Too Long in the Wasteland
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New U-M coach will have plenty of talent at his disposal
TOO BAD NONE OF IT IS ON DEFENSE.
There are worse college football teams to inherit than one that ended the regular season 7-5.
I THINK I'D RATHER TAKE OVER THE STANFORD TEAM THAT FINISHED 12-1
That the Wolverines finished on the north side of .500 can be forgotten amid all the angst in Ann Arbor these days as Michigan hunts for a man to replace Rich Rodriguez, a coaching search splashed in melancholy for fans who wanted Jim Harbaugh as U-M's new football commander.
HOLY RUN-ON SENTENCE, BATMAN! I GUESS GRAMMAR ISN'T A PREREQUISITE TO BE A COLUMNIST AT THE SNOOZE
The Maize and Blue rooters should probably cheer up, and not only because every motivational speaker who ever stood behind a lectern for $10,000 a pop would tell them precisely that.
THE BOBOS IN THE DETROIT MEDIA SURE LAP THAT STUFF UP. THAT'S ONE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MICHIGAN AND HERE. THE DETROIT MEDIA IS BASICALLY A HOUSE ORGAN FOR SCum. ASIDE FROM SID, WHO HAS ALZHEIMERS, WE DON'T HAVE AN EQUIVALENT. ACTUALLY, WE HAVE THE OPPOSITE.
It's because a team that won seven games has at least a dinner-plate serving of talent returning. The skill set is less than ideal at too many places,
LIKE WHEN THE OTHER TEAM HAS THE BALL
but living, breathing Division I football bodies are fairly prevalent on a team that made it into a bowl game even after a season as calamitous as 2010.
ACTUALLY, THAT WAS THE MOST DAMNING THING ABOUT DICKROD. HOW HE MANAGED TO DO SO MUCH LESS WITH SO MUCH MORE. MAYBE HE SHOULDN'T HAVE HIRED ALL HIS JUGBLOWING HOMIES FROM W VA AS ASSISTANTS?
The critical question:How much better can the new man -- Les Miles, Brady Hoke, Mr. Surprise Candidate -- make Rodriguez's roster?
THERE ISN'T MUCH DOWNSIDE, AT LEAST ON D
One person's answer: Better than most fans would believe.
A former Big Ten coach had the same view -- sandwiched amid a flurry of criticisms -- when he was phoned Saturday in Dallas, where he was taking in the American Football Coaches Association's convention.
TAKING IN, WHORING AFTER A COACHING JOB, WHATEVER
Glen Mason, the former coach at Minnesota who now works for the Big Ten Network, said, with his usual candor:"Funny you should ask about Michigan, because I just got done talking with Mitch Browning, my offensive coordinator for 20 years, and I just got done saying: 'Can you believe how fouled up that Michigan situation is?
I WONDER IF BOTH OF THEM ARE TRYING ON BLOCK M SWEATSHIRTS?
You've got to work hard to foul up that system.'
MY GUESS IS THAT GLEN AND DICKROD AREN'T EXCHANGING X-MAS CARDS.
"But," he said, changing direction, "I agree with you. They've got some great talent there."
THAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN YOU RECRUIT. OF COURSE, GLEN WOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT.
Even defense can be fixed
ASKING MASON FOR OPINIONS ABOUT DEFENSE IS LIKE ASKING SARAH PALIN ABOUT FOREIGN POLICY. "I CAN SEE THE OPPOSING QB FROM HERE"
Mason said all of this, not because it was cocktail hour at the convention, but because of what Michigan will bequeath to its new man.
I WONDER IF MASON OR HIS AGENT HAS CALLED THEIR AD YET?
One plus is the sheer number of seasoned, or at least initiated, players who return in 2011, beginning with U-M's high-bore offense.
The new coach will have slick wide receivers in Roy Roundtree,
HANDS OF STONE. THE GUY IS SCUM'S VERSION OF ERNIE WHEELWRIGHT.
Darryl Stonum, and Junior Hemingway.
On the offensive line, Taylor Lewan, David Molk, Mark Huyge, and Patrick Omameh are all back.
