UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[Rocky Bleier]

Its not Patterson fault 62 points were given up last game.

If M wins 17-13 nobody would be bitching about Shea.

This negativity is a direct result of losing to osu

Sensitive much? Pointing out a shortcoming he has is not bitching. All criticism for that game has been directed at Harbaugh and Don Brown. In my opinion, Shea Patterson is a good, not great college quarterback. I do not see him as a top tier NFL quarterback prospect. I'm a little disappointed that he's returning because he will keep others on the bench who I think have the potential to be better than him but lack experience. I do expect he'll be improved with another year in the system. I hope Harbaugh utilizes his big WRs more next season.

[WingsFan]

M fans who think we would be better without Shea next year is ridiculous .

[Kstat]

M fans who think we would be better without Shea next year is ridiculous .

[WM Wolverine]

Throwing downfield is a product of scheme, play calling.

Shea looked really good to me when he did, the coaching staff rarely gave him the opportunity unless it was a PA pass. His stats probably look better because they caught opponents off guard the rare times they did throw the ball..

Last off season there was lots of talk about a spread offense that utilized more 3+ receiver sets that we never saw in season.

In today's football you need to be able to score through the air, and at times score quickly. Harbaugh wants to play Lloyd ball with a few wrinklewrinkles.

Like Lloyd, Harbaugh is going to need NFL talent at most every position on offense to be successful to run his offense. B1G defenses are way better than Pac 12 defenses.

[iam416]

[WM Wolverine]

Stanford's offensive success relative to M under Harbaugh? At Stanford, Harbaugh built an NFL OL factory, he hasn't come remotely close at M...

That's a huge factor if not the biggest factor... I'm not impressed by his recruits but have given Harbaugh a free pass due to his success developing OL at Stanford. Still waiting for these three star types to block all American defensive lineman...

Even Lloyd knew there were times he needed to air it out. But he strongly preferred to play Lloyd ball which resulted in too many, one score games decided in the fourth quarter where one mistook could result in a loss.

[Jeff Buchanan]

If Warriner stays, that's going to help a lot in the OL department. Great resume and track record building OLs. The risk is him leaving before he gets the OL dominating like lines he's developed and coached in the past.

Still, I don't think a great OL play alone is going to get Harbaugh the championships I know he wants running his brand of a CFB offense.He's got to adapt a more dynamic run/pass approach and I'm in favor of bringing someone aboard on the staff during the off season to help him do that. Worth watching closely who will fill the two empty Assistant Coach spots made by Princes' and McElwain's departures.

[Wellington_beefhouser]

[Detroit Dan]

I don't think Harbaugh will open up the QB competition. Nor should he. Patterson coming back and his attitude (wants to beat Ohio State, enjoys the game) is a positive contrast to the professionalism we see from other players. Enthusiasm and motivation matter in all sports, and team spirit is especially important in football. Higdon, Bush, and Winovich were gung-ho this year and that brought us close to the B1G title and college football playoffs. Now Shea has made a statement about next year.

[Rocky Bleier]

I hope all positions are subject to meritocracy as Harbaugh claims.. My guess is that Shea came back because he found he has a 3rd round draft grade, and could use another year to improve.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Yeah, if what we fans think is going on in the club house - guys leave because they aren't getting playing time and the reason for that is probably that they, in JH's eyes, aren't working hard enough to earn it - I'm fine with that.

I think it was said somewhere in this thread or another that coaches that are attracting and signing talented HS recruits have to learn to deal with the potential for talented dudes to get pissy about playing time and opt to transfer to another program. The negative impact of not being able to do that is on the football program's depth. It would be interesting to track the success at the college level and then see of these highly regarded transferring types if the get drafted. IOW, are they really as good as they think they are? Or, do they have the talent but not the work ethic?

I think JH knows what he is doing here. His track record as a HC would indicate he does. There is a whole lot to building a team where the product of the team's collective effort is greater than the sum of it's individual parts. It is part of Bo's and Michigan's The Team, The team ..... mantra. I've commented, as have others, this sort of approach is difficult to maintain in the current and emerging CFB environment. Players may have legitimate reasons for wanting to transfer and programs have to deal with the impact on position and unit depth when they do leave. It's a critical balancing act. For me, I'd bet on the value of Team as a priority and the positive impact that has on a CFB program's long term success ..... and that is NOT just on winning.

[UMStan White]

There is no "the team the team the team" anymore. What we have is "fuck you I ain't playing"

[hack]

Winovich is playing.

[Jeff Buchanan]

There is no "the team the team the team" anymore. What we have is "fuck you I ain't playing"

Stan, I want you to go find Hans Rosling's book, "Factfulness," read it and then get back to me. Things are never as bad as they are made out to be by others who ignore the facts. It might be a stretch to apply what I learned in this book to M football but Rosling offers a middle view that with regularity gets overlooked. He calls himself not an optimist but a possibilitist. DetroitDan is a possibilitist.

[iam416]

Dan is, IMO, the best kind of sports fan. Truly a MICHIGAN fan. Everything is about M, and almost always positive with a few unavoidable reality checks. Rarely resorts to pissing on another team. An unsanctimounous M fan. A goddamn unicorn and needed element.

And, of course, I realize that by the terms of the foregoing yours truly is very much not the best kind of sports fans. STFU.

It might be a stretch to apply what I learned in this book to M football but Rosling offers a middle view that with regularity gets overlooked. He calls himself not an optimist but a possibilitist. DetroitDan is a possibilitist.

You also need to consider the very real possibility that HARBAUGH!!!! makes offensive adjustments and philosophical adjustments that at least partially remedy the issues they had this season. I can't believe he's going to continue to insist on winning "his way" (schematically) over winning (schematically). They will be very long on passing game talent in 2019 and a lot shorter on running game talent. If he's at 62/38 again -- or whatever it is -- I'll be stunned.