MGoPodcast 15.20: May the Romanovs Find Reason
1 hour and 44 minutes
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1. The Final Coaching Staff
Starts at 1:00
Jack Tuttle has been approved for a 7th year, does this incentivize you to switch over your offense since he's so different from Orji? Whoever the quarterback is, they just need to have a Cade McNamara year. Sabb hitting the portal is sad. The coaching staff is final (other than what's up with Mike Hart). The average age of this coaching staff is too close to Alex Drain. The Tennessee message boards are like "RHWRRRGHREWRGRR". Things seem to be moving positively on the NIL front. Michigan is losing assistants at a higher rate because if you succeed at Michigan you go to the NFL.
[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]
2. Legal Talk With Bryan MacKenzie! (Part one)
Starts at 27:12
We discuss the myriad legal issues facing the NCAA. Tennessee, the university and state, are sticking it to the NCAA asserting that NIL restrictions are anti-trust and cannot be legal. The NCAA has said that you can talk about NIL but you cannot use it as an incentive. What? When was the last time the NCAA even won a lawsuit?? The NCAA is potentially facing a $4 billion lawsuit, how do you calculate that and does it bankrupt the NCAA or do schools have to pay for it?
3. Hot Takes and Legal Talk! (Part Two)
Starts at 41:31
Takes hotter than Travis Kelce in the first half of the Super Bowl when he was yelling at Andy Reid. Dartmouth men's basketball (yes it exists) is leading one of the charges. At private schools, we could be approaching athletes being employees with the ability to collectively bargain. There are 11,000 division I football players and 5,000 division I basketball players, how do you account for all of that under the tent? Signing a contract could help solve the transfer portal issues and sitting out bowl games. The NCAA is so paranoid about people being employees that they're hurting their own product. Legally, you may have to show your athletes as minimum-wage employees, can you show that with scholarships? Moving forward, how does the NCAA show a distinction between professional and amateur athletes? What should the final play be? We have no idea.
4. Hockey vs Penn State
Starts at 1:21:32
Hockey splits with Penn State which is not good, Michigan is slipping off of the bubble. The Friday game, Michigan won in the 1st period. The second game was extremely un-inspiring. They're running out of centers. Michigan has to be able to out-score their mistakes and they just don't have that right now. Michigan has a hero-line and it's getting held up and are gassed by the 3rd period. The inconsistency of major penalties in Big Ten hockey is ridiculous.
MUSIC:
- “Sinner”— The Last Dinner Party
- “Bottled in Cork" — Ted Low and the Pharmacists
- “Rock.co.Kane flow”— de la Soul featuring MF Doom
- “Across 110th Street”
THE USUAL LINKS:
- Helpful iTunes subscribe link
- General podcast feed link
- Direct Download Link
- What's with the theme music?
"I have my coffee, you have your diet Coke, and Seth has his jug of Kool-Aid."
February 18th, 2024 at 9:16 PM ^
“Jug of Kool-Aid” reminds me of my friend’s drink of choice at UofM: vodka and Tang. He brought that with him in a big old jug.
February 19th, 2024 at 11:33 AM ^
Lmao, I still remember using drink mixes like that as a desperation mixer in college. Crystal light still makes me sick.
February 18th, 2024 at 9:26 PM ^
I appreciate Seth's optimism but him not wanting to rule out winning back to back national championships is more than optimism.
Can we win the B1G? Maybe. Make the playoffs? Sure. Back to back National Championships? If JJ came back, sure.
February 19th, 2024 at 4:18 AM ^
Yes we can!
February 19th, 2024 at 9:11 AM ^
After last season, I will gladly join Seth on the optimism side of things :)
February 19th, 2024 at 9:25 AM ^
If JJ was back I'd be right there with ya. But with so much uncertainty at QB I can't open myself up to disappointment like that.
Maybe I'll change my mind halfway through the season.
February 19th, 2024 at 10:20 AM ^
Best case: 10-2 (losses to Oregon & OSU)
Prediction: 9-3 (losses to Texas, Oregon & OSU)
Worst case: 8-4 (losses to Texas, Oregon, Washington & OSU)
February 19th, 2024 at 11:34 AM ^
Washington is in far worse position than Michigan at the moment. Oregon may be good, but sans Nix... ???
Now, Texas with a returning QB might be a tough ask early in the season. QB answers at the remaining schools will be the difference.
February 19th, 2024 at 2:30 PM ^
Literally the only scary thing about UW is the possibility of a night game in PDT, but even then October 5 means no rain and kickoff before sunset.
February 20th, 2024 at 2:22 AM ^
That might end up being a 9am PDT start believe it or not. That's something FOX is kicking around.