Running backs Vincent Smith, Michael Shaw, and Stephen Hopkins are headed to spring practice in 90 days, as is fullback John McGolgan, and, most importantly, three talented quarterbacks, assuming they carry on in Ann Arbor: Denard Robinson, Tate Forcier,
INELIGIBLE
and the gifted Devin Gardner.
BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW MANY OF THESE GUYS TRANSFER AFTER THE NEW COACH IS NAMED
Everyone wonders what happens with Robinson if the new coach's scheme is significantly different. But that's overly worrying about systems. Robinson has Heisman Trophy-grade legs, and he has an arm.
TOO BAD THEY'RE MADE OF GLASS
Forcier has his pluses, as well
POUTING ON THE SIDELINE?
(if he can regain his academic eligibility), and Gardner might be the best overall athlete of the three.
That's talent a head coach can happily work with at the most vital spot on a roster.
Defense was, and is, a different story. It never made sense that a collection of Michigan recruits could play so abysmally.
BUT IT SURE WAS FUN TO WATCH
But when the axe fell on Rodriguez last week it dropped fundamentally because a high-profile college coach couldn't construct a system as basic as Big Ten defense.
FUNNY, THAT'S THE SAME REASON MASON GOT FIRED.
It depends how you take your news -- sunny side up, or down and dirty -- but these are the gents on U-M's defense who look as if they're returning to a yard-line near you in 2011: Craig Roh, Mike Martin, and Ryan Van Bergen -- not a bad trio by any means -- are a decent nucleus for a three-man front.
IN FLAG FOOTBALL, MAYBE
Linebacker wasn't exactly a death trap for opposing offenses in 2010 and life figures to be further stressed because of Jonas Mouton's and Obi Ezeh's departures. But in Kenny Demens and J.B. Fitzgerald the Wolverines have at least a couple of people you can build a new corps around.
FOR 2013
The secondary, of course, was a mess, mostly because it was so young, and, perhaps in part because a coaching staff that once was in charge is no longer employed.
THAT'S ACTUALLY AN IMPROVEMENT.
But, again, there are Division 1 recruits filling those positions and lots of those same greenhorn recruits got a ton of hard-knocks experience in 2010: Cam Gordon, Jordan Kovacs, Ray Vinopal, Carvin Johnson, Courtney Avery, Thomas Gordon, Cullen Christian, Terrence Talbott, Marvin Robinson, etc.
NEVER HEARD OF ANY OF THESE CLOWNS. THE ONLY REASON THE MICHIGAN SECONDARY DIDN'T LOOK WORSE IS THAT MOST TEAMS DIDN'T HAVE TO PASS TO GAIN YARDS.
Somewhere amid that battered and bruised battalion a measure of good football will be played once the new general and his drillmasters get a hold of them. And it will be all the better if Troy Woolfolk, as expected, makes it back for another season after breaking his leg last August, and if J.T. Floyd, also injured, joins Woolfolk as a starting cornerback.
What gives with kicking game?
YEAH, THAT'S ANOTHER POSITION MASON WAS STELLAR FOR RECRUITING. IF RHYS LLOYD HADN'T FALLEN INTO HIS LAP MASON PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED A YEAR OR TWO EARLIER. REMEMBER THAT CAMPUS WIDE TRYOUT?
What a man with Mason's perspective sees in Michigan's roster is Beauty and the Beast, with the Beast capable of undergoing a makeover if athletic director Dave Brandon hires the right guy.
I WONDER WHO GLEN THINKS THE RIGHT GUY IS?...
"First of all, their offense is dynamic," Mason said, "five hundred yards a game, which is just amazing.
WHAT A COINCIDENCE. THAT'S ABOUT HOW MUCH WE RUSHED FOR VS. SCUM IN 2003
"But the thing that didn't go hand-in-hand with that was having the worst defense in the league. It was just so ironic. If Michigan had had just a middle-of-the-road defense, can you imagine how good that team would be?
GEE, YOU COULD SAY THE SAME THING ABOUT SOME OF YOUR TEAMS, GLEN
"Conversely, if the offense had been only middle-of-the-road, can you imagine how much worse that defense would have been?
