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I'm no Izzo fan, but you cut…

I'm no Izzo fan, but you cut out the part in between those two bottom quotes

Izzo said that might offer a good incentive to expand the tournament beyond its current 68-team makeup, but that money will be the ultimate driver either way.

He's not saying that money SHOULD be the driver to the detriment of players and teams, he's saying that he understands money IS going to be the deciding factor.

His point that big programs like his should get the benefit of the doubt certainly is a typical Izzo whine, but it's right in line with the stance the B1G has taken in football, and presumably will be pushing for in other sports as well as they get bigger and bigger.

I love the optimism, but I'm…

I love the optimism, but I'm taking the under. Graham and Johnson will be, and Grant might have a shot but the others all feel like a major stretch given the limited number of 1st round spots out of however many NCAA teams there are and all their draft eligible players. There are a lot of talented guys out there most of us have never heard of because our sports world revolves around what happens in Ann Arbor.

NIL better be getting ready…

NIL better be getting ready to cut some checks for transfers, or the next coach will be holding tryouts from the general student population in September.

Awesome for Duncan! And he's…

Awesome for Duncan! And he's having a great bounce-back year overall.

I remember A LOT of those…

I remember A LOT of those Stroud takes on here about this time last year saying he'd be a bust, couldn't handle pressure, couldn't do anything but hit wide open receivers. And then the same posters were spinning their story less than a year later that he was a 'generational' talent which was obvious evidence that Ryan Day can't coach.

Thanks for gathering it all…

Thanks for gathering it all up in a single post, sounds like he's got a chance at a decent landing spot in terms of talent around him and not playing behind a sieve of an offensive line.

Happy Friday and let's go…

Happy Friday and let's go Michigan Hockey!

(which I'll probably have to listen to rather than watch since it's on B1G+) 

I mean they do have vast…

I mean they do have vast amounts of time to fill and clicks to generate so having a Michigan quarterback to talk about and give hot takes on is kind of perfect right?

He ticks all the boxes an NFL team could want, accurate, mobile, strong enough arm, teammates seem to love him and his personality. But there are still valid questions just like with any QB prospect. He played behind the best (cumulative even if they didn't win the Joe Moore award this year) offensive line in the country for his ~2 year span with an incredible running game. Was that just concealing the best QB in the draft or was it hiding what he'd look like if he played behind Alabama's (or some other terrible) offensive line? I have zero clue on the latter question, fortunately I'm not tasked with making multi million dollar bets on which of these guys will pan out in the NFL or not.

I think the comp is much…

I think the comp is much more Zach Wilson (college version). McNabb was solidly built even in college, and JJ is pretty slight for the position, heck he added close to 20 lbs from his listed playing weight to his combine numbers which puts him pretty close to Wilson when he entered the league.

The kid got sacked what, 6…

The kid got sacked what, 6 times, 5 in the first half alone? I'm not sure there's another QB in college (JJ included) who could have finished that game with the beating Michigan put on him.

I didn't get the sense that…

I didn't get the sense that Alabama players were being an ass after the final, I thought they were pretty classy. If anything there were some Michigan players that didn't exactly 'win with class' with some of the taunting after the final whistle.

He's the GOAT, he's 72, he deserves to retire on his own terms and his own time. If anything it really mirrors Beilein stepping away, given that college football has finally caught up to college basketball in the way that players getting $$ talks (whether you consider it fair or dirty).

I guess I lean the other way…

I guess I lean the other way. I hate the tomato can games and don't think any major P5 (or whatever is left of the other 3 now) team should be playing glorified scrimmages. If there's zero chance of losing, why even play the game?

Since we're trending towards basically an NFL model of 2 super conferences, I hope they end up setting the schedules for the teams. I'd rather see a ton of great football matchups where 8-4 or 9-3 gets into the playoff and 11-1 is a REALLY special season.

I doubt our offense would…

I doubt our offense would have been any different with him, it's not like we throw the ball downfield or game to take advantage of speed like that.

Not complaining obviously, we just won a fricking national championship. The kid did great at Texas and looked like he enjoyed his time there, hope he has a solid NFL career ahead of him.

I'm with you, ZERO chance…

I'm with you, ZERO chance the Sabb number is correct, and for as much as everyone likes to bash our NIL program, the 'One More Year' fund (and others) brought back everyone we needed and brought in a few guys who played a role in winning a national championship less than two months ago. 

So the 'haves' (B1G and SEC)…

So the 'haves' (B1G and SEC) demanding an even greater share of the pie? Seems to be the way these days.

I'd say 5th round, unless he…

I'd say 5th round, unless he's using the pre-combine training time to shed some of that bulk and regain some quickness. The NFL just doesn't value RBs the same as they used to, and while he could use his power to move guys in college, I don't think he's going to be able to do that to NFL defenders. Couple that with the lost speed and shiftiness we saw this year and I'm just not sure there's a long term place for him at the highest level.

