Okay – This post
is going to cover a lot of topics – and no, the MMQ hasn’t lost his mind…It’s
just the way my head works sometimes.
Hopefully you’re
having a big lunch at your desk!!!!
Thank
You Brady
Let me say
this first: What a breath of fresh air
the Hackett
Press Conference was. I really
think Hackett is the kind of guy that you “immediately believe” is telling the
truth and speaking from the heart. From
the first few minutes of calm nervousness until he started rolling, you got the
sense that this guy is going to do what’s right for Michigan and more
importantly, he’s going to do it with the Michigan Fan in mind. And he’s going to do it honestly and above
board, in as much as he can do that.
That being
said, I believed him when he said that letting Hoke go was an extremely
difficult and solemn decision and that Brady was a hero of the program. Yep, Brady is a hero and if you’ve read any
literature, well, you usually know what happens to heroes….He did everything
for the program but the one thing that matters:
Win.
One of the
more interesting points Hackett made was he wished he would have had more time
with Brady and been able to give him the support he needed. Which, sounded a LOT LIKE a great big
ole slap
in the face of BranDictator.
Meaning the AD should be somewhat involved in the day to day activities
of his coaches, but in a constructive and supportive fashion.
Another great
analogy Hackett had was this:
"I
believe the head coach of Michigan football is one of the finest jobs in American
sports today," Hackett said. "And we will have great options. The
University of Michigan remains one of the top programs in the country. Now,
it's true the pendulum has swung into a negative. However, one truth of physics
is that when a pendulum is in a negative state, it's always building energy for
its eventual move back to a positive arc."
Hackett went
on to say some other stuff, but then, frankly, caught the ole MMQ off guard
when Hackett perked up at a reporter’s question about finding a Michigan Man to
coach Michigan, and Hackett replied, and I quote: “I want to get rid of the term “Michigan
Man”…
Uh….Wait
a Minute…Hold On There, Jim...What?
The rest
(with the MMQ comments thrown in):
"There are three reasons," Hackett said.
1) "One, we live in
a world where no business or anyone would talk about just men in it."
Well – Yeah. I mean, even
a Michigan faithful female can be considered a “Michigan Man”…Ask Softball
Coach Hutchins about that…..
2) "Second, the guy
who said that, Bo Schembechler, one of my mentors and heroes, did so when he
was being challenged about a coach being recruited somewhere else. And he meant
he wanted the person who was at Michigan to be the coach."
Understood. But never the
less, Mr. Hackett, I think Bo was speaking about the integrity and heart of the
individual that would be coaching Michigan and FRIEDER WASN’T IT!!!!
3) "And third,
here's what it means. If you cut open the soul of people that are 'Michigan
Men,' so to speak, you'd first find selflessness. This is the point about how
we stand for the team. The second thing is the ability to win, to be
competitive, the competitive spirit. In my lifetime, we knew we had to work
really hard. It wasn't arrogance. We want to continue the legacy of what's been
great from a value standpoint. This place does not need to cut corners to win.
You come here, you know you're signing up to be the best in the world without
any kind of shenanigans."
Okay. So, we’re on the
same page here. I’m still going to leave
the name of my blog as the “MichiganManMMQ” and not try to find another available
label out there. I still think we can
use the term, but we can use it to mean what, frankly, I’ve always thought it
meant: Exactly what Hackett described
above. Excellence at Michigan, with heart,
soul and keeping the competitive spirit alive.
#saveMichiganMan
– It’s
not Arrogance!!!!
So, Hackett
handled the presser pretty well.
The things I’m thankful
for about Brady:
- Letting
Denard do what Denard did so well, finally, after finding religion
in the 4th quarter of “Under the Lights I”
- “I think Notre Dame is just a bunch of Chickens….”
- “So I told Gibbons to think of Brunettes instead of
Blondes….”
- “There’s one game Michigan needs to win…we need to
beat ohio.”
- “This Michigan, for God’s sake….”
The things I’m not gonna’
miss about the Hoke regime:
- “Well….”
- “This is a Big Boy business…”
- “I’m here to tell you that we had a really great
week of practice…”
- “What’s a spread punt?”
- “I was aware…but not fully aware.”
- “That’s on me.
We need to do a better job of coaching….”
- “10 men on the field for special teams is
unacceptable. That’s on me.”
- “I didn’t see the hit.”
A lot of
Michigan players weighed in and Angelique Chengelis did a good job of compiling
them into a summary. In short, great guy, father figure, did things the right
way….Just didn’t win.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2014/12/02/brady-hokes-firing-upsets-former-michigan-players/19808475/
Thanks Brady.
I hope you land on your feet wherever you end up.
Editors Note:
The MMQ forgot to mention one for the Greatest Irony Ever Column: Rich Rod named Pac12 Coach of the Year!!! So, maybe it is Michigan???
MMPG –
Michigan Holds On Over The ‘Cuse!!!
If you didn’t
see it, you missed a really good one!
This game had the feel of a “Final 4”, perhaps because Michigan played
Syracuse in 2013 in the Final 4!!! And
Michigan pre-vailed again in the re-match.
SPIIIIIKE Albrecht was
phenomenal and was dishing the ball like a mad man! Irvin,
LeVert and Doyle all contributed to the hard fought (And POORLY REFFED!!!)
victory! IF you didn’t see it, do yourself a favor and go to MHoops.com and
check out some highlights! I really
enjoy the ACC – B1G Challenge every
season and really enjoy it when the B1G takes ownership of the challenge.
An Open
Letter to the CFP Committee:
As an avid fan of
College Football, I see the value of “Wins” in big games, especially when the
victory goes to the team that may not have been the favorite to win. However, if the favored team happens to have
a bad game on that particular day, that’s simply part of the game. And that part of the game needs to be
recognized and honored.
