Totally not Calipari rated, but didn't want to make an entire other CC thread for a guy I know nothing about, but is Dana Altman, HC at Oregon, worth looking at?
Deboer took Morgan to Alabama with him so that's, in all likely hood, not happening, but I believe the name floated for the job is Derek Hoodjer, Assistant AD for Player Personnel at Iowa State. The more I look at him, the more I like him for the job.
I think the GM is just the point guy for our "front office" similar to the NFL model and there will be multiple specifically individuals (i.e. Director of Player Personnel, Director of Recruiting, and hypothetically a Director of NIL Management) who would report to the GM. So, the GM can be Sherrone's Robin, per our old ball coach, and Batman can focus on football.
Another tidbit from the free part of the paywalled content is the potential of Wink bringing Drew Wilkins with him. Sam seems to posit that he will be working LBs, but his experience seems to be more with the Edge/DL so that might be worth looking at.
Drew also seems to have a younger brother, Kevin, who seems to have followed him from the Ravens to his stint with the Giants. With no other frame of reference I'm good with two younger coaches/staffers from the Ravens tree.
I think Harbaugh picking Zinter was perfect. How many times was "health and safety of players" mentioned and parroted by Pettiti as a reason Michigan had to be punished? And yet, if I recall correctly, the only person who had to be carted off a field during a Michigan game this year on either side, especially since MSU, was Zinter.
Zinter getting that trophy was a giant F YOU to Petitti's BS "healthy and safety" argument. The fact he had to hand it off to a seriously injured player whose health and safety he patently ignored when Michigan PROVED OSU had their signs in the past, should be a moment Pettiti should never forget during his hopefully short, miserable stint as Big Ten Commissioner, but that's just my opinion.
The DB coach for Georgia, Fran Brown, just got hired to Syracuse's football coach, with no coordinator experience and at a similar age to Hart (41 to 37). I think there is enough equivalence between level of program and experience (especially given Hart's previous time at Indiana as an Associate Head Coach), to say it was reasonable for Hart to be taken seriously as a HC candidate, and in interviews he's expressed as much.
That said, I think there's one big difference between Indiana and Syracuse and that's $$$ from the TV contract, so, for that reason, the calculus may change. For what it's worth, I think Cignetti is a great hire though.
Our defense won't be incredibly new given the fact we've been able to give so much playing time to the backups this season, and we have a number of good to incredible Sophomores at all three levels of the defense including the following:
Mason Graham
Kenneth Grant
Will Johnson
Derrick Moore
Ernest Hausmann
Keon Sabb
Make no mistake our depth and overall talent is going to take a hit, but those pieces are currently among the most talented defensive players on the rosters now, and the makings of a good to potentially great defense, though maybe not elite like this year.
I think the combination of Indiana having a bye week, switching offensive coordinators, and switching quarterbacks made the defense a bit tentative, but once they realized it was still Indiana they stuffed them in a box like they should! Great job D!
Seeing a 320 lb man with a rosy cheeked 12 year-olds face jumping horizontally at you like a blood thursty bonobo with a weapon of war for a hand has to be one of the most terrifying things a person can experience. I feel bad for Kaliakmanis
Nkamhoua even outpaced NBA All-Star Lauri Markkanen on his team who had a rough outing going 3-11 from the floor (0-6 from 3).
Based off of this one game sample size and absolutely no context outside of looking at the Box Score it seems like we have an NBA All-Star on our hands fellas!
Man is tipping the scales at 6'3" 247 (+12) this year, if he keeps his speed and agility, everyone in the stadium is going to hear the carnage when lays waste to some unlucky sole this fall.
His biggest knock is long wind-up, which is a mechanics issue that he's noted is actively working to address, I think earlier this off-season he was spotted with JJ out in California putting in work on this very thing. Either way totally over blown.
When there was actually some semblance of defense in the 7-on-7 portion he tore it up. That's not the be-all and end-all as I think CJ Stroud is a great 7-on-7 QB, but no leader of men.
The kid has a live enough throw to make all of the throws, is mobile enough to avoid pressure and pick up yards when they're there, can diagnose defenses extremely well, is humble and determined enough to put the work in to improve, and seems like he can be a great leader.
All-in-all has the makings of a championship QB, looking forward to seeing what he can do.
Not a terrible idea, but granting your premise of adding schools from Canada being a good idea I would rank University of Toronto and University of British Colombia (Santa's last school) ahead of McGill. All schools have playing football for 100+ years, but Toronto and UBC are bigger (Toronto has an enrollment of 70,000!) are comparable academically, and have better football programs (marginally in Toronto's case).
