Sparty portal getting a workout
Maybe it should just be referred to as the Spartan Ejection Pod presented by Rocket Mortgage:
Eight in the last few days just seems a bit excessive
April 26th, 2021 at 10:33 PM ^
Even though I want to make fun of this, I feel like I am playing with stones in a glass house.
I'm wondering if this is going to be the new normal. The last few years with players getting the flexibility of transferring, there seems to be a de factor free agent market in college football.
Just another piece of twine in the shitrope of modern day college football
Shit clocks tickin Rick
Don’t cry shitwolf
You better watch the way you're talking to Mr. Lahey
Tucker is bringing in his own players through the bonus transfer rules. Cannot fault him for this. Maybe we should beat him before we smirk.
April 26th, 2021 at 10:35 PM ^
I can’t believe the football program is actually gonna pick up Crouch from Tennessee. MSU is absolutely crushing the transfer portal. Good for Tucker. Improving his team. I wish Harbaugh could learn from him a little..
April 26th, 2021 at 10:40 PM ^
Sparty is crushing the portal? Maybe by sheer volume.
April 26th, 2021 at 10:46 PM ^
Just stop.
April 26th, 2021 at 10:53 PM ^
Curious if Russo is going to regret his transfer. I think Thorne looks quite solid.
April 26th, 2021 at 11:59 PM ^
Almost as if Michigan has different polices regarding transfer credits.
Seriously, Harbaugh could say “puppies are cute” and half of you would burst into flames. We get it. You wish he had gotten fired. Congratulations,
April 27th, 2021 at 11:32 AM ^
WE DIDNT GET TO SEE SPRING PRACTACE!! CMON!!!
April 27th, 2021 at 11:37 AM ^
The Media Was Denied Access! Don't you understand!
They should adjust then...players have transferred into the basketball program with 0 problem over the past few years. Bowman was admitted with zero issue, doubt its “always” an admissions problem.
Just to clarify - You do realize there is a difference between grad transfers and normal undergrad transfers? With MAYBE 1 or 2 exceptions all the transfers into Football and MBB in the last 5+ years were grad transfers -- Smith, Brown, Bowman, Patterson etc. Nojel Eastern was not and was unable to get enough credits to transfer.
This is not a flex that M is better than MSU on this topic -- It is a statement on the difficulty of any undergrad transferring in to Michigan. Yes, It would be easier if M were to change its transfer policies but that is a UM issue and not a UM athletics issue
Shea was not a grad transfer, but Tom your point he lost something around 18 credits
Is it even a debate, or just an accepted fact, that if/as the transfer portal becomes more of a "thing" in college football that it will only ever continue to hurt the Michigan football program more than it will ever help? Graduates, 3 year NFL kids, and maybe some true freshmen or transferring into sophomores are the only options? Hard to envision a time where the amount of kids coming into the program via transfer portal compares evenly to the number of kids exiting the program via the transfer portal.
April 27th, 2021 at 11:50 AM ^
Agreed, UM will almost always be at a net loss in the transfer portal at least while JH is the coach. He doesn't seem to have figured this thing out yet. The reason I say that is because Juwan certainly has it figured out. Part of that is due to issues with transferrable credit, GPA, etc but no matter what the issue it seems JH isn't pulling in nearly what he needs through transfers.
Harbaugh has had a transfer quarterback for three of his seasons and people were whining that he uses the portal too much. Which is it?
This is not my intended take, it has nothing to do with JH or anything to do with the athletic program and more a "problem" with the university in today's world. The reason only graduate level kids, or young kids will transfer is because they can pursue a masters, or they don't have enough credits in their major for the transfer to be lost time for them.
It has nothing to do with JH. It has everything to do that if I'm a junior and 3/4 or more of the way through my major at almost any other D1 school in the country my credits won't transfer to my major at the University of Michigan. Because of that Michigan will rarely, if ever, bring in upperclassmen that intend to go pro in something other than football, even if they could be successful in the winged helmet. In the world of an open transfer portal, this standard will always hold the Michigan football program back.
April 27th, 2021 at 12:14 PM ^
Ah yes, because Harbaugh's misunderstanding of how the portal works is why UM isn't taking any transfers.
I know people want Harbaugh fired and replaced with some other Great Hope who will inevitably disappoint you, but good lord focusing on the fucking transfer portal turnover seems way down the list of reasons.
