Stunning in a great way to see Zavier still kicking around in the pros. 6 foot nothing with bad shooting is more or less a death sentence in the pros and while he's never broken in full time, he's hung around a very commendable amount of time.
Having a truly unique bag is a piece of it. The sky hook is a weapon that gives him an option rarely seen in today's NBA, and it was first showcased at Michigan. Everyone spends a lot of time waiting to see if consistent shooting can develop for many young players, but sometimes it never comes around. Simpson was able to develop something else to keep himself competitive. Very cool to see him highlighted here.
To his credit, he managed to stay at ASU for two straight years. Longest he's stuck around at one location since his Freshman/Sophomore year in high school, as he's been on the move constantly since.
On a more serious note, it just looks like he never developed the efficiency needed to be a viable player for a serious team. ASU scuffled with him as their lead player, and his already bleh efficiency took another backwards step when his usage increased this season. Combo that with his shot never coming around (terrible FT% and poor from 3) and he's on the move again, I'm guessing as a down transfer barring something that I'm missing.
Michigan definitely had a bunch of roster management blunders in the late Howard era, but this turned out to be one of the less destructive ones, at least from a what the player turned into standpoint. Obviously I'm skeptical of his career choices, but no need for sour grapes, best wishes towards a kid who's figuring things out.
I could totally believe that Tom Brady didn't have the perfect time at Michigan given what it took for him to earn the full time starting nob against the ultra hyped underclassman Drew Henson. The Brady Six documentary mentions that Brady had thought about transferring at some point when Griese was head of him and perhaps in a transfer portal era, that very well could have happened.
That being said, I think the Brady Six doc also underlined how this tenuous position at Michigan sharpened him, giving him a "I gotta earn it every single day in practice" mentality that defined him in the pros, from usurping Bledsoe after "The Hit", through the peak Patriots dynasty and then finally the Tampa Bay years, where his work ethic notably inspired his teammates to keep up and reach his bar of excellence. That chip on his shoulder was, if not established at Michigan, very much defined here.
And for what it's worth, Brady at a minimum seems good with his alma matter. He wouldn't be instilling one of his sons Michigan spirit otherwise (US Today fluff piece, 247 fluff piece if you're less into celebrity tabloid sites), doing the aformentioned return as an honorary captain, or ribbing winless against Michigan OSU alumni CJ Stroud without at least a little fondness. If he does have mixed feelings about his time at Michigan, he seems to have put enough of it behind him to embrace the school where he can.
At least that's what I'm choosing to believe. In an era where Michigan football was often a source of pain within my family, Tom Brady's success in the pros gave my alumni dad something to root for in those dour Rich Rod/Hoke years, and even the early "couldn't get past the hump" Harbaugh seasons. So sure I'll let my nostalgia tint things here, regardless of what one Patriots centered documentary puts forward.
Also a dude who made a cameo in my personal favorite Neck Sharpies where Seth breaks down the Ravens ameoba the year before it was installed by MacDonald.
He's was one of those oversized edge attackers. Would love to pick him up if he's a rising name in coaching, imagine him mentoring Derrick Moore or Enow Etta.
I think even before Wink came up as a potential D-Coordinator candidate, this is an article worth looking back on, particularly since the structure (though perhaps not the tactics) both won the College Football championship under Minter, and became flavor of the month in the NFL under MacDonald. Much like how there was a point where the Fangio defense took the NFL by storm in the early 2020s, we're seeing the multiple amoeba style defenses at the forefront now.
I think there are a few key differences the way that Minter/MacDonald run the scheme versus how it's portrayed in the article/how Wink runs, the main one that being in the coverage/blitz balance. As noted by the MGoBlog crew many times this year, the Ms were deathly prepped for Ohio State, often to the detriment of their non-OSU opponents, essentially playing a 2 high shell constantly prepping for the Ohio State attack. Meanwhile, Wink continued his heavy blitz style in New York, earn praise when it worked (2022 Giants playoff run) and jeers when it didn't (2023 Giants fizzling).
The equalizing factor is that both Wink and the Michigan duo did this at the cost of their run support, where they relied on fitting to the run. While this was the Giants achillies heel last season, the fact that Minter had Jenkins, the "Gifts from the Gods" duo and depth beyond that let him get away with an extra zone defender and then some. Presuming Michigan retains their defensive talent, Wink should have the free reign to get away with some of his crazier stuff, albeit that margin will likely tighten significantly against competition like OSU.
I think I would be okay with Wink as a D-coodinator for Michigan, so long as he's willing to make some context based adjustments for Michigan's situation. He's an incredibly accomplished defensive mind having started the base form of the amoeba defense, is usually the better half of his teams (Ravens fans thought Greg Roman was the issue in Baltimore and he bore the yoke of the Giants putrid offense last year in particular), and players do tend to really like him.
Where my concern would lie with him comes in the details that he'll be tasked with handling. It's true there is some Don Brown in him that he is blitz heavy in his gameplans and uses man to cover that, something that OSU have proven the ability to dominate. His falling out with Daboll is also quite concerning considering Daboll had accused him and his right hand man (the same linebackers coach he's looking to bring to Michigan) of attempting a team mutiny last year due to his popularity with the defensive side of the ball. Whether that's Daboll being a jerk (which there's evidence of as well) or on Wink, who had a good reputation in Baltimore under John Harbaugh, is unclear.
Bottom line is that if it is Wink, they're bringing a guy who is more familiar with the scheme that is in vogue and successfully brought Michigan glory than anyone else. Whether it will pay off though will depend on how Wink handles adjusting to the college competition (with an eye to the high flying offensive attack of OSU, and maybe taking a page from his predecessors) and whether he's stays in line under with a first time head coach far younger than him. I understand the reservations with bringing him on, but it might just be worth the risk to get someone well versed both the Ravens system and a track record of success (as opposed to overpromoting a truly unknown Ravens assistant), a rare combo this late in the hiring cycle.
Maybe this is just confirmation bias, but I would assume the current class was made very aware of the circumstances of Harbaugh's potential departure and since Moore is a continuation of the regime they signed on for, so long as he is in, the majority of them are comfortable.
These previous two classes have been underwhelming for a 3 time playoff team for sure, but the fact people aren't racing for the exits immediately (and maybe there is some attrition coming) I think is more of a endorsement of the current staff and the types of players they grab than a negative. Time will tell if recruiting actually improves but at the very least, NFL negative recruiting is off the board.
Your initial point is the biggest difference IMO. I think the clearest recruiting benefit is that the yearly Harbaugh uncertainty is no longer free ammo for opposing coaches to poke at. It was incredible what Harbaugh and his staff were able to achieve via scouting and developmental wins, but the NFL rumors were clearly self sabotage in terms of getting recruits in. No other program in the country had to deal with that because no other program has a coach with genuine NFL success. Saban, Day and Dabo certainly never dealt with it.
We know Sherrone is a zealous recruiter and well regarded by basically everyone. With the NFL cloud lifted things should be smoother. NIL will still be a weak point most likely, but Michigan does well in the other categories on paper.
Moore is a slam dunk to the point it's a non-discussion. The 2nd best part of Harbaugh not getting that Vikings job (outside of y'know, the whole winning it all thing) that everyone seemingly agreed he was locked into, was that that gave them the time to cultivate a worthy successor. Nearly 2 years to the day, I had this comment that aged maybe better than anything I'll ever say in my life (so long as you ignore my suggested successors oops): https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/raiders-are-no-longer-play-daily-harbaugh-…
So it turns to the coordinators/assistants, who are far more interesting to discuss. Obviously the easiest route is to open up the Ravens coaching staff page on their site and start there so Zach Orr sounds great. I'd once again stump for Ryan Osborn as another Ravens adjacent with even deeper Michigan ties for some position on the staff. Interested in seeing where Michigan goes on the offensive side of the ball as well.
Obviously it's a nerve wracking time replacing the head man himself, but the opportunity to continue the culture that Jim built starting in 2021 is very much in play.
