams, I sure hope they don't have Montana State (Morgan State, etc.; hell, Montclair State! ) on the schedule!

[sac]

While I'm here I might as well share my feelings on UM football.....

I've been a RR supporter since day 1, I couldn't believe they got him and really still can't.  He has a great mind for the offense he runs, and I'm as convinced as ever it will work against anyone.  He just had a season with a first year starting true Sophomore QB who rushed for and passed for 1,500 yards.....the first to ever do that in NCAA history.  Let that sink in.

To truely understand how I feel, you have to understand what I believe about Michigan football.......its has sucked since 2005.  2006 was a glorious anamoly in which the right combination of future NFL players gathered on both offense and defense, and the Big 10 was the worst offensively in its modern history.  2006 was good, but in any other year, they probably win 8 games.......they almost, and should have lost to Ball State.


2005 and 2007 could have easily been losing seasons.......I mean easily in the sense they were dead lucky to be 7-5 both years.  Michigan's defensive problems began long before anyone on the current defensive staff arrived at Michigan.  They haven't tackled well for at least 5 years, the safeties have been mediocre to terrible the entire last decade etc. etc.  The Governor of Pennsylvania would say there's been a culture of wusiness on defense and he'd be right.

I do believe that people have severely overestimated the talent pool at Michigan for some time.  Rich just hasn't had the talent of the old Michigan people remember.  The last couple NFL drafts speak to that , and this springs will be even more sparse...to say nothing of the last 3 All-big 10 teams.  So in short, its my feelings Michigan hasn't been Michigan for at least 6 years, the program had been declining before Rich Rod was even in the picture.


The current state of the program........


Football is a game of 3 phases offense, defense, special teams and this year Michigan was simply horrible in 2 of them, and not very good against good teams on offense.  Since 2008 they have steadily improved on offense, but the defense and special teams have declined, to the point where they are a joke.....a really bad one in which the same mistakes are made over and over and over.  A new defensive coordinator isn't going to answer the problems of a young, undersized defense, that next year, is still going to be young and undersized.....only now without one of the Big 10's leading tacklesr and the last couple of a long recent list of mediocre defensive linemen.  (Take this years horrific depth chart in the secondary, and that will be next years Michigan defensive line)  We can hope, but I just don't see much to say Michigan will be better on defense next year........other than the old saying, "it can't be worse".


Coaching is a major problem on defense.....Greg Robinson was a desperate hire, a coach who destroyed Syracuse and had one good year at Texas and a couple in the NFL.   My God, he ran a 3 man front on 4th and 2 today......Simply put.....he's gone.  And I don't know who would replace him, and I won't get into which direction it might or might not go.  All I know is, if RR stays, the D co-ordinator has to go.

On top of the above, RR hasn't caught too many breaks at Michigan.  Starting with a media crusade from day 1 to get him fired.  A media crusade that severely overstated NCAA violations, which again actually began before RR even arrived at Michigan.  Injuries to every QB who has ever taken a snap, players going pro.....including one who didn't even get drafted and would have been their best DB this year.  And so many recruiting misses of impact players on defense its not even funny......example Jelani Jenkins, Florida.

I'm a more patient guy than most, so I'd like to see this play out.   I think he should get another year.  But here's the thing.   The Michigan fan base has been divided for a long time now.........first it was pro-Lloyd, anti-Lloyd and as soon as RR was hired, it was pro-RR anti-RR,.....and today didn't make that split any better.   To me Harbaugh is the only guy 100% of the fanbase would probably get behind.   

After the last few games, I'm just kind of numb to all the talk, I want him to stay but if he's fired I can understand why and it will probably change how I view the Michigan fanbase and culture forever.  I'm sort of indifferent to it all right now.   It will just be painful to sit through another 3 or 4 year rebuilding, especially when I write those checks for my tickets. 

[sac]

The one bit of good news is that I can't imagine that Dave Brandon won't totally clean house.  Both defense and special teams absolutely stink, and even the offense (RR's only hope for redemption) could only score 14 first quarter points against a team that just wasn't THAT good.

Mississippi State's 4 losses were to #1 Auburn, #8 Arkansas in OT, #10 LSU and #15 Alabama.  Their record belies their abilities.  This was a mismatch from the day it was announced.  Michigan should have been in either the Texas Bowl or Insight.com bowl giving up 50 points to Missouri or Baylor.

Yeah, I'm aware that the southern MSU lost only to really good teams, but I watched much of the game - they are not THAT good.  We already knew that the defense and special teams sucked; today we learned that the offense is not THAT good either.

I hope than Brandon will clean house.  And, considering their recent record against MSU teams, I sure hope they don't have Montana State (Morgan State, etc.; hell, Montclair State! ) on the schedule!

