Adam Rittenberg: anonymous B1G coaches re Michigan say "don't believe the hype"
Despite returning 16 starters and 3 All Americans off a 10 win team and signing a top 5 recruiting class, Jim Harbaugh's colleagues in the B1G are feeling some type of way (butthurt) about their outlook in 2016 according to Adam Rittenberg. Yes, the same Adam Rittenberg who wrote before last years opener that "anonymous coaches" were telling him that Utah would be blowing Michigan out by halftime and they would be lucky to win 7 games. This years latest sampling from the blogger, which I admit I find hilarious.
One Big Ten coach cited the over-under numbers posted for Michigan in Las Vegas -- Westgate has the Wolverines at 10 wins -- and said, "I'd take the under every day of the week and twice on Sunday. I'd be shocked [if they go over]." Another Power 5 coach, when asked if Michigan will be a national contender in Year 2 under Harbaugh, simply shook his head.
"Ohio State dismantled them," a Big Ten coach said. "It was really men against boys. So what does that mean? I know they feel good about some of the players they have coming back. I'm sure they're going to coach them well. It's Year 2 in the program. They'll be more confident in what they'll ask them to do.
"Jake played out of his mind," a Big Ten coach said. "Who's the quarterback?"
Another Big Ten coach noted that Harbaugh's system helps out the quarterback by putting more of the onus on the line and the run game. A Big Ten offensive coordinator praised Michigan's defense, especially a line led by Chris Wormley. But asked if the Wolverines are playoff-ready, he said no way.
"You're talking about running the table," a Big Ten assistant said. "Not that [Harbaugh] won't probably get there, but I don't think he has the pieces now."
Added a Big Ten coach: "Don't believe the hype."
August 12th, 2016 at 1:05 PM ^
It was very Dantonio-esque. A blunt, snide comment void of any personality utter than petty comtempt.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:00 PM ^
Best group of pass catchers in the country, a top 5 D-Line, All American CB and one of the country's most dynamic players. With the question mark at QB, I don't think it's unreasonable for folks to doubt that we're a playoff contender; however, the feigned outrage and disgust over it being a possibility is laughable.
September 3rd can't get here soon enough.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:00 PM ^
one of them was Scott Frost
August 12th, 2016 at 1:00 PM ^
I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't really see anything that objectional about any of thsese quotes. They seem to have a little more skepticism that the avereage michigan fan has but all in areas that many fans are in the wait and see approach as well(QB position, defending OSU, etc.).
August 12th, 2016 at 1:09 PM ^
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August 12th, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^
Anyone that understands football, and follows Michigan only slightly, is not concerned about the QB position with Jim MF Harbaugh coaching...
August 12th, 2016 at 2:26 PM ^
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August 12th, 2016 at 1:00 PM ^
I don't know if I should LMAO, or display a puzzled look... I mean, WE can see the difference in the team - the intensity, the crisp playmaking, the schemes, the attitude. If other coaches can't see that, how did they become head coaches at P5 schools? I really have to question the competency of these guys if they continue to see a Hoke coached team under new management. It's almost like they simply don't want to believe what they're seeing!
They probably don't.
The comment about Jake playing out of his mind had to be Ferentz. If he could coach QB's half as well as Harbaugh, the NFL would have looked at him already. Whatever. It'll be fun listening to the excuses when this over-hyped team smacks 'em around behind the woodshed.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:22 PM ^
think the only thing that we as a fan base have to keep in mind is that, under Hoke, we were watching a football team that was sorely and utterly unprepared to play. By his second year, Hoke had resigned to essentially empty platitudes in place of actual coaching. It was a very poorly coached football team.
So now, we are seeing a team that is coached properly and it looks so foreign to us that we forget that most teams in the country have quality, competent coaching staffs from top to bottom. It is not as though we are now going to just mow teams over because we have really good coaching. So do the teams we will be chasing and many of them that we will be playing. Keep in mind, Alabama beat the Michigan State team that we lossed to last year by 38 points.
It is also easy to forget because of the Florida game that two of our last three regular season games were really brutal. Indiana and Ohio State both gashed our defense, essentially the same defense as this year when you factor in the loss of Henry with the return of Glasgow/Mone. You factor that in with the fact that we truly do not have a known commodity at QB and I could see how this team may be considered overrated going into the season.
