2019 Michigan Season Thread

[MrNubbz]

Yes. He wants a new rule where everyone is eligible no matter the circumstances. But we don't have that rule yet, so he and everyone else is stuck with the rules we have.

Meanwhile, Fickell still hasn't denied Harbaugh's claim. Maybe he'll change his mind and deny it soon.

Man are you thick there is nothing to confirm or deny.Harbaugh - the same asshole that started the shitstorm at media days - you remember that right?While Harbaugh has said he wasn’t talking about Hudson specifically, it was easy for some to connect the dots because Hudson had an appeal to play right away at Cincinnati denied then later said he left the Michigan football program because of depression.,so the kid,his mother and Fickell are all full of crap.Answer my inquiry.AGAIN(3rd time) Harbaugh has said in the past he believes transfers should be allowed to leave a school with instant eligibility once, no matter the circumstances._Obviously that was bullshit or this conversation doesn't takes place
Here you go -  https//localfootballnews.com/2019/08/14/luke-fickell-attacks-jim-harbaugh-about-transfers/

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't need to be so angry about disagreeing. Clearly we haven't persuaded one another despite trying our darnedest. Es ok.

[Honestbuckeye]

Fickell's account of the conversation differed. 
"I’ve got notes if you want them," he said. "Nothing more than asking, 'hey, what’s your stance on James? Are you going to help the kid?'
"It wasn’t like pleasant or anything. It was kind of cold. It was short. It wasn’t a long conversation. It wasn’t hard to figure out what their stance was. They supposedly weren’t going to hold (Hudson's waiver) up but they weren’t going to help him." 
The NCAA denied a waiver for Hudson, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman and former four-star recruit from Toledo Central Catholic, to play this season in May. Hudson practiced with the Bearcats in December leading up to the Military Bowl. He played three games for Michigan in 2018.
Hudson said via Twitter in May that he left Michigan for mental health reasons. 
 "The NCAA has denied my waiver specifically because I never spoke up about my mental struggles to the administration at the University of Michigan," Hudson wrote. 
“Like many football players I was afraid to speak up about my depression not wanting to look weak. Now the NCAA is telling me that my courage to step forward and speak about my issues was done too late and subjectively my 'Circumstances do not warrant relief.'" 
Fickell said Smith's waiver included mental health, too. 
"We saw how it works with coach Day at Ohio State and how they helped Blue Smith out, to be honest with you," Fickell said. "So, whether people know a lot about that, they wanted to help the kid. They didn’t want to lose him, but they wanted to help him. They did stuff to help make him eligible here and gave him an opportunity to be eligible." 
Harbaugh has said in the past he believes transfers should be allowed to leave a school with instant eligibility once, no matter the circumstances. He repeated that on Tuesday. But he expressed doubt last month when asked during a radio interview with ESPNU whether college athletes should be allowed to gain immediate eligibility under the current rules in place due to mental-health or depression-related conditions.
"And the other piece that bothers me about it is the youngster that says, 'This is a mental health issue. I'm suffering from depression,'" Harbaugh said. "Or that's a reason to get eligible. And once that's known: 'Hey, say this or say that' to get eligible. The problem I see in that is you're going to have guys that are, 'Okay, yeah, I'm depressed.'
"Say what they've got to say. But down the road, I don't see that helping them if it's not a legitimate thing. But nobody would know. But what are you going to say? Ten years down the road – 'I just had to say what I had to say?' And I think you're putting them in a position that's unfair, not right. And, as you said, you're saying it just to say it. And that's not truthful. That's not necessarily truthful. It's not something we should be promoting at the college level. Telling the truth matters. Especially at a college. You can't have experiments that aren't truthful. You can't lie about equations – shouldn't be lying in football. That's a message that we should be teaching."
Hudson's final appeal to play this season was denied last month. Fickell said he's met with Hudson individually on multiple occasions to help keep Hudson's mindset in a positive frame. 
"It’s unfortunate that (the NCAA) can’t give, not me, I’m a grown man, but they can’t give a 20-year-old an explanation exactly why," Fickell said. "But it’s over now. We’ve got to move forward." “



So, as you can see, Fickell DID deny it.  So, your assessment the he “asked him to lie” is quite a stretch. 

As I said, it is nuanced,  if you take them both at their word, it seems Fickell thought they would be more supportive like Saban and Day. Harbaugh though he was asking him to say something that was not true.   And yes, for the record, Fickell is widely known as a person of extremely high integrity.  He has been criticized before for being a shitty coach ( fair or not), but a damn good man. 

[MrNubbz]

You don't need to be so angry about disagreeing. Clearly we haven't persuaded one another despite trying our darnedest. Es ok.

Not angry strongly pointing out the script is getting flipped and some have been less than candid - go have an IPA

[Anonymous Coward]

Not angry

Typing "didn't say shit" in one post and calling me thick in another is a sign the conversation has lost its composure. At least it's a sign we should discuss something else. Don't worry. Inevitably this will come up later and we'll both say the same things all over again. If we stop with a handshake now it's more friendly and efficient.

[Brutus Buckeye]

I don't have a problem with Hairball's response. He didn't block the kid, but he isn't going to sit there and play grab ass with the NCAA in order to make sure that he gets to play right away. 

Day and Saban may well have gone above and beyond the call of duty in order to help their own UC transfers gain immediate eligibility, and that is admirable if true. But it is certainly not mandatory. 


