February 10th, 2020 at 9:24 AM ^
Bahahahahaha
February 10th, 2020 at 9:49 AM ^
Update: more reports seem to confirm.
Pat Forde: https://mobile.twitter.com/ByPatForde/status/1226874776679067648?s=20
February 10th, 2020 at 1:08 PM ^
Pretty funny editing of a great scene from Wolf of Wall Street:
https://twitter.com/ucbarstool/status/1226880664814968832?s=21
February 10th, 2020 at 10:08 AM ^
I would upvote this 100 times if possible. Damn
February 10th, 2020 at 11:48 AM ^
One of the best moments in the entire show, I laughed right along with him for 20 minutes when I first saw this episode
February 10th, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^
I thoroughly enjoyed Brian's twitter reaction to Pete Thamel's tweet:
https://twitter.com/mgoblog/status/1226874631816196099?s=09
... especially since Bill Beekman's bid yesterday was an obvious loser on the spartie version of "The Price is Right".
February 10th, 2020 at 10:58 AM ^
...The price is wrong, bitch.
(Brian: that was a joke. From Happy Gilmore. Just FYI).
February 10th, 2020 at 11:33 AM ^
Momma said sparty is all ornery 'cause they got all those dollars and no football coach
February 10th, 2020 at 9:25 AM ^
Bahahahahaha
February 10th, 2020 at 9:38 AM ^
That's not nice......oh screw it bahahahahahahahahahahaha
February 10th, 2020 at 10:07 AM ^
Haha. Haha.
HAHAHA.
HAHAHAHAHSHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
February 10th, 2020 at 9:26 AM ^
February 10th, 2020 at 9:26 AM ^
Good for tressel
February 10th, 2020 at 10:51 AM ^
RIP Kobe ??
February 10th, 2020 at 9:30 AM ^
Bwahahaha
February 10th, 2020 at 9:30 AM ^
So funny. That program is a mess
February 10th, 2020 at 9:50 AM ^
Fickell has a bright future and any coach would be insane to consider that dumpster fire. They've been turned down by every coach they've contacted and it's getting comical. All they'll ever be is a bunch of wanna bes. and 4th in our division at best
February 10th, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^
It was probably important for his future that he be interviewed by P5 schools. Turning one down probably helps because it means they needed him more than he needed them.
February 10th, 2020 at 9:31 AM ^
*IF* this is true, my money’s on Pat Shurmur.
It’s puzzling since we were assured by several posters here claiming inside info that Fickell was a done deal for MSU. It’s almost as though it makes sense to be skeptical of anonymous posters on the internet who claim to have special inside info that they can’t back up with evidence or sourcing.
February 10th, 2020 at 9:37 AM ^
As a Michigan fan, I'd be happy to see that. He's a good coach who doesn't have the personality to be a good recruiter. I don't think college HC is a good fit for him.
February 10th, 2020 at 9:46 AM ^
Apparently some media folks are throwing out the name of Bret Bielema as somebody that MSU should contact. I doubt he’d leave the Giants but I think that meathead would be a good fit for MSU.
February 10th, 2020 at 9:55 AM ^
Bielema would be a good hire, but he might hold out for the Iowa job (which he's not a shoe-in for, but a strong candidate to succeed Ferentz). He might also want to stay in the NFL for now, as you suggest.
February 10th, 2020 at 9:59 AM ^
I think Bielema would take the job if offered and would be a decent hire. I doubt the Giants are paying him anything near what he would make at MSU.
The MSU job is probably not great for future career prospects, but it will pay well.
February 10th, 2020 at 12:01 PM ^
I think Bielema would be a great option for MSU right now. He has proven that he can win in the B1G, and while his Arkansas stint didn't go well, subsequent history has shown that Arkansas is just plain a hard program to win with right now, especially in that division. Bielema can't count on getting a high-profile coaching offer at this point, so there's a good chance that he'd be willing to roll the dice with the MSU job. This would be a bailout coaching choice for them.
They might go with Shurmur because of the MSU connection, but I don't see how that goes well.
February 10th, 2020 at 10:04 AM ^
On the contrary, I think Bret would jump at the chance, but I think his offense is a terrible fit with the direction MSU wants to go. Personality and experience wise he is a good fit.
I do wonder if MSU is willing to hire a coach who got fired from a comparable or slightly lower job for performance. If so, I'd be more worried about Joe Moorhead.
February 10th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
That is a very good point about Moorhead.
February 10th, 2020 at 10:21 AM ^
Bruce Feldman suggested Bielema on twitter. Proven track record of success in the B1G, including beating teams like UM and OSU. Instant spark for a down Sparty fanbase.
February 10th, 2020 at 12:05 PM ^
Here's a little tip and piece of info... whenever you see a guy like Feldman or another big national name throw a name out like that it's an agent telling them to do so. It's how Schiano's name was attached to every opening for a decade. It's a smart bit of work to get their client's name out there and it can sometimes help.
February 10th, 2020 at 1:05 PM ^
I don't believe that would bring an instant spark to the MSU fanbase.
Relief that it's over, perhaps. But a coach on his way down, not on the first page of their list of candidates and best known for running an offense less modern than Dantonio's does not sound inspiring or inspired to me. It would show that MSU is trying to play it safe.
February 10th, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
Exactly.