The ruling barred the NCAA…

The ruling barred the NCAA from "enforcing its rules prohibiting name, image and likeness compensation from being used to recruit athletes..."

So correct, it can now be used as a "we'll pay you $X if you join our team..." type of enticement. Which of course was already going on just in a wink, wink, nudge, nudge way.

I'm not sure if it's click…

I'm not sure if it's click-bait or not (there are some stories back in 2019 about him running out of money) so this might legitimately be him needing money from selling personal items. Or it could just be extra junk he's got stored in storage units.

I'm with Michigan Arrogance (way above), as easy as it is to point and gawk, but there are A LOT of middle and upper middle class folks, probably even on this board, who would be broke within a matter of months if they lost their current job and suddenly had to downshift to a disability level income or something like that.

It'd be nice if it was him…

It'd be nice if it was him saying it, but I'll take it. Still, he's not one of the guys on D I'm particularly worried about jumping ship for a year.

I didn't realize his snap…

I didn't realize his snap-count was that low in those games - from some of the above posts I was under the impression he was basically playing as much as the other two safeties. Make even more sense that he'd look for more playing time.

If Alabama offered him $5…

If Alabama offered him $5 million for one year of college ball he absolutely made the right choice.

I can't imagine we're going…

I can't imagine we're going to hear any rumblings until the springtime portal gets closer. With the timing of the NCG game and Harbaugh's departure most of these guys were already a few weeks into the winter semester classes. No one wants to throw away that classwork towards completing another semester when other schools were similarly well into theirs.

We'll probably lose some, but no point in losing sleep over it now.

Sounds good, I think? The…

Sounds good, I think? The press release definitely scores high on the ratio of corporate buzzword bingo.

I guess I just don't know how to evaluate NIL relative to other programs when none of this stuff is public. We hear rumors and second hand accounts of what OSU is spending, and I'm 99% certain they're spending more than Michigan but until this stuff is out in the open and we can see that they're spending $1.2 million on RBs while we're only spending $600k for example it's just such an opaque and (probably) uneven playing field.

This is my thing with…

This is my thing with comparing the eras as well. Parity is much greater in the NFL now, the top teams are barely separated in terms of overall talent so these games come down to a few key plays at a few key moments. The gap was so much greater from top to middle to bottom in the past that you didn't have as many coin-flip type of games.

Seems like a good potential…

Seems like a good potential hire to me, especially with our (presumably) returning D-line.

Agreed. I appreciate the…

Agreed. I appreciate the viewpoints of the OP as someone with far more familiarity in this general area than any of us, but the numbers Herbert was asking for were insane. Maybe Herbert didn't really care if he stayed or not so he took a shoot-for-the-moon approach and it was no skin off his back when Michigan wouldn't meet it.

It's clear a lot of these guys were more loyal to Harbaugh than they were to UM. As fans we seem to assume that these coaches have the emotional attachment to the University that we do, when the reality is that it's often a job to them, and progressing in their job means moving on to places with a greater opportunity for advancement.

I used to not be able to get…

I used to not be able to get enough. My sort of crazy-fandom years stretched from about the Desmond times through the RichRod years so I'd get up to watch Michigan Replay and tape it and rewatch games, then couldn't get enough of the Denard or Tate highlights. I could listen to Frank Beckman's call of Woodson returning his punt against Ohio State on a loop and get goosebumps every time.

But, at some point I just got away from rewatching things I already knew the end to, it just didn't do it for me anymore. I think it's why I also prefer competitive games to body-bag opponents. I need that uncertainty to get that thrill now.

Exactly, he came in in 2019,…

Exactly, he came in in 2019, the kid has already been at Michigan for 5 years and would be a 6th year if he'd come back. That's a lot of time in college and most people are ready to get on to their next chapter by that time.

I'm not a big Warde fan, but…

I'm not a big Warde fan, but the guy literally signed Herbert to 5 years and over a million dollars per LESS THAN ONE YEAR ago. We can't have it both (Warde won't pony up the $) when he did just that very recently.

So it seems pretty important for Balas to include how long Herbert was asking for if Balas is indeed so well connected? It presumably was longer than 5 which is kind of unreasonable when you consider how attached head coaches are to 'their' S&C guy.

We haven't seen any sort of…

We haven't seen any sort of rush to the transfer portal since Jim left, I think that's a HUGE win in today's day and age of college football and quick transfers. Maybe some of it is academic calendar related and we see guys hit the exits in the spring but at least for now it's a great sign for this team.

Only because I've now seen…

Not surprised, it sounds like he's hated Warde for awhile now.

That said, Jim was gone no matter who the Athletic Director was.

To be fair, you probably…

To be fair, you probably only took the SAT once, and without a prep course. And your high school teachers probably handed out actual Bs, Cs or even Ds and Fs when it was warranted.

