Chris Partridge Released
The reason for Michigan's capitulation seems a bit clearer, as Warde Manuel announced this morning that linebackers coach Chris Partridge has been relieved.
"Effective today, Chris Partridge has been relieved of his duties as a member of the Michigan Football staff. Rick Minter will serve as the team’s linebackers coach."
It appears that the investigation uncovered either prior knowledge of the scheme by Partridge, active cover-up, or both. Several people at Michigan confirmed that the players were interviewed this week. Stalions reported to Partridge, but according to people I've spoken to, there was no evidence prior to this week to show that Partridge knew how Stalions was getting his signs. The timing of this strongly suggests Michigan only recently learned of Partridge's involvement during the course of the investigation, and that this was a major factor in deciding to settle with the Big Ten.
Rick Minter is Jesse Minter's father, the former head coach of Cincinnati, and two-time defensive coordinator at Notre Dame.
We'll have MGoRadio in about 15 minutes. Yay!
November 17th, 2023 at 1:58 PM ^
If you were right often, I imagine there would be no reason for the self gratification. Seems like it's probably not a regular occurrence.
November 17th, 2023 at 5:47 PM ^
And apparently you believe you're helping?
November 17th, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
seems like you're taking at least *SOME* joy because that's the only reason you link to an old comment to say "I told you so"
November 17th, 2023 at 12:07 PM ^
seems like you're taking at least *SOME* joy because that's the only reason you link to an old comment to say "I told you so"
November 17th, 2023 at 12:10 PM ^
Not sure why you are being negged. The abrupt nature of yesterday's U-turn virtually screamed that there were other considerations. I hope that UM has done their investigation thoroughly and there are no more bombshells, but there is a lot of information that needs to be released before we can consider the issue transparent.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:52 PM ^
In your previous post, I thought you were acting like an asshole and would continue acting like an asshole.
That said, I take 100% joy in telling you, I was right.
November 17th, 2023 at 5:48 PM ^
No, it's not just his opinion. It's virtually all of ours...
November 17th, 2023 at 2:20 PM ^
narcissistic "I told you sos" always go over well
November 17th, 2023 at 2:53 PM ^
Look, we all have choices right now. We can admit that we were wrong and move on like adults, or we can just lash out in frustration. Your call my dude.
November 17th, 2023 at 4:46 PM ^
doubling down on your narcssism
November 17th, 2023 at 12:00 PM ^
If he truly covered things up, than I agree he should be fired.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:04 PM ^
Good grief.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:05 PM ^
What a kick in the crotch
November 17th, 2023 at 12:05 PM ^
The other shoe drops. Chris was Stallion's boss so Chris has to go for either "failure to supervise properly" or "failure to communicate to his superiors".
He let Coach get blind sided. Poor judgment demonstrated.
He gone.
November 17th, 2023 at 1:40 PM ^
Hopefully there are no more shoes.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
Michigan vs Itself
This is a circus and all of it was so unnecessary. This is a great team and they’ll never get the recognition that they truly deserve because Stalions, Partridge and others screwed them over. Michigan beat itself this year (even if no other team actually beats this great Michigan team on the field). I feel really bad for the players.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:14 PM ^
Sorry…but beat Maryland. Feel free to sit the rest of the season out.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:18 PM ^
I am not going to completely disagree but this season is not over. These players still have an opportunity to win multiple championships this year. Who cares what naysayers say in the end because we will have all watched the domination happen on the field. Go Blue!
November 17th, 2023 at 12:34 PM ^
I totally support the players. I’m on the fence about Harbaugh and will wait to see how everything unfolds. I was 100% behind Harbaugh until this news dropped. Now I’m in wait and see mode. Stalions and Partridge royally screwed the players, though, and the collective team of players, coaches and staffers beat itself this year. It truly is the players vs everyone (including some on the inside).
November 17th, 2023 at 12:25 PM ^
"I feel really bad for the players."
