Mailbag: Coachin' Poachin', Injury Redshirts, Shelton Johnson And Shelton Johnson, The Only Good Sports Movie
Will someone raid the braintrust this offseason? [Bryan Fuller]
Coaching turnover?
In your last UV you talked about how there's basically air behind Tom Herman as far as possibly available decent head coaches go. What are the odds that Don Brown gets poached by someone? Is that something he would be looking for?
DJ
Also:
What are the chances that one of our coordinators gets a look a high level job? Jedd Fisch or Tim Drevno probably are most at risk? Wheatley probably stays to fill in one of their roles if they go so he can be with his son for a few more year so that’s probably not a huge deal. Is this something that is concerning to you? I didn’t see it specifically flagged in your post today, nor did it really matter with Durkin moving on and the staff staying put.
Similarly, any shot at OSU getting some of their staff poached (and maybe less loyalty to Urban for a chance to move up the ranks)?
Go Blue!
-Jim Dudnick BBA ‘01
Don Brown is a minimal threat to leave. He's 61 and is a DC lifer in the same way that Bud Foster is. Nobody gets a first-time head coaching gig in their 60s unless they've been promoted from within. FWIW, when Michigan hired him Jim Harbaugh said he went into that hire trying to find someone who could provide some stability and Brown provides that. This is another reason grabbing Brown was such a good move.
Things are more uncertain on the offensive side of the ball, where both Fisch and Drevno could pop up on smaller schools' radars. Fisch has already been mentioned as a potential option at FIU by Bruce Feldman. Drevno hasn't come up yet. Meanwhile they're coordinator types under Jim Harbaugh, who runs the show on O. Usually guys like that have to put in at least five years before they start getting mentioned.
Meanwhile, these days the pay bump when you get a head job at a smaller school is small or even nonexistent. Ron Turner was making 550k at FIU; Drevno is at 800k. There aren't many non-Power 5 schools who could make a compelling offer to high-paid Michigan assistants.
Fisch is 40; Drevno is 47. Both have some time to find the right opportunity before their window of opportunity shuts. They're likely to be patient, passing up jobs like FIU as they wait for a Power 5 opening like DJ Durkin got. Even then, do you want to sign up for a meat grinder like Purdue? Probably not.
I can't say with certainty that both guys will be back but I wouldn't worry about losing them to an AAC team, and it doesn't look like there will be any plausible openings in the Big Ten this year. (Purdue: nope.) I'd bet Michigan gets everybody back.
[After THE JUMP: redshirts, Shelton Johnsons, omnipotence paradoxes]
Injury redshirts
Hey MGoStaff,
The big downer from Saturday is it looks like Jeremy Clark suffered a season-ending injury. Assuming that is the case, is he eligible for a 6th year? What is the process for obtaining that 6th year? What are the odds he gets it?Much has been made about how many redshirts have been "burned" so far this season? I seem to recall that a player can redshirt even if they play a few snaps early in the season. Is that true? What's the cutoff?
- socrking
Players can get a year back as long as they only played in the first four games of the season. One snap after that and it's over, as Mario Ojemudia found out a year ago. But anything up to four is fine. In the event that a true senior suffered the same injury Clark did, his return would be a slam dunk.
Clark already took a redshirt year, though, and that complicates things. To get a sixth year a player has to lose two years of competition to injury. Many freshman redshirts are voluntary and don't count. Clark will have to prove that he was hurt as a freshman to return next year.
Here is the part where I say that's touch and go since the NCAA is so persnickety about sixth years, but since MSU manage to scam one for Ed Davis—who dressed, travelled, won multiple scout team player of the week awards, and was the recipient of frequent press conference hype—maybe the doors are wide open? I don't recall news that Clark was injured as a freshman but at least his MGoBlue bio isn't selling him out by implying he was healthy.
The process for getting a sixth year is to wait until the guy graduates, assemble your paperwork, and apply. I couldn't tell you the odds because I'm not sure if he was injured as a freshman, how injured he was, or how Ed Davis got his sixth year. The latter suggests they're pretty good, as does Harbaugh's assertion that they'll try.
As for Michigan getting some redshirts back for players who have seen the field: yes, that is possible if they did not play against Rutgers and don't play the rest of the year. Guys who are definitely not getting that year back: Gary, Onwenu, Bredeson, Evans, Asiasi, McKeon, Crawford, McDoom, Kemp, Bush, Mbem-Bosse, Hill, Hudson, and Metellus. Players who have seen the field but could still be eligible for a medical redshirt: Eubanks, Nate Johnson, Kingston Davis, Dwumfour, Gil, Uche, and Long.