Obviously would love to retain Minter, but if he wants a NFL opportunity, he's got the track record and frankly deserves it. Nothing but love for the mastermind of the defense that got the job done.
One name I rarely hear mentioned but who I personally would like to target: Ryan Osborn.
- Michigan DL analyst in 2021, lauded by guys like Ojabo and Hutchinson and others
- Ravens assistant in 2022, so firmly entrenched in the Harbaugh tree and versed in the Ravens style defense
- Charlotte DC in 2023, under Biff Poggi, a fellow known friend and trusted agent. While Charlotte as a whole sputtered as a young program under a new coach, Osborn punched above his weight, managing the 59th best defense in Yards Per Game, and was the better half of the team compared to a bottom of the barrel offense.
If not as the DC (maybe it's too early), I would really love to bring him back in a different full time position, maybe as the linebackers coach since we need one of those and he handled them for Charlotte in his one season. Dunno if he'll see consideration, but definitely a guy worth keeping tabs on IMO.
It was somewhat known that this was a developmental class, and given just how much depth Michigan retained from last year and the fact that more or less every loss was given a veteran transfer to fill in or were on relatively deep positions (Hinton/Henderson for Hayes, Nugent for Olu, Barner for Schoonmaker, Wallace for Turner, even Turner for Moody) it doesn't surprise me that the freshmen play counts are relatively low. There just aren't that many snaps out there for the taking on such a veteran laden roster.
Where Michigan has played freshmen, it's primarily on the roster spots that are trying to cultivate depth. Morgan/Moore have both seen non-garbage play time as Michigan could use some additional guys past the two upperclassmen, and Morris/Clemons have both been banged up. CB depth is also an area that would be great and both Hill (on track to his preseason expectations) and Waller (an unexpected but very pleasant surprise) have both come in late as needed. Hillman as well given safety has been a banged up position this season. It's been nice to see all these guys above in their short stints, and the fact that the staff is giving them time at all foretells good things in their careers.
Those stats are fair, and based on them his actual returns were often lackluster.
I do think there are some intangible return qualities you get from guys who know what to do back there though, just in terms of knowing what/when to field. Maybe there is some touchback data or film that backs that up, but that's more of my gut speaking.
But given that, it's possible a Cabana or J. Hill could add some juice. Making sure to avoid costly errors should be the foremost feature of any return game though and Henning seemed good at that barring some early teething issues.
If he feels he's more of a every down guy (and there were rumblings of that) then he has reason enough to transfer. Special teams return specialist is good, but gadget guys are tough to implement in most offenses. The commonality between him and Jackson is that they were brought with "speed in space" in mind before Gattis took off (pun intended).
That being said, he was strong in his role as a returner and got to score a big one against OSU in the snow, so nothing but best wishes to him!
Big thing I noticed was that Davis Warren and JJ McCarthy are both on the Maize squad, where as Tuttle is on the Blue team.
If you're reading wayyyyy to deep into things (and what else are we going to do in Spring), maybe this means that Tuttle is the QB2 currently? You would think the QB2 would be on the team opposing JJ's.
The issue with hiring young hotshot coaches is that they're inevitably bound for bigger things. He's been a key trainer for NFL guys for a while, so it seems like a logical step to join an NFL staff. Even if his coaching is an unknown since he's only been with MSU for a year, him leaving is a blow to them for sure. The recruiting chops were real, he had MSU reportedly leading for Etta before Michigan pulled him in, among the guys who he actually landed.
Speaking of which, I wonder if this affects their status with their DL recruits in the previous class. 3 of their top recruits were guys who probably chose MSU in large part due to his presence.
Awesome for him. Guy had incredible arm strength, and has presumably always looked awesome in practice to earn starting nods initially but just didn't have the on field play to match. Completion percentage has been the rub on him dating back to high school and it's cool him show vast improvement in that this season, and in this game in particular.
I know his time at Michigan was rocky, but that 2020 season was a big turning point for everything in Michigan football. Given just how poorly that season went basically as soon as the MSU game started, with the one highlight being Cade taking over and frantically coming back against Rutgers, I can't blame him for seeking a transfer. I'm not sure feelings were the best when he left between him and the program but by all accounts, he's been a stand up teammate at Tennessee after losing his job to Hooker.
I think in this case, it's fine to just let bygones be bygones. We've gone our separate ways and each seen success since.
Warning signs were there for Frankie's camp in general. He was constantly transferring high schools and that was pointed out in his profile.
While I'm not going to foot the blame on him directly since he seemed like a good kid in his freshman year, there were some red flags that I think Michigan may have overlooked with the people advising him. Typically Michigan recruits guys who are less mercurial.
I'd like my 100 points for remembering Utah transfer Casey Hughes.
I'm a bit mad that I remember this stuff. Absolutely useless knowledge. While we're doing transfer who dats, do we have a picture of Jaaron Simmons around?
I think an non-spoken part of these numbers right now for OSU and us having very low transfer numbers so far is that we're still in playoff contention, so our seasons still have some real stakes to them. This transfer portal declaration window doesn't close until after the after the championship game, so if there are guys right now planning to transfer but still playing a key role on the team (like say special teams), they may be waiting for afterwards. Might be better to revisit these numbers after the declaration window closes.
When I saw the Erick All tweets my initial thoughts on his "unexpected" reasons were:
1. Michigan's medical staff wasn't comfortable letting him play after back surgery given they've shown to be overly cautious before (Ben St. Juste coming to mind).
2. Him not loving the how the Cade/JJ QB competition was handled, particularly since Iowa seems like his destination as well and Erick and Cade shared a great chemistry in the breakout 2021 season.
3. The NIL situation outlined here.
If it's the NIL stuff like the insiders have suggested, I can't really argue there. All deserves to be paid and if he's got a better deal at a new school, business is business. I wouldn't fault any of my co-workers if they jumped ship for a much better salary as well.
All was a true breakout star at Michigan and will be remembered fondly. For someone advertised as a jumbo WR with his share of standout catches, it was his blocking that stood out as an incredible surprise and really put him over the top. Michigan has found a groove in taking overlooked Ohio guys lately and using that as a chip on the team's shoulder, and All was one of his most memorable. Best of luck to him moving forward.
Also worth noting that Hewlett was just the recipient of a very recent 4 star bump from 247 literally days ago, so his true value could very well be higher than his current rating across the board, since they often don't go far enough with these late cycle bumps.
There's a lot that this staff had to overcome this cycle (much of it self-inflicted and heavily handwrung over already), but their late riser identification and recruiting has been historically on point, and it looks like that's occurring once again in 23 with the latest crystal ball whisperings. Hewlett seems in that vein as a high ceiling flexible rising prospect and I'm hoping for more, especially as we come down the homestretch towards signing day.
Mm, definitely a big change in the Detroit HS scene. Was under the impression relations had thawed a bit for the better since the Dobbs/Barnett days between him and Michigan, but it's for naught now. Michigan got commits from a few but they either were processed out (Woods/Alexander) or transferred away (Seldon). As others mentioned the big fish haven't panned out. *Correction, Woods was a King prospect, not from Belleville, my bad.
Big question in my book is what happens with Bryce Underwood? 2025 QB considered one of the best in his class so far. Not sure how likely that would have been for us regardless with Jadyn looking good right now in 2024, but wondering where this leaves him in general.
Super interesting stuff as always. After a pillow soft start where basically everyone got in for snaps, it looks like that Michigan is largely looking to preserve the majority of the class's redshirts, with the exception of the 9 regulars that have established themselves. To my eye, Pollard is the only major surprise on that list, but I'm presuming he's established himself as a key special teams guy.
The other major standout is Hill-Green still having 0 games logged this season. Crazy how initially the thought was that LB was the one position where we couldn't afford a key injury, and yet he's been held out the entire year thus far. Wondering if at this point if he's still working through his injury (soft-tissue is always lingering) or if he's just being withheld to preserve the redshirt. Regardless, Colson/Barrett/Mullings/Rolder have all held up in his absence (to varying degrees of success based on UFR), so we'll see when his return will be.
