EXIT: Pep Hamilton, McDaniels QB coach
February 5th, 2019 at 3:50 PM ^
I was waiting for this to pop up. Earlier today Sam gave one of his gut feels about this. Then four hours later the news is announced.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:02 PM ^
If this doesn't signal the end of "man ball"..."body blows"..."Run, Run, Pass"...then I give up.
Please Jimmy, let Gattis do what he does. Exit 1986 and enter 2019.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:15 PM ^
I think people forget that Brian Kelly did this as well.
And if we think Harbaugh is a control freak...Kelly was no better. Only Kelly didn't win 10 games to realize he needed to change.
Kelly often talks about how he took time to reflect, saw how Saban does it and realized he needed to be more of a CEO.
Giving up playcalling made him a better situational coach (his words). Harbaugh could use the same upgrade.
He also talks about how giving up the offensive reigns allowed him to focus on relationships with the players. Something Saban and Belicheck talk about ALL the time and another Harbaugh...area for improvement.
Lastly Kelly has talked about how he is more involved in what the defense is doing, their meetings, etc. - wishful thinking but maybe having an offensive guy to chime in will help Don Brown figure out crossing routes.
I truly believe he's committed to this change. And not being the co-OC allows him to do what he loves and spend more time in the QB room so McDaniels isn't learning to swim by himself...they can go at it together, hopefully providing the best development for our QBs as possible.
I think this is a win on ALL accounts. Now we just have to go execute.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:20 PM ^
If that truly does happen like you say, Jim can become an all time legend at Michigan. I honestly believe the spots are in place to make a run at it all.
February 5th, 2019 at 5:01 PM ^
All this is good except for one spot that irks me:
Brown understands how to defend crossing routes. He knows how to run zone. He's ran tons of Cover 2 and Cover 3 throughout his career, he has a bunch of tools in his playbook to help defend crossing routes. He doesn't need an offensive mind to re-implement those things, or re-emphasize those things.
Where he can use an offensive mind to help him is in self-scouting; i.e. when I see you do this, this is how I will want to attack, or this is how I would help identify your check/tendency/etc. An offensive mind isn't going to tell a defensive mind new ways to defend, he's going to help them understand the flaws in their existing scheme/system that they would want to exploit, to help the defensive mind adjust better to account for those weaknesses.
February 5th, 2019 at 6:18 PM ^
That was sarcasm.
It was more of what you said...an offensive mind in the room to provide a different perspective. I doubt Harbaugh's sitting on the secret to defensive improvement and not sharing it.
The majority of the post was about a shift from defacto OC to CEO of the entire program. Something Saban has been AMAZING at...Swinney did with Morris and Venables...and something Brian Kelly speaks on ALL the time after he was on the hot seat after that 4 or 5 win season.
When I listened to Kelly, as much as it pains me...it makes perfect sense.
Sidenote, it's also why I think the NFL hiring all of these McVay knockoffs will be a HUGE disaster. Hire those guys as your OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR. A head coach really has to be able to touch both sides of the ball. I'm looking forward to this adjustment and Pep seems like an INCREDIBLE person, but I'm glad he's not part of it.
February 5th, 2019 at 8:52 PM ^
"He also talks about how giving up the offensive reigns allowed him to focus on relationships with the players. Something Saban and Belicheck talk about ALL the time and another Harbaugh...area for improvement."
Saban has relationships with the players? I find this hard to believe.
February 6th, 2019 at 8:01 AM ^
nice post good perspective. didn't really think of like that with kelly but you are right.
February 6th, 2019 at 5:37 PM ^
I'm confused. For the last 5 years, all I read on this message board is how Harbaugh is playing chess while everyone is playing checkers.
How come he has to change to backgammon all of a sudden?
February 5th, 2019 at 4:02 PM ^
Good ole Sam and his tummy rumbles.
Been very impressed the last couple years with JH being willing to make the tough calls re: staff.
Even cut himself off as defacto OC this year. Drevno. Pep. Very encouraging to see the wisdom/force of will at work there.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:05 PM ^
Not braggin', but I sent JH an email last night, after my third Manhattan, suggesting this move.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:13 PM ^
LINK to Sam’s article.
Also don’t mean to thread jack, but Sam also posted on the TMI board that he has changed his opinion on the APH decommit, saying he was told by people within the AD that Amauri and family were told right upfront that it was a greyshirt offer. And the staff feels like there wasn’t anything more they could have done to be clearer on this. FWIW
February 5th, 2019 at 4:15 PM ^
Keeping McDaniels shores up Ohio recruiting as he is from Ohio and played QB at Kent State.
Has coached QBs in the pros and college so should blend well with JH in that task.
