Michigan Football 2024 aka The Year Michigan has to Defend a Natty

[buddha]

sherrone moore was the easy thing to do.  it took no effort.  NOT hiring moore would have been a radical move that - if it failed - would have cost the AD his job.  but hiring moore will have no consequences because that was "the only thing we could do and hey he was coming off a natty."  hands washed.  pension secured.

i dont know if it would have been possible to convince someone like deboer or jedd fisch to wait until harbaugh left.  i doubt it.  but i hope conversations were had.  i also doubt that.

regardless, they are stuck with moore now and we'll see how he does.  so far he's hired a DC from the nfl who is failing already, he's taken an oline stock full of 4*s who are redshirt juniors and seniors and instead played 3* sophomores at the key positions of right tackle and center.  the right tackle was so bad against texas it was comical.  the oline has been poor.  yet no changes have been made.

his "best player" is a wide receiver masquerading as a running back.  his actual best player is a running back who he never plays, instead he insists on watching donovan edwards miss holes and run into the back of lineman or just bust everything outside.  

he has a few low 4* receivers but he doesnt play them.  instead he plays walkons.  in fact, he uses multiple bad receivers instead of playing mullings or multiple tight ends.  why?  i dont know.  but its a disaster so far.

at qb he has a walk on to start, and a three star running back pretending to be a qb as backup.  who is apparently so bad at throwing the ball they refuse to let him do it (after telling us all spring how great he is at it).

something tells me if harbaugh were still coaching this team it would 80% run formations and MAN BALL with some major action to multiple tight ends (the only group on offense where michigan is loaded).  instead we get edwards.  still running right into his blockers.

now is a bad time to ask about michigan.  they just got obliterated by a very talented team.  outcoached significantly.  this year looks very very bad right now.

lets see if moore has the creativity and the talent and the leadership to pull them out of it, or if this is the beginning of michigan sliding back into post lloyd carr irrelevance.  after moore was hired that's the trajectory i thought they were headed in.

only this time there isnt an obvious harbaugh candidate to bail them out.

[romad1]

John Harbaugh

[romad1]

I think Sherrone Moore will be fine.  If not, then I'd be shocked.   

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

he has a few low 4* receivers but he doesnt play them.  instead he plays walkons.  in fact, he uses multiple bad receivers instead of playing mullings or multiple tight ends.  why?  i dont know.  but its a disaster so far.

TBF on this point - when you have zero deep threat, both because your QB has not demonstrated he has any accuracy deep and because you don't have any receivers that have proven jump ball take away skill, that is going to leave the middle pretty clogged up for the TE passing game. JJ was a singular level talent who could look the D off his TE and then come back and deliver an accurate high speed ball to him in close coverage. I think the UM TE game was always as much about what JJ could do as anything else.

Harbaugh would bring in grad transfers for the o-line, and coupled with the COVID eligibility extension they ended up with a really old O-Line - which is a great strategy if you can work it. Older is almost always better for O-Linemen. It is a good question why Moore appears to be going the opposite way.

[gehringer_2]

56 minutes ago, romad1 said:

I think Sherrone Moore will be fine.  If not, then I'd be shocked.   

you can make a reasonable argument that he was cut off at the knees out of the box because of he was hired so late - so next year will be his real recruiting test, and realistically, where the team is two years after that - if they give him that long.

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, buddha said:

sherrone moore was the easy thing to do

it dovetails with the Dusty May hire in the sense that there was no idea to make a high profile, high cost, higher risk hire. Retrenchment.

[buddha]

1 hour ago, romad1 said:

I think Sherrone Moore will be fine.  If not, then I'd be shocked.   

based on what?

[buddha]

55 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

you can make a reasonable argument that he was cut off at the knees out of the box because of he was hired so late - so next year will be his real recruiting test, and realistically, where the team is two years after that - if they give him that long.

he's hired, so now they have to support him and give him the resources to do his job.  my worry at michigan - well, one of many - is that he will divide the administration if he starts losing and eventually he will be undercut.  internal politics will take away his resources so he will fail. 

his early returns arent great but its only been two games without harbaugh.  give him some time to get his team in there and see if the nil is working.

i just think this is classic peter principle in action.  you appointed a guy with zero track record to take on one of the biggest jobs in college football because he won 4 games with the best team youve had since the 1970s (maybe even the 1940s).  sherrone moore is a young offensive line coach with no head coaching experience, this is a MASSIVE gamble and people are treating like "he'll be fine, look at last year!"

