Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[upstater]

Let it go, dude. The only thing you are accomplishing is making yourself look looney.

I think his perspective is a plus around here. It's very different from mine, but if we can't look at the other side as objectively as we can, we are useless. Billy presents his side with more respect than many of the ACC/ND slappies that have been banned here.

Respectful? Ha. He's a troll. Proven on many occasions.

Banned? What? Who was banned?

 

[pj]

He may be imagining that btstimpy got banned because he stopped posting for a few months after Fishy repeatedly threatened him with banning. Our guests aren't aware that Fishy's threats are for show.

As for billybud, I like having him around. He may be a troll, but he's a droll troll.

 

[SAMCRO]

He should have to pay the Troll Toll

 

[auggie22]

He should have to pay the Troll Toll

I go for gasps. Gasps are where it's at.

 

[dayooper]

Respectful? Ha. He's a troll. Proven on many occasions.

Banned? What? Who was banned?

The ND tool Notre Dame Joe and his "BuG" crap.

 

[Seaa Blue]

NotreDameJoe

Mar 9, 2014 - Jun 6, 2014

 

[buddy]

Let it go, dude. The only thing you are accomplishing is making yourself look looney.

I think his perspective is a plus around here. It's very different from mine, but if we can't look at the other side as objectively as we can, we are useless. Billy presents his side with more respect than many of the ACC/ND slappies that have been banned here.

We are living on the other side. We do not need to hear repeatedly how wonderful FSU is and how UConn didn't make the cut for the wonderful ACC thanks to FSU and BC. There is no other side. One is pro UConn or anti UConn, there is no middle ground. Where do you stand?

 

[dayooper]

We are living on the other side. We do not need to hear repeatedly how wonderful FSU is and how UConn didn't make the cut for the wonderful ACC thanks to FSU and BC. There is no other side. One is pro UConn or anti UConn, there is no middle ground. Where do you stand?

Neither. I would love to have UConn in The Big10, then I would love to hate you as a rival, just as you would me. It's what being a fan is all about.

1. I don't know enough about the deal to really "make a stand." I don't "make a stand" on anything unless I know what I believe are the facts.

2. If UConn gets into The Big10 like I would like you all to be, then I would most definitely love what you say BC and the rest of The ACC did to you. Then I guess I would be "against" you, but really "with" you as you would be in the place where you all want to be anyway.

 

[Ldandy]

The ND tool Notre Dame Joe and his "BuG" crap.

I thought Okie Lite and Buck were shown the door as well. I can't imagine they'd be able to ignore some of these threads.

 

[specialisthusky]

I thought Okie Lite and Buck were shown the door as well. I can't imagine they'd be able to ignore some of these threads.

Ha! okie lite is a special type of insane. Kid went over to the scout board to continue his trolling/"laffin"

 

[junglehusky]

dammit, no key tweets?

 

[Ldandy]

Ha! okie lite is a special type of insane. Kid went over to the scout board to continue his trolling/"laffin"

Its actually pretty amazing. Its like he is playing a game of 1 on 1 with HFD in an empty arena. Literally no one else posts on that site except the two of them.

 

[UC990411]

Neither. I would love to have UConn in The Big10, then I would love to hate you as a rival, just as you would me. It's what being a fan is all about.

1. I don't know enough about the deal to really "make a stand." I don't "make a stand" on anything unless I know what I believe are the facts.

2. If UConn gets into The Big10 like I would like you all to be, then I would most definitely love what you say BC and the rest of The ACC did to you. Then I guess I would be "against" you, but really "with" you as you would be in the place where you all want to be anyway.

I think a lot of people already hate Michigan because they view them as irrelevant in every major sport yet have a ton of power. Not trying to be a jerk,must telling it how it is.

 

[Seaa Blue]

You perhaps have us confused with Notre Dame?

Over the past 4 seasons we've been to a BCS Bowl game (and won it)... And to the Final Four.

 

[Husky25]

I think a lot of people already hate Michigan because they view them as irrelevant in every major sport yet have a ton of power. Not trying to be a jerk,must telling it how it is.

Michigan is not irrelevant.

They are in a down cycle in football, but they were in the basketball championship game in 2013 and Elite Eight last year. Their last two football coaches tried to make Michigan a program that they were ill prepared to be. It takes time to convert from a Traditional B10-3-yards-&-a-cloud-of-mud program into a spread. Alumni and the administration wanted a quick fix. It doesn't work that way. They are still looking for a quick fix. Personally, I hope Harbaugh can provide A fix.