In sum, I have high hopes for this team. Very high. However, we may be collectively looking past some issues due to our excitement to have a truly competitive team again. Going on the road for those three games this year is going to really test this team.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:31 PM ^
I think you underestimate the impact of playing our third string NT.
August 12th, 2016 at 2:09 PM ^
So, what I read is that you are saying Harbaugh and staff are equal with other P5 coaching staffs. But I don't believe that. I think there may be one staff, maybe two, that are as good as UM's staff. Bama and OSU... I seriously don't think any other college team comes close to having the same high level staff from top to bottom. That said, I know other teams can, and will, beat UM - but I don't think they'll do it consistently once Harbaugh gets rolling, once he cycles through the 2014 recruiting class and has a full team of Harbaugh players.
As for the QB position - I don't care about it. It will be - at least - competent under Harbaugh regardless of who's playing it. Mostly, it'll be much better than merely competent...
August 12th, 2016 at 1:02 PM ^
August 12th, 2016 at 1:03 PM ^
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August 12th, 2016 at 1:03 PM ^
People just keep disrespecting Michigan. #disrespket
August 12th, 2016 at 1:18 PM ^
August 12th, 2016 at 5:15 PM ^
August 13th, 2016 at 10:07 AM ^
August 12th, 2016 at 1:06 PM ^
Eh, who cares. We're acting like there is some special authority because they're coaches, but we have no idea what their perspective is. I enjoy hearing perspectives on specific players or aspects of the team, but this is an overall look. Are some of the "doubters" guys who coach for Iowa, MSU, or OSU? They would expect to win their home games against Michigan, so naturally they wouldn't expect Michigan to contend. Does one of them have sour grapes? Who knows?
Yeah, I guess it would be nice to hear, "they're a monster, they're going all the way," but whatever. If Michigan is better than they expect, awesome. If Michigan is, in fact, not ready, that will come out on the field.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:06 PM ^
It seems like the big reason they are hesitating to give Michigan the hype is just the giant question mark at QB. Ironically, it seems that as Michigan fans we are generally less worried about the QB spot than we are maybe about the OL depth, saftey depth, and linebackers.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:15 PM ^
I would say that's probably because we have the QB Whisperer as our coach. You have to believe that whoever will be under center for Michigan will be pretty good going forward. Harbaugh gets the best out of any QB he puts on the field.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:07 PM ^
Even if Adam made these quotes up he did a great job with the hype comment. We all know that is something Mork would say.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:08 PM ^
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August 12th, 2016 at 1:34 PM ^
And it sure isn't who wins the message board.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:08 PM ^
If they didn't get all these quotes after a Sparty practice, I'd be shocked. I think a lot of those comments came from B1G West coaches that didn't play us last year or don't care about giving bulletin board material for this year b/c they don't play us.
Either that, or this is some serious shade from a coach that don't believe we won't hang 40 on them.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:09 PM ^
August 12th, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^
"Ohio St dismantled them."
Very true. But those were last year's teams. More than half of that OSU team is now in an NFL uniform, and almost our entire team is coming back. Does that mean we're going to beat them? No, it doesn't. But different year, different teams.
That's why the game is played on the field.
August 12th, 2016 at 2:11 PM ^
when I know that one of our main coaches isn't interviewing for jobs the week of.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:13 PM ^
It's probably coaches who are sick of seeing and hearing about Michigan and Harbaugh multiple times a day. WIth our schedule, assuming we stay relatively healthy and get solid QB play, it's going to be hard NOT to get to 10 wins. But then again, football's a long and strange season... we were a goal line stand away from losing at MIN, and a last second TD catch away from losing at IND.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:24 PM ^
I'd imagine they start to have these feelings after every single one of their media sessions begins with "So...Harbaugh?". They can't and won't escape him.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:14 PM ^
-Opposing coaches believe we over achieved last year, due to Rudock playing out of his mind, which won't be repeated by anyone on our roster due to how lucky we got with Jake.
-We're all hype. Have a couple pieces, but outside of that, we're all hype.