Also, one that's not on the list, but is basically a lock: Erick All hasn't redshirted and given he'll be recovering from back surgery, will have this year count as his redshirt year (3 games played). Assuming there's no long term issues, it should leave the door open if he's looking to return to get a full year of game film for NFL scouts next year, though would totally understand if he makes the move to the next level given what he's already managed to show.
Papa also recently got a Crystal Ball to the good guys from a random Indiana insider as well. Seems out of the blue, but the predictor is also has a 100% hit rate thus far, so it's not like he's throwing out picks willy-nilly.
Good news overall on our front, particularly since this comes after the Memphis buzz that kicked off when they hired his AAU coach.
Also the Christian Anderson news is great to hear. With how people are talking about him, every inch he gains is solid gold based on his overseas scouting where it seemed like size was the only knock.
Worth noting that due to his Olympic track aspirations, folks have been talking about him preferring an offensive role in college, as a big wideout/tight end. To play edge, he'd definitely have to put on additional weight, which would likely hurt his sprinting goals.
That being said, Harbor is the type of talent where if he wants to play offense, defense or wherever, he's a no brainer take regardless and you figure out where he fits down the line. Going to be a tough pull, particularly given there are more prestigious track programs looking for his signature as well, but the official visit means there's some serious interest here. Definitely not a recruitment we can count on, but a chance to score a real coup.
Don't know exactly how the rest of alignment shakes out, but I'm not feeling the conference pods you proposed, particularly for football where you'll likely play roughly half of the 20 team conference at most a given season with non-conference scheduling.
East is basically the Penn St zone. UNC are very hit or miss in the ACC as is and the remaining 3 are solidly below average in football.
Meanwhile Central has both Michigan and Ohio St, with MSU/Purdue/Indiana being solidly better than Rutgers/Maryland/Duke at the very least. Michigan/Michigan St are both further North than the likes of Illinois/Northwestern/Iowa.
As much flak as Rutgers gets for being in the Big 10, they at least (theoretically) bring a media market and are fine academically. If we were to kick a school, Nebraska has been a preferred boot, since they lost AAU status, don't bring a media market, have been culturally been a weird fit as basically all of their rivals are in classically Big 12 and have been scattered in places that aren't the Big 10. Obviously we're not contracting, but they're gonna be weird to fit in unless we take in something like Colorado/Kansas, which I would prefer to take more west coast teams. I struggled to place them the most.
With that we could do:
East: OSU, Penn St, Maryland, Rutgers, Pitt (AAU/Penn St Rivalry built in, and the more you look at the pickings, the more you see the Northeast just doesn't have compelling options)
Great Lakes: Michigan, MSU, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana
Great Plains: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska
West: USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Utah (would prefer Stanford, but I'd imagine they would like to come with Cal, and I think the Oregon/Washington pairing is more expansive than 2 more California teams).
Obviously it's not perfect, but it does an okay job balancing each pod's strength while preserving regions mostly. I mostly would like if OSU/Penn St can counter balance in the East, particularly since that's going to be the softest region otherwise if Maryland and Rutgers are built in.
Appreciate the info as always. Big change on the board with our targets, but the new guys look promising. Here's hoping Juwan can work some magic in reeling them in.
Regarding Wol, obviously kids committing based on coaching personal connection happens a lot, but typically it seems to hurt the prospect, especially at these small schools. Brings to mind Baldwin Jr who committed to his dad and then watched his stock tumble outside of the lottery entirely. Or 5 star Makur Maker who went to Howard and basically completely vaporized. We'll see with Wol but can't help but feel that it's not the smartest move development wise.
Any thoughts on transfer portal pursuits? With 2 open scholarships Juwan has to have something in mind right? Joey Baker visited recently and Emoni is speaking with Juwan/trending away from Louisville but outside of those very uncertain situations it seems like there's little buzz at this point. Any ideas of the plans for these openings?
Antoine is committed to Radford so he's off the board for Michigan. Source.
The pickings are awfully slim, which is a consequence of being in limbo for so long due to the NBA draft timeline. While Baker hasn't been a key player at Duke, he has one skill Michigan is definitely looking for and slots nicely as a shooting wing option Michigan otherwise lacks.
Beyond that, Nance is the strongest player left in the portal IMO, and he's definitely a take in my book. With Houstan and Diabate both in the draft, that leaves a hole in the 4 slot, as both would have likely seen a decent amount of time there. Tarris Reed (big man) and Terrence Williams (energy guy) figure to be in the mix, but having Nance as a stretch 4 would really be an option we're currently missing. Additionally, it opens up potential to run a smallball lineup where Nance is the 5, particularly when we need to rest Dickinson. He's been great in the Big 10, so no need to project moving him up from a mid major. Tschetter's ideal final form probably looks something like Nance. Baker and Nance would be a great two-some to pick up, here's hoping.
And while it's not going to happen and a lot of the fandom would probably dislike it, I wouldn't mind giving Emoni a shot, particularly if we can't get either of the above. Worst case scenario is he is an early season distraction and he sits out the rest of the season, which just burns a roster spot that might not have super great minutes anyways. His upside is really nice though, and Juwan is the type of coach who might be able to limit him to not play so selfishly and tap into some of the tools that he does have. He's been rumored to be Lousiville bound for a while but hasn't officially announced. As the rule in recruiting goes, the longer something is "bound" to happen without happening, the more opportunity something can muck that up.
To be fair, Rutgers has a respectable basketball program. Pikiell is a good coach and they've been a tourney level team since the Covid cancellation year. It's not some sort of basketball wasteland.
Obviously Michigan is the higher profile destination, but if they're firing all cannons for him while Michigan prefers other prospects like Matas or Mayar, that definitely plays a part in his recruitment.
Hoping that Houstan comes back, but I think the lesson with Poole is that development can happen outside of college.
Much of the frustration with Poole's declaration is that he had flashed high level scoring potential, but bad shot quality and weak defense was an unfortunate trend in his Sophomore year, and he declared despite those clear flaws. Poole was definitely not ready when he came out, and was awful that first year in the NBA. However, through hard work and a great fit with the team that drafted him, he was able to develop those talents. In hindsight, I think being able to focus on basketball fulltime on a great organization did more for him than playing out another year at Michigan could have.
A lot of people take it for granted that if you're not ready, you should stay in school automatically, as if players just become set in stone once they leave college. I think that's a flawed view though, since guys get better faster if anything outside of the league if they have it. Obviously that's not the case with everybody, it takes the right situation/other factors (see DJ Wilson), but we won't know until we have 20-20 hindsight if a guy should stay or go.
As for my (worthless) two cents on our semi-declared guys, I would think Diabate flashed enough athleticism/defensive instinct that he can stick as a developmental switchable big while he attempts to fill out the rest of his game in the pros. Houstan meanwhile, probably doesn't fair great at the next level right now given he's defensively a minus and doesn't have offensive chops to make up for it, so I would think he should return. If you want to be a developmental guy, you need to have something worth waiting on right now, and I don't see that with Houstan at the NBA level right now.
This list has zero credibility in my eyes. They mention Frankie's late season surge as signs that we'll have "two talented point guards" going into next season. They seem to count Devante Jones, despite the fact he's already confirmed gone. While I liked Frankie's Colorado St game, and he has athleticism that we haven't had at PG in a while, right now calling him the lead guard of a Top 5 team is a horrific overestimation, bordering on lunacy. I think he'll get there, but the finishing and shooting still needs polishing. As I see it, unless they're forseeing a big transfer at PG this year, we're closer to having no functional point guards than 2 strong ones.
Even if Hunter returns, as it stands (without knowing the transfer market) I think we're borderline Top 25, and that will require growth from most if not all of our younger guys. Frankly, I'd much rather start barely in or outside the Top 25, and earn our keep over the course of the year (ala Juwan's first 2 years), rather than buy into hype led by outlets like these who have no idea what they're talking about.