 

[dayooper]

I think a lot of people already hate Michigan because they view them as irrelevant in every major sport yet have a ton of power. Not trying to be a jerk,must telling it how it is.

And every Michigan fan I know loves to revel in the hate. We have had our worst 10 years in our history (at least since the mid '60's). That thought is well deserved.

Yet, in our worst 10 years in the past 50, UM has had more relevancy in the two major sports than most schools. How many teams can say they were in the national title hunt up until they lost the one of the best games of the year to a heated rival two days after the face of the university dies (Bo) 2006, won a BCS game 2012, been in a Great 8 NCAA Tourney (2014), lost in the NCAA Championship game (2013), Big10 regular season BB champs (2012, 2014), and, although not a true national sport, won a Hockey NCAA championship (2008) and was a finalist in the 2010 NCAA tourney as well. All in our worst 10 year period in at least 50 years.

Oh yeah, led a national search that was ridiculed and made fun of that led to the hiring of one of, if not the best football coach. A coach who reduced the amount offered (Harbaugh was offered 7.5 million, he reduce it to 5.5 million) because he didn't want to be the highest paid college coach and wanted that money to go to his assistants.

Yeah, I will take that.

 

[pj]

You can't do much better as a college sports fan than to root for Michigan. But, fan expectations always rise to the peak of past performance. The UConn basketball board has become a mess because overly entitled fans gripe endlessly about any shortfall in the team's performance. I remember when it was so exciting to see if we could make the NCAA tourney, and exciting to watch players develop from weak to excellent performers. Now, players have to be stars from the first or they're bums, and a Sweet Sixteen exit is considered a poor season.

 

[billybud]

The curse of success.

 

[dayooper]

Michigan is not irrelevant.

They are in a down cycle in football, but they were in the basketball championship game in 2013 and Elite Eight last year. Their last two football coaches tried to make Michigan a program that they were ill prepared to be. It takes time to convert from a Traditional B10-3-yards-&-a-cloud-of-mud program into a spread. Alumni and the administration wanted a quick fix. It doesn't work that way. They are still looking for a quick fix. Personally, I hope Harbaugh can provide A fix.

Nah, they didn't try to make quick fixes, it was incompetence at the AD position along with coppering factions within the former football players and within the department itself . We had a series of three poor AD's that really set our football back. Tom Goss was a disaster. He made Michigan not profitable and lasted only three years. Bill Martin brought us back to profitability and hired John Beilein, but really bungled the football hire after Lloyd Carr retired. There was no plan A let alone a plan C or D. In fact, former school president Mary Sue Coleman took charge after the Les Miles debacle and Greg Schiano turning down the job. She took the lead when Rich Rod showed interest and made the hire (we know how that turned out).

She also hired Dave Brandon, an ego maniac who sullied the Michigan name. He wanted someone he could control (he actually sat in on film sessions and instructed the coaches how they should coach) so he hired Brady Hoke. Brandon would get into email arguments with fans and alumni. He even told an alumnus, after expressing displeasure with the constant "throwing previous staffs under the bus" to quit drinking and go to bed and consistently told alumni to "find another team to root for.".

Combine that with the stupid Michigan Man crap (which was a reference to Bo not wanting to have Bill Frieder coach Michigan in the 1989 NCAA tourney after he had taken the ASU job), and a decline was inevitable. There actually were players that felt they had the right to determine who the next coach was and made it impossible for Rich Rod to succeed.

Basically, if Harbaugh doesn't work out, most Michigan fans aren't real optimistic on football in the near future.

Sorry for talking about the woes of Michigan AD's on a UConn board, but the program has been a mess since 2007 and the decline started well before that. Quick fixes won't work on this one.

 

[SubbaBub]

Nah, they didn't try to make quick fixes, it was incompetence at the AD position along with coppering factions within the former football players and within the department itself . We had a series of three poor AD's that really set our football back. Tom Goss was a disaster. He made Michigan not profitable and lasted only three years. Bill Martin brought us back to profitability and hired John Beilein, but really bungled the football hire after Lloyd Carr retired. There was no plan A let alone a plan C or D. In fact, former school president Mary Sue Coleman took charge after the Les Miles debacle and Greg Schiano turning down the job. She took the lead when Rich Rod showed interest and made the hire (we know how that turned out).

She also hired Dave Brandon, an ego maniac who sullied the Michigan name. He wanted someone he could control (he actually sat in on film sessions and instructed the coaches how they should coach) so he hired Brady Hoke. Brandon would get into email arguments with fans and alumni. He even told an alumnus, after expressing displeasure with the constant "throwing previous staffs under the bus" to quit drinking and go to bed and consistently told alumni to "find another team to root for.".

