Michigan Football, 2021 Season

[Jeff Buchanan]

It's time, not that I give a shit.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I do but I'm looking for other things to do like help out at a food bank. Seriously

I'll save you the time you might take to look at mgo for clues as to who will be M's next DC and what will happen to the current assistants. In short, nothing worth seeing.

The elephant in the room is that Harbaugh has not signed the contract he was offered a month ago. Nobody with chops is going to take the DC position at M with Harbaugh unsigned.

The longer this goes on the more likely it is that M will end up with an underwhelming choice to reshape M's defense....... or takeover the program that Harbaugh has left.

[iam416]

Derrick Mason is rumored going to LSU.

[lineygoblue]

The elephant in the room is that Harbaugh has not signed the contract he was offered a month ago. Nobody with chops is going to take the DC position at M with Harbaugh unsigned.

This.

No decent DC is going to take a job at M with Harbaugh as HC unless he's signed. Otherwise, they've got a job for 1 season at most, if/when Harbaugh moves on, and they might have to move on again as well. Even if he's signed, he might be moving on, so this is definitely a problem in finding someone decent for the job.

I liked Don Brown as a person. I liked his passion for football, and the players seemed to like playing for him. He's also a pretty decent recruiter, but that seems to be limited to the east coast, making Michigan's defenses look like a 1990's ACC defense. He didn't seem to recruit the midwest very well.

I wish him well as he moves on. When he has the right personnel for his defense, its good. When he doesn't, its horrible.

[Jeff Buchanan]

A couple weeks ago when the sports press was talking about Harbaugh's future at Michigan, John U. Bacon wrote that Harbaugh's contract extension (the one beyond the year he has left) had what amounted to a pay-cut in it for him divvied up in unspecified incentives with more money for assistants. Subsequently, not unlike speculation that arises about Harbaugh at the end of all of his last 3 seasons, he was thought to be "the leading candidate" for HC positions with the Jets, Texans, Lions, whatever vacant HC office secondary to firing or impending firing was out there. I thought it stupid. That kind of speculation seems to have markedly dropped off suggesting that NFL management types may not be interested in Harbaugh at all as in what have you done for me lately?

I actually think it's 50/50 that Harbaugh stays at M and I don't think the entire decision is in his hands. If he wants to stay in coaching he's going to work that to his advantage. I doubt he's concerned about money so there are any number of gigs he could take in both college and the pros at the margins of it. An AD or Asst. AD position or pro management level for example.

I find it curious, but not entirely without reason, that Warde hasn't wrapped all this up before Christmas. Having not done that brings pro options both for M and for JH into the picture. That the CFB play-offs are still on the horizon muddles that picture somewhat though. Still I think pro positions either as a HC or in management for Harbaugh and someone in the pro-ranks presently are in play and ahead in the line of either M's DC or HC search.

TBH I really don't care how this turns out. Interest may change depending on how the 2021 CFB season is affected by COVID.

[WingsFan]

At least Hutchinson is coming back

[Cody_Russell]

Rare good news for the program.

... Now go hire Will Muschamp as DC.

[iam416]

They’re going to be very hard to beat in 2021: Revenge Tour 2

[lineygoblue]

At least Hutchinson is coming back

It will be good to have him back.

This "season" (such as it was) didn't count toward anyone's eligibility. So, the entire team could come back, if they chose to.

I believe Chris Evans stated he's headed to the NFL. Others will follow, but CFB is still an option for any who want it.

[Cody_Russell]

Hopefully Ben Mason comes back. Mason doesn’t do as much anymore, but I like him. Pure Michigan.

[lineygoblue]

There's a few guys I'd like to see play in an actual season format. Summer conditioning, fall camp, season starting on time, etc. I'd like to see McNamara as the starter from the git-go and see if he's just another flash in the pan, or if he can be the next good one. I'd like to see Hutchinson fully recovered, and playing a full season. Mason is another one I like. Butler, Charbonnet, Corum, all are young talents that I'd like to see in a proper season setting.

I also hope that we can at least get stadium attendance back into a minimum of 25% occupancy, and have the marching band back on the field. Something at least more closely resembling an actual football season, rather than the silliness we had in 2020. Hopefully, Covid will continue to wane, and make those things possible.

[iam416]

(1) You're dealing w/ M politics and, even worse, the M administration. My guess is that M will be amongst the absolute last to allow fans into the game. They will be months behind the curve. Hopefully they catch up by November. Seeing that stadium half scarlet is a bi-annual tradition.

(2) I would have liked to see Hutchinson play a real OL this year. It would have been instructive to see him lock horns with, e.g., Wyatt Davis. I don't recall M's DL being able to deal with OSU in 2019. I dunno -- I guess maybe Wisconsin had a decent OL, but, then again, they could barely move the ball against Iowa and nFw.

(3) Ben Mason. He is, IMO, entirely symbolic of the HARBAUGH!!!!! Era.

[lineygoblue]

I would like to NOT believe #1, but I'm afraid its likely true. Politics will play a large role in whether fans are allowed to come back to the stadium. Michigan's Covid numbers have started trending downward, but everyone is bracing for what the holiday season will bring due to people travelling. If we can weather that, it could put sports back on track in the state. I suspect the Covid decisions will be made as a conference, rather than by individual schools. If any one school is going to be a stick-in-the-mud, it will be Michigan.

When has M stadium been only half-scarlet on game day? My final year as a season ticket holder was 2005, and I was totally surrounded by scarlet. I might as well have been in Columbus. Again, this was back in 2005. We're 15 years past that now. When I was on the Event Staff in 2017, just looking around the stadium, it was over 50% red. But, that's what "the game" has become. Its an opportunity for ticket holders to pocket some cash, and let OSU fans have some fun. That's where we are. And nobody on State Street cares. They just smile and take the money.

[iam416]

You're probably right that it'll be a conference-wide decision because that would be remarkably stupid and that conference gravitates toward remarkably stupid.

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU