Northwestern Snowflakes - The Coaching

Submitted by LSAClassOf2000 on September 30th, 2018 at 12:00 PM

This will be your thread for hot takes and snowflakes on the overall coaching performance.

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Football

MIGHTYMOJO91

September 30th, 2018 at 6:00 AM ^

The "troll" comments around here are soooooo "f"ing stupid. Obviously you have not been paying attention, if so you would know MSU always plays above their head against UM. UM will have to do more than just show up these days to beat sparty.

Joined: 11/28/2015

MGoPoints: 4531

s1105615

September 29th, 2018 at 8:57 PM ^

Whis hating on Harbaugh and Brown by saying this team is likely going 7-5?  UM is clearly not on the same level of PSU/OSU right now, will I doubt struggle on the road against MSU and can’t expect to be able to overcome a slow start against Wisconsin.  Harbaugh and Brown are good at their jobs, it just appears that Meyer/Dantonio/Franklin/Christ are all a little bit (or a lot) better right now.  

I don’t have any idea what the answer is for UM, but I’m pretty sure a new coaching staff definitely is not.

Joined: 03/01/2014

MGoPoints: 8605

mreaganl

September 29th, 2018 at 9:52 PM ^

How exactly is Dantonio doing a better job than Harbaugh? 

(1) Mark Dantonio's Spartans were defeated by Pat Fitzgerald's Wildcats each of the last two seasons. (2) Have you watched MSU play this season? They've been utterly unimpressive. (3) I know we're talking about the present, BUT DANTONIO WENT 3-9 IN 2016 -- THREE AND NINE! 

 

Joined: 09/29/2018

MGoPoints: 8

BlueHills

September 29th, 2018 at 10:39 PM ^

As of this moment, Notre Dame is 24-17 in the 4th Quarter over a very good, highly rated Stanford team, and driving. I’m wondering if Michigan’s really so bad because of a one TD loss to an obviously terrific team?

OSU beat Baylor, but turns out Baylor’s not that hot this year. PSU won a squeaker against App State. 

ND is proving to be a very good football team. OSU and PSU look good against weaker opponents, but I’m not seeing either one of these teams as especially dominant; it’s 14-13 in the 4th Quarter in their game.

Sure, I could be wrong, but there’s still a lot about this season that’s yet to be determined. Michigan came from behind and won today. Beats a loss. Let’s let the string unwind a little bit and see how things go.

 

Joined: 10/31/2010

MGoPoints: 7468

maizeandsmeef

September 29th, 2018 at 10:03 PM ^

why? PSU got as close to the death penalty as you can get AND STILL they are better than us and have been more successful since being given the modern age mother fucking death penalty!! 

Why the fuck can’t we be mad and question what the fuck the $10 million power duo are doing and their lack of success? 

It’s been 4 years and damn near 50 games and we barely play like ass pretty much every time we take the field against a team with a pulse.

are you watching OSU/PSU? These kids are FAST and are playing  different game. It’s not some cute little description to say “bo would love this offense” - it’s pure idiocy to be playing the way we play offense. It’s bullshit dude. $8M/year should be producing more than this. 

It’s insane to me there are fans that have watched this team the last 2.5 years and think to themselves - “yah! I totally see this! We are improving and are right there with the nation’s best!” 

I said it before and I’ll say it again - we are Tennessee 2.0. 

There are kids in high school who have never seen us win the B1G, let alone make it to the B1G championship game. We have been an average program over the last 2 decades and then Jim shows up and we continue to be mediocre. Can’t  win on the road, can’t play up and beat teams better than us. Very often play down and lose to worse teams than us.  Sleep walk through entire halves. Make the same mistakes year and year. 

There is PLENTY to be pissed off about and sick and tired of when it comes to Harbaugh and Brown and this entire program. Decades since we have been what Michigan was when I was a kid. 

The next coach needs to come in here and blast the arrogance out of this unearned superiority we carry around - apparently being God awful for a decade wasn’t enough to do that. 

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: -1

gary3

September 30th, 2018 at 7:28 AM ^

"Very often play down and lose to worse teams than us." -- like, who? My complaint would be that we lose to teams who are better than us, and basically never pull off the upset/aren't starting from a better position in the first place.

I love it when people bring up the salaries of coaches -- as if they pay their salary, or as if there is any kind of casual factor between salary and performance.

You do remember that we were contending for the CFP just two years ago, right? And that last year, we essentially had no QB? 