Combine that with the stupid Michigan Man crap (which was a reference to Bo not wanting to have Bill Frieder coach Michigan in the 1989 NCAA tourney after he had taken the ASU job), and a decline was inevitable. There actually were players that felt they had the right to determine who the next coach was and made it impossible for Rich Rod to succeed.

Basically, if Harbaugh doesn't work out, most Michigan fans aren't real optimistic on football in the near future.

Sorry for talking about the woes of Michigan AD's on a UConn board, but the program has been a mess since 2007 and the decline started well before that. Quick fixes won't work on this one.

First world problems

 

[Ldandy]

Nah, they didn't try to make quick fixes, it was incompetence at the AD position along with coppering factions within the former football players and within the department itself . We had a series of three poor AD's that really set our football back. Tom Goss was a disaster. He made Michigan not profitable and lasted only three years. Bill Martin brought us back to profitability and hired John Beilein, but really bungled the football hire after Lloyd Carr retired. There was no plan A let alone a plan C or D. In fact, former school president Mary Sue Coleman took charge after the Les Miles debacle and Greg Schiano turning down the job. She took the lead when Rich Rod showed interest and made the hire (we know how that turned out).

She also hired Dave Brandon, an ego maniac who sullied the Michigan name. He wanted someone he could control (he actually sat in on film sessions and instructed the coaches how they should coach) so he hired Brady Hoke. Brandon would get into email arguments with fans and alumni. He even told an alumnus, after expressing displeasure with the constant "throwing previous staffs under the bus" to quit drinking and go to bed and consistently told alumni to "find another team to root for.".

Combine that with the stupid Michigan Man crap (which was a reference to Bo not wanting to have Bill Frieder coach Michigan in the 1989 NCAA tourney after he had taken the ASU job), and a decline was inevitable. There actually were players that felt they had the right to determine who the next coach was and made it impossible for Rich Rod to succeed.

Basically, if Harbaugh doesn't work out, most Michigan fans aren't real optimistic on football in the near future.

Sorry for talking about the woes of Michigan AD's on a UConn board, but the program has been a mess since 2007 and the decline started well before that. Quick fixes won't work on this one.

Curious what your feelings on Rich Rod are? He never seemed like a great fit within the confines of traditional Michigan Culture, but that had to be clear to everyone prior to hiring him. He was obviously going to struggle initially, as he did not have the players to run his system. That said it seemed like he was starting to turn a corner before he was fired. Hoke ended up going to a BCS Game with Richrod's Players. Its not impossible to believe that he could have done the same.

I believe that Harbaugh will be successful at UM, but it won't be easy. With OSU at the top of the mountain, MSU maintaining success for the first time in decades, and Penn St returning to prominence it will be a blood bath in the B1G East. Just curious if you think your fans will give JH a substantially longer grace period than they did RR because he is a Michigan Man? It won't be easy to get Michigan to the level where a good number of fans believe they should have been yesterday.

 

[Kolumbo]

Remember OSU, Michigan, MSU, Penn State will all have the benefit of those new recruiting grounds just south-west of Manhattan.

 

[woomba]

Curious what your feelings on Rich Rod are? He never seemed like a great fit within the confines of traditional Michigan Culture, but that had to be clear to everyone prior to hiring him. He was obviously going to struggle initially, as he did not have the players to run his system. That said it seemed like he was starting to turn a corner before he was fired. Hoke ended up going to a BCS Game with Richrod's Players. Its not impossible to believe that he could have done the same.

I believe that Harbaugh will be successful at UM, but it won't be easy. With OSU at the top of the mountain, MSU maintaining success for the first time in decades, and Penn St returning to prominence it will be a blood bath in the B1G East. Just curious if you think your fans will give JH a substantially longer grace period than they did RR because he is a Michigan Man? It won't be easy to get Michigan to the level where a good number of fans believe they should have been yesterday.

Harbaugh will get at least 6 years (unless he leaves first) and I think he'll find success by year 3-4.

Rich Rod didn't get fired for his on-the-field success as much as the culture clash between what he wanted to do vs. what the school wanted. Putting the FB program on NCAA probation for stretch-gate (first time Michigan FB got sanctioned IIRC) and trying his best to get barely academically qualified kids into the program who didn't meet Michigan's standards were bigger black marks and strengthened the internal people who wanted him gone. I think he's best suited for a program like Arizona where he's not under such intense scrutiny and he can pretty much do whatever he likes.