Strictly looking at quarterbacks we'll potentially be facing next year based on 247 composite:
OSU: #6 QB 2021 - Kyle McCord OR #6 QB 2022 - Devin Brown
PSU: #4 QB 2022 - Drew Allar
Texas: #1 QB 2023 Class - Arch Manning
UCLA: #3 QB 2023 Class - Dante Moore
USC: #5 QB 2023 Class - Malachi Nelson
Of course QB rankings aren't gospel but OSU could have the 6th lowest ranked QB on our schedule in 2024, let that sink in. With all the turnover we're expected on the roster, and potentially with the coaching staff according to Harbaugh buckle up boys, could be a bumpy ride.
Just imagine if we still had Don Brown as DC still?? On second thought don't! For love of all that is good and beautiful DON'T!
I see this as a completely attainable statline for JJ, especially over a 15 game, natty winning season.
The mere fact, he's going to year two as a starter, with a spring under his belt, having been able to build that rapport with the guys he knows he's going throw to on Saturdays makes throwing 245 and 2 TD's a game a more than reasonable bar to reach.
I think I read somewhere that Michigan isn't really sold on him as an edge rusher, and when I've looked at the film compared to a Brian Robinson or Darrien Mayo, both of whom I think Michigan likes and are good spots for, the explosiveness and bend are noticeably different.
If Michigan were to take I think it would be more on the interior, but I'm not sure if his frame could carry another 50lbs as well as a Kris Jenkins or whether he would be willing to do that, unless Michigan inexplicably misses on their other edge targets.
Testing Hypotheses on Recruiting, Part I: The Data and Some Graphs
Your words ooze my love languages of Hypothesis Testing, Recruiting, and Data Analysis, I await your next installment upon bated breath you beautiful Blue@LSU you.
In all seriousness, I really appreciate you putting this together even though have a job. Among the various topics to explore, I wonder if this exercise might shed some light on a dichotomy between inherent biases within the recruit ranking industry and the development programs such as Iowa who ranks 8th in number of active NFL players, but often ranks in the 30s or 40s in recruiting rankings. That is to say, I wonder where the medium lies between recruiting rankings under ratings kids due to geography and some programs being especially good at developing kids for the next level.
1. He's apparently visited Tennessee like 8 or 9 times, but considering there's like 0 buzz around them, I think we're safe there
2. Considering the fact the recruitment is not all about the $$$, it's very unlikely there will be a coaching change any time soon, the fact that he's already recruiting for Michigan, and his demeanor, if he commits he will be a leader for the class day one through signing day.
I have a potentially unpopular opinion, but may do the a decent job of continuity and a more proven commodity at the HC.
Say we hire an external candidate (preference for Aranda, Fickell, maybe a Fleck ,Kiffin or a high profile NFL coordinator like a Bienemy)
Then make on the grounds that this occurs:
Hart - OC
Gattis - WR coach/pass game coordinator (optional)
Moore - OL coach/ run game coordinator
Clinkscale - DC
Elston - co-DC/run game coordinator
Bellamy - Defensive Backs
This is asking a lot of any new head coach as they usually already have at least an OC or DC that they want to bring with them, but I think it may work in balancing both worlds at least in this transition year, and sell it to the new HC as such; after year 1, they have complete control of their staff decisions.
Gattis is a bit of an odd man out here (being demoted), and if he wants to walk so be it, but I have not been impressed with him so far, and don't think he's ready to be a HC at a big program yet. His first two years he was trying to be "innovative and new," with the "speed in space" tag line, before largely reverting to a Harbaugh offense, and I believe Hart was in no small part to thank for the success of the run game. Hart is the ascending coach, not Gattis, and I think it would be better to put the investment in the former rather than the latter.
I'm assuming Jay Harbaugh, Weiss, and Helow are all gone, but we'll see
Valid point raised, but could a not a forum be had? Some representative contingent from the fall sports players for a modicum of time?
I agree that the athletic director should be far and away the one addressing the concerns of the athletes; it is his job and usually he is the one making the decisions. But it was the university president who made the decision in this circumstance. It very well may have been that the Warde worked in tandem with the president on this decision and acted as a representative voice for the players and coaches, as he does seem to be supporting it, but the decision making process seemed veiled in a situation that desperately desires transparency.
I agree with your case in a general since. But these are rather extraordinary circumstances do you not think?
