Detroit news article Trieu: New Michigan coaches already show their recruiting grit
January 16th, 2018 at 11:20 PM ^
So you're saying they're not going to observe the Sabbath? I wouldn't expect blessed results with that kind of attitude.
January 17th, 2018 at 1:22 AM ^
Im just gunna sit here and crack open another ginger ale
January 17th, 2018 at 9:30 AM ^
Who cares, man? That "meteor" we all saw yesterday? Yeah, that was the rapture. And as far as I can tell, we are all still here. We're fucked.
Of course, and on the plus side, this means I am going to start coveting the shit out of my neighbors wives! WOO HOO!
January 17th, 2018 at 10:00 AM ^
you're still there.
January 17th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
Hmmmmm. Well, I'm not in hell, as my anus is still pineapple-free. And I'm not in heaven, because I'm not surrounded by 7200 virgins. So....
January 17th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
I've never understood the desire to be surrounded by virgins. Wouldn't you rather be surrounded by women who know what they're doing?
A better way to put it is surrounded by 7200 strippers or something along those lines.
January 17th, 2018 at 10:31 AM ^
While I agree that a little experience might be valuable, 7200 strippers seems to be going too far the other way. How about:
"7200 young ladies that have had more than one but no more than 10 prior sexual experiences, all of which were unsatisfying in some way, so that any inadequacies I may display are not readily apparent"?
January 17th, 2018 at 10:42 AM ^
Good point. Just inexperienced enough for unfaked enthusiasm.
January 17th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
Yeah, there's nothing worse than, "Oh look, yet another penis coming towards me. This one seems entirely unexceptional, but it's hard to tell, given the sheer volume of penii I have encountered in my life..."
January 17th, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
7200 strippers with 720000 dollar bills, whining virgins...mmm not so much...
January 17th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
Dennis Miller used to have a comedy bit where he'd say (paraphrasing) "I never quite got the 72 virgin thing. Clueless and fumbling is good for the first few but eventually don't you want a woman who's not afraid to stick her finger [redacted]"
I hear it went over well with the audience.
January 17th, 2018 at 4:38 PM ^
January 16th, 2018 at 11:25 PM ^
I'm 58 and from when I was about 30 till I was 45 or so I lived out of a suitcase being on the road 3- 5 days a week. It was the life I chose (sales) but it was tough and definitely played in a role in my first marrage falling apart as you just cant be away from home for that long and still be an effective father or husband. My career took off but my homelife suffered.
So the last couple of years I watched the satellite camps unfold and wondered how this was impacting the personal lives of our coaches. It HAS to be hard as hell to be gone for that long and while it was the life they also chose (college coaching) I couldnt help but wonder how this was playing on their home front. Virtually all of them have wifes, kids and a family. Couldnt be easy that's for sure.
So when I hear we needed more "grinders" I wonder if we simply burned out our old grinders. I wonder if, when given the opportunity to stay home, some of the coaches that have left over the past couple of years just said "fuck this - i'm stayng home for a change." Not everybody is wired like Jimmy and I'll bet a small part of our recruiting issues are simply a function of the guys getting tired of being on the road all the time. Sometimes you want to be able to go to your kids Christmas concert or see them perform in a school play. And being there for a birthday or two is pretty cool as well.
January 16th, 2018 at 11:37 PM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 8:01 AM ^
Rare but not isolated. Surrounding himself with men of similar drive, and recruiting men of similar drive, and all of them working togetehr toward improvement with similar drive...
See what I'm driving at? I like where this is going...
January 17th, 2018 at 8:06 AM ^
That head coach was talking about satellite camps taking away time from his family. Maybe they have bagmen instead of coaches doing the grinding.
January 17th, 2018 at 8:46 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 9:39 AM ^
What Hugh says: "He works too hard."
What Hugh means: "Guys who do that won't have time to cheat on their wives."
January 17th, 2018 at 9:58 AM ^
hired ladies to do the grinding. HEYYYYYOOOOOOHHHH!!
January 17th, 2018 at 9:43 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 10:26 AM ^
January 16th, 2018 at 11:46 PM ^
This is where the early signing period helps. The coaches don't have to spend as much time baby sitting committed but yet to be signed recruits.
January 17th, 2018 at 10:02 AM ^
it just starts the next recruiting cycle for the top recruits
January 17th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
January 16th, 2018 at 11:50 PM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 1:05 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 5:44 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 5:44 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 12:17 AM ^
Jim isn't a rare breed, there are plenty of us who aren't candy asses. We just don't have University of Michigan degrees. Give a blue collar guy like me some training as a recruiter and a coach under Harbaugh. I'll blow anyone out of the water. Three-six-five, eight days a week, burning tread. What I lack in skills and knowledge, I overachieve and defeat with ambition and perseverance. I'm the guy Ann Arbor(Gotham) deserves, but not the one it needs right now.
