Michigan 28, Arkansas State 18

[Mike]

I didn't expect the dropoff to be this bad. I thought the defense could keep them in difficult games, and give the offense more chances, but it looks like I was too optimistic.

Same here, I was thinking 9-3. In hindsight it was pretty obvious that we entered "rebuild" mode coming into 2024 and not "one more good year before it falls apart". You can't replace 16 starters, 10 on offense, and 7 coaches unless you recruit like Georgia, Bama, and OSU. The timing of Harbaugh's departure didn't do us any favors either. The coaching carousel was over at that point and Moore was sitting right there as a popular choice. There wasn't much Warde could do. I like Sherrone and think he can be successful in the right situation but he's in a really bad spot right now. This really is like taking over the Hoke disaster from a roster standpoint.

Thank God we won it all last year! Otherwise, the Harbaugh era would feel a lot like the Jim Leyland era with the Tigers.

[iam416]

HARBAUGH!!!! wasn't a good recruiter. Never was. Last year was about as anomalous as it gets.

[WM Wolverine]

QB recruiting fell off for a couple years after landing JJ, I think they've done well enough recently (Davis, Smith, Hart in '24, '25, '26) but missing out on blue chip QB's in '22, '23 is hurting us in the present. Ditto at receiver. Being a very run heavy offense might've hurt the ability to land the top high 4-star receiver talent. Not sure any receiver on the roster would've been recruited by the Buckeyes.

Had low expectations for this season (8-4, maybe 9-3) but was hoping the defense could be dominant and Michigan could go 9-3/10-2.. The young defenders don't look near as skilled as who just graduated. USC might be a tougher opponent than we had expected pre-season, upsetting LSU. My 'low' expectations might even be too high, early returns look more like 7-5 than 8-4.

[iam416]

JJ was the only good QB recruit HARBAUGH!!! had. And we know why he ended up there.

Their QBs and WRs are exceptionally bad for a defending MNC with the resources and name value of M. I mean -- embarrassingly bad.

[Mike]

Why did JJ end up at Michigan?

[Mike]

Never mind. I forgot OSU offered McCord over him.

[iam416]

It was either let JJ go to M or the Honda McCord go to Penn State.

Whatever.

Example 189 of why CRD is in way over his head.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Ɓrian at mgo, wrote a scathing post Texas game article that lists the significant problems M football is dealing with and will impact the season going forward. Most of the problems he lists have been mentioned here. He asks, how does a talented M defense go from great to terrible? The answer is Wink Martindale - a horrible hire of an aging NFL DC with few options involving staying in the pros. He is the Charlie Weiss of Defense or like Al Borges switching from offense to defense.

How does an offense that has an established identify appear to have no plan A continuing that? His answer: Kirk Campbell.

If you want a sobering assessment with details of where M football is headed, read it.

[lineygoblue]

JJ was not the only good player that Harbaugh ever recruited.

There are a few more.

The problem with Harbaugh's recruiting was he left the cupboard bare for his successor. Just like he did with the coaching staff.

Kind of like Lloyd Carr did.

---

If Jack Tuttle is healthy he deserves at least a look in this week's game. He's GOT to be better than the two guys we've seen so far. I mean, there's nothing to lose here. Reward the man if only for the fact that he's been here for 3 years.

[Mike]

I had a bad feeling that the coaching turnover was going to go poorly. All our worst fears are being realized. It's a shame because there is enough talent on the team, outside of QB and WR, to still be a decent team had there been any continuity. Instead we're creating a reclamation project for the next HC and staff.

[lineygoblue]

And now we know why Moore was taking so long in selecting a starting QB. He was having to choose between worse and worser.

[froot loops]

I do have to say in our household we laughed that Wink was hired. As a big time NFL fan I always thought he was overrated and always got a chuckle out of his game day outfits. At least Michigan supplied with a properly fitted vest. Mike McDonald he is not

[Jeff Buchanan]

I think Moore is complicit in the damage done to both the offense and defense by the two new coordinaters. He had to aggree with the apparent emphasis on the passing game shelving a run game with two great RBs. He hired Wink and gave him the green light on the crazy fronts and confusion that newsystem created among great defenders on the roster. Big risk in installing a new defense that he taught poorly.
.

[lineygoblue]

I think Moore is complicit in the damage done to both the offense and defense by the two new coordinaters. He had to aggree with the apparent emphasis on the passing game shelving a run game with two great RBs. He hired Wink and gave him the green light on the crazy fronts and confusion that newsystem created among great defenders on the roster. Big risk in installing a new defense that he taught poorly.
.

I guess its probably telling that Wink wasn't in demand anywhere else after being fired by the Giants. Moore is going to have to take charge and make some difficult decisions. He may have to turn some people loose who have been friends of his. That's going to be tough, but that's what good coaches do.

Honestly, if I were M's coach, I'd start buddying up to Nick Saban, and see if I could pick his brain on people he considers to be good, up and coming coordinators, who might be willing to move. The man is a great coach who not only knows how to coach players, he also knows how to spot great coordinators. AA's sandbagging aside, Nick could give a young coach like Moore a lot of valuable advice. But, that's just me.

[Hannibal]

It's not yet time to throw Moore under the bus. With that said, his career as a non-interim full time coach is not exactly off to a flying start. Talent seems to think that Moore will make for a convenient sacrificial lamb. I'm not getting vibes that the NCAA is going to give him a show cause. We'll see I guess? I'm kind of indifferent. Moore has a terrific resume as an assistant, but I'd prefer to see a guy coach at this level before a job like Michigan. I guess if you're going to blow the thing up, just get it out of the way now and we can go back to discussing the guys that we were talking about three years ago.

What can explain our inability to recruit despite having our most successful three year run since at least the 1980s? Is it NIL? Did the previous staff just quit doing it? Whatever it is needs to get fixed. Yesterday. It's definitely not all Moore's fault, although I'd put maybe 20% of that blame at his feet.

My thought going into this year was 7-5. Maybe they could get to 8-4. In addition to all of the guys that we lost from last year's team, this year's schedule is just monstrous. Expectations for this team were not reasonable. This reminds me so much of 2008. Maybe you are seeing what that year would have looked like without all of our famous dysfunctions.

JJ really carried us last year on offense. Moreso, I think, than most people remember or recognize. The running game struggled much of the time last year at times and what you have seen so far this year is pretty much an extension of that.