Yes, but they are going to be okay. They know what they have accomplished on the field, individually and corporately. I doubt they now nor ever will base their self-worth upon the media nonsense.
As far as the actual difference any sign stealing made, everyone outside of ESPN knows that difference remains somewhere between zero and minimal. And minimal just left town.
Part of being a Michigan Man is knowing when to care what others think and when to completely ignore. 99/100, it's the latter.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:46 PM ^
The players will always hear that their accomplishments are tainted. Even if they don’t typically care about what others think, it really stinks that this BS scheme, even if it didn’t bring a material competitive advantage, will always come up when the 2021-2022 teams are discussed. I will say that the 2023 season is redeemable. Everything on the field from MSU onward this year is not tainted in my view, so the narrative can be saved since our only meaningful games started in November. Win out and the players can tell the world that the none of it really mattered. They didn’t need shitty coaches and staffers giving them an unnecessary edge.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
Goddamn, what a dumb situation.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:10 PM ^
All I can do is laugh at this point....
Two coaches gone, program fully tarnished.... its just, sigh, I throw up my hands.
I love this years team, I fully support them, hope they keep winning and make buckeye assholes cry..... but I'd be lying if I said I my excitement and enthusiasm is as high as last couple weeks.
I'm fully in a state of "whatever"
Now seems like we got a good freakin deal from B1G...so, yay
November 17th, 2023 at 12:11 PM ^
Is Biff Poggi hiring?
November 17th, 2023 at 12:12 PM ^
1) So there was a good reason Michigan capitulated. Amazing that so many people thought Michigan just abruptly rolled over for no good reason. The brass here was always a bit too cocky about this situation.
2) Isaiah Hole, who just yesterday "reported" that no additional dirt was coming, is again proven to be an unreliable slappy.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^
yeah...Hole cred took major, major hit.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:29 PM ^
It’s likely the Michigan, the AD, and the team just uncovered this so Hole’s sources wouldn’t have known. Hole seems pretty accurate with inside stuff that has been planned or might get released. I still hope the Day and Bro Inc story is real and comes out
November 17th, 2023 at 12:33 PM ^
Its not really wrong though. Partridge not cooperating in the present isnt the same as a revelation of prior misconduct.
November 17th, 2023 at 1:39 PM ^
Isaiah Hole may have the worst inside info I've ever seen as this keeps rolling out. I mean how did I get sucked into watching all those thinking he had the inside scoop clearly he did not! Yesterday taking the suspension out of the blue was a HUGE RED FLAG. Unfortunately I'm to the point I just can't believe there isn't more bad news coming! Make it stop
November 17th, 2023 at 12:13 PM ^
Well, at least there is a reason for Michigan backing down. I still think there is a lot of stupid hoopla around advanced scouting and this is the most vanilla program violation I have heard get blown to this size, but at this point it is a PR nightmare. Also.... don't sleep on that BIG statement of not getting involved further unless further program involvement was uncovered. This would seem to fit the bill for them.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:23 PM ^
the most vanilla program violation I have heard get blown to this size
I humbly disagree. This isn't even Michigan's "most vanilla program violation" in the past 15 years. Have you heard of "Stretch-gate?"
November 17th, 2023 at 1:26 PM ^
Stretchgate never got this far. No one was suspended for that.
November 17th, 2023 at 7:19 PM ^
Well, of course not. Rodriguez wasn’t a threat.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^
Perhaps he just knew of what was going on with Stalions.
Or perhaps they've discovered other stuff, since they have access to a lot of computer files now.
Either way: Ugh.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:18 PM ^
I don't care if it was revealed that he knew or was involved. We still should have moved ahead with the lawsuit.
That was always about striking back at the flagrant overreach of the Big Ten and their very personal vendetta against Harbaugh. The merits of that argument do not change just because the scheme was known to another assistant coach.
Even if we failed to get a TRO, we could still have pursued the longer case and forced the Big Ten to admit it was wrong in very specially shafting us in ways never before seen by a conference on one of its own members.
