Team 137 by Jim Harbaugh. Football talk and Predictions.

[jaadam4]

how do you really feel

[Paul L]

I don't know, I'm hearing good things about this Biakabutuka kid

[WM Wolverine]

I think they have decent-to-good talent at the position...

De'Veon Smith is the definition of serviceable, he was caught near the line of scrimmage too often last season when opposing defenses would put 8-9 in the box when they weren't afraid of Rudock completing a ball deep. With 4 returning starters the OL should be better, plus the progression of the receivers over the course of last season should help everyone who is running the ball...

Ty Isaac has supposedly looked quite good in practices this spring, he's got a far higher ceiling than Smith and has the speed to get to the outside and outrun defenders. Drake Johnson if healthy, could be a good B1G running back, I've liked what I've seen from him and WHEN HEALTHY has more explosion than what we usually see from him.

I don't see RB as a liability, it might suffer because the QB can't hit an open receiver and opposing defensive coordinators are able to put 8-9 defenders in the box but I think the talent is good enough to have an above-average rushing attack.

[SeattleLionsFan]

I'm amazed the number of people saying anything less than perfect would be a disappointment. It's really astounding.

M has lost one game or less only 8 times in the past 50 years. And only 3 times in the past 40. And now it would be a horrible season if they didn't repeat that feat.

Amazing. Just enjoy the fact that they are getting better and we don't have to watch the shitty teams Hoke and Rodriguez put on the field. I know I will.

[Lem B]

I'm amazed the number of people saying anything less than perfect would be a disappointment. It's really astounding.

M has lost one game or less only 8 times in the past 50 years. And only 3 times in the past 40. And now it would be a horrible season if they didn't repeat that feat.

Amazing. Just enjoy the fact that they are getting better and we don't have to watch the shitty teams Hoke and Rodriguez put on the field. I know I will.

Come on Seattle, Harmon played at M, of course they're going to win every game.

[Detroit Dan]

I'm a big Drake Johnson fan. He always seem to get the most out of what's available. Smith and Isaac will too often get caught behind the line or after short gain, but Johnson has more quickness and finds running room if there is any to be had. He's suffered a number of injuries, and was benched (?) a bit by Harbaugh toward the end of the season, before having a big performance in the bowl game. Johnson will be a Harbaugh favorite this year because he took Harbaugh's advice and ran hurdles with the track team. Harbaugh owes him for that.

[Mike]

I'm amazed the number of people saying anything less than perfect would be a disappointment. It's really astounding.

M has lost one game or less only 8 times in the past 50 years. And only 3 times in the past 40. And now it would be a horrible season if they didn't repeat that feat.

Amazing. Just enjoy the fact that they are getting better and we don't have to watch the shitty teams Hoke and Rodriguez put on the field. I know I will.

I'm talking about regular season only. If we make the CFP, I would expect to get bounced quickly. No telling about a Rose Bowl either as we don't know the match-ups. What we DO know is that our regular season schedule is cake except for 2-3 games. 10-2 wouldn't be the end of the world but I'll be disappointed. This team is good enough, especially on defense, to win the conference.

[jaadam4]

I love u of m and the snobs that come with it. "10-2... ahhhh fuck that.. " "bring back Nick Sheridan!"

of course i'm one of those snobs as well!

[Mike]

10-2.... Fuck that! Should be the attitude going forward. Do you think Bama and OSU are happy with 10-2?

[SeattleLionsFan]

Did OSU and Bama go 5-7 two years ago and win 8 games or less in 6 of the last 8 seasons?

[Mike]

Bama went 7-6 in Saban's first year. Then 12-2, then natty in year 3. Without looking it up I'd say Bama was a bigger mess than Michigan was prior to HARBAUGH!! Hell, they tried to hire RichRod and failed.

[Tom W]

It's pretty easy to aim for the stars before Memorial Day. Let's wait until after Halloween (and the trip to EL) before we define "disappointment".

[SeattleLionsFan]

Which has nothing to do with Bamas expectations this year.