And other people are more comfortable sitting between 10-3 and 2-4 with Harbaugh without ever venturing to see if they can find the next coach who can win the conference.
which is group is going to be, “inevitably disappointed” is totally debatable at this point.
April 26th, 2021 at 10:38 PM ^
pot, meet the kettle
April 26th, 2021 at 10:39 PM ^
Seems like they're getting the post spring exodus. But Tucker is compensating by hitting the portal hard. Objectively, that's a net win for them.
You do have to factor that transfer portal players count against the 25 player limit which a school can sign each year. I know that schools play games with those who enroll early moving people around between which 'official' class they are counted against the 25 in but at some point signing a bunch of portal players is going to reduce the number of high school seniors you can take.
April 26th, 2021 at 10:40 PM ^
Regardless of who comes and who goes, here’s the question - can we beat them?
In east Lansing? Sure.
Ann Arbor? Forget it.
April 26th, 2021 at 10:40 PM ^
Yeah, I'd say with what they've got coming in via the same portal they're doing just fine.
April 26th, 2021 at 10:46 PM ^
What are we talking about - sparty is getting better? Yes they are. They beat Michigan last year and decided they need a significant upgrade. Meanwhile what has Michigan done? A marginal recruiting class per usual? Nothing at QB for the 6th year now? Harbaugh is done after this year. Good luck if you paid for tickets in the last few weeks.
Oh come on.
Michigan's "marginal" recruiting class was (per 247) 10th in the country - 23 commits, average 90.30, total 268.77
Meanwhile, Sparty is "getting better" with their 43rd ranked class of 19 commits, average 85.65, total 190.60. Plus a couple of portal additions. Wow, such dazzling talent.
Complain about development, coaching, retention, QB, fine - but it's bullshit to pretend Tucker is out-recruiting Harbaugh.
Recruiting classes are way more than just 247 avg scores.
3 biggest position of needs were CB, DL & OL.
You can do the research on how we did there...
April 27th, 2021 at 10:12 AM ^
Our DL and OL recruiting was actually pretty solid in the 2021 cycle. CB, well that's another story but the future is looking brighter in 2022
April 27th, 2021 at 11:27 AM ^
OL isn’t even a position of need. But we still did really well there and on the DL
I have done some research, perhaps you should too, sir.
Michigan's DL and OL classes both appear to be strong, and Harbaugh flipped Benny, MSU's prize DL recruit. Michigan got mostly 4*, MSU got...no one Michigan wanted.
Every class needs skill position guys - Michigan signed top 5 recruits (at position) QB and RB and some promising athletes at WR and TE. Losing Worthy obviously hurts, but I'd take pretty much every skill guy Michigan recruited over MSU.
DB is the one area recruiting fell short. 1 CB, 1 S, both 3*. That said, while MSU added 5 DBs, 3 of them are low 3* shot-in-the-dark guys (below top 1000-rated). We didn't succeed at DB recruitment. MSU probably didn't either.
Unless Tucker is a genius at finding gems no one else saw, his first class was....bad. He clearly recognized that, and is working his ass off to add transfers.
My entire comments are in response to recruiting. There's much more to winning CFB than bringing in highly touted guys. Development, scheme, motivation, retention, utilization of talent, discipline - it's perfectly fair to criticize/question Harbaugh in lots of areas. Hell, it's even fair to say we don't recruit at OSU's level (no one except 'bama does).
It's absurd to say Tucker out-recruited Harbaugh, which is the point of my comment.
April 27th, 2021 at 12:17 PM ^
LMAO at our folks pointing out the ‘recruiting ranking’. Just stop already. This ranking means shit. We underperform more than overachieve. Staee beat us last year on top of it.
April 26th, 2021 at 10:48 PM ^
Some of you pathetic mfrs are miserable. Shaking in your boots over MSU football. Yikes.
April 26th, 2021 at 10:58 PM ^
The team that embarrassed Michigan last year w/ half a competent roster?
April 26th, 2021 at 11:08 PM ^
But they had that stud QB who we will see again this season, but in September.
