Unverified Voracity Shuffles, In A Bad Way
The Franklin thing in a nutshell. PSU's OL coach catching strays from Anonymous NFL OL Coach:
Penn State’s Olu Fashanu
“He’s extremely athletic for his size. Their system is hard to watch. You’ve gotta sift through that stuff. The guys shuffle. They play with high-pad level. They don’t snap and strike guys. But he’s got all the traits. He’s a good prospect.”
Phil Trautwein has been their OL coach since 2020, but PSU's grim OL goes back farther than that.
Also. A couple of Michigan takes from that article:
“This is a really good player someone will get in the fifth or sixth round. Just a tough-ass kid. He’s a junkyard dog. Plays faster than what he runs. I hate saying that because once you get to the NFL that stuff catches up to you, but I like him a lot. I think he’ll be a really good special teams player too.”
And on Sainristil:
On Michigan’s Mike Sainristil
DB Coach 2: “He is one of my favorites. The habits are just so good. I’m not leery of his size because I think he plays a lot bigger. I have no reservations about him. He’s so aggressive and plays the ball so well in the air. I think he uses his lack of size to an advantage because he’s super quick and he’s able to get around blocks and people can’t get their hands on him.”
Scout 1: “He’s one of the best football players on anybody’s board if he’s on their board. Some guys will think he’s too small. Some guys will take him too high. Really good zone nickel. Really good player. He’s versatile, but the size is a concern. I like big guys. If he adds to your culture, it makes sense.”
DB Coach 1: “I’m not as high on him as some people. I think he’s a really good zone nickel. He has all the production with his eyes on the quarterback. He’s really good at that but does that fit what you do at that position? To me the highest value of the nickel is, can he cover the slot? And you don’t really see that as his major skill set.”
[After the JUMP: additional basketball man?]
Maybe one more basketball guy. Dusty May may not be completely done building his roster. Sam Webb had Mike Boynton Jr on for an hour and a half this morning and Bonyton said that "not everybody has made that decision" in reference to the players on the roster sticking around. I'd be surprised if that's in reference to Tschetter or Burnett, who both look like they'll have important roles.
So: Michigan is being listed by a couple wing/PF types. They were on a relatively short list for Stanford freshman Andrej Stojakovic (yes that Stojakovic), but he just cut it to three and Michigan is not included.
Michigan popped up on the long list of freshman Duke PF TJ Power, a top-20 recruit a year ago who proceeded to play about four minutes a game before being recruited over. Power just entered on Friday, the day that Michigan hosted (and likely got a commit from) Sam Walters, so it's unlikely Michigan's contact came before they knew what the deal was with Walters.
Michigan is also on the long list of Duke PF Sean Stewart. We'll see if anyone makes it to campus.
FWIW, Trey Townsend and Joshua Jefferson committed to Arizona and Iowa State, respectively. Justin Abson committed to UGA.
The already committed. Michigan officially announced Tre Donaldson and Sam Walters. The only transfer who's publicly committed but not announced is Danny Wolf.
College hockey changes on the horizon. The shifting sands of NIL and whatnot may cause a seismic shift in the landscape of college hockey:
Should players from the OHL, QMJHL and WHL be eligible for NCAA hockey, something they haven't been eligible for since the early 1980s?
“Those are the discussions we've had with the people from the NCAA,” said Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin …
"…it is a little hard to defend the current system when we have college athletes that are benefiting in a big way from NIL, and yet we've said that people playing major junior hockey who are getting meal money or stipend, whatever it is, are professional, not eligible.
This would be a major realignment. In the past the NCAA has been loathe to let this happen because they've worried that players will pick the CHL over the NCAA because they can just go play college after their major junior career concludes at 20. Recent years probably mitigate those concerns, since major junior has seemingly lost ground with American prospects relative to the USHL and NTDP. It would still be real weird.
One thing that's seemingly not going to change: the worst tournament in sports.
“For a national tournament, this continues to be the best format,” Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf said. “I know there are other formats. The other suggested formats, I think, have fatal flaws for a national tournament. Neutrality is important. The majority of the coaches support the format we currently have."
If the prospect of North Dakota, Michigan, and Michigan State playing in the Blues' practice facility doesn't move people, nothing will. And that's the Hockey East commissioner, not ECAC or Atlantic Hockey. Even if the entire western wing of college hockey wants on-campus regionals that's not happening without some buy-in from the east.
Etc.: Potential first-rounder Matvei Gridin profiled on NHL.com. Some Tre Donaldson clips. Mike Boynton talks about things. Helmet communication suddenly happens. I WONDER WHY. This whole CFP debacle is a Mike Sankey grudge.
Re: no announcement on Wolf, the problem is presumably that fly-by-night school he went to.
Safety school!
Please James Franklin, don't pay attention to that NFL quote.
Penn State is the perfect opposition program. Good enough to be a big game and a resume builder each year, but just bad enough to always be a W.
Unfortunately, not this year. I was surprised to see them off the schedule. That just leaves us with cream puffs like Ohio, Texas, USC, Oregon and Washington ...