Chuck according to Massy Mississippi State's defense was #14, Michigan's offense was #17

[Mr. Ypsi]

Massey be damned, I'm trusting my eyeballs.   Mississippi State was certainly NOT a bad team (or even a mediocre team) but they were not AS good as Michigan made them look.

I agree with most of what you said in your longer post, and would not even be distraught if RR came back (as long as GR is kaput).  The offense IS exciting (even if they never smelled a score after the first quarter).  And the demise did precede RR's arrival (Brandon Graham covered up a lot of deficiencies ).

They have GOT to turn it around - anything less than top 10 most years is just NOT acceptable.  If RR plus decent defensive coaches does it - cool.  If it means Jim Harbaugh (Brady Hoke, Ron English, ...) - cool.  I have no particular idea what it takes, but just do it!

Hell, if it means outbidding OSU for Jim Tressel, JUST DO IT! *

[*Nike did not pay me for this post! ]

[formerd3db]

Wow, did you have a bad day today or what?  Actually Pat, I am quite surprised you make such a comment.

Actually, I have said the same elsewhere as well. It's not much different than someone popping in and saying "why aren't we talking about suchandsuch" rather than just talking about suchandsuch to start the conversation.

Sorry if this upsets you guys, but it is how I feel. This has been bothering me for some time, as I said, and I finally was able to put it into words.

If you think so strong on it, why don't you then make a comment to those other "Raiders" on that other board whom you think run that one.

Seriously? Because it's the OAC board and the Purple Raiders are certainly on-topic there.

'

Yes, seriously Pat.  I'm sorry too if our disagreement with you upsets you as well.  Your analogy is stretching it a bit, Pat.  You should welcome any and all posting within the parameters I mentioned.  I guess then, that we can "agree to disagree" as that saying goes.

[formerd3db]

sac and Ypsi:

I think that after today's performance, Brandon has to let RR and staff go.  As far as you being a RR supporter sac, I respect that as your opinion.  All of us can disagree on coaching styles regarding the game itself.  However, that is a different aspect than from the person themselves.  I happen to know someone who's brother has coached with RR at two different places and from what I was told, he is not well-liked by many and I can see why, based on those aspects.  Of course, you and or others may call me out because admittedly, I have never met the man and what I've been told is in the legal sense considered  "hearsay".  However, I will say that it came from very reliable sources.  I also didn't care for the way RR's hiring went down nor the way he handled his own situation at WVU - he was quite disingenuous about some of that, although I'm sure the other opposing parties were as well to some degree.  Overall, I'm glad he lost his lawsuit, or at least didn't get all he was asking.  He certainly needed to take some responsibility for seeing out the Michigan job - he certainly had enough $ to live on at WVU, his own alma mater.  I'm not saying one can't have the desire to improve themselves or consider other jobs - heck, you, I and everyone knows that college football is a business now (I dare say even to a degree at the DII and DIII levels at many places) and coaches are fired all the time (look at how Friedgren was dumped by Maryland - their AD did it in a very poor way and unprofessional way IMO, although I will say "what goes around, comes around" since Freidgren bad-mouthed our very own Ron Vanderlinden of Albion College when the latter was fired and Friedgren took his place).  But it also comes down to how someone relates to other people and how they conduct themselves.  And from what I've been told by this very reliable source and from what I've seen from RR, I am not a fan of his as I've mentioned.  I put RR, Weis and Saben (and even Kelly) all in the same category, which is sad.  You and others may disagree with me, and that's okay, but that is how I feel.

I agree with you that Harbaugh would be the best choice and I hope he would take the job, but I am very doubtful that will happen.  I am not sure who is on the "short list" by Brandon and his colleagues.  It will be interesting to see what happens.

And finally, yes, the Big Ten flopped horribly today.

[sflzman]

[I just wish that TCU had joined the Big East earlier to keep out UConn (surely the worst team to ever play in a BCS bowl).  Any team that can only score TEN points against the Michigan defense should not be within sniffing distance of a BCS bowl!]

You never know, Uconn could pull another Washington over Nebraska type of upset...

[formerd3db]

Regarding some follow-up on the RR discussion, I will say that I felt sorry for RR early last evening during the post bowl game press conference.  Some jerk reporters were pounding him with the perverbial questions..."do you think you'll be fired this week?" and "what kind of effect do you think your team's performance today will have on the decision by your AD on your job", etc., etc.  In all fairness to RR, I think he handled those questions very well and with some calm, instead of pulling "a Bobby Knight" type of response.  Those idiot reporters deserve a "pasting" and should know better, but we know they don't.

Anyway, if RR does "get the hook" this week, who do any of you see as being in the running besides Harbaugh, if the latter doesn't pull himself out of the pool?  

As to the UConn game, I did not expect them to beat Oklahoma.  They aren't too bad of a team - actually better than the MAC teams and the Big East, well... those teams weren't exactly much better than the Big Ten teams this year.  It sure seemed to be a weird year per se for many of these teams as some were "up one week and down the next", a real yo-yo.  