Good move all around.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:50 PM ^
Glad my last board post on this topic ended up being wrong...
Probably unrelated but was he the main recruiter for any of the guys in the Det News article yesterday? I suppose I could look it up but I won't.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:55 PM ^
I could tell you the answer but I won't.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
That's just mean
February 5th, 2019 at 4:08 PM ^
Aren't Ronnie Bell and Joe Milton Pep Hamilton's only big recruits?
February 5th, 2019 at 4:24 PM ^
And neither were big recruits.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
And Harrison Bailey.
Pep just happened to recruit him to Tennessee.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:50 PM ^
Amen.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:51 PM ^
I am fully erect.
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February 5th, 2019 at 5:15 PM ^
God damnit you guys .... NO SEXY BITS!!!!
February 6th, 2019 at 7:11 AM ^
I have to know what's happening here! Can't stop laughing...
February 6th, 2019 at 9:58 AM ^
He was shaking the US Flag (one of those huge ones that cover the entire field) while saluting during the National Anthem. But that Giphy is GOLD.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:52 PM ^
Set the timer for 4 hours.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
Link OP? Moar info?
February 5th, 2019 at 3:58 PM ^
Thanks MEZ.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
Hallelujah
February 5th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
I wish I could say it was a pleasure.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:58 PM ^
It's been real and nice, but not real nice.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
This is way better than any national signing day!!!
February 5th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
Delete repost but worth it!
February 5th, 2019 at 3:54 PM ^
In for the Duble Buble.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:53 PM ^
Party TIME!
I hope he does a good job with a change of scenery.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:54 PM ^
Personally, I think Harbaugh's offensive assistant's get too much blame either way. It's his offense and he has veto power. Anybody who has ever been an assistant coach in any sport knows your "suggestions" are just that. The coach does what he wants and provides guidelines for the decisions you make.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:55 PM ^
Pep is a shitty recruiter and that's not on Harbaugh.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:02 PM ^
What's the evidence of his awful recruiting? I've never been able to understand how people can know who the bad recruiters are.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:05 PM ^
247 compiles rankings for recruiters by conference and nationally. His ranking is total shit - in the 500s nationally and below the lowest listed in the B1G. Partridge is in the top 10 nationally, for comparison.
February 5th, 2019 at 6:05 PM ^
Thanks man. I don't follow rankings for recruiters much, so it's good to get some data. I never heard his name come out the mouths of recruits. I wonder if they even tried to use him on the recruiting trail.
February 5th, 2019 at 7:05 PM ^
That McElwain/Pep combo was a 1-2 punch of awful recruiting from offensive coaches.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:05 PM ^
the recruiting sites list the lead recruiters for each team and who they recruited, and talk to kids all the time about who is good and who isn't
February 5th, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
Hence, I'm still nervous about the Gattis hire because it's clear this is Harbaugh's offense by and large.
If #SpeedInSpace is nothing more than just a recruiting slogan, then I'll be sad...very sad.
February 5th, 2019 at 4:16 PM ^
I think Harbaugh knows the seat is going to start to get warm if he doesn't at least attempt to fix some of this stuff. Having an outdated offense is one thing. Having an expensive guy on staff that doesn't bother to recruit for his outdated offense is quite another.
Don't get me wrong. Firing Harbaugh is a bad idea currently. But if a losing streak to Ryan Day begins because body blows, it will start to look like a better idea.
My thought is that Gattis, McDaniels, Campanile and Nua are an acceptance that young, college coaches with fun, college schemes are the ones that bring in the elite Jimmys and Joes. I think the future looks bright and I actually mean it this time!
February 5th, 2019 at 4:21 PM ^
I don't think this holds up. The offense at various times has looked different.
The 2015 offense had all kinds of problems but I think it best represents what I want to see, because it featured two key principles: utilize what you have, and take what the defense gives you. The 2015 offense's limitations were largely personnel-based.
I don't necessarily think Fisch was the best OC evar, but he had Harbaugh's ear. The offense has recently been rather stubborn in the face of adversity the past couple seasons, and I think the staff has something to do with it.
February 5th, 2019 at 6:21 PM ^
Do you really think Harbaugh built his coaching tree by hiring young guys, giving them lofty titles and the handcuffing them?
If that were the case this time he'd have a hard time attracting talented assistants going forward
February 5th, 2019 at 4:14 PM ^
Absolutely true. However, one of the people responsible for input into the play calling matrix/decision making tree has been removed and replaced with a guy that is willing to open things up and put his best athletes on the field to win match ups.
Until I see Gattis running things on his own, I won't believe he will be allowed to. Regardless, removing Pep from input and replacing him with Gattis is good.