Sabb going to Alabama
As mentioned in the podcast, this one kind of hurts. Maybe more NIL money? Thanks Keon for everything you did for the Maize and Blue, especially down the stretch
February 20th, 2024 at 6:29 AM ^
Of course he's going to Bama.
Michigan let their players know that they're fazing out all top 100 recruits moving forward.
Being cheap is extremely important for Warde and his pals.
February 20th, 2024 at 7:38 AM ^
You do understand that the school can't pay NIL?
You also understand the school has no control over what the private NIL collectives do?
They can spend as much money as they want, on anyone they want, in any manner they want.
February 20th, 2024 at 6:31 AM ^
good luck young man.
kind of funny , he was in the video with Roman Wilson mocking Bama after the Rose bowl. " I don't give a piss about nothing but the tide" All In good fun but funny he ended up going there
February 20th, 2024 at 7:09 AM ^
Right now Warde is reading all these comments saying, "see I told ya they'd get over it and quick too"
"now where's my bonus for all this money I'm saving?"
February 20th, 2024 at 7:09 AM ^
Sure am glad the Bigten is working with the SEC on a new college football model. The $EC historically has had the same issues navigating this corrupt world of college athletics. Lmao!
February 20th, 2024 at 7:14 AM ^
Wishing him well. I think he would have found a lot of playing time this season.
February 20th, 2024 at 7:15 AM ^
It wasn’t NIL. From what I read Michigan’s offer was more. It was based on being a starter at Alabama and probably declaring for the draft after this year. Plus Courtney Morgan was involved in his original recruitment to Michigan
February 20th, 2024 at 7:45 AM ^
Where would he fall in the depth chart on Michigan's roster ? I figured he'd play early and often for Michigan..
February 20th, 2024 at 8:49 AM ^
Not sure but it wasn’t a good sign when Quinten Johnson was getting more reps later in the season especially against OSU
February 20th, 2024 at 7:28 AM ^
I mean seeing what Michigan did to that defense in the Rose Bowl and then more accurately in the National Championship game, I totally get it!
February 20th, 2024 at 7:39 AM ^
Sign. Rumors on Will Johnson picking up steam . Sabb and Jackson now at Alabama
February 20th, 2024 at 7:54 AM ^
will JJ Johnson makes a healthy amount of money as is. He's a Michigan kid that has succeeded in this style defense. projecting top 10 in the draft next year. Unless he doesn't like the new staff I don't see him leaving.
February 20th, 2024 at 9:08 AM ^
I hope not. Its always hard to know on this super reliable internet thing we have whether rumors are rooted in some actual fact from someone close to the situation OR someone simply suggests that logically, having a few buddies at a FB school like bama, means Johnson must at least be entertaining it.
He'll go down as a Woodson (not quite) level type player if he comes back and locks down half the field.
February 20th, 2024 at 8:04 AM ^
"... Jackson now at Alabama ..."
What you mean "now?" He's always been there.
EDIT: Screw-up on my part. In my head I mistook Jackson's longtime interest in Alabama (relative to Michigan) as an actual commitment. Bad. Sorry.
February 20th, 2024 at 9:07 AM ^
Domani Jackson committed a month ago. What do YOU mean by "always"? Sabb this weekend, therefore... NOW its 2 guys that Johnson knows well. Unclench. It sucks, but that doesnt make it untrue
February 20th, 2024 at 8:00 AM ^
They're going to be able to offer him more playing time, and my bet is they're offering him more money too.
That's just what college football is these days. If the above reasons are why he left, hard to blame him. Sure seems like he has plans to go pro after next season, so Alabama is getting him on a one year rental before he takes off.
He didn't go to a rival, so I wish him the best unless they find themselves against Michigan in the CFP.
February 20th, 2024 at 8:11 AM ^
This idea of playing time is absurd. He played a ton this year. He would play enough to get to the league and enough to reduce wear and tear This is about money and it is what it is.
February 20th, 2024 at 11:46 AM ^
He would be the 3rd S on the team, and he wants to start. Just because he played a ton last season has little bearing on what he is going to see next season. Bama offers PT and a starting spot, something that Michigan can't guarantee. Plus, Sabb wants to get to the NFL, so he needs game tape to show that he can be a high draft pick.
February 20th, 2024 at 8:17 AM ^
College football has turned into the NFL, only everyone is a FA every year. That’s no way to run a football league. The NCAA (or its replacement) needs to develop a system that is financially fair to players but also provides some stability in rosters. Maybe unionization and negotiated contracts with players is the way to go.
February 20th, 2024 at 8:30 AM ^
That was fast!
February 20th, 2024 at 8:36 AM ^
Sabb was a Courtney Morgan recruit while here and now is joining him, so that's what this is, otherwise it would make little sense.
Someone in the know, please list all the Morgan recruits. I know of Sabb and Graham. Who else? Was Grant and Loveland ?
February 20th, 2024 at 8:51 AM ^
It makes no sense for us to celebrate the wins we get in the portal and then cry "tampering" when we lose someone to it. The past two off seasons UM loaded up in the portal with guys at key positions who contributed a great deal and we loved it. When someone gets one of ours we yell tampering. Come on guys, just wish the kid well and accept this is part of college football now. We'll win some and we'll lose some. This one hurts for me because I loved the guy, but it's hard to argue that he wouldn't get more playing time at bama than he would have here next season with Paige and Moore both returning.