Mm, yeah just checked. Didn't realize Frankie's ORTG was so low, and Simpson's was pretty decent. Definitely room to improve for Frankie in terms of scoring. Feels like he has the burst to get to the rim, but the finishing against college level opponents wasn't ready in year 1.
Also Simpson's freshman FT rate was at a decent 71% before falling into the "clench your teeth" zone, so at least I recalled something right.
I think attrition has to be baked in. I'm assuming we'll have slots. While Eli is the only one who's for sure out of eligibility it feels like slots will open up. Zeb has already declared for the transfer portal. Jones, Diabate, Hunter all have NBA decisions, and if any of them comeback, we can pencil them in a pleasant surprise starter. Johns and Nunez technically have the COVID-shirt, but they will have earned degrees and will likely have better playing time opportunities elsewhere.
We're 2 scholarships over (subtracting Zeb right now), and that's 5 possible openings, even before considering more out of the blue departures, which should honestly be expected in the portal era. There will likely be space to bring in both bigs and guards, unless we get the best case scenario of some of our NBA decision guys coming back again, which would fill those holes cleanly.
I think the $250k number is out of date. In the article it mentions that he signed a new contract but weren't able to get the exact details from the Freedom of Information folks currently.
I'd imagine the $250k number was last year's salary. Similarly to Newsome this year, he didn't have prior collegiate coaching experience, so maybe that's the "base" assistant salary. He probably saw a bump similar to the rest of the staff. Just speculating, but it would make sense that he would earn more after last year was so fantastic.
On the road? No Hunter? 18 to 11 free throw difference? Merely good from behind the arc? Against ranked OSU? Statement win folks with everything against this squad.
Devante Jones has gone from the team's underwhelming transfer point guard to start the season to the savior of our tourney hopes. Has been rock solid down the stretch, and was brilliant today.
Maybe the 49ers saw the credentials for a former NFL QB on Michigan's 1997 National Championship squad, thought they were getting the GOAT back on his childhood favorite and signed the contract before realizing they had the wrong guy.
All kidding aside, best of luck to Brian Griese! Being under Kyle Shanahan seems like a really promising gig and he will become a hot commodity very fast if he cashes Trey Lance's tools into production. Anytime a Michigan guy joins the coaching ranks, it's another possible coaching tree link down the road, so great news to hear!
@Ronswanson13 The other guy wearing 0 was Andre Seldon who saw little to no action and also transferred out. Prior to that, Michigan hadn't allowed anyone else to wear 0. Clemons has a real shot to establish the number for himself, especially if he's as good as everyone is currently saying.
Interesting that Dennis and Sainristil basically flipflopped. They actually have shockingly similar profiles coming in, both WR/DB flex jitterbugs out of under-scouted Massachusetts as a part of the Don Brown brigade, though Sainristil was played basically from the jump. Based on his previous profile, it looks like Dennis had very little defense experience coming in, so now that they've seen him for a few years they just figured he was better suited on offense? The WR room is more crowded than the DB room regardless, but we'll see I suppose.
Turned on a Peacock Premium trial a few weeks ago to catch the Super Bowl and found out that the game was available today via MGoBlog.
To be completely honest, I know very little about hockey (mostly tuned into Football and Basketball), but looking forward to the game. Hear a lot of good things about this year's team, really excited to tune in!
Michigan out here running their 3 triple PF set with Williams, Johns and Houstan and it's been alright? Williams sometimes shows some random bursts of juice, Johns pulling down some boards and Houstan is attacking the hoop.
Just gotta tread water while Dickinson gets a breather.
I think the commentators make a good point when they mention that Michigan seems to thrive off of sets. This team has no playmaking juice otherwise when they're not using screen action. Jones is the primary guy who tries, but he's just not quick enough to shake guys consistently. Same goes for Eli off the bounce.
I agree that a team is at their best when they can just attack without rhythm, but it feels like Michigan just lacks the personnel to do that. It bogs everything else down too: Houstan is probably best as a standstill shooter, but if there's no initial breakdown of the defense, he doesn't get opportunities. Hunter often needs to be at the 3 point arc setting up screens instead of position to post up inside. Ideally Collins and Bufkin have some of that skill, but defensively they're not playable right now. If anything, I want more sets from Juwan, it at least gets something flowing.
I feel really bad for Hunter, because he's quietly elevated his play on basically every level. Man is really let down by the rest of his squad. They struggle to get him the ball and can't seem to make things happen when they double him. He came back to school to be a contender, and the rest of the team isn't fulfilling their share.
That being said, this game is still very do-able. Since taking Bufkin off, Penn St haven't been able to pick on one guy for free points every possession. I like Bufkin offensively, but that was a brutal stretch.
I usually like to be positive but gonna be totally honest here. While it's clear the guards being too short and unathletic this year is a huge part of the defensive problem, we got away with it last year thanks to to our standout wings.
What we have is our two best guys, Diabate and Hunter are at their best 5s, which you can make do with. The real issue IMO is that you have to pair them with our "wings" who all should ideally be 4s. Johns, Williams and Houstan are all simply pigeonholed into being 3s and they aren't helping Eli and Devante the way Franz and Chaundee were.
The alarming thing is I'm worried about next season as well. Dug is even shorter than our current guards. Glenn is another taller/slower guy who probably fits best at the 4. Hopefully Jett has some perimeter defense ability as a 2/3 but a single freshman isn't going to save the D. Minus Hunter and Diabate, I'm not sure what Michigan's gameplan is next year.
Hoping I'm wrong here, but I feel like Juwan should be looking at the portal here for 2/3 wings with defensive chops. Some growth from our young wing options (Bufkin/Barnes/Jace?) is greatly needed as well.
Just a fabulous young coach, and we were incredibly blessed to have him for this year. Being able to put the clamps on OSU (wide receivers doing stupidly absurd catches notwithstanding) was a huge part of that iconic win, and will alone leave him in my good graces.
The crazy part is that he was seemingly only scratching the surface of his potential as a collegiate coach. Obviously, the college hurry up proved to be a weakness against MSU, but he was able to learn from that experience and demonstrated improvement as the season progressed. Year 1 of any scheme is going to be a handful for a new team and you have to imagine that year 2 would allow him to further implement his scheme. With him onboard, I had faith that this defense would continue to hold firm, even with all of the departures.
Still, it's not a surprise that John Harbaugh would want one of his wonderkids back, though it's disappointing it's so soon. I don't think anyone expected the Ravens DC to be fired this year, but with Macdonald shining at Michigan, I'm sure it made that choice easier for the Ravens. Best of luck to him, and here's hoping that Michigan's next DC(s?) can continue the momentum!
Great news from the Michigan side for sure, though it is a bit sad for Harbaugh since he seems to want that next shot.
To be honest, when Harbaugh first signed up for the Michigan job, I think him returning to the NFL was certainly a looming possibility given he had unfinished business. I think a lot of the hand wringing was because despite the fact that he broke through and finally had that dream season, there was no clear cut successor. Guys like Gattis, Hart, MacDonald, Weiss and even Bellamy have strong upside as head coaches down the line, but promoting any of them directly to be Michigan's head coach today would be a risky move.
To me the ideal line (if he has NFL eyes) would be he stays at Michigan for two or so more years and impresses so much the NFL is begging for him. If all goes well, by then one of the previously mentioned guys should be ready to go as a head coach. If Pete Carroll can get hired at 60 for the Seahawks, I would think Harbaugh at 60 can hold similar appeal.
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Stunning in a great way to see Zavier still kicking around in the pros. 6 foot nothing with bad shooting is more or less a death sentence in the pros and while he's never broken in full time, he's hung around a very commendable amount of time.
Having a truly unique bag is a piece of it. The sky hook is a weapon that gives him an option rarely seen in today's NBA, and it was first showcased at Michigan. Everyone spends a lot of time waiting to see if consistent shooting can develop for many young players, but sometimes it never comes around. Simpson was able to develop something else to keep himself competitive. Very cool to see him highlighted here.