I will agree that there has been a ton of hype put on this team from the media and the fans, but I don't see anyone putting together an article laying out reasons to not believe the hype. Let me give it a try:
- New QB. This would be a problem, but didn't we have this same "problem" last year. As many here have noted, Jake came on in the Fall. He didn't even have a summer to learn our system and work with our WR's. Complete 180 this year, as both Speight and O'K have at least 1 full year working with the system.
- OL woes: Return 4/5, and replace the C with an all-american, and a LT with a new dude. This may be our biggest concern on offense, which on paper, doesn't seem like much of a concern.
- LB's - Replace all three starters with guys that don't have much experience. Replacing "starters" is different than trying to replace a Jourdan Lewis or Peppers. Our starters last year were replacable. New scheme, and elite DL and secondary should lessen the burden on the LB's, and they can just react and go to the ball.
- ???
I don't see any major reason to be concerned about this team. The place I want to see the most improvement is the OL and especially run blocking. They should all be improved from a year ago. Now we need to see it in action.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:14 PM ^
I have zero issue with what anyone said. We did get dismantled by OSU at home, we did lose to msu at home, we almost lost to both minnesota, and indiana. Don't trust a team until they prove it on the field makes perfect sense to me.
We win the big games this year and people will start respecting us, its pretty simple.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:23 PM ^
August 12th, 2016 at 1:32 PM ^
"Don't trust a team until they prove it on the field" doesn't make any sense.
Every college team turns over at least 25% of its players every year, and if you only look at the players that play significant roles, it's more than that. Ohio State only returns three starters on each side of the ball, so the 2016 Ohio State team is almost completely different from the 2015 Ohio State team. 2015 Michigan wasn't as good as 2015 Ohio State, but that doesn't say anything about how our 2016 teams stack up against each other.
Essentially, what you're asking is to wait until we've already played Ohio State before making any predictions about how we'll play against Ohio State.
And if Michigan beats Ohio State this year, then what? We lose a bunch of guys after this year. But then somehow you could "trust" us the next year, despite the fact that we'll have a bunch of different players?
August 12th, 2016 at 2:40 PM ^
Your point would make more sense if we didn't also lose to Utah, MSU, only beat Minnesota because of pure coaching incompetence, and barely squeked by Indiana. Its not like we had one bad game against one really good team. we were a good not great team last year, don't have a starting QB and an Oline with some big questions.
OSU and MSU have proven they have built programs that can handle year over year change because they've done it before. Of course you can look at the rosters and make predictions, and what these coaches see is a team that beat one team you wouldn't expect them too all year in Florida and got embarrased by the only elite team on the schedule.
August 16th, 2016 at 10:24 AM ^
My point is that this year Michigan will have a different team than it did last year (as will Utah, MSU, Minnesota, OSU, and everyone else). So it's nonsensical to say a team should "prove it on the field" when literally none of the teams have done that heading into the system.
August 12th, 2016 at 3:30 PM ^
Of course you're okay with what was said. You're a fan of a different team and love it when Michigan fails.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:15 PM ^
I'll take the bulletin board material.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:15 PM ^
Rutgers in there somewhere.
Well thats why we play the games, keep fueling this teams fire....it will end up poorly for other teams.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:21 PM ^
August 12th, 2016 at 1:18 PM ^
I hope every coach in the Big 10 thinks that way. It will make their tears even more delicious.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:19 PM ^
August 12th, 2016 at 1:22 PM ^
I think you are very wrong and your pessimism is stupid.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:26 PM ^
Pessimism is difficult to un-learn... especially after 8 yrs of Hoke / Rodriguez...
August 12th, 2016 at 1:35 PM ^
I agree with that. Just don't understand that mindset as a fan. The team isn't thinking "Hey, we're probably not as good as espn thinks, maybe we can beat Iowa and play it close with msu and osu". Just be optimistic until you actually see a game.
August 12th, 2016 at 1:48 PM ^
August 12th, 2016 at 1:54 PM ^
You said the team was "very overhyped", when in reality 10-2/11-1 is right where most pundits predict us to finish.
August 12th, 2016 at 2:08 PM ^
August 12th, 2016 at 3:09 PM ^
August 12th, 2016 at 6:17 PM ^