ACTUALLY, THAT BRINGS TO MIND SOME OF GLEN'S OTHER YEARS
"I'm just saying that I looked for them to improve, defensively, all year long and they never did. And, to be quite honest, it wasn't just a lack of talent -- I don't buy that.
WAS IT THEY MOVED ALL THEIR DEFENSIVE TALENT TO OFFENSE? OH WAIT, THAT'S WHAT YOU DID.
"They didn't seem to get lined up," Mason continued. "Their fundamentals were not sound. And they didn't tackle well.
REPLACE "WELL" WITH "AT ALL".
"I was critical of them all year long, and that's really not my style.
BECAUSE YOU TOOK CRITICISM SO WELL WHEN YOU WERE A COACH.
But I do think anyone who goes in there is capable of playing a lot better defense than they've been playing."
Mason thought back to those years when he and the Gophers set foot in the Big House. It could make a visiting coach, as well as his players, wonder if they might have better things to do than play four quarters of football against these guys.
MOST GAMES IN AA, WE WERE LUCKY IF WE PLAYED 2 QUARTERS OF FOOTBALL. WHAT WAS GLEN'S RECORD VS. SCUM? 1-7?
"When I had to play Michigan and they ran out of that tunnel," Mason recalled, "I'd say, 'God, that's how I want my team to look.'
MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE TRIED RECRUITING THOSE KIND OF PLAYERS? JEEBUS!
"But they've gone from one end of the spectrum to the other. I really think if the right guy takes that job -- maybe a guy with a different choice on offense (rather than Rodriguez's version of the spread) -- that he can work with that same offensive group and utilize that great talent they have.
I'M SURPRISED GLEN DIDN'T INADVERTANTLY SAY "I" INSTEAD OF "HE"
"And then he can slowly make the transition to whatever defense he might want -- and get away from that 3-3-5 arrangement.
I DO AGREE THAT 3-3-5 WAS STOOPID.
And they can be a lot better very quickly."
GIVEN MEECHIGAN'S PSYCHOTIC FANBASE, THEY'D BETTER
Mason's overview has nothing to do with other factors that could make things tough for Michigan as Brandon ponders his job applicants. Recruiting is being threatened by a firing-hiring process that should have been in gear six weeks ago.
THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVE OUT THE AD JOB AS A FORM OF PATRONAGE, LIKE SCUM DOES. SORT OF LIKE PUTTING A GUY WHO'S CAREER IS RAISING ARABIAN PONIES IN CHARGE OF FEMA.
We'll know a month from now about recruiting successes and casualties that will affect Michigan's roster more in later years than in 2011.
ASSUMING THEY'VE NAMED A NEW COACH BY THEN.
But, even with a schedule that will be tougher in 2011 than it was last autumn, the expectation here is that fans will see a dramatically improved product in 2011.
DELUSIONAL!
It might not show up in a win-loss column that could be difficult to push past the break-even mark.
SINCE WHEN IS 4-8 "BREAK EVEN"?
But in the same way as Michigan played worse than its record in 2010 the reverse should be in motion in 2011 -- once the new regime cleans up that unimaginable mess on defense.
THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN IN ONE YEAR. ESPECIALLY IF GLEN'S IN CHARGE
Mason, by the way, shared another thought. And not many who winced their way through the past season would quarrel.
"I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Michigan has such a bad kicking game," he said. "You're telling me Michigan can't field a better kicking game than that?
I REMEMBER BEING AT ONE OF OUR SPRING GAMES WHERE THE KICKER NEARLY BANKED ONE OFF OF THE BIERMAN BUILDING ON A FG ATTEMPT.
"Give me a break."
Or, better yet, a new coach. There's a football team in Ann Arbor waiting to be taught from a different lesson plan. Waiting to show it isn't quite as bad as so many people believe.
IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW WELL GLEN COULD COACH WITH REAL TALENT. I WILL GIVE HIM CREDIT THAT HE COACHED UP THE TALENT HE DID BRING IN. TOO BAD MOST OF THAT TALENT WAS MAC LEVEL.