February 19th, 2024 at 12:12 PM ^
Only thing I'd change is in your 10-2 scenario is swap out Oregon for Texas. With Nix gone and Ewers returning I think Texas is the better team and given that it is so early in the season that one actually worries me more than OSU.
February 19th, 2024 at 2:20 PM ^
Texas might be better, but Oregon has Dillon Gabriel, so I doubt the drop-off from Bo Nix is going to be that big.
February 19th, 2024 at 4:45 PM ^
I agree with a LOT of this.
I think Tuttle makes this worst case pretty close to right.
But, I think 7-5 is a rational worst case, where the defense is more like 10th instead of top 5 and the qb and oline don’t work out well and we lose another game to a team we shouldn’t based on TOs and just not scoring enough.
I’m predicting 9-3 right now, and I’m totally fine with that season.
February 19th, 2024 at 5:20 PM ^
If the team that took the field for the 21 season can go 12-2 anything can happen. That was supposed to be a 8-4 7-5 team and the position groups were graded very poorly (at the time)
February 18th, 2024 at 11:00 PM ^
Shout out for playing The Last Dinner Party - love that band!
February 19th, 2024 at 10:40 PM ^
Also, Ted LEO & The Pharmacists.
February 18th, 2024 at 11:28 PM ^
The NCAA has said that you can talk about NIL but you cannot use it as an incentive.
The Maginot Line rule. Out of date and programs will just go around it through the Ardennes Forest. Another stupid bureaucratic rule focusing on process and not the end result. (Advance Scouting, anyone? Cheeseburgers are a no-no but spending hundreds of thousands on a visit is OK.)
And one of the worst aspects of this treatment is that it puts the NCAA bureaucracy over the athlete. Shouldn't the athlete know what he/she is going to receive? Why not?
February 19th, 2024 at 10:55 AM ^
Yes, I don't see how this can end with the NCAA as anything more than an administrative clearing house when it comes to eligibility. "LeBron James wants to play college ball with his kid? Did he sign our form in September? Yes, he did. Fine, go ahead." Each college can decide who is and isn't playing on its own team. Maybe you ban Grayson Allen and Brad Davison types, but otherwise it just lets everyone know which players are under contract with which colleges. If someone wants to violate the employment contract, then that is something for the courts.
February 19th, 2024 at 2:08 PM ^
The Maginot Line rule. Out of date and programs will just go around it through the Ardennes Forest
The Maginot Line functioned as intended. Its purpose was to discourage the Germans from invading France directly, and instead go through Belgium, as in 1914. That came to pass. The Allies expected this to happen, but the problem was that they massed their troops in a way that left the Ardennes sector more lightly defended than the rest, thinking its terrain would be too complicated to pass through. They correctly anticipated the invasion via Belgium, but thought it would be on the flatter plains to the west.
The French high command was unimaginative in its thinking overall, but the Maginot Line itself wasn't that bad of an idea.
February 22nd, 2024 at 12:40 AM ^
The Maginot Line was as necessary as two run stuffing defensive tackles, it just doesn't (and didn't) make the entire defense work all by itself. Speed in space apparently kills in both football and 1940's era warfare.
February 19th, 2024 at 12:22 AM ^
Is jack tuttle eligible for tenure?
February 19th, 2024 at 11:36 AM ^
Yes, but ineligible for sabbatical in 2024.
February 19th, 2024 at 7:30 AM ^
I have updated my 2024 MGoBlog music playlists with the songs from this episode - here are the links:
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Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/2024-mgoblog-music/pl.u-76bRptg9VE2
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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6mqnQiv45tZOGYQjBRNLcP?si=04d75aefe8334ffc
Even in the dark of winter that is this current basketball season... Go Blue!
February 19th, 2024 at 11:28 AM ^
“You just need a Cade McNamara next year.”
This is what’s fascinating to me to think about. Given that he was the main backup last year and looked competent (not to mention has the benefit of age, experience), I’d imagine Tuttle is the best bet here. He also seemed a bit more mobile than McNamara.
But there’s an alternate vision, too. Michigan should be loaded again at RB. Mullings looked like he’d be a starter on most big ten teams. Edwards is explosive and versatile. Only needs a small opening to take it the distance. Benjamin Hall looked really good, especially for a freshman. And the OL should be great again. The defense will also be loaded.
Do you get more bang from leaning into that even more with a running QB? Given the accuracy issues, the PA game and 3rd and long success should be tough to replicate (though anyone will be a come down from McCarthy). But if Orji starts, the running game should be even more dynamic. Maybe we can get away with rowing just 10-15 per game!
Id imagine they will prefer a more accurate player who’s reliable in his reads since the run game should still be really good and you never want to be one dimensional (even with a running QB we know teams can load the box and force you to throw). But I just think of what Orji could bring to that running game and man…
February 19th, 2024 at 11:39 AM ^
I did see somewhere that Tuttle was 15-17 passing last year. That seems pretty good.