OSU qbs
QB1 - Devin Brown
QB1a - Julian Sayin
QB3 - Will Howard
kanpai
To his credit, he managed to stay at ASU for two straight years. Longest he's stuck around at one location since his Freshman/Sophomore year in high school, as he's been on the move constantly since.
On a more serious note, it just looks like he never developed the efficiency needed to be a viable player for a serious team. ASU scuffled with him as their lead player, and his already bleh efficiency took another backwards step when his usage increased this season. Combo that with his shot never coming around (terrible FT% and poor from 3) and he's on the move again, I'm guessing as a down transfer barring something that I'm missing.
Michigan definitely had a bunch of roster management blunders in the late Howard era, but this turned out to be one of the less destructive ones, at least from a what the player turned into standpoint. Obviously I'm skeptical of his career choices, but no need for sour grapes, best wishes towards a kid who's figuring things out.
I could totally believe that Tom Brady didn't have the perfect time at Michigan given what it took for him to earn the full time starting nob against the ultra hyped underclassman Drew Henson. The Brady Six documentary mentions that Brady had thought about transferring at some point when Griese was head of him and perhaps in a transfer portal era, that very well could have happened.
That being said, I think the Brady Six doc also underlined how this tenuous position at Michigan sharpened him, giving him a "I gotta earn it every single day in practice" mentality that defined him in the pros, from usurping Bledsoe after "The Hit", through the peak Patriots dynasty and then finally the Tampa Bay years, where his work ethic notably inspired his teammates to keep up and reach his bar of excellence. That chip on his shoulder was, if not established at Michigan, very much defined here.
And for what it's worth, Brady at a minimum seems good with his alma matter. He wouldn't be instilling one of his sons Michigan spirit otherwise (US Today fluff piece, 247 fluff piece if you're less into celebrity tabloid sites), doing the aformentioned return as an honorary captain, or ribbing winless against Michigan OSU alumni CJ Stroud without at least a little fondness. If he does have mixed feelings about his time at Michigan, he seems to have put enough of it behind him to embrace the school where he can.
At least that's what I'm choosing to believe. In an era where Michigan football was often a source of pain within my family, Tom Brady's success in the pros gave my alumni dad something to root for in those dour Rich Rod/Hoke years, and even the early "couldn't get past the hump" Harbaugh seasons. So sure I'll let my nostalgia tint things here, regardless of what one Patriots centered documentary puts forward.
Also a dude who made a cameo in my personal favorite Neck Sharpies where Seth breaks down the Ravens ameoba the year before it was installed by MacDonald.
He's was one of those oversized edge attackers. Would love to pick him up if he's a rising name in coaching, imagine him mentoring Derrick Moore or Enow Etta.
I think even before Wink came up as a potential D-Coordinator candidate, this is an article worth looking back on, particularly since the structure (though perhaps not the tactics) both won the College Football championship under Minter, and became flavor of the month in the NFL under MacDonald. Much like how there was a point where the Fangio defense took the NFL by storm in the early 2020s, we're seeing the multiple amoeba style defenses at the forefront now.
I think there are a few key differences the way that Minter/MacDonald run the scheme versus how it's portrayed in the article/how Wink runs, the main one that being in the coverage/blitz balance. As noted by the MGoBlog crew many times this year, the Ms were deathly prepped for Ohio State, often to the detriment of their non-OSU opponents, essentially playing a 2 high shell constantly prepping for the Ohio State attack. Meanwhile, Wink continued his heavy blitz style in New York, earn praise when it worked (2022 Giants playoff run) and jeers when it didn't (2023 Giants fizzling).
The equalizing factor is that both Wink and the Michigan duo did this at the cost of their run support, where they relied on fitting to the run. While this was the Giants achillies heel last season, the fact that Minter had Jenkins, the "Gifts from the Gods" duo and depth beyond that let him get away with an extra zone defender and then some. Presuming Michigan retains their defensive talent, Wink should have the free reign to get away with some of his crazier stuff, albeit that margin will likely tighten significantly against competition like OSU.
I think I would be okay with Wink as a D-coodinator for Michigan, so long as he's willing to make some context based adjustments for Michigan's situation. He's an incredibly accomplished defensive mind having started the base form of the amoeba defense, is usually the better half of his teams (Ravens fans thought Greg Roman was the issue in Baltimore and he bore the yoke of the Giants putrid offense last year in particular), and players do tend to really like him.
Where my concern would lie with him comes in the details that he'll be tasked with handling. It's true there is some Don Brown in him that he is blitz heavy in his gameplans and uses man to cover that, something that OSU have proven the ability to dominate. His falling out with Daboll is also quite concerning considering Daboll had accused him and his right hand man (the same linebackers coach he's looking to bring to Michigan) of attempting a team mutiny last year due to his popularity with the defensive side of the ball. Whether that's Daboll being a jerk (which there's evidence of as well) or on Wink, who had a good reputation in Baltimore under John Harbaugh, is unclear.
Bottom line is that if it is Wink, they're bringing a guy who is more familiar with the scheme that is in vogue and successfully brought Michigan glory than anyone else. Whether it will pay off though will depend on how Wink handles adjusting to the college competition (with an eye to the high flying offensive attack of OSU, and maybe taking a page from his predecessors) and whether he's stays in line under with a first time head coach far younger than him. I understand the reservations with bringing him on, but it might just be worth the risk to get someone well versed both the Ravens system and a track record of success (as opposed to overpromoting a truly unknown Ravens assistant), a rare combo this late in the hiring cycle.
James…
Stephen Schilling
James Ross III
Gabe Watson
KC Lopata
Terrance Taylor
Maybe this is just confirmation bias, but I would assume the current class was made very aware of the circumstances of Harbaugh's potential departure and since Moore is a continuation of the regime they signed on for, so long as he is in, the majority of them are comfortable.
These previous two classes have been underwhelming for a 3 time playoff team for sure, but the fact people aren't racing for the exits immediately (and maybe there is some attrition coming) I think is more of a endorsement of the current staff and the types of players they grab than a negative. Time will tell if recruiting actually improves but at the very least, NFL negative recruiting is off the board.
Your initial point is the biggest difference IMO. I think the clearest recruiting benefit is that the yearly Harbaugh uncertainty is no longer free ammo for opposing coaches to poke at. It was incredible what Harbaugh and his staff were able to achieve via scouting and developmental wins, but the NFL rumors were clearly self sabotage in terms of getting recruits in. No other program in the country had to deal with that because no other program has a coach with genuine NFL success. Saban, Day and Dabo certainly never dealt with it.
We know Sherrone is a zealous recruiter and well regarded by basically everyone. With the NFL cloud lifted things should be smoother. NIL will still be a weak point most likely, but Michigan does well in the other categories on paper.
Appreciate the formatting assist! I would have done a cleaner job with the linking, but trying to format on a phone in the editor is a bit tricky.
Moore is a slam dunk to the point it's a non-discussion. The 2nd best part of Harbaugh not getting that Vikings job (outside of y'know, the whole winning it all thing) that everyone seemingly agreed he was locked into, was that that gave them the time to cultivate a worthy successor. Nearly 2 years to the day, I had this comment that aged maybe better than anything I'll ever say in my life (so long as you ignore my suggested successors oops): https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/raiders-are-no-longer-play-daily-harbaugh-…
So it turns to the coordinators/assistants, who are far more interesting to discuss. Obviously the easiest route is to open up the Ravens coaching staff page on their site and start there so Zach Orr sounds great. I'd once again stump for Ryan Osborn as another Ravens adjacent with even deeper Michigan ties for some position on the staff. Interested in seeing where Michigan goes on the offensive side of the ball as well.
Obviously it's a nerve wracking time replacing the head man himself, but the opportunity to continue the culture that Jim built starting in 2021 is very much in play.
Obviously would love to retain Minter, but if he wants a NFL opportunity, he's got the track record and frankly deserves it. Nothing but love for the mastermind of the defense that got the job done.
