Coach Speak or Outright Delusional?

sigh.  press conferences make about as much difference on the field as what we talk about on this message board, which is to say not one bit.

Is it still a mystery in year six how Harbaugh talks to the press about players?

Coach bashes the kid in the media, he would be in the transfer portal tomorrow.

Agree, coach speak is right.  There is no point in criticizing a college (amateur) player to the media, especially when you are being paid big money to coach them.   It would be a poor reflection on a coach who does.

Why show your hand to Penn State? As long as it is not a real controversy in their minds, it can't hurt for PSU to have to practice and prep for two entirely different types of QB's. 

Based on some of these responses, I will come to the defense of the OP a little bit.

A coach COULD say that McNamara has earned first team reps in practice and will be the starter and still say positive things about Milton. It's not a zero-sum game (at least not in terms of praise).

But it's also a perfectly reasonable approach that is being taken here.

However, it will be hard to understand how Milton could start over McNamara given what we have seen now during games the last two weeks.

I'd be willing to bet every opposing coach on the schedule immediately dumped all Milton's tape down the garbage chute.  

I kind of agree with you here.  While I don't think they need to bash Milton, it's pretty weird that they can semi-praise Milton for his performance... and not acknowledge Cade as the starter when he clearly is two steps ahead of Milton developmentally.

Its football.  These guys are tough.  Say it like it is.

You all say it's just coach speak, but these are the same guys that chose  Milton in the first place. Meritocracy my ass. 

They already lost McCaffrey.  I take it that they don't want to lose Milton as well.  

I'm pumping the breaks on McNamara.  He looked great, in one game, against Rutgers.   If he puts together a good body of work against PSU and Maryland and is able to move the offense effectively against OSU then I think we can get excited.  

Coach speak - keep all options open

It's clearly coachspeak; why there are still people who immediately assume these coaches are going to give them unfiltered takes on the quality to the press astounds me.  We had a post like this last week and at some point I'm wondering if it's a bit.

Coach speak.

AND sports are funky, effort and results never exactly correlating. McNamara played better, has more experience passing, has a better touch, "provided a spark" ®, etc. But the team needs two quarterbacks.

AND admirable work supporting players.

JH always plays things close to the vest.  Clearly he likes Milton for some reason.  Maybe he's just a good dude, with a good attitude, a hard worker, and a good leader.  But, unfortunately he's not ready to make accurate throws and read defenses well enough for the team to be successful.  It remains to be seen if Cade can do that when thrust into the starters role, but he's shown more promise than Milton the past few games.  But, remember that JOK also looked lights out when he came in for relief of the injured Speight against Purdue in 2017 only to implode either.  The one game variance of performances can be quite significant.  But, JH also has some questionable judgement so it could be a little bit of both.  It's also unclear who is really calling the plays and if Gattis is being allowed to do what he wishes or is handcuffed by his HC.

i just want the 'pre-medication' Harbaugh back.

No idea.  I read a comment somewhere, I don't think it was here, that he was a sure-fire All-American and Heisman candidate this year but Harbaugh ran him off. 

I chuckled a bit.

They better not also run Cade out of the program... seriously...  imagine how pissed McCaffrey must have been, to quit, when it was essentially his time...  think about it, say he was pissed they were favoring Milton because of his arm, and knew he wouldn't be starting, well, that knowledge also goes with the likelihood that Milton would flame out... so for McCaffrey to leave, took alot. 

This tells me its nothing other than making PSU prepare for two QBs, although that'd be silly, wouldn't it.    Milton will be still playing in spots, they'll call QB runs or dives for him now and again.

And someone please tell Gattis not to call a single QB sneak with Cade... dumbest call ever... gotta protect him now, he is the future, and he is small.  Let Haskins do dives.    

Arrogance. It's Michigan fergod's sake 

Total coach speak and tail cover

They’re not going to say Joe sucked out in public.  

What I don't understand is why our coaches have to pretend in front of the media. I also don't buy the argument that the coaches don't want to "criticize or bash" a player in front of the media. There is, in fact, a middle ground.  

How about something like this: "We thought Joe did some good things in this game but ultimately we weren't sustaining drives and putting points on the board. We felt like we had to make a change and Cade came in and was able to move the offense more consistently."

I'm the type of Michigan fan who's also obsessed with what OSU is doing because I like knowing the enemy and in this case, I like seeing what a competent program does and says. Listening to Ryan Day do a press conference is a breath of fresh air, because he just flat-out tells it like it is. When asked about Justin Fields performance against Indiana, he acknowledged that he made some really bad decisions but also acknowledged that he made some unbelievable plays. When asked about the defense giving up 491 passing yards, he flat out just said: "That's unacceptable."

One program leaves a fanbase thinking that we are all idiots and questioning if the coaches are delusional by what they tell the media. The other program just tells the media what's already evident to everyone watching the game. 

It's coach speak.  Just like when JoePa would say that Sycamore State is a really good football team that they (Penn State) can't overlook.

I'm sorta amazed so many Michigan fans can't figure out Jim's angle.

2020 is sucking the life out of everything.

I won’t be surprised to see Milton start on Saturday.  That’s how our coaches roll.  

coach speak. Complain about Harbaugh all you want, i do admire that he never throws players under the bus publically, at least not that i can remember. also why tip your hand on who's starting?

Coach speak! There should be NO DOUBT who the starting QB is and it ain't Joe Milton.

I don't know what they are thinking and it's not the right message, including the team.

We will know at noon Saturday!

It's mindboggling that people can't see what is going on here (coach speak) and will just use any reason to pile on!

Coach speak. Milton has to stay engaged. We may need him next week or any other game. He’s one play away from being the starter again and he’s still very talented but his confidence is broken. The last thing Harbaugh is going to say is that Joe played poorly and Cade saved us from the most embarrassing loss since the Big Ten Network started. He knows it, we know it, but he can’t risk losing Milton. 

Vincent Gray let it slip today that Cade is starting, so we’ll see how it goes!

Y'all are dogpiling the OP, but I got a shiny nickle that says Milton starts the next game. For whatever reason these guys really want to start Milton.