They'd have to have medical documentation that those guys were hurt, and that might raise some eyebrows. OTOH, football is tough and everyone's always kind of hurt. I'd guess that at least a couple of the nominally burned redshirts get restored.
How to give us Amazon's money.
Hello,
At the top of your page, it says, "Support MGoBlog: buy stuff at Amazon." I really enjoy your website, the amount, quality, and variety of stuff you guys churn out every week is unmatched, in my opinion. Just wondering how I can use my avid Amazon shopping to help you guys out, because I'm a broke medical student without much excess cash to donate.
Go Blue,
Dillon
If you use that link anything you buy for the next day will be an affiliate sale that sends a decent chunk to us. If you want to avoid the hassle, you can install the Philanthropist extension on Chrome and set the term to "mgoblog-20".
The other Shelton Johnson.
Park ranger Shelton Johnson
For context to the following email, when I did Shelton Johnson's recruiting profile I noted that there is a famous park ranger named Shelton Johnson, which made the Google image search a bit of a surprise. Serendipitously, Shelton turns out to be a Michigan alum:
Hello!
This is Park Ranger Shelton Johnson. I had noticed that there's a football player with the same name who currently is on the roster for the UM football team.
I just wanted to communicate with you folks that yes, I am from Detroit, MI, but that I'm also a graduate of the Univ. of Michigan ('81) with a B.A. in English Literature. I was also invited by the Univ. of MI to give the commencement speech for graduating English majors back in 2011. I was a student in Michigan's M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing before I became a National Park Ranger. While I was a student at Michigan I also won a Major Hopwood Award in Poetry.
One of your bloggers did note that I worked with the film maker Ken Burns on his documentary film "The National Parks, America's Best Idea" which came out on PBS back in 2009. I also convinced Oprah Winfrey to camp in Yosemite in 2010, I'm a published novelist, and I've had quite a bit of media coverage due to my work to restore the once forgotten history of the Buffalo Soldiers who protected Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks over 100 years. That's why there are photographs of me on line wearing a Spanish American War era cavalry uniform.
If you go to my Wikipedia page you'll also find a photograph of myself with President Obama at the White House which was taken back in 2009. I was there with Ken Burns because of his National Park Film. I've had articles/profiles about my work in media such as the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the L.A. Times, ABC News, the CBS Sunday Morning Show, National Public Radio, Sunset Magazine, and the New Yorker magazine.
The funny thing about all of this is that when I first heard about the "Other" Shelton Johnson, I wondered "who is this football player who keeps coming up when my name is googled?"
Please pass on my regards to Mr. Shelton Johnson, and let him know that I wish him all success in his career at Michigan, and beyond!
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
The "Other" Shelton Johnson
Yosemite Valley
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite CA 95389
This has been your Michigan Difference of the week.
QB futures.
Hi Brian,
Purely for fun, with Speight having two years of eligibility remaining, Peters redshirting, and McCaffrey part of the 2017 class, How would you handicap the qb situation playing out, say, over the next 5 years?
Thanks,
Troy Mamas
Hudson, OH
The most likely scenario is that Speight starts for three years. Voluntary removal of a starting quarterback only happens to Al Borges recruits—
*record scratch*
—oh, right.
While Speight starting for three years is still the most likely proposal, there was a ton of chatter inside the program about how impressive Brandon Peters was this spring and fall; since he is a true freshman he should get better faster than Speight and I would not put it past Harbaugh to install a guy he recruited if Speight continues playing like he has this season. If he hits that Rudock improvement trajectory then it's his job, obviously. It's say it's 60-40 Speight, with McCaffrey redshirting.
Uh....
Or maybe a question for a one-play one-on-one with him: If Michigan threw a bubble screen to Jabrill Peppers lined up out wide, would SAM Jabrill Peppers tackle him for loss, or could ball carrier Jabrill Peppers evade SAM Jabrill Peppers?
-Eric
Can God make a stone he cannot move? Did this email throw me down a Wikipedia hole after I googled and found the Omnipotence paradox article? I don't know, and yes.
Precursors and omens.
Hey Guys,
I'm afraid you are sadly mistaken on the Khalid Hill 7-10 Block... Similar blocks have occurred before. One particular in quite dramatic fashion!
Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass accomplished a similar feat on the final play of the championship game in Remember the Titans! Enjoy:
Ye gods, I had never seen a second from this movie. It is a bad movie. The only good sports movie ever made is 8 Mile. I swear to God anyone who mentions Happy Gilmore in the comments will have had their eyes replaced by bananas. We took your eyes! We gave them to someone who can use them for good, like a sushi chef! You have to look through bananas now!
