Once
Again, Monday Business Gets In The Way..
Of the really important stuff. Like the MMQ.
But, you can always do a Tuesday Edition, and here it
is. I’ll probably post Friday again
with the Bowl Bracket.
The Michigan Basketball Season Just Stayed Interesting
If you didn’t see it (shame on you for not tuning in), the Michigan
Men’s Hoopsters just kept the season interesting. Coming back from a 15-point deficit on
Saturday to take the Bruins to OT in a Crisler Classic, the outcome was
a lot better than what anyone anticipated with 10 minutes and change left.
What was looking like another Columbus debacle finally turned in
Michigan’s favor after they overcame yet ANOTHER abysmal shooting performance. I’m really HOPING this current level/performance
regarding shooting is an anomaly (and there’s a lot of data out there on
Michigan that suggests that) and not the season’s norm. If Michigan collectively can get back in the
groove, everything should be fine.
It would appear that Zavier Simpson is emerging as the Trey
Burke - Derrick Walton replacement as
the much needed take charge PG. Beilein’s
offense needs to have a take charge guy, and Simpson did exactly that
late in the game against UCLA. He ignited
the offense and got everyone going on defense as well. And Matthews needs to learn HOW
TO MAKE A FREE THROW!
Fergodsakes…
Michigan
plays again tonight at Texas, which would also be a nice win to have. Texas has lost to two respectable games to
Gonzaga and Duke, and both losses were on the road. They haven’t really played anyone else, so it’s
difficult to gauge how good they actually are.
Game
Info:
Time: 9:00
TV: ESPN2
Regardless, winning in Austin would be a resume builder
as the next three non-con games aren’t even in the RPI top 150.
I’m not sure Texas will finish in the RPI top 100, but beat
them never the less….
Patterson
Is Coming
Everyone seems to believe that Shea Patterson is
coming. Several Ole Miss blogs are
calling it as “Already Done” even though I won’t believe it until he’s actually on
campus and in a dorm room.
I’m a little ticked off at everyone getting on
Harbaugh for not “Sticking with his guys”.
First, Patterson was recruited by Michigan 3 years ago, and he was
recruited hard. Part of Patterson going
to Ole Miss is what landed Michigan Peters and McCaffery.
I don’t think either one of those guys would transfer at
this point and I also don’t think Patterson is a “lock” for starting QB. Let’s give Peters another game and see
what comes of the transfers. I watched Patterson’s
highlight reel again and got a few queasy feelings on some of the throws he was
making. He’ll get himself out of
jams, but he’s going to need to develop and mature.
Patterson’s
center in High School (the IMG academy) Cesar Ruiz, plays for Michigan and had
nothing but praise for his former Team mate:
“I think he’d be a good
fit in anybody’s program,” Ruiz said. “He a great quarterback.”
Patterson is a “cool dude” according to Ruiz and easy to get along
with. He also described him as a “funny, goofy dude.” Patterson did tell The
Detroit News he was having a good time on his visit.
On
whether or not he’ll be immediately eligible?
Patterson hired the same lawyer that Houston Nutt went after OIe Miss
with. Think the NCAA is going to want to
stand out and say that Hugh Freeze DIDN’T Lie about
the seriousness of the violations when he was recruiting dudes? My guess is the one year of sitting out is
waived and Patterson will be eligible.
With Patterson, You Get Some Other Dudes, Too…
It seems that when you get
Patterson, you get another couple of dudes that could help with depth at
certain positions. Safety Deontay Anderson and
receiver Van Jefferson are also looking at taking Michigan up on a
transfer. Jefferson would be a nice add
to the receiver corps on Michigan’s squad and is a favorite target of
Patterson. Two seasons and he’s averaged
45 catches and right around 500 yards/season.
Anderson’s bio for 2016 was about
what you’d expect for a safety.
Grading The Hires
Now that the Coaching Carousel
has slowed down to almost a complete stop, I thought it might be interesting to
note which hires were grand-slams and which ones had us all shaking our
heads.