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110109...lenty-of-talent-at-his-disposal#ixzz1AYJxweXx
TOO BAD NONE OF IT IS ON DEFENSE.
There are worse college football teams to inherit than one that ended the regular season 7-5.
I THINK I'D RATHER TAKE OVER THE STANFORD TEAM THAT FINISHED 12-1
That the Wolverines finished on the north side of .500 can be forgotten amid all the angst in Ann Arbor these days as Michigan hunts for a man to replace Rich Rodriguez, a coaching search splashed in melancholy for fans who wanted Jim Harbaugh as U-M's new football commander.
HOLY RUN-ON SENTENCE, BATMAN! I GUESS GRAMMAR ISN'T A PREREQUISITE TO BE A COLUMNIST AT THE SNOOZE
The Maize and Blue rooters should probably cheer up, and not only because every motivational speaker who ever stood behind a lectern for $10,000 a pop would tell them precisely that.
THE BOBOS IN THE DETROIT MEDIA SURE LAP THAT STUFF UP. THAT'S ONE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MICHIGAN AND HERE. THE DETROIT MEDIA IS BASICALLY A HOUSE ORGAN FOR SCum. ASIDE FROM SID, WHO HAS ALZHEIMERS, WE DON'T HAVE AN EQUIVALENT. ACTUALLY, WE HAVE THE OPPOSITE.
It's because a team that won seven games has at least a dinner-plate serving of talent returning. The skill set is less than ideal at too many places,
LIKE WHEN THE OTHER TEAM HAS THE BALL
but living, breathing Division I football bodies are fairly prevalent on a team that made it into a bowl game even after a season as calamitous as 2010.
ACTUALLY, THAT WAS THE MOST DAMNING THING ABOUT DICKROD. HOW HE MANAGED TO DO SO MUCH LESS WITH SO MUCH MORE. MAYBE HE SHOULDN'T HAVE HIRED ALL HIS JUGBLOWING HOMIES FROM W VA AS ASSISTANTS?
The critical question:How much better can the new man -- Les Miles, Brady Hoke, Mr. Surprise Candidate -- make Rodriguez's roster?
THERE ISN'T MUCH DOWNSIDE, AT LEAST ON D
One person's answer: Better than most fans would believe.
A former Big Ten coach had the same view -- sandwiched amid a flurry of criticisms -- when he was phoned Saturday in Dallas, where he was taking in the American Football Coaches Association's convention.
TAKING IN, WHORING AFTER A COACHING JOB, WHATEVER
Glen Mason, the former coach at Minnesota who now works for the Big Ten Network, said, with his usual candor:"Funny you should ask about Michigan, because I just got done talking with Mitch Browning, my offensive coordinator for 20 years, and I just got done saying: 'Can you believe how fouled up that Michigan situation is?
I WONDER IF BOTH OF THEM ARE TRYING ON BLOCK M SWEATSHIRTS?
You've got to work hard to foul up that system.'
MY GUESS IS THAT GLEN AND DICKROD AREN'T EXCHANGING X-MAS CARDS.
"But," he said, changing direction, "I agree with you. They've got some great talent there."
THAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN YOU RECRUIT. OF COURSE, GLEN WOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT.
Even defense can be fixed
ASKING MASON FOR OPINIONS ABOUT DEFENSE IS LIKE ASKING SARAH PALIN ABOUT FOREIGN POLICY. "I CAN SEE THE OPPOSING QB FROM HERE"
Mason said all of this, not because it was cocktail hour at the convention, but because of what Michigan will bequeath to its new man.
I WONDER IF MASON OR HIS AGENT HAS CALLED THEIR AD YET?
One plus is the sheer number of seasoned, or at least initiated, players who return in 2011, beginning with U-M's high-bore offense.
The new coach will have slick wide receivers in Roy Roundtree,
HANDS OF STONE. THE GUY IS SCUM'S VERSION OF ERNIE WHEELWRIGHT.
Darryl Stonum, and Junior Hemingway.
On the offensive line, Taylor Lewan, David Molk, Mark Huyge, and Patrick Omameh are all back.