October 13th, 2016 at 4:39 PM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 3:51 PM ^
LEFT SIDE!
October 13th, 2016 at 4:12 PM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 4:59 PM ^
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October 13th, 2016 at 5:32 PM ^
Pretty much
1. Remember the Titans
2. Happy Gilmore
3. Citizen Kane
...
527,765. Rudy
527,766. Draft Day
Okay the Happy Gilmore one was just to troll Brian.
October 13th, 2016 at 6:28 PM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 4:26 PM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 4:40 PM ^
Attitude reflect leadership, CAPTAIN.
October 13th, 2016 at 7:14 PM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 2:31 PM ^
.....8 Mile is a sports movie to you?
October 13th, 2016 at 2:43 PM ^
Not sure, but I do think that the cast (and casting!) of the Fellowship of the Rings would have made for an excellent hockey movie, albeit with the recognition that they'd have had to stick to the Tolkein plot a little more loosely.
October 13th, 2016 at 2:48 PM ^
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October 13th, 2016 at 3:05 PM ^
It is like the exact same movie.
Also, I don't do any linking, etc., but if somebody could link to the you tube clip "Daniel Larusso is the Real Bully," it is a real eye opener. It particularly casts doubt on the scrupples of one Mr. Miyagi.
October 13th, 2016 at 3:09 PM ^
In terms of narrrative form, I've always thought that Kung-fu movies and pronos were the same. Intense action sequences surrounded by sences of poor acting.
October 13th, 2016 at 4:42 PM ^
And 92% of the time they end with a happy ending.
October 13th, 2016 at 9:21 PM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 2:35 PM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 4:31 PM ^
I like you Stringer Bell. You have good posts. I'm not buying this one.
Take the names out of it. Imagine this is State University somewhere far away. You have a football team losing a ton of seniors and kind of reloading in '17. Your choice at QB for '17 is:
(approximate stats)
A) RS Junior, Returning starter, 13 or 14 career starts. 11 or 12-2 record as a starter including a NY6 Bowl. 2700 yards passing in '16, 25 TDs, 6 INTs. Eligibility for both 2017 AND 2018.
B) RS Freshman, No stats, No games, No experience whatsoever, but President of the John O'Korn Krazy-Kamp Hype Club.
Knowing nothing about how these guys actually perform, you're just going to scrap the upper-classman with actual big-game experience and relatively excellent stats and pencil in Option B?
It's crazy how much this place hates Speight for no reason. God forbid Michigan actually win the conference! Or make the Playoff! Those are real possibilities and you're already burying Speight in '17 AND '18 for a friggin' Freshman!
October 13th, 2016 at 4:36 PM ^
It is likely to be Speight, unless Peters or O'Korn (what of O'Korn???) really come on. I'm guessing the depth chart next year reads:
- Speight (RS JR)
- O'Korn (RS SR) or Peters (RS FR)
- McCaffrey (FR)
2018 is where it gets interesting. Does Speight stick around for another year, or does he try to get drafted? At that point, Peters will be a RS SO and be in his 3rd year in the system. If Speight sticks around, that puts Peters at possibly being starting QB for his RS JR and RS SR years, although he'd be pushed by McCaffrey (RS FR and RS SO seasons) and whatever other amazing top recruit QB they convince to commit to Michigan b/c HARBAUGH.
This is a good problem to have.
October 13th, 2016 at 5:39 PM ^
I have a feeling Speight will be starting...at least for that game. Not sure that's where Peters gets his first start.
October 13th, 2016 at 2:36 PM ^
Dwumfor had to be helped off the field late in the Hawaii game, so he could have a legitimate injury for a med redshirt. DT depth gets a little dodgy next year, so I would think if he was healthy he probably would have played in other garbage time.
October 13th, 2016 at 3:00 PM ^
I'm sure the NCAA will happily scoff at your video evidence of someone being injured. They prefer magic 8-ball's and bingo hoppers when it comes to time to make real decisions.
October 13th, 2016 at 2:37 PM ^
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October 13th, 2016 at 2:41 PM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 3:31 PM ^
And I'm sure if anyone can take a guy who may have raw QB skills but has athleticism and turn him into a good passer it'd be Jim.
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October 13th, 2016 at 2:59 PM ^
I think Harbaugh would be plenty open to running a more spread-centric system if it suited his QB's talents. Kaepernik was second in QB rushing yards in the NFL in 2014, and they ran plenty of spread concepts with Luck.
October 13th, 2016 at 2:40 PM ^
Hoosiers isn't a good sports movie? Brian's Song? Field of Dreams? The Sandlot? Caddyshack? Raging Bull?
C'mon, man.