February 19th, 2024 at 11:47 AM ^
I know everyone will hate the idea, but make Tuttle the 3rd down QB. We run or do west coast type passing on 1st and 2nd down and on 3rd/4th and short. Any passing situations, bring in Tuttle. I used to hate it when OSU under Meyer would do his spread to run, and anytime there was 4 or less to gain, you knew they would make it. I could see the same situation with Orji, especially if he can pass enough to make teams pay for loading up the box.
February 19th, 2024 at 12:20 PM ^
Tuttle feels like he gives the offense a solid floor, a la Cade in 2021 - and I'd be fine with that, as you mentioned our running game, OL and defense keep us in (or win us) a good deal of games alone.
The prospect of Orji is very intriguing to me as well, definitely a high ceiling but a much lower floor, maybe even a 7-5 / 8-4 type of floor.
I think it will hinge on whether Moore/Campbell want to go with a high floor or high ceiling style of offense. Harbaugh would have chosen the high floor, so it will be interesting to see what happens in spring practices.
Personally, I go with the high ceiling and then if that fails you know you have a high floor option behind him. We can afford to start 1-1 and still make the playoffs, but I'd give Orji spring and fall practices as the #1 then see what happens and re-evaluate after the Texas game.
February 19th, 2024 at 1:03 PM ^
If I recall correctly, Tuttle had several zone read pulls where he ran for chunks or at least picked up the first down. I think he’s got the ability to play that role productively and much better than Cade “zone reads are always off” McNamara.
February 19th, 2024 at 3:59 PM ^
Looks like he had 35 yards on 4 carries. On the one hand that's not bad; on the other, it's a small sample and it came in garbage time.
February 19th, 2024 at 2:23 PM ^
To be totally honest, there really wasn't any drop off in production when JJ left a game and we gave Tuttle the ball.
February 19th, 2024 at 2:44 PM ^
Sample size was way too small.
February 19th, 2024 at 3:01 PM ^
That is also true.
February 19th, 2024 at 1:00 PM ^
Oline: while the potential is there to be very good. It's pretty much all new starters at UM. I'm guessing there will be some growing pains early in the year with the oline.
February 19th, 2024 at 1:33 PM ^
Part of why Tuttle may have been ahead of Orji & Denegal in 2023 is the hoped for short-term nature of a need to step in for McCarthy.
Would the ceiling matter in the 2023 scenario where he plays only for a game or two? Not much.
But in 2024, they'll have the whole season to progress, and a playoff that doesn't eliiminate a two or maybe even three loss team.
So maybe while you discount the ceiling for 2023, it's definitely a consideration for 2024.
February 19th, 2024 at 1:41 PM ^
Michigan needs to run the "Butt Touchdown" play with Edwards more often in 2024.
February 19th, 2024 at 12:07 PM ^
Signing a contract could help solve the transfer portal issues and sitting out bowl games.
Lol. That’s not gonna happen. A player will come up with an “injury” just before the practices/game.
February 19th, 2024 at 1:09 PM ^
If he's an employee, wouldn't he need to file an 'accident report' for the injury?
February 19th, 2024 at 2:41 PM ^
While glad to hear Tuttle returning, part of me wants to see the running QB offense with Orji and now it might not happen.
I digress. In Harbaughs outgoing comments he mentioned Denegal first, several times, so wonder if he's the race leader.
February 19th, 2024 at 2:44 PM ^
So, we're ignoring basketball now?
February 19th, 2024 at 2:53 PM ^
Now? The MGoStaff has been ignoring basketball since the final buzzer of the Long Beach State game.
February 20th, 2024 at 9:26 AM ^
Yeah, that made me laugh. No preview, no postgame, no nothing. The mediocre hockey team is still getting lots of front page mention, though!
February 20th, 2024 at 11:03 AM ^
mediocre >>> abysmal
February 20th, 2024 at 12:22 PM ^
Oh I agree, I just found it funny that a primetime home game against our biggest rival has gotten zero mention.
February 19th, 2024 at 8:52 PM ^
Michigan defense will be the best unit on the field vs everyone we play provided we don't decide to save some money and lose more players. Our run game should be excellent but our QB situation looks terrible but honestly no worse than 21.
I do think Tuttle can be just as good as Cade with a much higher ceiling. I do think Jadyn Davis will have a package as he's our future so in order to keep these guys out of the portal they need to play...just like JJ did. Jadyn IMO has just as high a ceiling as JJ and I'm in the boat that he takes over at some point unless Tuttle takes off which is possible.
The rest of our QB's will be in the portal after spring game if starting is what they want.....Spring game will decide a lot.
Main thing is stop losing players to the portal because being cheap is embarrassing.
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