UTSA to hire Borges as OC
January 19th, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
Have the courage to post from your main account, homie.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
Is this Bigger N Blacker, Maizen, or WD???
January 19th, 2018 at 12:46 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^
OK, I'll believe you!
Here is a question though: What does Disney have to do with UM?
January 19th, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 1:44 PM ^
Long time reader. Seldom Poster. My one and only account
January 19th, 2018 at 4:01 PM ^
UPVOTE THIS GUY WHILE YOU CAN!!
January 19th, 2018 at 3:41 PM ^
Walt Disney . . . Wolverine Devotee. It's airtight.
/Joking (probably)
January 19th, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^
I don't think it's that many. I'm guessing maybe 15-20, but maybe I'm forgetting some by now? Which is still insane to think about.
January 19th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 1:15 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 1:35 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^
It's mostly just that I've become pretty observant about certain users posting habits. This one is first on a thread pretty often, always backs up Harbaugh, makes disparaging comments about other schools frequently, and gets defensive without being too vitriolic. Also, on the threads that I notice this guy being first on, it's always during the little "break" periods between other alternate accounts being outed.
So that stuff, combined with the avatar, the join date, and general tone of posts makes me think it's wd. I've thought it for a while now, but this one hasn't been too obnoxious so I never commented on it. There are still a couple others that I have an eye on. I can't help but notice it now, and I really don't think I'm wrong.
January 19th, 2018 at 1:50 PM ^
"Al Borges has a masterful offensive mind and a coaching style that takes advantage of the talent and skillset of the players on the roster. His unique ability to develop quarterbacks is second to none."
Oh my! There must be two Al Borges. Hoke clearly hired the evil twin.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
HIRE BORGES!
January 19th, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^
Great hire!
January 19th, 2018 at 12:38 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^
Does Nuss have a job?
January 19th, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
Yes, his job is imploding offensive talent.
January 19th, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:31 AM ^
Just when you think you're safe, he might pull out his 2013 OSU gameplan.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 12:29 PM ^
It's hard to pin that one on him. We scored 41 points.
January 19th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 7:32 PM ^
Borges almost invariably developed a creative script opening to the game that got receivers open and moved the football. He was good at developing variety. As with Harbaugh, excessive new stuff was seen as a problem--the team wasn't good at executing base stuff, but spent time every week practicing (at a sloth pace) new stuff for the new week.
But the biggest problem, by a significant margin, was an OL that could not run the basic plays that Brandon/Hoke wanted Borges to build around. So the preferred I-form play-action plays would be embarrassing failures because Michigan was utterly incapable of running out of the I.
Borges was certainly part of the problem, and perhaps complexity contributed to the OL's trouble, but the OL was then as now the singularity into which all other offensive strength and weakness collapsed.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
"...was in the mix for some NFL coaching opportunities this winter."
Really???
January 19th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
He likely would have been in line as an analysist, if anything. The guy can scheme, he can draw X's and O's, and can help gameplan. Appears he was pretty successful at it at Auburn this year, despite Auburn running a very different style of O. Borges is fairly well respected in that area of football. So I could see it. But no way was he in the mix for OC spots in the NFL.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
My feelings about Borges and his culpability for Michigan's offensive problems are well known (if not often exaggerated by others around here), but this seems like an odd hire.
Borges is nearing his mid-60s, has no links to Texas (which a school like UTSA would heavily rely on), and isn't much of a recruiter. I think he has successfully shown in the past that he can morph his WCO with modern schemes, but this just seems like an unispired and low upside hire. That may make sense, at least to a degree, for some places for some amount of time, but not for what is a program with very little history, trying to break into D-I football still, and trying to make a name for itself and attract talent.
I actually like Frank Wilson enough, for what I know of him. But this hire doesn't really make sense to me other than Borges can run his preferred type of offense (hybrid pro style).
January 19th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
I think it also lends some credibility to the program when they can say "We hired this guy who used to be the OC at Auburn, Michigan, and UCLA." That's something they can sell to the current players and potential recruits.
January 19th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
Funk is the OL coach and Jeff Kastl, former QB and then analyst under Hoke is the WR coach.
Borges sounds like a decent hire to me. He's got more experience and knowledge than you'd expect at that level. He's not much of a recruiter, so the lack of local ties means less and the 10th assistant helps compensate. He might even be a reruiting asset, just based on that experience. Come play for a guy that was the OC and QB coach at Auburn and Michigan sounds like a decent sales pitch.
January 19th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^
How in the living hell is Darrell Funk still coaching OL's? Some things just boggle the mind...
January 19th, 2018 at 11:43 AM ^
That's good for him and I'm glad he's looking/feeling healthier but I kinda liked the chubby borges. He just looked right in a 5XL t shirt that could clothe most of a 3rd world country with the right seamstress.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
WTF is UTSA? U Texas San Antonio?
Congrats?
Meh...
January 19th, 2018 at 12:33 PM ^
[Insert post where someone says that UTSA is an rising program that invested millions into their stadium and facilities. Rich and notable alumni, etc]
January 19th, 2018 at 1:23 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:49 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
“I am thrilled to be able to announce the hiring of Al Borges as our new offensive coordinator,” Wilson said. “Al Borges has a masterful offensive mind and a coaching style that takes advantage of the talent and skillset of the players on the roster. His unique ability to develop quarterbacks is second to none. Our coaching staff got better today.”
He's an X's and O's guy, to be sure, but I don't think Borges was ever much on recruiting and quite frankly, when you're a school like UTSA that is competing for talent in Texas, it seems like you need to be a pretty good recruiter and salesman of the program. This is a very off-the-wall hire in that respect.
January 19th, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^
Harris said that Borges was the reason he commited to Michigan and he didn't want to decommit until he was fired.
January 19th, 2018 at 12:58 PM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 1:43 PM ^
I must have missed that part of his Michigan coaching career. Although I suppose "unique" might be accurate in the one-of-a-kind-bad sense . . . .