October 13th, 2016 at 3:02 PM ^
That movie was awesome.
October 13th, 2016 at 4:45 PM ^
And Obligatory Ice Box did porn tehehehehe
October 13th, 2016 at 3:21 PM ^
Hoosiers is one of the worst sports movie ever.
The takeaway from Hoosiers: You can be a terrible coach with a shit attitude, but if you finally get the best player in the state to come out and play for your team, than your team wins.
October 13th, 2016 at 3:35 PM ^
This is essentially what I got out of Last Chance U. Except he is getting the best JUCO players in the country, and the terms "terrible" and "shit attitude" don't do that coach justice.
October 14th, 2016 at 3:55 PM ^
Last Chance U was depressing and i was shocked that any of them stayed eligible and made it to FBS. Also, all we ever saw of the coach was a lot of yelling and swearing and no coaching. Looking forward to season 2!
October 13th, 2016 at 4:01 PM ^
David vs. Goliath, and other more noteworthy concepts than what you descibed above?
October 14th, 2016 at 12:14 PM ^
Nope, it's about jackass head coach who has a team that isn't very good, and then becomes very good once he convinces the best player to finally play for the team. That's the core story of the movie, and is why it sucks.
Everything else is just fluff.
October 14th, 2016 at 11:42 AM ^
It works for him.
October 13th, 2016 at 3:36 PM ^
I'm inclined to agree with Brian, but I'll keep this subjective. I used to be huge on sports movies until I realized the sports was just a vehicle for drama. That's what sells I guess, and it's not like the drama stories are all bad, but it really took the appeal out of it for me and gave the movies a hollowed-out feel. I watched "The Fighter" and the thing that bothered me the most is that they had pro boxers talking about techniques you practically learn on your first day as if they're keys to victory. I get what Hollywood is trying to do -- an in-depth analysis would be beyond the scope or length of a film -- but they're trying to have it both ways. Hollywood doesn't make sports movies; they flay sports and wear the skin. "Remember the Titans" is Oscar bait with a sports wrapper. If I'm going to watch a "sports" movie at all, I'd prefer something like the Rocky films, which are shot with almost zero pretense that they're drama films with some sports. Very little pretending to be technical, so it just feels more honest.
As a counter-example, "Baby Steps". I will first warn folks here that this is ANIME, but this is a SPORTS show. (OK, two things. First, you're not forced to watch this, and second, this isn't really trying to be a discussion about anime. It just happens to be the most in-depth sports-first fiction I've ever seen. So if you have any strong opinions about anime, the time to GTFO is now. That said. . .)
I'm not a fan of tennis, but what I really like is that the guy actually UFRs his own play during games (!!!) under the premise that he's basically the Tom Brady or Jordan Kovacs of tennis players -- not physically gifted but overcomes that with a brain that analyzes at 1000mph:
https://youtu.be/uR63H6w51mY?t=10m1s
As you can see, it really plods the pace so the dump trucks full of exposition can keep up, which certainly isn't a flavor for all kids. But it gets inside the head of a serious athlete on a level I don't think I'll ever see in Hollywood, and if you're gonna be about sports. . . I like it this way.
October 13th, 2016 at 3:53 PM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 3:57 PM ^
That show was never really grounded. There's a lot of scheming and such, but it really cranks up the hyperbole so all the strategy only makes sense within its own universe.
The comedy bits can be hilarious though.
October 13th, 2016 at 6:25 PM ^
October 13th, 2016 at 8:32 PM ^
Carry on, then.
October 13th, 2016 at 4:16 PM ^
Hollywood doesn't make sports movies; they flay sports and wear the skin.
^A++
October 13th, 2016 at 9:03 PM ^
that you chose Rocky as your "sports" movie when it is one of the least sports "sports' movies ever made.
October 14th, 2016 at 12:45 AM ^
My choice of example was quite deliberate; I thought I made that clear. Rocky is marketed as a sports movie, but it's like 9 parts drama. Yet as far as "sports" movies go, for lack of a better option, I prefer that because narratively it's got the least pretense. It doesn't try as hard to pretend to be something it's not, at the cost of being less about sports than what you'd expect from a "sports" movie. That's fine. Again, that's just my opinion, man, so feel free to disagree, but my preference and my reasons are aligned so I don't think there's any irony there.
October 13th, 2016 at 11:29 PM ^
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October 13th, 2016 at 2:44 PM ^
Most sports movies do suck.
Notable exceptions however include:
-Boxing movies (Bull Durham, Cinderella Man)
-Miracle
-Goon
-Caddyshack
That's it. I'm not counting Talledega Nights, that's a comedy, not a sports movie, because racing is skill not a sport.
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