Running backs Vincent Smith, Michael Shaw, and Stephen Hopkins are headed to spring practice in 90 days, as is fullback John McGolgan, and, most importantly, three talented quarterbacks, assuming they carry on in Ann Arbor: Denard Robinson, Tate Forcier,
INELIGIBLE
and the gifted Devin Gardner.
BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW MANY OF THESE GUYS TRANSFER AFTER THE NEW COACH IS NAMED
Everyone wonders what happens with Robinson if the new coach's scheme is significantly different. But that's overly worrying about systems. Robinson has Heisman Trophy-grade legs, and he has an arm.
TOO BAD THEY'RE MADE OF GLASS
Forcier has his pluses, as well
POUTING ON THE SIDELINE?
(if he can regain his academic eligibility), and Gardner might be the best overall athlete of the three.
That's talent a head coach can happily work with at the most vital spot on a roster.
Defense was, and is, a different story. It never made sense that a collection of Michigan recruits could play so abysmally.
BUT IT SURE WAS FUN TO WATCH
But when the axe fell on Rodriguez last week it dropped fundamentally because a high-profile college coach couldn't construct a system as basic as Big Ten defense.
FUNNY, THAT'S THE SAME REASON MASON GOT FIRED.
It depends how you take your news -- sunny side up, or down and dirty -- but these are the gents on U-M's defense who look as if they're returning to a yard-line near you in 2011: Craig Roh, Mike Martin, and Ryan Van Bergen -- not a bad trio by any means -- are a decent nucleus for a three-man front.
IN FLAG FOOTBALL, MAYBE
Linebacker wasn't exactly a death trap for opposing offenses in 2010 and life figures to be further stressed because of Jonas Mouton's and Obi Ezeh's departures. But in Kenny Demens and J.B. Fitzgerald the Wolverines have at least a couple of people you can build a new corps around.
FOR 2013
The secondary, of course, was a mess, mostly because it was so young, and, perhaps in part because a coaching staff that once was in charge is no longer employed.
THAT'S ACTUALLY AN IMPROVEMENT.
But, again, there are Division 1 recruits filling those positions and lots of those same greenhorn recruits got a ton of hard-knocks experience in 2010: Cam Gordon, Jordan Kovacs, Ray Vinopal, Carvin Johnson, Courtney Avery, Thomas Gordon, Cullen Christian, Terrence Talbott, Marvin Robinson, etc.
NEVER HEARD OF ANY OF THESE CLOWNS. THE ONLY REASON THE MICHIGAN SECONDARY DIDN'T LOOK WORSE IS THAT MOST TEAMS DIDN'T HAVE TO PASS TO GAIN YARDS.
Somewhere amid that battered and bruised battalion a measure of good football will be played once the new general and his drillmasters get a hold of them. And it will be all the better if Troy Woolfolk, as expected, makes it back for another season after breaking his leg last August, and if J.T. Floyd, also injured, joins Woolfolk as a starting cornerback.
What gives with kicking game?
YEAH, THAT'S ANOTHER POSITION MASON WAS STELLAR FOR RECRUITING. IF RHYS LLOYD HADN'T FALLEN INTO HIS LAP MASON PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED A YEAR OR TWO EARLIER. REMEMBER THAT CAMPUS WIDE TRYOUT?
What a man with Mason's perspective sees in Michigan's roster is Beauty and the Beast, with the Beast capable of undergoing a makeover if athletic director Dave Brandon hires the right guy.
I WONDER WHO GLEN THINKS THE RIGHT GUY IS?...
"First of all, their offense is dynamic," Mason said, "five hundred yards a game, which is just amazing.
WHAT A COINCIDENCE. THAT'S ABOUT HOW MUCH WE RUSHED FOR VS. SCUM IN 2003
"But the thing that didn't go hand-in-hand with that was having the worst defense in the league. It was just so ironic. If Michigan had had just a middle-of-the-road defense, can you imagine how good that team would be?
GEE, YOU COULD SAY THE SAME THING ABOUT SOME OF YOUR TEAMS, GLEN
"Conversely, if the offense had been only middle-of-the-road, can you imagine how much worse that defense would have been?