Even when an actual insider is involved, people need to realize that the insider may not actually have solid information. The insider may be:
- Making an educated guess based on their reading of the situation
- Trying to force their own agenda through
- Not in a position to get useful information on this particular issue
- Relaying somebody else's desires (i.e., *somebody* at MSU really wanted Fickell)
- Playing out their own wishful thinking
- Completely full of shit
I'm sure you and many others remember when Adam Schefter tweeted that Jim Harbaugh was coming to Michigan in 2011--right before he went to the 49ers. I don't even know if Schefter's source may or may not have believed it.
February 10th, 2020 at 11:25 AM ^
You forgot:
Relaying accurate information that doesn't play out because somebody changed his mind.
This is particularly relevant when considering recruiting commitments.
February 10th, 2020 at 12:06 PM ^
And let's forget that ESPN had Les Miles taking over after Carr retired.
February 10th, 2020 at 10:00 AM ^
also possible that the insiders were right and fickell just changed his mind.
February 10th, 2020 at 10:09 AM ^
This is a possibility that I think people overlook too much when burning insiders who end up getting a story wrong. Things are fluid. Another possibility is that the insider's source was wrong. I would not be surprised if Fickell were leading MSU on for a contract extension, and the people at MSU bit at the bait. Considering the mess at MSU right now with a new president, new AD, and an incompetent Board of Trustees, I could see MSU administration telling insiders that Fickell was coming mistaking his interest in interviewing.
February 10th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
I can tell you exactly why their sources were wrong. They were only talking to people within MSU. Everyone else that I was talking to that’s outside of MSU was saying there were real issues that MSU had to overcome in order for Fickell to come. He really wants ND or OSU. He didn’t think this job would have set him up well enough.
That’s my problem with people speaking in absolutes when it comes to sourcing. Nowadays you can say my sources are saying he’s signing today. And if you’re wrong you just say oh he changed his mind or it was a fluid situation. In reality your source was crappy and you wanted to seem like you were in the know.
February 10th, 2020 at 11:03 AM ^
Agree completely, especially with the first paragraph.
In this case I think an issue is that those MSU insiders have little to no experience with a coaching search. They not only overestimated the appeal of the job, but were blissfully unaware that candidates could use interviews to leverage pay raises and pad their resumes. That they change their minds after talking to their families and players. That Fickell was always going to feel regret about the timing for his team and recruits. That people close to him would be concerned about the baggage that comes with the MSU job today, even if Fickell didn't appear to be.
February 10th, 2020 at 11:36 AM ^
According to people I have talked to there's a 0% chance he agreed or signed to anything. Remember he is his own agent. There's no chance that he agreed and then back-peddled.
I do think he took his time and did the responsible thing and looked at his options. I can tell you for a fact that if they came at him last year, he's the HC now. And I think that's why there was optimism, but it was blind optimism. The MSU "insiders" probably heard that he was interested and extrapolated from there. Nothing more, nothing less.
February 10th, 2020 at 1:03 PM ^
There might be plenty to this. I read this article from the Cincinnati Enquire a couple of days ago and the article notes that Amy Fickell will have a big say in this and that their family of six and personnel aspects will impact their final decision as well. Also notes that Fickell was trying to get an extension worked out with UC as recent as this January.
The article certainly makes it clear that it is not a slam dunk that Fickell would be heading to EL.
Turns out, there was some credence to this article.
LINK:
February 10th, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
Then just phrase it different. Say, “MSU insiders believe Fickell will be offered the job.” Don’t say, “its a done deal.”
February 10th, 2020 at 10:57 AM ^
Absolutely, but they need clicks. My guess is that a lot of them have the BOT jocks as sources and ran with it when those dudes felt confident. When if they were really journalists they would go talk to national sources or people from Cinci to corroborate.
February 10th, 2020 at 11:19 AM ^
"Don’t say, “its a done deal.”
There's nothing wrong with stating "I know people who are important and they say X is going to happen, but the situation is fluid and nothing is certain."
I don't believe anything I read on the internet by anonymous accounts that's unsourced or not backed up by independent evidence—but at least the above statement acknowledges the possibility that it could be wrong.
It's the "It's a done deal" guarantee that's so ridiculous, but people fall for it every fucking day.
February 10th, 2020 at 11:41 AM ^
You are 100% right, and it's a good rule of thumb to be careful even with people who aren't anonymous. Guys like Yoder come to mind where they take one piece of info they hear from somewhere and make it seem like it's 100% right. And if it turns out to be true they say aha I was right! And if it's wrong, it's because things changed or they never address and hope it goes away.
February 10th, 2020 at 11:49 AM ^
There are other things to look for: Yesterday the sources claimed that Cincinnati players had already been informed and didn't wonder why none of them had tweeted anything about it.
February 10th, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
Fickell was pretty much never going to MSU. He took the interview out of respect for Dantonio, but he knew it would be a mistake to go. Any insider claiming he was likely a done deal at any point was not right. Take it fwiw
February 10th, 2020 at 11:14 AM ^
The MSU jet was scheduled to fly from Cincinnati to State College on Saturday. They changed plans and went back to Lansing, presumably because they felt good about landing Fickell. That begs the question, why were they headed to State College? One obvious answer is that PSU DC Brent Pry was next on their list. Might he still be?
[update] Adam Rittenberg (ESPN) just reported Pry is staying at PSU.
February 10th, 2020 at 11:38 AM ^
Nah this is a classic Sugiyama diversion. He does this all the time. More likely a ploy to try and throw people off.
February 10th, 2020 at 9:32 AM ^
Ha! They were all so confident he was coming. Can't wait to watch the meltdown!
February 10th, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
They obviously aren't thinking about the huge opportunity to work in the vicinity of Tom Izzo. Most would jump at the opportunity.