[sac]

Regarding some follow-up on the RR discussion, I will say that I felt sorry for RR early last evening during the post bowl game press conference.  Some jerk reporters were pounding him with the perverbial questions..."do you think you'll be fired this week?" and "what kind of effect do you think your team's performance today will have on the decision by your AD on your job", etc., etc.  I all fairness to RR, I think he handled those questions very well and with some calm, instead of pulling "a Bobby Knight" type of response.  Those idiot reporters deserve a "pasting" and should know better, but we know they don't.

They've been asking and writing stupid articles about when/if he should be fired since before he even coached his first game at Michigan.  The press surrounding Michigan football is as negative and vile as its ever been, and its been like that for some time.



The only other "Michigan Man" candidate (which is just a stupid concept) would be Brady Hoke from San Diego State.  Anyone outside of those two who doesn't already own a National Championship ring or two and it would be more of the same division among the fan base.

[adidas28]

Wow, did you have a bad day today or what?  Actually Pat, I am quite surprised you make such a comment.

Actually, I have said the same elsewhere as well. It's not much different than someone popping in and saying "why aren't we talking about suchandsuch" rather than just talking about suchandsuch to start the conversation.

Sorry if this upsets you guys, but it is how I feel. This has been bothering me for some time, as I said, and I finally was able to put it into words.

If you think so strong on it, why don't you then make a comment to those other "Raiders" on that other board whom you think run that one.

Seriously? Because it's the OAC board and the Purple Raiders are certainly on-topic there.

Actually this has been bother me for a while too and I finally figured out how to put in words:

Pat, you sound like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum after being picked last for dodege ball in gym class or something. I could really care less if you kick me off this forum or not, but the more posts of yours that I read, the less I vistit the web site. If I was Raider I would tel you to get bent,

[sac]

[I just wish that TCU had joined the Big East earlier to keep out UConn (surely the worst team to ever play in a BCS bowl).  Any team that can only score TEN points against the Michigan defense should not be within sniffing distance of a BCS bowl!]

You never know, Uconn could pull another Washington over Nebraska type of upset...

I think the best part of this post is that it was written this morning nearly 11 hours after Oklahoma beat UConn.

[Mr. Ypsi]

[I just wish that TCU had joined the Big East earlier to keep out UConn (surely the worst team to ever play in a BCS bowl).  Any team that can only score TEN points against the Michigan defense should not be within sniffing distance of a BCS bowl!]

You never know, Uconn could pull another Washington over Nebraska type of upset...

I think the best part of this post is that it was written this morning nearly 11 hours after Oklahoma beat UConn.

Now, sac, be fair - Oklahoma only beat 'em by 4 TDs!

[Pat Coleman]

Wow, did you have a bad day today or what?   Actually Pat, I am quite surprised you make such a comment.

Actually, I have said the same elsewhere as well. It's not much different than someone popping in and saying "why aren't we talking about suchandsuch" rather than just talking about suchandsuch to start the conversation.

Sorry if this upsets you guys, but it is how I feel. This has been bothering me for some time, as I said, and I finally was able to put it into words.

If you think so strong on it, why don't you then make a comment to those other "Raiders" on that other board whom you think run that one.

Seriously? Because it's the OAC board and the Purple Raiders are certainly on-topic there.

Actually this has been bother me for a while too and I finally figured out how to put in words:

Pat, you sound like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum after being picked last for dodege ball in gym class or something. I could really care less if you kick me off this forum or not, but the more posts of yours that I read, the less I vistit the web site. If I was Raider I would tel you to get bent,

Duly noted.

I am sure that there are Trine fans who are not Pat Coleman fans but there are plenty of teams' fans who don't like unbiased opinions, and I don't really sugar-coat for anyone. That's one thing that is fairly consistent among the tens of thousands of posts I've made.

Considering your last half-dozen or so posts have been made simply to rag on me, I'm not at all surprised you chose to speak up again now. Surely you must have something positive to talk about as a Trine fan in the past month, yes?

[Mr. Ypsi]

I don't normally watch all that many NFL games, but today I felt like vegging on my new leather couch in front of my new 46" HD flat-screen, watched a triple-header, and was rewarded with three wins!

The Lions started it with their fourth straight victory (just when I'd finally given up caring about the Pussycats, they go and get respectable! )

Then the Packers make the playoffs (I normally have no real favorite between the Bears and Packers, but the Bears were already locked into the #2 seed, and better the Packers than the Giants).

Finally, the Seahawks beat the Rams - two teams I could not care less about, but I can hardly wait to hear the screams of outrage as the defending Super Bowl champs have to go on the road to meet a team with a losing record!   [It seems a slightly more extreme version of UWW fans bitching about having to go to NCC! ]