I agree that all other teams are important, but which one is making the headlines? Which one has its coach as the highest paid public employee in your school and state?
As I stated previously, I do not agree with the kid's argumentation completely. But with all things, especially in the Big Ten, being an optics game nowadays, and the voice of the voiceless downtrodden being one of the main narratives of the year (in this case the football players who have significant argument towards compensation, yet remain "amateurs"), it would have been optically beneficial (whether changing the needle one way or not) to have a transparent discussion prior to making such a decision.
Whether President Schlissel made the correct decision is another matter and point of discussion, which has been quite extensively on this blog.
"It’s even more disappointing that the @uofmichigan president did not come speak to our team or even explain his decision making process. Not surprising since I’ve never seen him in the facility in my 4+ years here."
By Tyler Cochran, a walk on at Michigan who left 1 credit in order to play one more season at the institution he loved. I do not necessarily agree with everything he says, but his sentiment is poignant (full post below):
Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, UNC, Virginia, and Notre Dame from the ACC are all on same tier as the schools you listed, so cherry picking makes a moot point.
If we are concerned about the kids then why let them go back to school at all? Especially the high potential of outbreak which results from kids traveling on flying petri dishes from all over the country and world with no hope of restricting all of their interactions, unless we take a page out of China's play book?
But what about the possibility of myocarditis? This could also result from the seasonal flu, and certainly did result from H1N1, but I don't remember anyone running for their doomsday bunkers, as it is treatable if not allowed to fester:
It does not seem as though we will have a football season, but I was impressed by what Harbaugh was doing with the program, and did believe he could lead the team through this. Issue of financial liability does seem to be the biggest factor here, nevertheless I am still confused.
Recent Comments
TCU being tied with Bama and Georgia and ahead of Ohio State is crazy!
Full Press Conference for those interested:
Courtesy of WWMT-TV
Totally not Calipari rated, but didn't want to make an entire other CC thread for a guy I know nothing about, but is Dana Altman, HC at Oregon, worth looking at?
Deboer took Morgan to Alabama with him so that's, in all likely hood, not happening, but I believe the name floated for the job is Derek Hoodjer, Assistant AD for Player Personnel at Iowa State. The more I look at him, the more I like him for the job.
I think the GM is just the point guy for our "front office" similar to the NFL model and there will be multiple specifically individuals (i.e. Director of Player Personnel, Director of Recruiting, and hypothetically a Director of NIL Management) who would report to the GM. So, the GM can be Sherrone's Robin, per our old ball coach, and Batman can focus on football.
Another tidbit from the free part of the paywalled content is the potential of Wink bringing Drew Wilkins with him. Sam seems to posit that he will be working LBs, but his experience seems to be more with the Edge/DL so that might be worth looking at.
Drew also seems to have a younger brother, Kevin, who seems to have followed him from the Ravens to his stint with the Giants. With no other frame of reference I'm good with two younger coaches/staffers from the Ravens tree.
I vote, for the sake of everyone on this blog, Seth included, that basketball articles be replaced by wrestling for the remainder of the season!
Can't find a clip of it but FOX was predicting
1. Michigan
2. Washington
3. Texas
4. Alabama
with FSU out, after our game. We'll see
I think Harbaugh picking Zinter was perfect. How many times was "health and safety of players" mentioned and parroted by Pettiti as a reason Michigan had to be punished? And yet, if I recall correctly, the only person who had to be carted off a field during a Michigan game this year on either side, especially since MSU, was Zinter.
Zinter getting that trophy was a giant F YOU to Petitti's BS "healthy and safety" argument. The fact he had to hand it off to a seriously injured player whose health and safety he patently ignored when Michigan PROVED OSU had their signs in the past, should be a moment Pettiti should never forget during his hopefully short, miserable stint as Big Ten Commissioner, but that's just my opinion.
The DB coach for Georgia, Fran Brown, just got hired to Syracuse's football coach, with no coordinator experience and at a similar age to Hart (41 to 37). I think there is enough equivalence between level of program and experience (especially given Hart's previous time at Indiana as an Associate Head Coach), to say it was reasonable for Hart to be taken seriously as a HC candidate, and in interviews he's expressed as much.
That said, I think there's one big difference between Indiana and Syracuse and that's $$$ from the TV contract, so, for that reason, the calculus may change. For what it's worth, I think Cignetti is a great hire though.
Our defense won't be incredibly new given the fact we've been able to give so much playing time to the backups this season, and we have a number of good to incredible Sophomores at all three levels of the defense including the following:
Make no mistake our depth and overall talent is going to take a hit, but those pieces are currently among the most talented defensive players on the rosters now, and the makings of a good to potentially great defense, though maybe not elite like this year.