 

 

[buddha]

55 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

it dovetails with the Dusty May hire in the sense that there was no idea to make a high profile, high cost, higher risk hire. Retrenchment.

i like the dusty may hire.  that's been the best thing warde has done.  moore is like hiring juwan: he was the only viable option at the time, everyone loved him for sentimental reasons, and he was cheap (for a top head coach).

he started out great when he had the last coach's players and then collapsed because he'd never really run anything before.  sounds a lot like sherrone moore, actually.

[gehringer_2]

19 minutes ago, buddha said:

he's hired, so now they have to support him and give him the resources to do his job.  my worry at michigan - well, one of many - is that he will divide the administration if he starts losing and eventually he will be undercut.  internal politics will take away his resources so he will fail. 

his early returns arent great but its only been two games without harbaugh.  give him some time to get his team in there and see if the nil is working.

i just think this is classic peter principle in action.  you appointed a guy with zero track record to take on one of the biggest jobs in college football because he won 4 games with the best team youve had since the 1970s (maybe even the 1940s).  sherrone moore is a young offensive line coach with no head coaching experience, this is a MASSIVE gamble and people are treating like "he'll be fine, look at last year!"

One of the things that players have said about Harbaugh as a coach was that he had a nearly infinite attention to fine detail. One of the things you notice immediately with Warren is that he just hands off the ball. JJ did a fake/feint on every single handoff. How much difference does that make? Maybe none 99.9% of the time (esp since he doesn't run much), but if it holds one LB a few milliseconds one time, it's worth doing because it's completely free. Just a detail.

Moore should be at least be in a little better situation compared to when Lloyd retired because Harbaugh and 'his people' won't still be around sniping!

Edited September 9 by gehringer_2

[romad1]

I'm really glad I didn't watch Saturday based on all the vinegar.  I understand G2...he is a self-loathing Ann Arborite.  He probably lives in a mid-century modern whose ceilings are too low and has roof issues because you can't do flat roofs in the temperate zone/DFb cool humid continental Koppen Geiger climate region.

If Sherrone Moore brought in his kids, couldn't retain talent or coaches and blew up all over the place on the sidelines he'd be exactly like Juwan Howard.  

The Sherrone Moore we think we have is the one who created new channels of communication between the players and the younger assistants that bypassed and improved on weird Jim Harbaugh and his neurodivergent ways of interacting with people.   The one that had the Joe Moore trophy in back to back years.   The one that beat Ohio State, Penn State, Maryland at the end of last season.  

If he had a better QB to start this year, i'd feel better about this year.  Way way too early to be down on Sherrone Moore as a project.

[romad1]

and I kid G2...I kid

[gehringer_2]

2 minutes ago, romad1 said:

The Sherrone Moore we think we have is .....

The difficulty with hiring any assistant is that the way most teams are structured, assistants all have a piece but are seldom involved in everything - so until they succeed or fail as a head coach it's damn hard to know if there is some gaping hole in their skill set that is going to doom them in the top job even if they were all world in the piece they were doing. OTOH, if you pick right, you get younger, more energetic (and cheaper!) coach and set yourself up for a longer run  than if you shop the used head coach rack. So it's lower cost risk, lower floor, but potentially high ceiling.

And part of it is they are keeping their options open given the likelihood of change. Why put $100M+ on the table to a guy like State did (and just barely escaped from) if you don't know if he's going to be a good fit for where things are in 3 yrs? Maybe you hire the best recruiter in the country and then we end up with a HS draft?

Buddha likes May, and that's cool, but he and Moore are still both hedged bets.

[gehringer_2]

18 minutes ago, romad1 said:

  I understand G2...he is a self-loathing Ann Arborite.  He probably lives in a mid-century modern whose ceilings are too low and has roof issues because you can't do flat roofs in the temperate zone/DFb cool humid continental Koppen Geiger climate region

LOL! 3/12 hip actually but it is due in the next couple of years!

[romad1]

1 minute ago, gehringer_2 said:

LOL! 3/12 hip actually but it is due in the next couple of years!

Too much zillow home shopping for the retirement house, lately. 

[buddha]

2 hours ago, romad1 said:

  

The Sherrone Moore we think we have is the one who created new channels of communication between the players and the younger assistants that bypassed and improved on weird Jim Harbaugh and his neurodivergent ways of interacting with people.  

how do you know that and how is it working out so far on the field and on the recruiting trail?

i would say that all the pro-moore information coming from sam and mgoblog should be taken with a large grain of salt.  remember, they were also telling us how the oline was jelling and alex orji was amazing in practice.

the news that gets out of the fort benefits certain folks politically inside the fort.  but the ball dont lie, and the ball told you things arent that wonderful.

look man, i hope youre right and were all just chicken littles, but i dont share your optimism.