One name I rarely hear mentioned but who I personally would like to target: Ryan Osborn.
- Michigan DL analyst in 2021, lauded by guys like Ojabo and Hutchinson and others
- Ravens assistant in 2022, so firmly entrenched in the Harbaugh tree and versed in the Ravens style defense
- Charlotte DC in 2023, under Biff Poggi, a fellow known friend and trusted agent. While Charlotte as a whole sputtered as a young program under a new coach, Osborn punched above his weight, managing the 59th best defense in Yards Per Game, and was the better half of the team compared to a bottom of the barrel offense.
If not as the DC (maybe it's too early), I would really love to bring him back in a different full time position, maybe as the linebackers coach since we need one of those and he handled them for Charlotte in his one season. Dunno if he'll see consideration, but definitely a guy worth keeping tabs on IMO.
It was somewhat known that this was a developmental class, and given just how much depth Michigan retained from last year and the fact that more or less every loss was given a veteran transfer to fill in or were on relatively deep positions (Hinton/Henderson for Hayes, Nugent for Olu, Barner for Schoonmaker, Wallace for Turner, even Turner for Moody) it doesn't surprise me that the freshmen play counts are relatively low. There just aren't that many snaps out there for the taking on such a veteran laden roster.
Where Michigan has played freshmen, it's primarily on the roster spots that are trying to cultivate depth. Morgan/Moore have both seen non-garbage play time as Michigan could use some additional guys past the two upperclassmen, and Morris/Clemons have both been banged up. CB depth is also an area that would be great and both Hill (on track to his preseason expectations) and Waller (an unexpected but very pleasant surprise) have both come in late as needed. Hillman as well given safety has been a banged up position this season. It's been nice to see all these guys above in their short stints, and the fact that the staff is giving them time at all foretells good things in their careers.
Those stats are fair, and based on them his actual returns were often lackluster.
I do think there are some intangible return qualities you get from guys who know what to do back there though, just in terms of knowing what/when to field. Maybe there is some touchback data or film that backs that up, but that's more of my gut speaking.
But given that, it's possible a Cabana or J. Hill could add some juice. Making sure to avoid costly errors should be the foremost feature of any return game though and Henning seemed good at that barring some early teething issues.
If he feels he's more of a every down guy (and there were rumblings of that) then he has reason enough to transfer. Special teams return specialist is good, but gadget guys are tough to implement in most offenses. The commonality between him and Jackson is that they were brought with "speed in space" in mind before Gattis took off (pun intended).
That being said, he was strong in his role as a returner and got to score a big one against OSU in the snow, so nothing but best wishes to him!
Big thing I noticed was that Davis Warren and JJ McCarthy are both on the Maize squad, where as Tuttle is on the Blue team.
If you're reading wayyyyy to deep into things (and what else are we going to do in Spring), maybe this means that Tuttle is the QB2 currently? You would think the QB2 would be on the team opposing JJ's.
The issue with hiring young hotshot coaches is that they're inevitably bound for bigger things. He's been a key trainer for NFL guys for a while, so it seems like a logical step to join an NFL staff. Even if his coaching is an unknown since he's only been with MSU for a year, him leaving is a blow to them for sure. The recruiting chops were real, he had MSU reportedly leading for Etta before Michigan pulled him in, among the guys who he actually landed.
Speaking of which, I wonder if this affects their status with their DL recruits in the previous class. 3 of their top recruits were guys who probably chose MSU in large part due to his presence.
Awesome for him. Guy had incredible arm strength, and has presumably always looked awesome in practice to earn starting nods initially but just didn't have the on field play to match. Completion percentage has been the rub on him dating back to high school and it's cool him show vast improvement in that this season, and in this game in particular.
I know his time at Michigan was rocky, but that 2020 season was a big turning point for everything in Michigan football. Given just how poorly that season went basically as soon as the MSU game started, with the one highlight being Cade taking over and frantically coming back against Rutgers, I can't blame him for seeking a transfer. I'm not sure feelings were the best when he left between him and the program but by all accounts, he's been a stand up teammate at Tennessee after losing his job to Hooker.
I think in this case, it's fine to just let bygones be bygones. We've gone our separate ways and each seen success since.
Warning signs were there for Frankie's camp in general. He was constantly transferring high schools and that was pointed out in his profile.
While I'm not going to foot the blame on him directly since he seemed like a good kid in his freshman year, there were some red flags that I think Michigan may have overlooked with the people advising him. Typically Michigan recruits guys who are less mercurial.
I'd like my 100 points for remembering Utah transfer Casey Hughes.
I'm a bit mad that I remember this stuff. Absolutely useless knowledge. While we're doing transfer who dats, do we have a picture of Jaaron Simmons around?
I think an non-spoken part of these numbers right now for OSU and us having very low transfer numbers so far is that we're still in playoff contention, so our seasons still have some real stakes to them. This transfer portal declaration window doesn't close until after the after the championship game, so if there are guys right now planning to transfer but still playing a key role on the team (like say special teams), they may be waiting for afterwards. Might be better to revisit these numbers after the declaration window closes.
When I saw the Erick All tweets my initial thoughts on his "unexpected" reasons were:
1. Michigan's medical staff wasn't comfortable letting him play after back surgery given they've shown to be overly cautious before (Ben St. Juste coming to mind).
2. Him not loving the how the Cade/JJ QB competition was handled, particularly since Iowa seems like his destination as well and Erick and Cade shared a great chemistry in the breakout 2021 season.
3. The NIL situation outlined here.
If it's the NIL stuff like the insiders have suggested, I can't really argue there. All deserves to be paid and if he's got a better deal at a new school, business is business. I wouldn't fault any of my co-workers if they jumped ship for a much better salary as well.
All was a true breakout star at Michigan and will be remembered fondly. For someone advertised as a jumbo WR with his share of standout catches, it was his blocking that stood out as an incredible surprise and really put him over the top. Michigan has found a groove in taking overlooked Ohio guys lately and using that as a chip on the team's shoulder, and All was one of his most memorable. Best of luck to him moving forward.
Also worth noting that Hewlett was just the recipient of a very recent 4 star bump from 247 literally days ago, so his true value could very well be higher than his current rating across the board, since they often don't go far enough with these late cycle bumps.
There's a lot that this staff had to overcome this cycle (much of it self-inflicted and heavily handwrung over already), but their late riser identification and recruiting has been historically on point, and it looks like that's occurring once again in 23 with the latest crystal ball whisperings. Hewlett seems in that vein as a high ceiling flexible rising prospect and I'm hoping for more, especially as we come down the homestretch towards signing day.
Mm, definitely a big change in the Detroit HS scene. Was under the impression relations had thawed a bit for the better since the Dobbs/Barnett days between him and Michigan, but it's for naught now. Michigan got commits from a few but they either were processed out (Woods/Alexander) or transferred away (Seldon). As others mentioned the big fish haven't panned out. *Correction, Woods was a King prospect, not from Belleville, my bad.
Big question in my book is what happens with Bryce Underwood? 2025 QB considered one of the best in his class so far. Not sure how likely that would have been for us regardless with Jadyn looking good right now in 2024, but wondering where this leaves him in general.
Super interesting stuff as always. After a pillow soft start where basically everyone got in for snaps, it looks like that Michigan is largely looking to preserve the majority of the class's redshirts, with the exception of the 9 regulars that have established themselves. To my eye, Pollard is the only major surprise on that list, but I'm presuming he's established himself as a key special teams guy.
The other major standout is Hill-Green still having 0 games logged this season. Crazy how initially the thought was that LB was the one position where we couldn't afford a key injury, and yet he's been held out the entire year thus far. Wondering if at this point if he's still working through his injury (soft-tissue is always lingering) or if he's just being withheld to preserve the redshirt. Regardless, Colson/Barrett/Mullings/Rolder have all held up in his absence (to varying degrees of success based on UFR), so we'll see when his return will be.