Good luck to all of you…

Good luck to all of you waiting for a family member this afternoon!

I feel sheepish admitting this, but I don't remember anything special about getting my acceptance letter (started Fall of '97 so I guess admission letter would have come in fall of '96 or winter of '97?). Couldn't tell you the date I got it, couldn't tell you my reaction. I was in-state, an engineering type and Michigan was just where I always wanted to go and assumed I'd go (parents were MSU grads so no help there).

I just hope everyone isn't…

I just hope everyone isn't clamoring for him to be canned if we go 9-3 or something next year. THIS year was always going to be the crescendo for this cycle, we had a bunch of NFL caliber guys come back with some NIL enticement, we had the 1st round caliber QB that puts a very good team into national title winner territory. It's unreasonable to expect you can hit on everything and have that level of a team year after year after year without some lulls.

He's had his eyes on the NFL…

He's had his eyes on the NFL for so long and so obviously at this point that it was just a matter of time until he found an opportunity he liked. The impending NCAA stuff might have pushed him over the edge but this was coming eventually.

What an awesome ride he gave us.

That was my thought too…

That was my thought too. Duncan is a great shooter, but it's not like he's ahead of other guys in that regard who can also play high level, switchable defense.

That's no knock on Robinson, it's awesome seeing his efficiency back up this year after what was looking like a worrying year over year over year decline, but he probably doesn't help them win a gold.

JJ is going to be…

JJ is going to be fascinating to follow in terms of how he pans out. He's got an NFL arm, he can move, he can throw on the run, guys seem to love him as a team leader.

But we've also never seen him play a game where he was under siege all game (ala Milroe in the semifinal) and whether he can win a game under those conditions. He played behind the best offensive line over the past 2+ seasons and the one time he did face that (PSU), we basically went away from any semblance of a passing game. We know how a guy like Caleb Williams plays when he's running for his life on every other play due to a weak offensive line, but NFL teams just don't have that data because Michigan's o-line was so damn good.

When your opponent zigs, you…

When your opponent zigs, you zag. 

No room for content when…

No room for content when they need to get Steven A Smith's ready-aim-fire take on everything.

That one really caught my…

That one really caught my eye too. It's like we're already preemptively coming up with the "didn't need him anyway" narrative.

Georgia or Texas, they both…

Georgia or Texas, they both have elite quarterbacks coming back along with a ton of teamwide talent.

Right? I don't get why this…

Right? I don't get why this surprises people at this point or how they've talked themselves into the idea that Michigan is where he wants to spend the rest of his life.

Aren't Wetzel, Bacon, etc…

Aren't Wetzel, Bacon, etc just re-reporting what we've known for months at this point? Nothing has changed, the sticking points are the language about the immunity / firing-for-cause stuff.

Go get paid young man!

And…

Go get paid young man!

And aside, it just seems weird that we're EXPECTING guys to come back for a 6th year. By that point most people are ready to get on from college.

I think the east-west…

I think the east-west disparity is really just because people (generally) prefer their beach views with sunsets rather than the reverse. If that part doesn't bother you then places like Alpena or Rogers City are really low cost options. With an NYC level salary you could live like a king in places like that.

Having grown up in a (different) small Lake Michigan town I wouldn't change anything about it, but one of my teachers back then frequently referred to it as a 'cul-de-sac' within a 'cul-de-sac' and after moving away and the older I've gotten the more I agree with him. Some of those towns are pretty stagnant in terms of a lot of things.

I mean sports-media is…

I mean sports-media is basically built around everyone giving their 'takes-of-the-day' (or even the hour depending on how fast news is coming out). They're not lawyers in a criminal courtroom, they're just giving takes, much of it intentionally meant to be tongue-in-cheek like cheaters in best because they know it'll rankle some of the thin-skinned fans out there and get them angrily clicking and sharing.

And big picture, college football matters to US, but it's a one day of the week story (during the season) for the sports-world. I'm guessing you live in Michigan? And therefore take in a lot of Michigan centric stuff compared to the rest of the country? There's no grand conspiracy against Michigan, we just make a good target because we do tend to play the holier-than-thou card in the way we like to think our program is run, our men are coached, our degree is superior, etc.

It's just business mixed with sports bar trash talking, it's nothing personal to get upset about.

He's accomplished everything…

He's accomplished everything he can at Michigan and he's ready for the NFL, so no surprise. 

If it happens (which I…

If it happens (which I assume will), I'd be in your first camp.

I mean, if your significant other shows up on a dating site year after year after year.... you should have hopefully figured out that they've got an itch to scratch and they're going to leave eventually.

Dayum!

But I thought it…

Dayum!

But I thought it wasn't about the money?

#paytheplayers

If you're gonna biff a…

If you're gonna biff a cardinal sin, you might as well go big.