That said it is fun to sit on the sidelines and watch the feud play out, as an impartial observer. 

[Anonymous Coward]

Fickell's account of the conversation differed.

(...)

"I’ve got notes if you want them," he said.

(...)

So, as you can see, Fickell DID deny it.  So, your assessment the he “asked him to lie” is quite a stretch.

I hadn't seen this quote. You're right, he is addressing it, but -- while I don't expect you to agree with me -- my interpretation is that what he's saying is consistent with what Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh is basically complaining that another coach called him and said 

• "hey you know that thing you're filling out, here, take my notes on how to do it."

And in that quote Fickell is saying literally that: 

• "I've got notes if you want them."

[MrNubbz]

Typing "didn't say shit" in one post and calling me thick in another is a sign the conversation has lost its composure. At least it's a sign we should discuss something else. Don't worry. Inevitably this will come up later and we'll both say the same things all over again. If we stop with a handshake now it's more friendly and efficient.

OK my bad how about stubbornly inaccurate

[Honestbuckeye]

I hadn't seen this quote. You're right, he is addressing it, but -- while I don't expect you to agree with me -- my interpretation is that what he's saying is consistent with what Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh is basically complaining that another coach called him and said

• "hey you know that thing you're filling out, here, take my notes on how to do it."

And in that quote Fickell is saying literally that:

• "I've got notes if you want them."

I think the “ I have notes if you want them”was for when he was asked about Harbaugh’ s version of the conversation.  
Either way, not a big deal.  

[Mdot21]

being pissed off about being moved to offense from defense and then being more pissed off about not winning the starting RT job as a REDSHIRT FRESHMAN does not = mental health issues. It does = an immature little kid taking his ball and going home crying.

James Hudson is full of shit. And so is Luke Fickell. Hudson was a REDSHIRT FRESHMAN and he didn't beat out a FIFTH YEAR SENIOR tackle in JBB and he was pissed off about it. Simple as that. The minute JBB got hurt and Hudson didn't get the nod to be the starter in place of JBB he bolted. Didn't even try to compete.

That's fine. That's his perogative. But don't try sell me a line of bullshit about it being for mental health issues. Not buying it. He wanted to play defensive line, most colleges recruited him as an OL. Why? Because he was a far superior OL prospect than he was DL prospect. Harbaugh sold him on giving him a shot at DL. He was moved to OL, and he was a little ticked about it. He lost the starting RT job to JBB and he was a little ticked about that too. He got some reps as the #2 RT but as soon as JBB got hurt and a starting position was open for awhile and he didn't get it, the kid got super pissed and left.

[Cincydawg]

Folks chat about "trap games", but sometimes the upset is not one of those, perhaps often that is the case.  A team survives the trap game and then loses unexpectedly to someone else, perhaps at home.  Is Michigan solid enough to "bulldoze" lesser teams and not see a 10+ point dog beat them?

As noted, Army is a watch out, they could be a 12 point dog easily.  Iowa at home?  Mebbe.  At Maryland?  They nearly beat OSU last season.  At Indiana?  Nah.

Obviously, they need to sweep those lesser teams, but it doesn't always happen.  We fans tend to count them up as Ws preseason, and they usually will be.

All this is the case for every team of course.  

[MaximumSam]

It's not rocket science, Fickell (and the kid and his mom) said Michigan wasn't going to help and Harbaugh confirmed it. This nonsense about asking him to lie is nonsense and mostly besides the point.

[Mdot21]

It's not rocket science, Fickell (and the kid and his mom) said Michigan wasn't going to help and Harbaugh confirmed it. This nonsense about asking him to lie is nonsense and mostly besides the point.

Michigan doesn't need to help. Not their problem. There is only a problem when a school tries to get in the way and try to block a transfer- like Alabama did to that kid who transferred to Georgia.

Harbaugh/Michigan gave him his release, that's all they had to do. Everyone needs to stop with the nonsense.

James Hudson left because he was salty about being moved to OL, salty about not winning the RT job as a REDSHIRT FRESHMAN, and the straw that broke the camels back was when starting RT JBB went down and Andrew Steuber got the starting nod over Hudson. Hudson was already pissed off and felt like he should be starting over JBB, and when Steuber got the nod instead of Hudson - he transferred like 2 days later.

Let's just call it what it is. He took his ball and went running home crying like a child. Literally.

And Tom Mars the NCAA transfer expert who has handled every damn high profile transfer case came out and said yesterday that there is absolutely nothing that Jim Harbaugh could've done to influence the NCAA's decision. The NCAA is going to do what it wants. It is the least consistent orginization ever. Harbaugh nor any coach has influence over that shitshow of an orginization called the NCAA. 

James Hudson's real problem for getting his waiver denied is he transferred to a nothing program. Had he transferred to Notre Dame or USC or Ohio State or Miami or Alabama- my guess is that waiver probably somehow finds a way to get approved by the NCAA. NCAA gives a slap on the wrist to helmet schools and they come down hard on the small programs.

[MrNubbz]

You"re right but Harbaugh doesn't need to accuse someone else of being slippery when they weren't.I don't necessarily agree with the immediate transfer thing.These kids have enough time to figure out where the want to go.There should be like a 4-5-6 game penatly.The kid transferring to play football some where else isn't going to ease his depression.Unless the circumstances are unbearable.But Harbaugh was on record as saying he's for immediate transfers,so take the high road and sign his release or in JH's case don't.