2021 Michigan Off-Season Thread

[Mdot21]

Who else are they gonna get?

This is a crap argument. They don’t need to hire a big name. They need to hire a good coach. There are plenty of good coaches out there. Have to interview them and find them. 

[ELA]

Honestly, it's a crap shoot. He was a proven winner, returning to his alma mater. I'm sure there's some combination out there, but who knows. Jim Tressel was not Ohio State's first choice, Dantonio was not Michigan State's first choice.

Harbaugh was the obvious choice, there is not an obvious choice, but that doesn't mean there's not a better choice. There are certainly far worse choices though

[Mdot21]

Honestly, it's a crap shoot. He was a proven winner, returning to his alma mater. I'm sure there's some combination out there, but who knows. Jim Tressel was not Ohio State's first choice, Dantonio was not Michigan State's first choice.

Harbaugh was the obvious choice, there is not an obvious choice, but that doesn't mean there's not a better choice. There are certainly far worse choices though

He was a proven winner, and the right guy at the time. But everyone knew going in he's got an extremely short shelf-life. He's got huge burn-out factor- and he wears everyone around him down. That's happened. And let's also be honest- the college game has evolved a lot- even since 2015. The college game is constantly evolving. And Harbaugh is incapable of evolving with it. It has definitely passed him bye. He was able to get away with his stone age passing offenses and concepts for the first few years- but not any longer. Harbaugh's style of ground and pound, safe QB play who won't make big plays downfield but also won't turn it over, and playing strong defense- it doesn't work. It won't win you anything in college today. Still works in the NFL to a degree- but just does not work in college.

After that 2014 playoff NC run where Cardale was going bombs away- and then the struggles they had with the QB play early on in 2015- even Urban Meyer realized, hey- I need to modernize my passing offense and bring it into the 21st century- he went out and got Ryan Day- and holy hell has Ohio State's passing game took a quantum leap forward with the arrival of Ryan Day.

They don't need a hot name. They need a good coach who is adaptable, doesn't wear people out, and who can either bring a modern passing game himself or hire the right people to do that and stay the F out of their way and be a great CEO. Harbaugh is incapable of playing CEO. His ego is such, his fingerprints are all inside the offenses on the teams he runs. This is one of the reasons he was ultimately canned in San Fransisco.

[Cincydawg]

I lean to preferring a more hands off head coach who attracts great assistants and lets them do their job with some guidance and oversight, but more of a leader and strategizer than one who constantly meddles.  I guess my work experience is relevant to this notion.

[Brutus Buckeye]

This is a crap argument. They don’t need to hire a big name. They need to hire a good coach. There are plenty of good coaches out there. Have to interview them and find them.

Yeah, but then you might wind up with another RichRod or Hoke.

[MrNubbz]

Rich Rod was already well known in CFB circles.Wasn't a bad pick at the time but should have tried working with what he had instead of making it work with what he didn't have,JMO

[Mdot21]

Yeah, but then you might wind up with another RichRod or Hoke.

Hoke was a bad hire, anyway you slice it. He was a sub .500 coach at Ball State and San Diego State. He'd never really won anything. You don't hire people like this. Period.

RichRod was considered a great hire at the time. I still don't think it was a bad hire. I honestly think they bailed on him too soon. He was only given 3 years. He improved the team by 2 wins each year. He inherited a complete mess, after he was hired pretty much every good player from Michigan's 2007 team either transferred or declared early for NFL and just about every highly rated commit in the 2008 class de-committed. The roster was gutted and ontop of that RichRod was trying to completely change the offensive system on the fly with a bunch of pieces that just didn't fit. I loved Denard, but he should've never been playing QB. Terrell Pryor at QB and Denard at say RB would've changed that offense by leaps and bounds. Missing out on Pryor in 2008 really was a killer for RichRod. Pryor was born to run that system. Would've been a match made in heaven, and would've allowed Michigan to play it's most explosive play-maker (Denard) where he belonged (and ultimately played at in NFL) at RB.