If this is really the only reason we're rolling over and allowing this travesty to stand, then fuck the people at our university who made that decision. I just hope the team is as tough as we think they are they are and we get to force the pissant at the top to hand us a trophy in Indy.
PS, I don't believe for one nanosecond the Big Ten is done screwing us if they find even the tiniest shred of reason to abuse to do so. After all, we just threw away our chance at protecting ourselves from conference vindictiveness, so there is nothing to stop them from going back to the well again. And we all know there is no chance these standards ever get applied to Ohio State or anyone else.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:20 PM ^
No doubt that this sucks, but we've seen ten games out of this team and our eyes don't lie.
We know the kinds of kids we have, the kind of team we have, and how tight and focused they are. They have it. We know who JJ and Blake and Kris and Mikey are. I believe in them and believe that they're going to win out and make us proud when everyone else is telling us we shouldn't be.
The literal adults (most notably Chris Partridge and Tony Petitti) may have failed them, but I think they're going to use this as an opportunity to show actual fortitude and leadership and it'll start tomorrow in College Park. This SignGate shit is definitely not what I wanted, but for me it won't put a damper or asterisk on when we beat OSU in nine days.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:39 PM ^
Wow, this is some Plaxico Burress-level shooting yourself in the dick. Huge embarrassment for the program.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:43 PM ^
I'm 100% behind the team, but the school does need to get its act together. Between the Weiss thing and this, I mean, it's been said a lot, but whoever is vetting these candidates and whoever is responsible for keeping everyone on the straight-and-narrow is not doing his job. And it doesn't reflect well on Jim, as much as I'm also a fan of him.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:55 PM ^
"The Weiss thing"? WTF. It's the only example so far of Michigan moving decisively. Besides, do you think Day or Saban or Sweeney knows every single thing their assisstant coaches do? Obviously not.
November 17th, 2023 at 3:22 PM ^
The "Weiss thing" really has nothing to do with the team/program aside from the fact that he was an employee. Whatever he did is not an ncaa or Big Ten issue - just university policy and possibly criminal (still under investigation, but even after a year he is still not charged with anything).
November 17th, 2023 at 12:45 PM ^
Well, I guess the rumors were right. It's a bummer because I really think Partridge is a great coach, but if he was involved this is obviously the move.
Still doesn't really justify the rolling over to me since it's still not on Jim. Suspend Partridge then, Big Ten.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:45 PM ^
I get that the NCAA and the Big Ten think this is a lot more serious than it appears to be at face value, but........ what are they hoping to accomplish by interviewing players? Coaches, sure. Administrative personnel, OK. Those are people who would have actually dealt with Stalions and whatever he had going on. The players just play.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:46 PM ^
So it seems that partridge had no prior knowledge of what stalions was doing, but that once it was discovered he acted in a way that could be seen as coverup by not cooperating fully with the NCAA.
From my perspective then, the NCAA most likely informed both Michigan and the b1g about this (maybe the b1g ahead of UM). From there, both parties (UM and the b1g) had something to lose by the TRO hearing going forward, and maybe neither side felt fully comfortable that they were likely to win in that hearing which prompted the settlement negotiation. Both sides, in the end, get something but also lose something by settling.
This seems to be the most likely scenario.
The wider view of all of this is the seeming overreach by the b1g, and all at the behest of a mob full of other conference members. And, all for something that all teams engage in even if the method was a potential rules violation. I’d note, too, that IMO, what OSU, Rutgers and Purdue engaged in was much worse as far as “sportsmanship” goes. That should have received the commissioner’s ban hammer just as quickly as what UM did, or if you aren’t going to do anything to them, then nothing should have been done against UM either.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:52 PM ^
Either the buck stops here or this is the first crack in the dam. So either Partridge is Truman or Harbaugh is Nixon. Either way it’s a disaster.
November 17th, 2023 at 12:52 PM ^
Well, we wanted to learn from the SEC. I seriously doubt Ole Miss and everyone else isn't doing the same exact thing.
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