January 17th, 2018 at 12:18 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 9:45 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 2:59 AM ^
very much as a poster on this blog and understand what you're saying here but man, something about it really bugs me if this is the case regarding recruiting.
Seems like excuses to me. I hope Harbaugh cuts it out with the overseas trips and I'm glad he can't do the camps anymore, focus on coaching the team, take some time off when you can and get away from the game, I dunno, something was amiss with the team this past season as coach didn't look like a happy guy who was having fun like he was the first 2 years.
I want to see a more passionate coach who doesn't look lifeless like he did so often last season, just my instincts talking here.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:16 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 7:38 AM ^
Practicing at school for a week instead of taking a bunch of kids, who may otherwise not be able to do those things, on a trip is your solution?
January 17th, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 9:18 AM ^
Thank you for saying this. I feel the same way - Rome had NOTHING to do with anything the team did (or didn't) do on the field this last season.
You can make a case for the coaches getting a little burned out with the summer camp tour, but not much of one. If they aren't camping, they're crootin'...
January 17th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
They won eight games, yes. But not eight games in the toughest division. In fact they only won three games against the three teams with losing records in that division. In the seven team division they were right smack in the middle losing to the toughest teams in the division and beating the worst. So yeah, mediocrity and it doesn't matter what division or conference they were in.
No, it isn't just optics, it's about distractions and it's about hubris. Look at us, we're so damn good we can go to Europe and frolick in the fountains. The team reflects leadership, and if leadership is telling the team it's all about going on European Vacations, should we really expect better results because of it?
January 17th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^
The Rome trip was an amazing opportunity for the players. I'm proud of our program for doing that.
January 17th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^
I'm wondering if having every minute of every practice and game being recorded for public consumption might have had some negative effects when it comes to having "passion."
January 17th, 2018 at 12:46 PM ^
Just like how no one had a problem with Hoke not wearing a headset (or jacket) until we started losing.
January 17th, 2018 at 7:51 AM ^
Living out of suitcases is a hard life. I am right there with you, mGrowOld. I also did that for several years, but I was fortunate to have the understanding at home. Now semi-retired in northern MI, where life is beautiful all the time!!
January 17th, 2018 at 9:15 AM ^
But, it is what the job calls for. It can burn people out and we love to think at UM it just recruits itself. But, we had reached a place where we had fallen behind some programs like Alabama, Clemson and OSU and if you want to reach the top we needed to out work everyone. Work still hasn't come to fruition, but a good season in 2018 and we might start reaping the benefits of all the work.
I don't think these guys were working that much more then other schools or gone a whole lot more. When we did Satellite camps other schools coaches were also on the road recruiting it was just a different beast. The camps were definitely a grind though the days they put in.
Seems they have landed some coaches though willing to really put in the work and do what is needed to bring in top recruits.
January 17th, 2018 at 9:49 AM ^
I think the term football widow applies to CFB and the NFL where there is no "on the road" recruiting. One can be absent from family just by being at the football facility 20 hours/day. Recruiting can't help, but this is certainly something wives/families must deal with.
January 17th, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^
As another 58 year old who helped raise kids, that kind of lifestyle would have been way too hard for my wife and I. And I'm fortunate and glad that I was able to avoid jobs where there was much travel. Recruiting today has gotten to be a hard grind for these coaches - way harder than the 70's and 80's when it was a lot more regional in nature. Bo and his coaches didn't have to venture much outside the 5 state area here. I would not be surprised at all if there are coaches out there including on Michigan's staff that have tired of it.
January 16th, 2018 at 11:37 PM ^
What I want from the coaching staff is quarterback and offensive development.
January 16th, 2018 at 11:42 PM ^
Classic offseason new coach take #45; they're recruiting harder now becuase of course. Right up there with practices/film sessions are longer and the S&C coach is meaner
January 17th, 2018 at 1:47 AM ^
but there was talk that outside of Partridge, Mattison, and both Harbaughs the rest of the staff was more iterested in coaching than recruiting.
You need a good mix, but in college i think the "Jimmy's and Joe's" are nearly as important as the coaching acumen of the staff (yes MSU blah blah blah) and M was lacking a bit. Losing Wheatley hurt us in '18 and the new guys are all known as ace recruiters as well as up and coming coaches.
There is a reason "Bama made a run at Partridge and I suspect his LB coaching ability was a secondary concern to his ability to nab top talent from NJ and the South. If he could do that well at M, imagine what he could do at "Bama = particularly with kids from GA and FLA.
January 17th, 2018 at 7:09 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 8:16 AM ^