Jaylen Kelly-Powell entering the Transfer Portal
January 9th, 2020 at 10:04 AM ^
I don't understand why we seem to have so many more transfers than other places. I feel like guys at other schools are willing to be role players, but if a guy is a 4 or 5-star at and UM and is not starting he won't stay on the team and be a special teams player or depth in case of injuries. I think this causes issues with our depth when injuries happen.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
What I heard is a lot of favoritism is taking place at Michigan. I’m not saying that is the case with Kelly-Powell but that is the talk going around.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:24 AM ^
Bah.
Yeah...I have favorites as a coach, too. My favorites are the guys who work hard and do the right things.
Oh, and if you want to be successful, you give the good players more playing time.
"Favoritism" is such a cliched argument.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:32 AM ^
It may be cliched, but that really isn't to say it isn't happening. Obviously that poster has no "inside" information that it is happening at Michigan, but it isn't disproving it to say that it isn't how you coach. There have been some head scratching moments in terms of roster/player management under Harbaugh, and there have been some indicators that the program is something less than one big happy family.
I think a good rule of thumb may be - when one of your best players mother is releasing a lengthily tweet detailing her son's "side of the story" with regard to his injury, something somewhere has gone awry, in regard to communication at a minimum.
January 9th, 2020 at 11:11 AM ^
Has happened here and everywhere else for time immemorial. Just now the twitters and all this public-facing communication has the dirty laundry out for all to see.
The guys on the bench always think they're getting screwed. A good friend is a former star player at M, and he has told me plenty of these stories ... some of them pretty laughable. It pretty much all boils down to the combination of a) athlete ego (which is basically a necessity to compete at this level, even if it does manifest itself in some unfortunate ways) and b) myopia.
Coaches make mistakes, and sometimes their favorites are favored for suboptimal reasons. But the only new thing here versus the past is the technology soapbox.
January 9th, 2020 at 11:26 AM ^
I can run down about 10 really questionable player-personnel situations under Harbaugh. Alone, they can be chalked up to "happens everywhere." Collectively, they indicate some degree of disharmony within the program. *Not* saying "the program is a mess" or "fire Harbaugh." However, I don't think it does any good, nor do I see the point, in scratching and crawling to be able to say that there haven't been some indicators of problems within the program in recent years. There has been.
January 9th, 2020 at 1:22 PM ^
I'd love to see your list.
January 9th, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
No you wouldn't.
It isn't pretty.
January 9th, 2020 at 2:13 PM ^
Is that code for “I am full of shit and really don’t have a list”?
or are you buying time to actually make the list you claimed you had?
January 9th, 2020 at 2:17 PM ^
There is no need to make a list. They are obvious and have been well documented.
It is weird, there are some people like you who still will not allow any criticism of Harbaugh to enter the discussion, and continue to dismiss anybody who does have any criticism as crazy and just "out of the know." I could kind of understand that in like 2016 (though even then it was kind of odd). I really don't understand it now.
January 9th, 2020 at 2:54 PM ^
Nah, dude, you just got called out and now you're backing away. Either come with your list and just concede you were talking out your ass.
January 9th, 2020 at 3:32 PM ^
Nobody can talk out of their ass.
It is impossible.
January 9th, 2020 at 2:48 PM ^
Two things:
1. I have communicated well with parents in the past and kept them fully abreast of their sons' situations, and some parents still do crazy things. Lesson: Parents do crazy things when it comes to their kids.
2. There's NO REASON for a coach to do anything other than put his best players on the field. More than almost any other profession, an underperforming coach is going to get canned. (I'm talking about results, not misbehavior or missing work or whatever.) Coaches need good results or they're going to be out of a job and they'll have to move their whole family. So having "favorites" doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
January 9th, 2020 at 4:20 PM ^
The problem is generally lack of criterion validity.
Coaches always choose the player they think is best - but the criteria for that decision is often not particularly valid.
January 9th, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
This is a very poorly made point for the question that is in play here. At this level of play you damn well had better be finding a way to get your best players on the field. The best coaches find a way to utilize the best talents the roster holds. (Belichick does not win year after year because he has the best roster.) Coaches make plenty of mistakes in this regard-I'm looking in the mirror here. And this is a significant part of our task. Something is indeed amiss at Michigan...it is not obvious from the outside looking in...this may well be a part of it.
January 9th, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
Problem is - talent often beats hard work, and the point is winning not rewardin hard work and doing the right thing.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
I figure because
1) Harbaugh is brutally honest about playing time, so they leave thinking they can play earlier elsewhere, instead of possibly playing as upperclassman.
2) Harbaugh won't play the player before he earns it, again, acting in the players best interest.
and that can get kids to think its better elsewhere, and they leave...
3) Harbaugh makes them go to class.
Hudson and Aubrey Solomon come to mind.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
Does Michigan really have "so many more transfers than other places" ? That is the question that needs to be asked before asking "why".
January 9th, 2020 at 5:26 PM ^
I'm not aware of another program that did not go through a coaching change or NCAA violation that ever lost half of an entire recruiting class.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:19 AM ^
When you recruit smarter players and better educate them to make good decisions for themselves, this is the end result. Maybe Michigan should recruit like OSU, Clemson & Alabama and get guys who are not smart enough to enter the portal. Of course, we are all dumb fans and racists for not realizing Michigan already is recruiting this way, it's just that the portal is not organized properly for Michigan.
(My summary from yesterday's board posts)
January 9th, 2020 at 1:35 PM ^
I feel that people say this while really only paying attention to what happens at Michigan. I don't pay that much attention to other schools either, but it sure looks like Stanford, MSU and PSU have been losing more players than Michigan recently. I'd bet they're not the only ones.
"I don't understand why we seem to have so many more transfers than other places. "
January 9th, 2020 at 12:34 PM ^
good luck young man.
January 9th, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
A Cass Tech kid who never panned out here. My hunch is he just didn’t quite have the speed, quickness, and/or change of direction it takes to cover a wide receivers that run 4.4. Best of luck to him down the road
January 9th, 2020 at 12:39 PM ^
Go to EMU and get some playing time.
January 9th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^
If memory serves, didn't JKP get a late surge of interest from Alabama before committing to Michigan?
January 10th, 2020 at 10:27 PM ^
Best of luck to him...honestly thought he'd be the starting FS by now. Never put on the weight and bounced around all the DB spots. I feel like he's one that is going to kill it next year in the right situation.
Let him roam the back line and get picks coming over the top.