[gehringer_2]

11 minutes ago, buddha said:

how do you know that and how is it working out so far on the field and on the recruiting trail?

i would say that all the pro-moore information coming from sam and mgoblog should be taken with a large grain of salt.  remember, they were also telling us how the oline was jelling and alex orji was amazing in practice.

the news that gets out of the fort benefits certain folks politically inside the fort.  but the ball dont lie, and the ball told you things arent that wonderful.

look man, i hope youre right and were all just chicken littles, but i dont share your optimism.

there are all kinds of questions there. Harbaugh was strange, but was that part of what worked for him or was it really just that any ex-NFL QB/NFL Superbowl Head coach is going to have so much cred with young players that his eccentricities aren't going to hurt him? So does Moore need to communicate differently - you betcha. But at the same time there is nothing he can do to have Harbaugh's NFL resume, so it's about as apples and oranges as it can be.

[romad1]

9 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

there are all kinds of questions there. Harbaugh was strange, but was that part of what worked for him or was it really just that any ex-NFL QB/NFL Superbowl Head coach is going to have so much cred with young players that his eccentricities aren't going to hurt him? So does Moore need to communicate differently - you betcha. But at the same time there is nothing he can do to have Harbaugh's NFL resume, so it's about as apples and oranges as it can be.

 

 

24 minutes ago, buddha said:

how do you know that and how is it working out so far on the field and on the recruiting trail?

i would say that all the pro-moore information coming from sam and mgoblog should be taken with a large grain of salt.  remember, they were also telling us how the oline was jelling and alex orji was amazing in practice.

the news that gets out of the fort benefits certain folks politically inside the fort.  but the ball dont lie, and the ball told you things arent that wonderful.

look man, i hope youre right and were all just chicken littles, but i dont share your optimism.

I still have high hopes for whoever it was replaced Bakich for the M baseball team...he's probably just a couple good NIL deals away from National Championship contender status.

[gehringer_2]

44 minutes ago, romad1 said:

 

 

I still have high hopes for whoever it was replaced Bakich for the M baseball team...he's probably just a couple good NIL deals away from National Championship contender status.

Tracy Smith. His prior stop was ASU. Spenser Torkelson comes to us courtesy of Tracy Smith.

[romad1]

The MGOBLOG pod was pretty clear that this team is 8-4 ceiling not floor.  Defending a Natty by not being able to put up a fight. 

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, romad1 said:

The MGOBLOG pod was pretty clear that this team is 8-4 ceiling not floor.  Defending a Natty by not being able to put up a fight. 

I think Texas had already made that pretty clear. 🫤

[gehringer_2]

Two games in and Rainer Sabin with knives out for Sherrone Moore and his staff in the Freep.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2024/09/10/michigan-football-coaches-sherrone-moore-reality-check/75151712007/

 

[romad1]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

Two games in and Rainer Sabin with knives out for Sherrone Moore and his staff in the Freep.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2024/09/10/michigan-football-coaches-sherrone-moore-reality-check/75151712007/

 

The Freep is taking shots at the Michigan football program?   This just in: the Hindenburg crashes.  Marconi invents radio.   Bill S. writes about love-lorn couple in famous play.  Haley's comet seen by Norman invaders of England.  Man develops alphabet, agriculture.

[romad1]

Sherrone Moore contact signed. 

[Hongbit]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Two games in and Rainer Sabin with knives out for Sherrone Moore and his staff in the Freep.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2024/09/10/michigan-football-coaches-sherrone-moore-reality-check/75151712007/

 

I don’t pay for the Freep anymore.  What are his main points?  

The decision not to pursue a QB is looming huge.  This is also something that Harbaugh has to wear a bit too as this call should’ve been made in December when the portal opened.   Getting Kyle McCord from OSU would’ve been such a huge win.    Either way, it appears they misjudged the talent in their QB room.

The same holds true for OL but that’s a little trickier.  You can bring in 1 transfer OL but anything more has proven to be cohesion disaster for many teams so far in this new era.   I don’t know the roster enough to know if they hit the portal to pick up a stud OL piece like they have the last two seasons.   If not, they really should have. 

The choice to not bring in an experienced play caller was a big mistake.  First time HC shouldn’t have newbies in important positions.   Campbell should’ve stayed as QB coach.   

If they can rebound and beat USC then everything is still technically on track.  Nobody had them getting boat raced but Texas was not a win on the preseason projections.