I think the combination of Indiana having a bye week, switching offensive coordinators, and switching quarterbacks made the defense a bit tentative, but once they realized it was still Indiana they stuffed them in a box like they should! Great job D!
Very True. Michigan currently ranks as the second slowest team on offense in the country only behind Air Force, and we're still destroying teams.
If we ran an average amount of plays (approx. 70, vs the 60 we run now), that would extrapolate to tied with Georgia at 15.
Seeing a 320 lb man with a rosy cheeked 12 year-olds face jumping horizontally at you like a blood thursty bonobo with a weapon of war for a hand has to be one of the most terrifying things a person can experience. I feel bad for Kaliakmanis
Nkamhoua even outpaced NBA All-Star Lauri Markkanen on his team who had a rough outing going 3-11 from the floor (0-6 from 3).
Based off of this one game sample size and absolutely no context outside of looking at the Box Score it seems like we have an NBA All-Star on our hands fellas!
Man is tipping the scales at 6'3" 247 (+12) this year, if he keeps his speed and agility, everyone in the stadium is going to hear the carnage when lays waste to some unlucky sole this fall.
Living behind enemy lines, I've found that many of the major football conferences in Ohio have their own websites where they have stats.
Scrounged these, kid is definitely getting to the quarterback.
His biggest knock is long wind-up, which is a mechanics issue that he's noted is actively working to address, I think earlier this off-season he was spotted with JJ out in California putting in work on this very thing. Either way totally over blown.
When there was actually some semblance of defense in the 7-on-7 portion he tore it up. That's not the be-all and end-all as I think CJ Stroud is a great 7-on-7 QB, but no leader of men.
The kid has a live enough throw to make all of the throws, is mobile enough to avoid pressure and pick up yards when they're there, can diagnose defenses extremely well, is humble and determined enough to put the work in to improve, and seems like he can be a great leader.
All-in-all has the makings of a championship QB, looking forward to seeing what he can do.
Not a terrible idea, but granting your premise of adding schools from Canada being a good idea I would rank University of Toronto and University of British Colombia (Santa's last school) ahead of McGill. All schools have playing football for 100+ years, but Toronto and UBC are bigger (Toronto has an enrollment of 70,000!) are comparable academically, and have better football programs (marginally in Toronto's case).
The latter, but may the jokes and memes continue! NIL commercial idea: "Can you be Wafle of Waffles? Not when you're a Michigan DT at Waffle House."
Strictly looking at quarterbacks we'll potentially be facing next year based on 247 composite:
Of course QB rankings aren't gospel but OSU could have the 6th lowest ranked QB on our schedule in 2024, let that sink in. With all the turnover we're expected on the roster, and potentially with the coaching staff according to Harbaugh buckle up boys, could be a bumpy ride.
Just imagine if we still had Don Brown as DC still?? On second thought don't! For love of all that is good and beautiful DON'T!
Nah, we all know that's Iowa where they are worshipped as gods.
I see this as a completely attainable statline for JJ, especially over a 15 game, natty winning season.
The mere fact, he's going to year two as a starter, with a spring under his belt, having been able to build that rapport with the guys he knows he's going throw to on Saturdays makes throwing 245 and 2 TD's a game a more than reasonable bar to reach.
Can anyone tell me why Quinn Ewers is getting mocked so high in all of these drafts other than leftover hype from being an all-world recruit?
From what I could tell, outside of a few bright moments of NFL upside last year, he was mostly booty cheeks and Bijan carried the team.
Is this mostly projection based on him potentially putting it together next year?
Chaos trading mock draft
ADAM FANTILI!!!
CASEY!!! Just skated through that entire team!!
I think I read somewhere that Michigan isn't really sold on him as an edge rusher, and when I've looked at the film compared to a Brian Robinson or Darrien Mayo, both of whom I think Michigan likes and are good spots for, the explosiveness and bend are noticeably different.
If Michigan were to take I think it would be more on the interior, but I'm not sure if his frame could carry another 50lbs as well as a Kris Jenkins or whether he would be willing to do that, unless Michigan inexplicably misses on their other edge targets.
Testing…
You had me at
Your words ooze my love languages of Hypothesis Testing, Recruiting, and Data Analysis, I await your next installment upon bated breath you beautiful Blue@LSU you.