April 26th, 2021 at 11:17 PM ^
Yes. The same team that Michigan actually embarrassed the last time both teams played a full schedule and didn’t cancel a bunch of games (a nearly 5 touchdown win over a bowl eligible team, not a 3 point victory over a 2-4 team). Unless you are using last season as your only point of reference, which the answer is still yes, it is funny to see everyone worried about MSU because they think last season and only last season is a good barometer of future success for both Michigan and MSU
April 26th, 2021 at 11:33 PM ^
Friendly reminder, harbaugh is 3-3 vs. staee, nothing to pound your chest over.
Friendly reminder, MICHIGAN was 1-6 against State in the 7 years prior to Harbaugh’s arrival.
The year before Harbaugh got here....MSU won 35-11, and finished the season 11-2. While Michigan finished the season 5-7.
Context matters EGJ.
Let's stop pretending MSU has been at Eastern Michigan level, and Michigan had been dominating them until Harbaugh got here.....shall we?
You love mediocrity, especially when we have more talent and a higher paid coaching staff and more financial resources.
I "love mediocrity", because I pointed out that we were being dominated by MSU for 7 years prior to Harbaugh’s arrival? The SAME MSU program that was a perennial top 10 program, and the 2015 BIG representative in the College Football playoff.
You know....the same MSU program that you point to and say (paraphrasing here)...."haha, Harbaugh is only 3-3 vs MSU. LOSER". Yep...mediocrity= completely turning around the narrative between the two programs. Makes sense. Give me a break.
Not winning championships is a bummer, but it's far better than where we were. Right before Harbaugh got here.
The 3 wins = Michigan blowouts
The 3 losses = 1. Fluke dropped punt, which ended up in a touchdown for MSU, in a game that Michigan dominated. That same MSU team went to the playoffs, that year. 2. 5 turnovers, in pouring rain, with what ended up being our 3rd string QB, in his first start. 4 point loss, when the potential winning TD pass was dropped, in the last few seconds. 3. A three point loss in a freak half season, that didn't have a Spring Practice, and the roster situation was crazy for everyone.
Yeah....pointing out that we went from being MSU's bitch, back to being the team expecting to win....."mediocrity" at it's finest. ?. You make me laugh. Seriously.
Excuses are for losers. We're 3-3, and we did not dominate the dropped punt game buddy...I was there. MSU outgained us by 150 yards, and had double the number of first downs.
April 27th, 2021 at 10:12 AM ^
"With Michigan needing to do no more than get off a punt with 10 seconds left and then defend one play to wrap up a 23-21 win, disaster struck.
Instead, Michigan State is now 7-0, 3-0 in the Big Ten — somehow, some way — despite never leading Saturday until the final horn."
Hmmmm....."despite never leading until the final horn" is being dominated. Are we gonna play the who "won the yardage battle" on every game, or just the ones that fit your narrative, because that probably won't work out the way you think it will? Like I said....Michigan dominated that game, and lost on pure misfortune. Simple as that.
April 27th, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^
To be fair, if you are going to bring up excuses for our close losses, do the same for all of our close wins like the Rutgers OT game.
April 27th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
You mean the same exact team that dominated MSU the week before we lost to MSU? You mean the team that beat Purdue and Maryland? You mean the team that we outscored as soon as we replaced our injured QB with another one?
What about them?
April 27th, 2021 at 11:07 AM ^
Being up by two late in a game where you have been outgained is not dominating another team. The game came down the to last play and we blew it.
April 27th, 2021 at 11:34 AM ^
9:25 in the fourth quarter. Michigan was up by 9, and had never trailed during any point of the game.
That's dominating the game.
Especially when we are talking about college kids and psychology is involved. MSU had won 6 out of the last 7 games, and won by 24 points the previous year. MSU was 11-2, while Michigan was 5-7 the previous year. MSU was the #7 ranked team going into that game. You don't think that was in the heads of those kids? Of course it did.
Michigan wasn't used to winning ANYTHING, for a long time. MOST of the kids on that team had no experience of winning, their entire history on the team.
Yes, Blake O'Neil made a pressure mistake, but to sit here and use that loss as some sort of "mark against" Harbaugh’s tenure is just silly.
Like I said....arguing Harbaugh’s "success" or "failure" as the Michigan head coach is one thing. People are entitled to their opinions, either way. However, to spit out nonsense like people such as EGJ keeps doing is ridiculous.
People like EGJ like to pretend that everything was awesome from 98 to Harbaugh’s arrival. It wasn't. Putting things into perspective is warranted.