Steady Droppin Dimes Podcast - Sam Webb featuring Will Johnson
Great listen and features Devin G as well. This is episode 13. In the interview portion with All-Big Ten First Team CB1 Will Johnson, notice what Will says was the main motivation of a certain Ohio State player / defender who chose between Ohio state and Michigan as a transfer portal prospect this past summer. WJ was his primary on campus host, in fact.
"The bag".
Will simply recounts what this player himself gestures towards Will when asked why he's not celebrating with blue in the closing seconds of "The Game" on Saturday.
Money over team culture and apparently money over a chance to develop in an NFL level system / staff. It sure shows up on film. Very glad U-M is seeking the right mix of talent and culture / desire right now in recruiting and also transfer portal scouting. I'd like every player to get paid but give me dogs over mercenaries every time.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Ipe9AT587qI?si=miiik9gEP7_1kZxw
November 29th, 2023 at 11:46 PM ^
Shouldn’t be shocked by Igbinosun going that route. He started at Bag Dropping U with Ole Miss, won nothing there, then essentially wanted to do the same thing in a bigger stadium and with a slightly higher ranked team.
November 30th, 2023 at 7:11 AM ^
And still acquire the same results…losing to rivals and not going anywhere major in CFB
November 29th, 2023 at 11:49 PM ^
Funny how cheap your soul can be.
Well their dance instructor is unique.
November 29th, 2023 at 11:56 PM ^
Day did publicly ask for $13 mil for NIL.
November 30th, 2023 at 7:53 AM ^
Wasn’t that before the ‘22 season kicked off? And, IIRC - that was just to take care of the players already on the team.
Not sure how much money he wanted for “new talent acquisition”.
November 29th, 2023 at 11:56 PM ^
Keegan talked about the team playing for each other versus some of the other behaviors in college football. He mentioned selfish behavior and NIL money specifically. It's early in Jansen's podcast if you want to catch it. Playing for each other is a common theme with Michigan Football.
https://mgoblue.com/podcasts/in-the-trenches-402-trevor-keegan/120
November 30th, 2023 at 12:03 AM ^
It's not like coming to Michigan means a vow of poverty. Players can do well here with $$$.
November 30th, 2023 at 12:09 AM ^
While I'm not in the habit of defending OSU, I'm not sure it's fair to conclude that they have a "money over team" culture. You don't build a team of OSU's quality with guys who are just in it for themselves.
November 30th, 2023 at 12:18 AM ^
You underestimate the talent level of the guys they bring in. Eleven self-interested elite athletes will accomplish a lot
Just not as much as eleven slightly less elite athletes who play for each other
November 30th, 2023 at 2:01 AM ^
You absolutely nailed it.
Money can buy a lot of things, but it can never buy selfless team culture.
In my opinion, it’s crystal clear that what Ohio is buying is a veneer that appeals to lots of top-talent lower-character players who don’t want to “play school” and are enamored by the prospect of feeling like they’ve made it in an NFL-ish way…but the vast majority of their players are way too fucking entitled and don’t have the desire to work nearly hard enough for a true NFL career reality.
Take what Blake Corum said about how OSU players are trying to make sure they’re decked out 24/7. They’re trying to live like they’re already in the NFL.
On the flip side, you have the hungriest ‘blue collar’ mentality at M, working hard day in day out, and playing for a program/staff that is laser focused on building The Team and ACTUAL player development for real NFL careers.
OSU made their bed (appealing to instant gratification with fools gold vs delayed gratification with pure gold) and slowly but surely they’re having to sleep in it (3 straight losses and counting).
I think it’s going to be a slow but consistent/steady decline at OSU until someone else with truly elite HC skills can come in and reset everything.
They either need:
- (A) a coach who can wield that cheap veneer culture JUST right to produce wins despite the rampant self-interest of almost every player on their roster
- or
- (B) a coach who completely uproots that shit culture and essentially rebuilds from the ground up what Harbaugh has been building at Michigan for years and years now (we’re now reaping the sweet sweet fruits of what he’s sown)
I don’t think they have remotely the patience required to endure a true and proper rebuild, even though in the end that would far, FAR out-produce the “shortcut” cheap route they continually choose.
On top of all that, I’m not even sure there’s a HC out there with full-rebuild ability and the desire/interest to personally endure all the shit and whining that fanbase would pile on until they could see the light of day. If that HC exists, he’d have to be an idiot to not see that shit-storm coming…which is an extremely risky career bet even if that hypothetical HC has literally everything OSU could ever want (because again, do they really have the actual patience to see that through?).
So, they’re very, very likely stuck with trying to find HC coach option (A), they’re next Urban Meyer…which absolutely delights me because, as you said: “Eleven self-interested elite athletes will accomplish a lot. Just not as much as eleven slightly less elite athletes who play for each other”.
I’m just utterly giddy at the decades long predicament they put themselves in here. Should be a fun decade PLUS for M football- even longer if we can lock Harbaugh down FOR LIFE! :)
November 30th, 2023 at 9:00 AM ^
They should hire Deion. That'd be awesome for them and fun for us to keep beating them.
November 30th, 2023 at 6:33 AM ^
Yes, and this makes what Harbaugh has accomplished all the more impressive. I'm not sure it can be replicated in the age of "NIL"...AND social media driven outrage.
November 30th, 2023 at 4:04 AM ^
OSU is the NFLs daycare. Just look at Marv when Will picks him off, doesnt even try.
November 30th, 2023 at 5:37 AM ^
Man good point, I noticed that too. He gave up immediately
November 30th, 2023 at 6:36 AM ^
And his body language was awful....just resignation. Three years of getting that ass whipped and still so little fire on that team. But they are "tougher", "worked out harder" and boy can they dance.
November 30th, 2023 at 7:00 AM ^
I thought MHJs effort all game was lacking. Yeah he'll catch anything in his catch radius but the Will Johnson interception he doesnt even try to tackle. On the Rod Moore INT, MHJ doesnt even make an effort to dive for the ball because its out of his radius. Dude either didnt care about the game or was in 'business decision' mode already
November 30th, 2023 at 5:55 AM ^
texas a & m has entered the chat
ohio doesn't have that problem as severely as aTm does, but ohio has it nevertheless
November 30th, 2023 at 8:19 AM ^
You absolutely can. The amount of raw talent at their disposal compared to 10ish teams on their schedule each year means they can easily have sub-optimal culture and churn out 10/11 win seasons.
November 30th, 2023 at 8:17 AM ^
Wolverine Dogs 4 Life?
November 30th, 2023 at 8:58 AM ^
The Stephen A thing is incredible.
November 30th, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
It’s one thing to pay the players and have them be compensated accordingly for playing the game and making the schools, conferences and tv big $$$. It’s altogether a different thing when players are essentially demanding bags of cash to come “play” for a school. In the first example you will find the high character guys who end up playing for a team. In the second you find the guys who play for themselves first and won’t mesh well with a team mentality.
Considering guys like Olu, Nugent, Henderson and Stewart that Michigan has gotten recently, I’ll continue to trust this staff to pick up transfers out of the portal whose presence makes the sum total of the team greater than its parts.
November 30th, 2023 at 3:12 PM ^
This has been well documented. OSU pays up front for 5* recruits. Michigan pays for their upperclassmen to stay another year.