In all seriousness, I really appreciate you putting this together even though have a job. Among the various topics to explore, I wonder if this exercise might shed some light on a dichotomy between inherent biases within the recruit ranking industry and the development programs such as Iowa who ranks 8th in number of active NFL players, but often ranks in the 30s or 40s in recruiting rankings. That is to say, I wonder where the medium lies between recruiting rankings under ratings kids due to geography and some programs being especially good at developing kids for the next level.
1. He's apparently visited Tennessee like 8 or 9 times, but considering there's like 0 buzz around them, I think we're safe there
2. Considering the fact the recruitment is not all about the $$$, it's very unlikely there will be a coaching change any time soon, the fact that he's already recruiting for Michigan, and his demeanor, if he commits he will be a leader for the class day one through signing day.
Risk 1.0 Bot
(Double post)
Anybody willing to try to get the new coach at Akron (Joe Moorhead)?
I have a potentially unpopular opinion, but may do the a decent job of continuity and a more proven commodity at the HC.
Say we hire an external candidate (preference for Aranda, Fickell, maybe a Fleck ,Kiffin or a high profile NFL coordinator like a Bienemy)
Then make on the grounds that this occurs:
Hart - OC
Gattis - WR coach/pass game coordinator (optional)
Moore - OL coach/ run game coordinator
Clinkscale - DC
Elston - co-DC/run game coordinator
Bellamy - Defensive Backs
This is asking a lot of any new head coach as they usually already have at least an OC or DC that they want to bring with them, but I think it may work in balancing both worlds at least in this transition year, and sell it to the new HC as such; after year 1, they have complete control of their staff decisions.
Gattis is a bit of an odd man out here (being demoted), and if he wants to walk so be it, but I have not been impressed with him so far, and don't think he's ready to be a HC at a big program yet. His first two years he was trying to be "innovative and new," with the "speed in space" tag line, before largely reverting to a Harbaugh offense, and I believe Hart was in no small part to thank for the success of the run game. Hart is the ascending coach, not Gattis, and I think it would be better to put the investment in the former rather than the latter.
I'm assuming Jay Harbaugh, Weiss, and Helow are all gone, but we'll see
I've got it! Instant CoViD protection facemask:
Valid point raised, but could a not a forum be had? Some representative contingent from the fall sports players for a modicum of time?
I agree that the athletic director should be far and away the one addressing the concerns of the athletes; it is his job and usually he is the one making the decisions. But it was the university president who made the decision in this circumstance. It very well may have been that the Warde worked in tandem with the president on this decision and acted as a representative voice for the players and coaches, as he does seem to be supporting it, but the decision making process seemed veiled in a situation that desperately desires transparency.
I agree with your case in a general since. But these are rather extraordinary circumstances do you not think?
I agree that all other teams are important, but which one is making the headlines? Which one has its coach as the highest paid public employee in your school and state?
As I stated previously, I do not agree with the kid's argumentation completely. But with all things, especially in the Big Ten, being an optics game nowadays, and the voice of the voiceless downtrodden being one of the main narratives of the year (in this case the football players who have significant argument towards compensation, yet remain "amateurs"), it would have been optically beneficial (whether changing the needle one way or not) to have a transparent discussion prior to making such a decision.
Whether President Schlissel made the correct decision is another matter and point of discussion, which has been quite extensively on this blog.
I do not appreciate this form of leadership:
By Tyler Cochran, a walk on at Michigan who left 1 credit in order to play one more season at the institution he loved. I do not necessarily agree with everything he says, but his sentiment is poignant (full post below):
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDw3CNXlHww/?utm_source=ig_embed
Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, UNC, Virginia, and Notre Dame from the ACC are all on same tier as the schools you listed, so cherry picking makes a moot point.
If we…
Legitimately curious:
If we are concerned about the kids then why let them go back to school at all? Especially the high potential of outbreak which results from kids traveling on flying petri dishes from all over the country and world with no hope of restricting all of their interactions, unless we take a page out of China's play book?
But what about the possibility of myocarditis? This could also result from the seasonal flu, and certainly did result from H1N1, but I don't remember anyone running for their doomsday bunkers, as it is treatable if not allowed to fester:
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/irt/2012/351979/
What if we wait for a vaccine? There could be long term effects from vaccines as well, we are still learning about such things from H1N1:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/history/narcolepsy-flu.html
It does not seem as though we will have a football season, but I was impressed by what Harbaugh was doing with the program, and did believe he could lead the team through this. Issue of financial liability does seem to be the biggest factor here, nevertheless I am still confused.