Man, fans these days are so quick to want to burn house. Tom Osborne woulda been fired way before his glory days if we had those standards back then. I suppose you're also one of the "Fire Beilein"ers when the season starts slow...

Look, I love Michigan more than any individual who works or plays for us. If Harbaugh isn't getting it done by ~2020, then the search should begin. I even think Ryan Day would be a great hire...but I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt, because I've seen what he can elevate us to.

Joined: 09/26/2016

MGoPoints: 2407

Crisler 71

September 29th, 2018 at 8:41 PM ^

We all know that M has no O.C. and that it is done by committee.  My question is:

Do we have anyone in the box watching and weighing in on the play calling?  It is blindingly obvious that NW and SMU  were bringing all linebackers and safeties at the snap because they know it will be between the tackles.  Everyone watching on TV sees it.  Why don't the coaches?

Joined: 05/23/2011

MGoPoints: 964

stephenrjking

September 29th, 2018 at 11:18 PM ^

The answer is: Yes, obviously. Pep and McElwain, in this case. Yes, they see that the LBs are firing into the line. Yes, it was communicated. Michigan called the plays they felt they needed to.

The idea that somehow coaches are just missing something that fans aren't, particularly this, is absurd. Perhaps they were more uneasy about NW blowing up a PA. Perhaps they were just stubborn about running successfully. Who knows? The reason may or may not have been good, but there was a reason.

And it's not like the offense was a failure in the second half when this was actually happening. 

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20144031

Matte Kudasai

September 30th, 2018 at 6:11 AM ^

"The idea that somehow coaches are just missing something that fans aren't, particularly this, is absurd"

Is it really?

Once again the coaches get a pass for being coaches.

So it's ok to suck at calling plays if we at least recognize what the defense is doing and we still call shitty plays?

I'm very protective of Harbaugh, but he's clearly not capable of running the offense anymore.

Joined: 05/04/2016

MGoPoints: 4596

GarMoe

September 29th, 2018 at 9:53 PM ^

1st down = run up the middle.  I kept expecting to see Lloyd Carr on the headset up in the booth calling plays.   Compare this with Harbaugh’s first season here.   Somehow we’ve completely gone vanilla predictable in our offensive scheme and all it takes is a team to shut down that predictable first down play, everything else just crumbles around it.

Joined: 03/29/2018

MGoPoints: 502

Hail Harbo

September 29th, 2018 at 9:28 PM ^

Putting aside the phantom penalties, the majority of the penalties are a cultural problem and that starts with Harbaugh.  I'm not sure what he can do halfway through the season, at this point legitimate holding calls, false starts, hands to the face, pass interference, illegal formations et al are part of culture he has allowed.  To suddenly change now in the middle of the season would beg a credibility problem with his players.

Joined: 06/18/2015

MGoPoints: 13428

Hail Harbo

September 30th, 2018 at 1:04 PM ^

You sound like the brainless jock that believes their sport somehow offers a unique outlook on life's lessons.  Let me clue you in, it doesn't matter if we're talking about football penalties, work place accidents, or even war crimes, it all boils down to leadership and the culture they promote, or not.

Joined: 06/18/2015

MGoPoints: 13428

Harbaugh is my…

September 30th, 2018 at 8:45 AM ^

Fans like you are the other side of the problem. Never happy with anything. If you can’t see improvement every week in this team, then you are failing to take an objective approach. Northwestern’s defense is legit. Michigan’s OL is progressing every week. The run game is coming along. The passing game was a little off today, but I think we saw why Shea can bring this team to the next step. Let’s be honest, there isn’t a team in the country who plays as well on the road as they do at home.  Look at Alabama last year. They lost to auburn and almost lost to MSU on the road. This was a good win especially if you look at quarters 2-4. Michigan dominated those quarters.

Joined: 05/20/2015

MGoPoints: 124

UMForLife

September 30th, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^

You might have called me a fucking douche than be a state fan. 

If the team can keep it close and scrap a won against better teams I am all for that. I just think OL performed way better than what we thought. Remember the main concern before the game? It was the LT against the pass rush. Once the game was played, everyone is harping on all other aspects but forgot that we improved on OL. So I fully expect Harbaugh and co to continue to improve the team. What is wrong with being positive? It is nothing to do with mediocrity. The one game we lost by 7 was to a very good team. We seem to be pretty good. We got four games to prove our worth. No need to worry about the team now. 

Joined: 11/04/2013

MGoPoints: 63391