Also, one that's not on the list, but is basically a lock: Erick All hasn't redshirted and given he'll be recovering from back surgery, will have this year count as his redshirt year (3 games played). Assuming there's no long term issues, it should leave the door open if he's looking to return to get a full year of game film for NFL scouts next year, though would totally understand if he makes the move to the next level given what he's already managed to show.
Papa also recently got a Crystal Ball to the good guys from a random Indiana insider as well. Seems out of the blue, but the predictor is also has a 100% hit rate thus far, so it's not like he's throwing out picks willy-nilly.
Good news overall on our front, particularly since this comes after the Memphis buzz that kicked off when they hired his AAU coach.
Also the Christian Anderson news is great to hear. With how people are talking about him, every inch he gains is solid gold based on his overseas scouting where it seemed like size was the only knock.
Worth noting that due to his Olympic track aspirations, folks have been talking about him preferring an offensive role in college, as a big wideout/tight end. To play edge, he'd definitely have to put on additional weight, which would likely hurt his sprinting goals.
That being said, Harbor is the type of talent where if he wants to play offense, defense or wherever, he's a no brainer take regardless and you figure out where he fits down the line. Going to be a tough pull, particularly given there are more prestigious track programs looking for his signature as well, but the official visit means there's some serious interest here. Definitely not a recruitment we can count on, but a chance to score a real coup.
Don't know exactly how the rest of alignment shakes out, but I'm not feeling the conference pods you proposed, particularly for football where you'll likely play roughly half of the 20 team conference at most a given season with non-conference scheduling.
East is basically the Penn St zone. UNC are very hit or miss in the ACC as is and the remaining 3 are solidly below average in football.
Meanwhile Central has both Michigan and Ohio St, with MSU/Purdue/Indiana being solidly better than Rutgers/Maryland/Duke at the very least. Michigan/Michigan St are both further North than the likes of Illinois/Northwestern/Iowa.
As much flak as Rutgers gets for being in the Big 10, they at least (theoretically) bring a media market and are fine academically. If we were to kick a school, Nebraska has been a preferred boot, since they lost AAU status, don't bring a media market, have been culturally been a weird fit as basically all of their rivals are in classically Big 12 and have been scattered in places that aren't the Big 10. Obviously we're not contracting, but they're gonna be weird to fit in unless we take in something like Colorado/Kansas, which I would prefer to take more west coast teams. I struggled to place them the most.
With that we could do:
East: OSU, Penn St, Maryland, Rutgers, Pitt (AAU/Penn St Rivalry built in, and the more you look at the pickings, the more you see the Northeast just doesn't have compelling options)
Great Lakes: Michigan, MSU, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana
Great Plains: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska
West: USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Utah (would prefer Stanford, but I'd imagine they would like to come with Cal, and I think the Oregon/Washington pairing is more expansive than 2 more California teams).
Obviously it's not perfect, but it does an okay job balancing each pod's strength while preserving regions mostly. I mostly would like if OSU/Penn St can counter balance in the East, particularly since that's going to be the softest region otherwise if Maryland and Rutgers are built in.
Appreciate the info as always. Big change on the board with our targets, but the new guys look promising. Here's hoping Juwan can work some magic in reeling them in.
Regarding Wol, obviously kids committing based on coaching personal connection happens a lot, but typically it seems to hurt the prospect, especially at these small schools. Brings to mind Baldwin Jr who committed to his dad and then watched his stock tumble outside of the lottery entirely. Or 5 star Makur Maker who went to Howard and basically completely vaporized. We'll see with Wol but can't help but feel that it's not the smartest move development wise.
Any thoughts on transfer portal pursuits? With 2 open scholarships Juwan has to have something in mind right? Joey Baker visited recently and Emoni is speaking with Juwan/trending away from Louisville but outside of those very uncertain situations it seems like there's little buzz at this point. Any ideas of the plans for these openings?
Antoine is committed to Radford so he's off the board for Michigan. Source.
The pickings are awfully slim, which is a consequence of being in limbo for so long due to the NBA draft timeline. While Baker hasn't been a key player at Duke, he has one skill Michigan is definitely looking for and slots nicely as a shooting wing option Michigan otherwise lacks.
Beyond that, Nance is the strongest player left in the portal IMO, and he's definitely a take in my book. With Houstan and Diabate both in the draft, that leaves a hole in the 4 slot, as both would have likely seen a decent amount of time there. Tarris Reed (big man) and Terrence Williams (energy guy) figure to be in the mix, but having Nance as a stretch 4 would really be an option we're currently missing. Additionally, it opens up potential to run a smallball lineup where Nance is the 5, particularly when we need to rest Dickinson. He's been great in the Big 10, so no need to project moving him up from a mid major. Tschetter's ideal final form probably looks something like Nance. Baker and Nance would be a great two-some to pick up, here's hoping.
And while it's not going to happen and a lot of the fandom would probably dislike it, I wouldn't mind giving Emoni a shot, particularly if we can't get either of the above. Worst case scenario is he is an early season distraction and he sits out the rest of the season, which just burns a roster spot that might not have super great minutes anyways. His upside is really nice though, and Juwan is the type of coach who might be able to limit him to not play so selfishly and tap into some of the tools that he does have. He's been rumored to be Lousiville bound for a while but hasn't officially announced. As the rule in recruiting goes, the longer something is "bound" to happen without happening, the more opportunity something can muck that up.
To be fair, Rutgers has a respectable basketball program. Pikiell is a good coach and they've been a tourney level team since the Covid cancellation year. It's not some sort of basketball wasteland.
Obviously Michigan is the higher profile destination, but if they're firing all cannons for him while Michigan prefers other prospects like Matas or Mayar, that definitely plays a part in his recruitment.
Dax goes #31, cue Mr. Brightside in the draft room. Beautiful.
Hoping that Houstan comes back, but I think the lesson with Poole is that development can happen outside of college.
Much of the frustration with Poole's declaration is that he had flashed high level scoring potential, but bad shot quality and weak defense was an unfortunate trend in his Sophomore year, and he declared despite those clear flaws. Poole was definitely not ready when he came out, and was awful that first year in the NBA. However, through hard work and a great fit with the team that drafted him, he was able to develop those talents. In hindsight, I think being able to focus on basketball fulltime on a great organization did more for him than playing out another year at Michigan could have.
A lot of people take it for granted that if you're not ready, you should stay in school automatically, as if players just become set in stone once they leave college. I think that's a flawed view though, since guys get better faster if anything outside of the league if they have it. Obviously that's not the case with everybody, it takes the right situation/other factors (see DJ Wilson), but we won't know until we have 20-20 hindsight if a guy should stay or go.
As for my (worthless) two cents on our semi-declared guys, I would think Diabate flashed enough athleticism/defensive instinct that he can stick as a developmental switchable big while he attempts to fill out the rest of his game in the pros. Houstan meanwhile, probably doesn't fair great at the next level right now given he's defensively a minus and doesn't have offensive chops to make up for it, so I would think he should return. If you want to be a developmental guy, you need to have something worth waiting on right now, and I don't see that with Houstan at the NBA level right now.
This list has zero credibility in my eyes. They mention Frankie's late season surge as signs that we'll have "two talented point guards" going into next season. They seem to count Devante Jones, despite the fact he's already confirmed gone. While I liked Frankie's Colorado St game, and he has athleticism that we haven't had at PG in a while, right now calling him the lead guard of a Top 5 team is a horrific overestimation, bordering on lunacy. I think he'll get there, but the finishing and shooting still needs polishing. As I see it, unless they're forseeing a big transfer at PG this year, we're closer to having no functional point guards than 2 strong ones.
Even if Hunter returns, as it stands (without knowing the transfer market) I think we're borderline Top 25, and that will require growth from most if not all of our younger guys. Frankly, I'd much rather start barely in or outside the Top 25, and earn our keep over the course of the year (ala Juwan's first 2 years), rather than buy into hype led by outlets like these who have no idea what they're talking about.