The “A-List”
Chip Kelly – UCLA. This hire was about as good as you could hope
to do. It was a bit of a surprise when
Chip turned down Florida, but according to everyone that knows Chip, he doesn’t
like politics and just wants to coach.
In fact, Kelly apparently do a lot of recruiting, either. So he’s going to need some good
assistants. Let’s watch and see who he
gets.
Taggart – FSU. This was an unfortunate fall-out from the
Jimbo Fisher fiasco. I don’t think
Taggart was planning a “One and Done” at Oregon, but the FSU job makes a lot of
sense for Taggart who’s a Florida kid from Bradenton.
Mullen – Gatorland. In my opinion, this guy should have been #1
on the list. Mullen coached at Florida,
he GETS Florida, and he I think he’ll be a great fit at Florida. Chasing Kelly and Frost just didn’t make
sense for Gatorland.
Frost – Nebraska. This was another very good hire and we’ll see
how it works out in Lincoln. This has
the same exact feel of “Harbaugh to Michigan” and I think Frost will be given
plenty of time to make it work.
The “I See What You Did There. I Hope It Works Out For You” List
Jimbo Fisher – Texas A&M. The more I think about and look at this
hire, the more it has me shaking my head.
First, I get why A&M had to part ways with Sumlin. But Fisher had a great thing going in
Tallahassee and I think the fans mostly supported him. He will be getting a little more cash than he
was getting at FSU, but does that make sense for both parties? The kicker here is A&M coughing up
Harbaugh- Saban money for a guy that won a NC with Winston on his team. I guess he needs to find another QB’s tail to
ride and hope that it works. How
will A&M fans feel paying an extra $3M annually for 2 additional wins on
average? Assuming he can get to
9-10 per season in the SEC West? Again,
I’ll stand by my 50-50 chances I originally gave this hire.
Moorehead – MSU. I like this hire for MSU, but while Moorehead
has proven himself on the offensive side of the ball, he needs to find a good
D-Coordinator (and he plucked a defensive coach from PSU on his way out the
door), so we’ll see. I think the
MSU job is a stepping stone position and if Moorehead proves himself, we’ll see
him somewhere else in 3 years.
Chad Morris – Arkansas. The former high-school and head coach at SMU
did some good things, but does being the coach at SMU immediately qualify you
for an SEC West gig? Again, hope
this works, but not holding my breath.
Josh Heupel – UCF. This seems to be a good hire on the surface
and Huepel will have a full cupboard to work with. However, if UCF finishes the season un-defeated with
a win over Auburn, it’s going to be hard going next season when he loses his
first game. Not saying this was a bad
hire, but you have to follow the much-loved Frost. And that sucks…
The “I have NO FRIGGIN’ CLUE What You Were
Thinking” List
Matt Luke – Ole Miss. Ole Miss did what they had to do because
there was no way anyone else was going to touch that job at this point.
Herm Edwards – Arizona State. Jeez.
From a shaky introduction press conference to some other stuff that’s
come out of Herm’s mouth (like not knowing what a football “tight fit” game
jersey looked like, it’s just looking like a really, REALLY bad
hire. If I was an ASU fan, I’m not sure
I’d be reviewing my tix…
Pruitt – Tennessee. This one puzzles me the more I look at
it. He’s longest tenure with any one
team has been a little over 2 years. He’s
never been a head coach and has only been a DC for about 5 years. I know that Tennessee had been through a lot
of offers for a lot of guys that ended up saying no, so if this works,
great.
Mario Cristobal – Oregon. In what last year looked like an act of brilliance
by Oregon getting Taggart to leave USF, this one is a bit of a head
scratcher. I know the entire team signed
a letter and gave it to the AD saying, “Keep Mario”. But you’re now kind of letting the inmates
run the asylum, which is never a good idea. Again, I hope it works out for you.
Etc.
The NCAA Has Never Had Control
Great article about the nutless NCAA.
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