Washington is very likely the new PSU on our schedule.
I'm always surprised how many neutral fans go to bat for Franklin. The guy is clearly a good coach as he got Vanderbilt to be relevant and has kept Penn State good, but he is not sniffing elite and Penn State will probably never be in serious national title contention with him there. He doesn't feel like a threat to ever do better than 10-2
I'm not saying there's any correlation other than this, but until 3 years ago you could have said the same thing about Harbaugh.
Well yeah, if you ignored him going 12-1 at Stanford and 3-1 against Pete Carroll. Or taking the 49ers to the Super Bowl.
April 25th, 2024 at 11:56 PM ^
I get what you're saying from a pure results standpoint, but you could also see great gameplans from Harbaugh, significant player development, times he had come just short, etc. And while there were some consistent reasons to complain about Harbaugh as well (2-minute drills come to mind), there was nothing like the in-game coaching flubs that Franklin is known for.
April 26th, 2024 at 12:28 PM ^
Eh. Harbaugh's resume before even starting at Michigan was still way way better than Franklin's is now.
Starting to think Vlad Goldin isn't happening...
Sigh. He is going through the pre-draft process, as has been stated numerous times. There's no chance he's told he's draftable, but he'll get good feedback. There's not been one sniff of him going anywhere but Michigan, and it not being announced should not be a surprise to you.
Don’t expect to hear anything until June 1 when guys withdraw from the NBa draft
re: mikey:
"If he adds to your culture, it makes sense."
i truly don't give a crap about the nfl draft-industrial complex, but a scout that says that shouldn't be scouting, because they don't watch football.
Totally. This is exactly backwards. He WILL add to your culture no matter what. Your job is to decide if he'll mesh with your scheme
Gonna strongly disagree with the scout who thinks Mikey can't cover the slot. Obviously we don't know the scheme he is scouting him for, but that's a ridiculous assertion to me.
I'm sure glad that Cade Stover was in Sainristil's zone coverage area of responsibility in the end zone a couple of years ago.
My exact thought. Pretty sure Mike's eyes weren't still on the QB as he was punching the ball loose (and if they were...well, that's even more impressive).
I kinda think that play is being held against him. Sainristil had another pass breakup in the end zone in that same quarter against Egbuka that was more physically impressive than the Stover breakup. The Egbuka had everyone in the stadium up in arms because you just don't see diving plays like that without DPI, but the replay made it clear the deflection was perfectly clean. i wonder if people think he is merely a stereotypical smart player, which is weird because it is not exactly a secret that Mike had a late position switch.
Helmet communication suddenly happens. I WONDER WHY.
I KNEW you were going to say that! I was not disappointed.
“For a national tournament, this continues to be the best format,” Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf said. “I know there are other formats. The other suggested formats, I think, have fatal flaws for a national tournament. Neutrality is important. The majority of the coaches support the format we currently have."
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I am so tired of hearing New England schools talk about NeUtRaLiTy when they are all but guaranteed two regionals in their backyards every single season. Michigan really just needs to bid Grand Rapids, Toledo, or Yost every single season until this stupid system changes. I had thought we were getting close with the rumors of HE being on board with changes but clearly not. God forbid all of the 3 and 4 seeds from Hockey East have to travel
My first thought: "OMG, someone else has a commissioner as stupid as Tiny Tony."
My second thought: "Inconceivable."
God forbid all of the 3 and 4 seeds from Hockey East have to travel
Reading this and my mind went, Hockey East = SEC football.
Neutrality is important.
I guess that's why every postseason playoff game in the NHL, MLB, NBA, and NFL is played in a neutral site.
PSA:
That Sam Webb interview with coach Boynton Jr was just fantastic. Anyone interested in Coach May and the direction of the basketball program should listen
Coach May also did a short interview on the College Hoops Today podcast I quite enjoyed and haven't seen mentioned here.
Living in the Boston area I’ve become vaguely aware of BC/BU hockey. For the Hockey East commissioner to come out against campus sites (so BU can get shipped to Souix Falls) is baffling.
Probably because the Merrimack's and Lowell's of the world are in his ear and even BC/BU might be happy that for every time they're shipped, they probably also get a free local regional as a 2 or 3 seed
Reminds me how Penn State QBs got to the draft and the consensus on them was always “wow, these guys would be really good if someone had bothered to coach them at any point!”
Anthony Morelli, whose legacy is one of the best pictures ever to come out of Michigan football, was once a top top TOP level recruit who was ranked higher than Chad Henne. His draft eval was “acutely undercoached.” Christian Hackenberg’s wasn’t any better.
I don’t understand the issue with Wolf? He’s coming from Yale! We’ve already announced everyone else.
Interesting comment on PSU training. MIchigan and other fanbases have pointed this out for a long time.
April 29th, 2024 at 12:04 PM ^
You could even say that going back to the Carr era when Michigan won 9 in a row. They had some great defenses in the late 90s and we beat them 34-8, 27-0, 31-27 and 33-11.
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