Mm, yeah just checked. Didn't realize Frankie's ORTG was so low, and Simpson's was pretty decent. Definitely room to improve for Frankie in terms of scoring. Feels like he has the burst to get to the rim, but the finishing against college level opponents wasn't ready in year 1.
Also Simpson's freshman FT rate was at a decent 71% before falling into the "clench your teeth" zone, so at least I recalled something right.
Without checking Torvik: 1 is freshman Simpson, 2 is freshman Frankie?
Pretty uncanny. Also Simpson's year 1 free throw hit rate is surprisingly high, considering I remember that was a weakness.
I think attrition has to be baked in. I'm assuming we'll have slots. While Eli is the only one who's for sure out of eligibility it feels like slots will open up. Zeb has already declared for the transfer portal. Jones, Diabate, Hunter all have NBA decisions, and if any of them comeback, we can pencil them in a pleasant surprise starter. Johns and Nunez technically have the COVID-shirt, but they will have earned degrees and will likely have better playing time opportunities elsewhere.
We're 2 scholarships over (subtracting Zeb right now), and that's 5 possible openings, even before considering more out of the blue departures, which should honestly be expected in the portal era. There will likely be space to bring in both bigs and guards, unless we get the best case scenario of some of our NBA decision guys coming back again, which would fill those holes cleanly.
I think the $250k number is out of date. In the article it mentions that he signed a new contract but weren't able to get the exact details from the Freedom of Information folks currently.
I'd imagine the $250k number was last year's salary. Similarly to Newsome this year, he didn't have prior collegiate coaching experience, so maybe that's the "base" assistant salary. He probably saw a bump similar to the rest of the staff. Just speculating, but it would make sense that he would earn more after last year was so fantastic.
On the road? No Hunter? 18 to 11 free throw difference? Merely good from behind the arc? Against ranked OSU? Statement win folks with everything against this squad.
Devante Jones has gone from the team's underwhelming transfer point guard to start the season to the savior of our tourney hopes. Has been rock solid down the stretch, and was brilliant today.
Maybe the 49ers saw the credentials for a former NFL QB on Michigan's 1997 National Championship squad, thought they were getting the GOAT back on his childhood favorite and signed the contract before realizing they had the wrong guy.
All kidding aside, best of luck to Brian Griese! Being under Kyle Shanahan seems like a really promising gig and he will become a hot commodity very fast if he cashes Trey Lance's tools into production. Anytime a Michigan guy joins the coaching ranks, it's another possible coaching tree link down the road, so great news to hear!
@Ronswanson13 The other guy wearing 0 was Andre Seldon who saw little to no action and also transferred out. Prior to that, Michigan hadn't allowed anyone else to wear 0. Clemons has a real shot to establish the number for himself, especially if he's as good as everyone is currently saying.
Interesting that Dennis and Sainristil basically flipflopped. They actually have shockingly similar profiles coming in, both WR/DB flex jitterbugs out of under-scouted Massachusetts as a part of the Don Brown brigade, though Sainristil was played basically from the jump. Based on his previous profile, it looks like Dennis had very little defense experience coming in, so now that they've seen him for a few years they just figured he was better suited on offense? The WR room is more crowded than the DB room regardless, but we'll see I suppose.
Turned on a Peacock Premium trial a few weeks ago to catch the Super Bowl and found out that the game was available today via MGoBlog.
To be completely honest, I know very little about hockey (mostly tuned into Football and Basketball), but looking forward to the game. Hear a lot of good things about this year's team, really excited to tune in!
Last season, I eagerly tuned into every single game. Didn't matter what I was up to, I had to catch the action or at least listen to the broadcast.
This year, I'm actively forcing myself to watch. Even when Michigan wins, it's just brutal. Disappointing.
Michigan out here running their 3 triple PF set with Williams, Johns and Houstan and it's been alright? Williams sometimes shows some random bursts of juice, Johns pulling down some boards and Houstan is attacking the hoop.
Just gotta tread water while Dickinson gets a breather.
I think the commentators make a good point when they mention that Michigan seems to thrive off of sets. This team has no playmaking juice otherwise when they're not using screen action. Jones is the primary guy who tries, but he's just not quick enough to shake guys consistently. Same goes for Eli off the bounce.
I agree that a team is at their best when they can just attack without rhythm, but it feels like Michigan just lacks the personnel to do that. It bogs everything else down too: Houstan is probably best as a standstill shooter, but if there's no initial breakdown of the defense, he doesn't get opportunities. Hunter often needs to be at the 3 point arc setting up screens instead of position to post up inside. Ideally Collins and Bufkin have some of that skill, but defensively they're not playable right now. If anything, I want more sets from Juwan, it at least gets something flowing.
I feel really bad for Hunter, because he's quietly elevated his play on basically every level. Man is really let down by the rest of his squad. They struggle to get him the ball and can't seem to make things happen when they double him. He came back to school to be a contender, and the rest of the team isn't fulfilling their share.
That being said, this game is still very do-able. Since taking Bufkin off, Penn St haven't been able to pick on one guy for free points every possession. I like Bufkin offensively, but that was a brutal stretch.
Please get Bufkin off the floor. Guy is getting toasted on every single possession.
I usually like to be positive but gonna be totally honest here. While it's clear the guards being too short and unathletic this year is a huge part of the defensive problem, we got away with it last year thanks to to our standout wings.
What we have is our two best guys, Diabate and Hunter are at their best 5s, which you can make do with. The real issue IMO is that you have to pair them with our "wings" who all should ideally be 4s. Johns, Williams and Houstan are all simply pigeonholed into being 3s and they aren't helping Eli and Devante the way Franz and Chaundee were.
The alarming thing is I'm worried about next season as well. Dug is even shorter than our current guards. Glenn is another taller/slower guy who probably fits best at the 4. Hopefully Jett has some perimeter defense ability as a 2/3 but a single freshman isn't going to save the D. Minus Hunter and Diabate, I'm not sure what Michigan's gameplan is next year.
Hoping I'm wrong here, but I feel like Juwan should be looking at the portal here for 2/3 wings with defensive chops. Some growth from our young wing options (Bufkin/Barnes/Jace?) is greatly needed as well.
Just a fabulous young coach, and we were incredibly blessed to have him for this year. Being able to put the clamps on OSU (wide receivers doing stupidly absurd catches notwithstanding) was a huge part of that iconic win, and will alone leave him in my good graces.
The crazy part is that he was seemingly only scratching the surface of his potential as a collegiate coach. Obviously, the college hurry up proved to be a weakness against MSU, but he was able to learn from that experience and demonstrated improvement as the season progressed. Year 1 of any scheme is going to be a handful for a new team and you have to imagine that year 2 would allow him to further implement his scheme. With him onboard, I had faith that this defense would continue to hold firm, even with all of the departures.
Still, it's not a surprise that John Harbaugh would want one of his wonderkids back, though it's disappointing it's so soon. I don't think anyone expected the Ravens DC to be fired this year, but with Macdonald shining at Michigan, I'm sure it made that choice easier for the Ravens. Best of luck to him, and here's hoping that Michigan's next DC(s?) can continue the momentum!
Great news from the Michigan side for sure, though it is a bit sad for Harbaugh since he seems to want that next shot.
To be honest, when Harbaugh first signed up for the Michigan job, I think him returning to the NFL was certainly a looming possibility given he had unfinished business. I think a lot of the hand wringing was because despite the fact that he broke through and finally had that dream season, there was no clear cut successor. Guys like Gattis, Hart, MacDonald, Weiss and even Bellamy have strong upside as head coaches down the line, but promoting any of them directly to be Michigan's head coach today would be a risky move.
To me the ideal line (if he has NFL eyes) would be he stays at Michigan for two or so more years and impresses so much the NFL is begging for him. If all goes well, by then one of the previously mentioned guys should be ready to go as a head coach. If Pete Carroll can get hired at 60 for the Seahawks, I would think Harbaugh at 60 can hold similar appeal.