To deny a team, with an
identical record that BEAT THE BETTER TEAM, as you perceive it, a chance to
play for the national title is not only wrong, but I would ask you: Why even play the games at all? Why not just let teams run plays at each
other for 60 minutes every week, track the stats (and not the score) and then
take the 4 best “stats” teams at the end of the year and put them in the
play-off?
Committee: Please do not make the first CFP a comical farce
by stating that “TCU is the better team” because they have better statistics, better
common team wins, whatever.
Baylor
BEAT TCU.
And frankly, that should
be all that matters.
Thanks for your time,
The MMQ
This
isn’t the Conference Championship you’re looking for.
I had to go
back and look up the last time Michigan won a Big Championship outright. By the way, I know I’ve said it before but it
bears repeating: I love the Bentley
Library. So much stuff out there to just
kill an afternoon sifting through…
So, it was
2003….Which I kind of remember as being a weird season and I may be a little
fuzzy on the details, but I think that was an off year for ohio and Michigan
had locked up the B1G before the Game, if I’m not mistaken. I would need to look that up to be 100% sure,
but I think that was the case.
Since then…nada.
Yes, there was the 2006 “Sniffage” but there are no moral victories and Henne and
company should have beat ohio that season and played for the MNC. And since the Horror of 2007…well, the
darkness has lingered. Okay, 2011,
which, yeah….I’m glad that happened for that group of kids and I wished they
could have clinched a B1G title.
I once wrote
about what would take longer: Michigan
winning a National Title again in Hoops or sparty vying for a B1G Title in
Football. Sparty won that one even
though Michigan made a NCAA Championship Final Game….Here’s another one: What will happen first. Michigan wins a B1G Title or the MMQ loses
his ever lovin’ mind because of all this?
I’d say it’s 50-50 at
this point….
Speaking
of The Coaching Search(es)
Here’s the
Coaching Matrix I put together earlier in the season. I’m finding this to be a very handy
reference and will continue to use it.
So, I’ve highlighted the coaches who’ve been canned in red and shifted
some colors on some of the Green to yellow, some of the white to yellow, and
some of the yellow to Green.
That leaves
us with this….Along with everyone else that’s searching for a name to put in
those red boxes out there.
Assuming you’d
only gamble on yellow coaches (and also assuming that Green coaches simply AREN’T
LEAVING A GOOD THING WHEN THEY HAVE IT!
- Mullen excluded from that statement), it’s kind of a narrow list. When I pulled up my short list from earlier
in the season, it was this:
Cam Cameron (Odds: 75-1)
Scott Schafer (Odds: 150-1)
Jim Harbaugh (Odds: 200-1) This one is weird. I’m going to have to dedicate an entire post
to Harbaugh based on some things I’ve seen on Twitter and some stuff that’s
been eavesdropped. I’ll say this: The odds on Jimmy being the next Head Coach
at Michigan may NOT be as long
as I think they are. Which…okay, don’t
get excited yet.
Kevin Wilson (Odds: 300-1 I should raise the odds as IU just re-upped his contract)
Kyle Whittingahm (Odds: 500-1
I’m changing the odds on Kyle 200-1
maybe even 150-1)
Greg Schiano (Odds: ????-1)
I hate that I have this name on here…but so be
it.
I guess you
could add some names here and not look like a complete idiot, because I really
don’t have a clue as to what this AD is thinking at this point:
Dan Mullen (150-1): Dan’s
nobody’s fool. He even said it: 10 wins at any other school is a season to
remember. At MSU it’s a season
to forget and say what could have been…He’ll probably take the right
offer. But Nebraska is going to be going
after someone, also. Frost?????
Brett Beliema (400-1): Why?
I dunno….Maybe he’s had enough of the SEC…
Jim Tressel (DON’T LAUGH….Stupider things have
happened….500-1)
Jim McElwain (Colorado State – 500-1) Did you know this guy has a
$7.5M buyout? AT CSU????
Butch Jones (300-1):
Maybe the Ferris State grad
and Michigan
Native’s dream job, even though he didn’t go to Uof M? Tennessee buyout tricky and they are
probably going to bust their butts to keep him there….
Bo Pelini (400-1):
Come on…I know it’s not realistic, hence the odds….But he’s out there….and
he’s proven he can win 9 games a season….
Really
Stupid Names….
Bob Stoops, Les Miles
There…I put
them down, but neither one is happening.
So, where
does that leave Michigan? I’m not
sure. But my guess is they will be
getting 2nd or 3rd picks after Nebraska (who’s probably looking at Oregon OC Frost) and Florida (Who knows??? I’m surprised they haven’t made a move
already – That was yesterday. McElwain and Foley have spoken. No puff of white smoke yet from Gatorland’s
chimney).
Here’s
something to keep in mind in this search:
Michigan has now brought in commits that are not “spread” guys. I’m not saying they can’t play the spread or
an up-tempo offense, it’s just that Hoke was clearly trying to do something he’d
never really been successful at elsewhere- running power football a-la
Stanford. But, Stanford is Stanford. Now, if you bring in someone that’s more
spread oriented, which like all of college football is today, well, it’s not
back to the drawing board, but it’s rebuilding time….again. And when
Michigan hired Hoke, I pleaded and begged that he would keep Rich Rod’s
offense somewhat intact and just fix the Damn Defense…But no….Hoke
immediately told Borges to tear up the play book and start his own offensive
scheme…
Sigh….
I don’t know where we’re
going….But I sure know where we’ve been….Here we go again….
(I love ‘80s “Hair
Bands”….Guilty Pleasure…Sue Me!)
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