ACTUALLY, THAT BRINGS TO MIND SOME OF GLEN'S OTHER YEARS
"I'm just saying that I looked for them to improve, defensively, all year long and they never did. And, to be quite honest, it wasn't just a lack of talent -- I don't buy that.
WAS IT THEY MOVED ALL THEIR DEFENSIVE TALENT TO OFFENSE? OH WAIT, THAT'S WHAT YOU DID.
"They didn't seem to get lined up," Mason continued. "Their fundamentals were not sound. And they didn't tackle well.
REPLACE "WELL" WITH "AT ALL".
"I was critical of them all year long, and that's really not my style.
BECAUSE YOU TOOK CRITICISM SO WELL WHEN YOU WERE A COACH.
But I do think anyone who goes in there is capable of playing a lot better defense than they've been playing."
Mason thought back to those years when he and the Gophers set foot in the Big House. It could make a visiting coach, as well as his players, wonder if they might have better things to do than play four quarters of football against these guys.
MOST GAMES IN AA, WE WERE LUCKY IF WE PLAYED 2 QUARTERS OF FOOTBALL. WHAT WAS GLEN'S RECORD VS. SCUM? 1-7?
"When I had to play Michigan and they ran out of that tunnel," Mason recalled, "I'd say, 'God, that's how I want my team to look.'
MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE TRIED RECRUITING THOSE KIND OF PLAYERS? JEEBUS!
"But they've gone from one end of the spectrum to the other. I really think if the right guy takes that job -- maybe a guy with a different choice on offense (rather than Rodriguez's version of the spread) -- that he can work with that same offensive group and utilize that great talent they have.
I'M SURPRISED GLEN DIDN'T INADVERTANTLY SAY "I" INSTEAD OF "HE"
"And then he can slowly make the transition to whatever defense he might want -- and get away from that 3-3-5 arrangement.
I DO AGREE THAT 3-3-5 WAS STOOPID.
And they can be a lot better very quickly."
GIVEN MEECHIGAN'S PSYCHOTIC FANBASE, THEY'D BETTER
Mason's overview has nothing to do with other factors that could make things tough for Michigan as Brandon ponders his job applicants. Recruiting is being threatened by a firing-hiring process that should have been in gear six weeks ago.
THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVE OUT THE AD JOB AS A FORM OF PATRONAGE, LIKE SCUM DOES. SORT OF LIKE PUTTING A GUY WHO'S CAREER IS RAISING ARABIAN PONIES IN CHARGE OF FEMA.
We'll know a month from now about recruiting successes and casualties that will affect Michigan's roster more in later years than in 2011.
ASSUMING THEY'VE NAMED A NEW COACH BY THEN.
But, even with a schedule that will be tougher in 2011 than it was last autumn, the expectation here is that fans will see a dramatically improved product in 2011.
DELUSIONAL!
It might not show up in a win-loss column that could be difficult to push past the break-even mark.
SINCE WHEN IS 4-8 "BREAK EVEN"?
But in the same way as Michigan played worse than its record in 2010 the reverse should be in motion in 2011 -- once the new regime cleans up that unimaginable mess on defense.
THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN IN ONE YEAR. ESPECIALLY IF GLEN'S IN CHARGE
Mason, by the way, shared another thought. And not many who winced their way through the past season would quarrel.
"I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Michigan has such a bad kicking game," he said. "You're telling me Michigan can't field a better kicking game than that?
I REMEMBER BEING AT ONE OF OUR SPRING GAMES WHERE THE KICKER NEARLY BANKED ONE OFF OF THE BIERMAN BUILDING ON A FG ATTEMPT.
"Give me a break."
Or, better yet, a new coach. There's a football team in Ann Arbor waiting to be taught from a different lesson plan. Waiting to show it isn't quite as bad as so many people believe.
IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW WELL GLEN COULD COACH WITH REAL TALENT. I WILL GIVE HIM CREDIT THAT HE COACHED UP THE TALENT HE DID BRING IN. TOO BAD MOST OF THAT TALENT WAS MAC LEVEL.
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110109...lenty-of-talent-at-his-disposal#ixzz1AYJxweXx