Michigan AD could've easily kept RichRod, forced Mattison or some other top notch DC on him, and won 10+ games in 2011 like Hoke did.

[bayareabadger]

Hoke was a bad hire, anyway you slice it. He was a sub .500 coach at Ball State and San Diego State. He'd never really won anything. You don't hire people like this. Period.

I find the Hoke thing endlessly fascinating. 

His resume is one of the best examples of the backwards-looking rorschach test of coaching resumes. He went to two schools, took over not good situations and delivered some of their best seasons in modern memory in his final years. His record was not good, but it was mostly from the rebuild factor. Maybe having longer rebuilds at bad jobs isn't a sign of future potential success? (Like if Nick Saban isn't good at LSU, do people remember he was a .500ish MSU coach who caught the right batch of talent that last year?)

Now there were other reasons he shouldn't have gotten the job. His peak at Ball State was an explosive and unstable offense, something that was clearly not really his doing. Oddly, his best SD State team had a prolific offense run by Al Borges. He was a defensive guy, who had so-so defenses. But he promised change from the last guy, insider vs. outsider, power to leverage being a favorite rather than an underdog's gimmick. Those are probably not good reasons to hire a guy. 

And then he arrived, Mattison turned a bunch of defensive talent we didn't like into a good unit. The offense was OK, with the promise of getting the talent that fit it better. Then the offense got worse, then the defense got worse, then the offense got really bad, all while the "talent" improved. What a weird run. 

[MaximumSam]

I find the Hoke thing endlessly fascinating.

His resume is one of the best examples of the backwards-looking rorschach test of coaching resumes. He went to two schools, took over not good situations and delivered some of their best seasons in modern memory in his final years. His record was not good, but it was mostly from the rebuild factor. Maybe having longer rebuilds at bad jobs isn't a sign of future potential success? (Like if Nick Saban isn't good at LSU, do people remember he was a .500ish MSU coach who caught the right batch of talent that last year?)

Now there were other reasons he shouldn't have gotten the job. His peak at Ball State was an explosive and unstable offense, something that was clearly not really his doing. Oddly, his best SD State team had a prolific offense run by Al Borges. He was a defensive guy, who had so-so defenses. But he promised change from the last guy, insider vs. outsider, power to leverage being a favorite rather than an underdog's gimmick. Those are probably not good reasons to hire a guy.

And then he arrived, Mattison turned a bunch of defensive talent we didn't like into a good unit. The offense was OK, with the promise of getting the talent that fit it better. Then the offense got worse, then the defense got worse, then the offense got really bad, all while the "talent" improved. What a weird run.

In the what ifs, what if instead of Borges he had a good offensive coordinator. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

The problem is that the worst possible scenario isn't all that far fetched; botching another hire, while Harbaugh wins big somewhere else. 

[Temp430]

If Raven’s linebacker coach Mike Macdonald is Michigan’s next DC I hope he makes recruiting DTs a priority.

[Mdot21]

here’s a name... 

Billy Napier. 41 years old. He spent 7 years at Clemson with Dabo. 5 years at Alabama with Saban. 

Took over a team that went 5-7 in 2017 and had a meh .500 rebuild first season in 2018, but season two he went 11-3 and in season three he’s 10-1, won the Sun Belt, beat a top 10 ranked Iowa State team lead by Matt Campbell, and his only loss this year was by 3 pts. 

Looks like a promising up and comer to me. You can take a chance on someone like this. Don’t have to hire a hot name just because. 

[Mdot21]

So apparently Xavier Worthy- Michigan’s best WR prospect since DPJ- may be asking for his release. 

Also- according to Sam Webb- who would definitely know this sort of thing- Michigan has slipped in the recruitment of 5* CB in-state legacy Will Johnson. Apparently firing Don Brown and all the uncertainty over who will be his DC and CBs coach is a problem. Gee who would’ve freaking thought!

Michigan just can’t have nice things. Absolute hilarity.

[ELA]

https://twitter.com/internetraj/status/1348823878848507907?s=19