[iam416]

Bama was 4-9, 6-6, 10-2, 6-7 before The Nick arrived. They were pretty much a trainwreck. Then The Nick went 7-6, 12-2 (losing to UFM in the SECCG and then Utah) and 14-0.

Ohio State was, of course, a trainwreck after the Era of Fickell. I mean, they had lost to Nebraska FFS and were 6-7.

HARBAUGH!!!! inherited a pretty good roster save for QB (which, ironically, is sort of the inverse of what Hoke inherited).

[The Oracle]

Michigan Athletics Director Jim Hackett, the man who led the charge to bring Jim Harbaugh back to Ann Arbor, sees some similarities between Harbaugh and the man who coached both of them.
Hackett recently sat down for an exclusive interview with The Wolverine, and spoke expansively on a number of topics. He shared plenty about Harbaugh, and here is a taste of what the AD had to say.
When asked with traits Harbaugh and Schembechler both exhibited, Hackett said: "Incredible integrity. The candor is so refreshing. It's like looking in the mirror. When you look in the mirror, there is just no lie. You look in the eyes of those two men -- they can't lie. The candor is so startlingly authentic. They don't change.
"I've been frustrated by some of the press coverage of Jim in the last month, because they want to describe him as idiosyncratic. I say, imagine a grade school teacher saying, 'Hey Picasso, you're painting outside the lines. You don't understand. You're supposed to color in the lines. We can't understand what you're doing.'
"It turns out, it's a masterpiece.
"He's not being idiosyncratic. He's painting outside the lines, because he knows how to compete, and that's why he's so successful.
"Bo was like that. Everyone thinks everyone does the same thing, and then there are cheaters. That could be true, but then there are people who are so innovative - Paul Brown was like this. He invented facemasks, and playbooks. It was just so counter the culture.
"The world saw them as odd. In fact, they're all leading. What he did with the camp program … he had to get the brand back. If you were 17 years old, the last time Michigan had the dominance, they were nine. What are the chances that, at nine years old, they were convinced to come to Michigan? Zero.
"The last seven years, there is a gap. He had to make all of that up. Getting out there with all the young kids who didn't know him, and have no money to travel here, it was just a phenomenal idea.
"Ten camps in nine days … they never went to bed. We had to fly them on private planes. They could never have made it.
"That did an amazing thing to light the fire about our brand. Okay, he took grief from all of these people, because it was so counter-cultural. Then it hit me one night. I thought - and I won't mention any names - how many of the older coaches are just frustrated they didn't think of it?
"How many other things like that has he done? I could tell you 30 things he has done since he's been here that are fundamental to the competing strategy, and ahead of everyone else. He reminds me of what [Apple, Inc. co-founder] Steve Jobs did in his business.
"Steve was the kind of guy where people would cock their head, and say: 'I knew him, and thought he was odd, offbeat.' And he was kicking their butt the whole way.
"Jim's not retiring yet, so I have to stop lauding him. But the media stuff has frustrated me. He's not inconsistent. He's the same guy, whether he wins, loses, up, down.
"Now, where they're different is, Bo was a lineman and he's a quarterback. I think that mentality shapes you. So Bo knew the toughness of the offensive line, and he built his team around that.
"Jim is tough, but Jim is the kind of guy that knows, no matter what the score is, I'm going to find a way to win - the way a quarterback would think about it. I've learned football from Jim's angle the way I knew from Bo's. It is different, and I love what I'm learning about it.
"And, there's his dad [former U-M assistant coach Jack Harbaugh]. His dad was a defensive backfield coach, and he's learned from his dad something about defense. Both of them have such a healthy respect for that.
"The last thing I'd say is about recruiting. Bo, physically, would hate recruiting, but he loved doing it. It wore him out, but he loved doing it. Jim loves doing it, too.
"That's an advantage. If you hate recruiting … I'm not saying Rich [Rodriguez] and Brady [Hoke] didn't like it, but Jim is really good at it."