- I saw a 247 post on Facebook today that prompted a response comment. Here’s the article and here’s my comment: Michigan Wolverines on 247Sports | Facebook
This is a bullshit take. No defense of Harbaugh and yes I think he should be gone after this year but recruiting is not his issue. What coach hasn’t had to compete in 4 years? It wasn’t Nick Saban… Here’s how you tell if you’ve recruited well: How highly ranked are your recruiting classes? How many of your players make the NFL? Find a modern day U-M coach with better statistics at either… Who’s the last coach who pulled a Dax Hill?Yes, the skill positions may be lacking…. The QBs have been abysmal since Jake Rudock, WRs have underachieved, and RB has been a platoon (like most of college football) rather than a star… but recruiting has probably been the best aspect of this coaching regime. The problem? Everything else. Top 10 recruiting classes have been made irrelevant due to attrition. Lack of player development/utilization means you waste the talent you’ve got. DPJ/Black/Collins/Bell, Butt/Chesson/Darboh, how did these not dominate the league? (bad QB mostly…) Poor motivation means you come out flat against god awful MSU teams (and almost lose to Rutgers). Bad game management/play calling means you look embarrassing on the field (although some of this might be that your QB isn’t good enough/prepared enough to run the actual offense which is again.. coaching). The 2 minute drill still takes 4 and a half minutes… I could keep going.. There’s lots wrong with this team and the Harbaugh era… I have no problem with criticism “I love to hate the team I love” is kinda my thing… but criticize accurately… Recruiting is this regime’s strength. (I’ll add here that the only way to improve Michigan’s recruiting is to get better at cheating. I’m not naive enough to say U-M doesn’t “cheat” *cough* Dax Hill *cough* but we’re not on the Alabama “Glad there’s no salary cap” level of cheating. Whether or not moving more towards that direction is a good or bad thing is the topic of another post*
2. Today we confirmed that the Big Ten should be renamed to “The Lobbyists for Ohio State “** Look… Ohio State is clearly the only team in the Big Ten that isn’t awful (see last post) but that doesn’t matter. Rules are made for a reason and integrity should be at thing. You can’t change the rules all nimbly bimbly just because you think someone “should” win… Otherwise I’d win this friggen tournament every year and Beyonce would have Taylor Swift’s Gammy… It’s late so here’s a quick summary of what happened: 3 months ago the Big Ten came up with some rules for this season…
Shipdit#1: “Hey guys… What happens if Rutgers beats MSU and then gets Covid the rest of the year (pretty likely)… Then OSU and Rutger would have the same winning percentage?”
Shipdit#2: “Oh shit… and what if Michigan and Penn State aren’t dumpster fires and one of them squeaks out a win against OSU… We’d better make a rule that says you have to play 6 games to qualify for Indy… That way no trash teams can get in over a proven good team like OSU”
…. 3 months later…
Shipdit#1: “uhhhh… hey guys… all but 2 of the teams in our conference forgot how to football… Ohio State is probably good but has only played 4 games against bad teams and pulled out a close win against Indiana… Remember those rules we set to protect OSU? Well now they’re ineligible… Currently it’s Indiana (the closest team to “proving itself”) vs Northwestern….
Shipdit#2: “Is there a way to change the rules so Ohio State can make the playoffs?”
Shipdit#1: “Well… Yeah but it screws Indiana…and like I said Ohio State hasn’t really prov…***”
Shipdit#2: “Great it’s settled.. OSU wins everything… I know Northwestern Sucks but maybe send those refs who slapped JT Barret’s ass in 2016 to Indy just to be on the safe side…”
*Hopefully it will matter less soon if NIL rights/player $$ rules change.
**That’s the polite version of what I wanted to say.. What I meant was “The kings of suck Buckeyes (which are hairless nuts and/or peanut butter/chocolate balls) mountain”
***yeah I know, they beat Indiana so it’s easy to argue OSU should go over Indiana… but come on.. 1. You’re ending the regular season playing 5 games, only 1 against a team that is ranked (at the end of the season). 2. Who would you rather see? Indiana vs Northwestern or OSU vs. Northwestern?