February 20th, 2024 at 8:54 AM ^
Hoping Michigan will still be looked favorably upon by the Sabb family. I was hoping they'd be able to reel in his two younger brothers. They both already holds offers from UM, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, etc... as '26 and '27 prospects.
February 20th, 2024 at 9:10 AM ^
February 20th, 2024 at 10:01 AM ^
From an academic standpoint (ha, because that's a question now), it's absolutely batty to me that someone could enter the transfer portal and already be enrolled at their new institution mid-semester. Like, the audacity of Alabama (or any institution) dropping a "student-athlete" into that situation a month or so into classes.
February 20th, 2024 at 10:27 AM ^
I get what you're saying, but we really need to move on. This is a professional business. This is no longer a student on-campus activity. I don't really even know why we associate college football programs with students. The "experience" is nothing like what a student experiences. This was true 20-30 years ago, but its even more ridiculously so now. From where they sleep, to what they eat, to the academic services they get (with what purpose?!), to now the $$ they get as their essential full time job outside of football... nothing about this has anything to do with it. The concept of "classes started" is completely irrelevant. Also, when it comes to most programs, school will never come in the way of football success. And that concept, is not a new one.
Ohio state just paid 15M to bring in the best talent money could buy.. guys who will say things like.. "the school is perfect for me"... "i want to be part of this amazing rivalry"... "I came here because its the best opportunity for me in school / sports"... blah blah...
They aren't the only ones, they just did it most loudly. Wil Howard days after committing already started talking about the importance and criticality of the rivalry.... cmon... you're trying too hard.
If we want to complain about classes, credits, or anything else school related, we've already missed the boat.
February 20th, 2024 at 10:52 AM ^
I'm not saying anything about Sabb in particular as much as the system in general. He's doing what's best for him, and that's fine. Alabama is also free to do any/all of this, because that's how this works.
That doesn't mean that's how it should work. At the end of the day, this is a really imperfect and strange way of giving athletes the autonomy they deserve, rife with all sorts of new ways of doing the old, dirty business.
My point is that if they are going to continue to hold up the charade of college athletics, it seems bizarre to me to act as if the academic side doesn't even exist anymore. It's fair to say that most any college or university is never going to let any other student transfer in mid-semester like this. Just a new way for athletics to have rules that apply to them, and them alone.
And it's not about "missing the boat." We can say multiple things at once: the money side is corrupt, the academic side is bizarre, the timelines and pressures on football players to make a decision are irreconcilable with reality. It's all true, even if the degrees of importance aren't equal.
February 20th, 2024 at 12:04 PM ^
So we mostly agree. But, I'm more focused on what Michigan needs to do, to win 15+ games a year and you're more focused on the state of college athletics.
Fair?
February 20th, 2024 at 1:09 PM ^
Any rational assesment of the "problem" at hand - with transfers, NIL, definition of employees, etc - should recognize that the idea of the student athlete as it relates to NCAA football (and to a lesser extent, basketball) is no longer tenable. Maybe it never was, but today especially we've created a farm system for the NFL and NBA and shoehorned it into this sham structure.
I am here - I am a fan of college football - but we should recognize that the mission of the university and the mission of the football program are now two diametrically opposed things.
February 20th, 2024 at 11:47 AM ^
"I don't really even know why we associate college football programs with students. "
Money.
Compare college BB fan support with G-League fan support.
February 20th, 2024 at 12:06 PM ^
Well yes - 100%. But its a weird backwards relationship now. Used to be the school, then the team. Now its a team of kids who switch yearly, get paid millions, having a loosely coupled alignment with a university many of them barely attend.
February 20th, 2024 at 9:22 PM ^
Very easy because college athletics is not really about being a student anymore it is about making the professional teams or say what you want universities money. To me college sports is getting worse and worse every year and isn't much differently then how the NFL is run. Off-season comes schools start bidding on players they need and certain players accept that offer and move on if the home town team doesn't match the offer or make a better one. To me it is sad. The NCAA and the universities got way to greedy which in turn had to pay the coaches more and more. Then having the best training facilities and food and room and board and free education isn't enough pay them more and more. I don't agree with the new system but I also don't agree with how much coaches get paid or when they get fired. When a coach gets 30mill or more when they do a shitty job then I will get fired everyday of the week. College sports or mainly football and basketball suck isn't even fun anymore. It isn't the same anymore.
February 20th, 2024 at 10:37 AM ^
Good luck, Keon.
February 20th, 2024 at 10:50 AM ^
Good luck Keon. Thank you for the B1G Championships and National Championship.
Zeke Berry your time is now.
Go Blue!
February 20th, 2024 at 12:06 PM ^
Join the team we beat 1st in the playoff, now coached by the coach we beat 2nd.
Have fun with that.
February 20th, 2024 at 5:59 PM ^
It’s almost as if winning doesn’t solve anything
February 20th, 2024 at 8:13 PM ^
Times are a changing. Thanks for the memories KS.
February 20th, 2024 at 9:10 PM ^
100% they offered him a lot of money. They lost Downs and went out and offered the free agent at Michigan some serious cash to Play school at Alabama