 

[dayooper]

Curious what your feelings on Rich Rod are? He never seemed like a great fit within the confines of traditional Michigan Culture, but that had to be clear to everyone prior to hiring him. He was obviously going to struggle initially, as he did not have the players to run his system. That said it seemed like he was starting to turn a corner before he was fired. Hoke ended up going to a BCS Game with Richrod's Players. Its not impossible to believe that he could have done the same.

Great question and an even longer answer, but here goes.

I want to say that, first and foremost, I believe Rich Rod is a very good coach. If all things were equal, he would still be the coach at Michigan. The problem was that things weren't equal. There was a lack of talent on the offensive side of the ball. The big rumor was that Lloyd Carr wanted to retire at the end of 2006, but was talked into staying for one more year to see the trio of Chad Henne, Mike Hart, and Jake Long to the end of their career (Henne and Long probably would have gone pro after 2006 if Carr had retired). In all reality, he stopped recruiting in 2004-2005. Except for a few big name players, he signed flyers and kids he didn't have to work too hard to get. The only true offensive talent on the roster after that year was Ryan Mallett (a head case under Carr). He left soon after RR was hired. When RR was thinking about the Michigan job, he was told by his friend, former WVU coach and UM assistant under Schembechler Don Nehlen, it was the best job and any coach would have had the utmost support. So RR took the job. He tried to get his DC, Jeff Casteel to come over, but Casteel declined at the least second. Casteel is now his DC in Arizona.

Michigan had quite the country club atmosphere and RR doesn't coach that way. Many players were grumbling about the work load. Two of the freshman made some off the record comments (they really weren't trying to "out" RR, just answering questions) that led to the "scandal." Contrary to what other schools have done, Michigan opened up everything, let the NCAA pour through their records, and found Michigan guilty of 20 minute of practice over (the warm up and stretching period before practice) and a graduate assistant present at the workouts. That's it. Nothing more than a witch hunt, in my opinion. That led to some football alumni, who already was skeptical of outsiders, to go sour. Michigan, especially the football alumni, never gave him, nor his offense a chance. The messy divorce from WVU was another issue as Michigan's name was dragged through the mud.

With all that being said, RR did himself no favors either. He basically used his first team defense as the scout team and forced his 3-3 defensive style on whomever he had for a DC (both Scott Schaffer and Greg Robinson were 4-3 guys). He never recruited like he was at Michigan. He kept recruiting the same style of kids like he was at WVU (the same style he's recruiting at Arizona). The loses were the true killer, though. He was the coach that broke the bowl streak (32 years). He broke the seasons without losing records streak (almost 40 years), and his team looked horrible doing it. The best thing he did was recruit Denard Robinson to play QB (Florida wanted him as a DB or WR in the Percy Harvin role). Without Denard, it would have been a bigger disaster than it was. Denard and actually coaching defense are the reasons Michigan won that Sugar Bowl.

I still like RR and will root for Arizona when they play. It may not have been fair how he was treated, but he needed to be let go when he was. There was too much animosity from both sides. How he was fired is a different story, but that's a Dave Brandon special.

 

[dayooper]

I believe that Harbaugh will be successful at UM, but it won't be easy. With OSU at the top of the mountain, MSU maintaining success for the first time in decades, and Penn St returning to prominence it will be a blood bath in the B1G East. Just curious if you think your fans will give JH a substantially longer grace period than they did RR because he is a Michigan Man? It won't be easy to get Michigan to the level where a good number of fans believe they should have been yesterday.

Wanted to break this up because that first response is so long, nobody will probably read it.

Yes, the Big10 east will be much like The SEC west became. OSU is OSU, they were great under Jim Tressell and, as long as they have a good coach, will be great. I think PSU's "return to prominence" is a little premature (they lost to Michigan this past year), but I have no doubt they will be a very good team soon. As for MSU? They took advantage of Michigan's down period with a tremendous coach. This was supposed to be their year and they got demolished by OSU. It remains to be seen if they can carry it on for the long run after Dantonio retires, but they are presently a force on the defensive side of the ball and their recruiting has gotten much better the last few cycles.

It will be hard, but Jim Harbaugh never backs down from a challenge. He beat the #2 ranked USC team at USC in his first year and took SF team that was horrible the prior year to the NFC Championship game the following season. He is a great coach who coaches competition at every phase of practice. He develops talent and fits his system to what he has. The biggest thing he teaches is toughness, something this program has lacked the past 15-20 years.

There is talent on the team. Hoke was an awesome recruiter, he and his staff couldn't develop the talent. The defensive back seven will be very good this year. There are very good players at the DT spot and the OL has been getting early compliments. It will all come down to finding a QB this year. If they can, they will be a competitive, top half Big10 team. Once he gets his QB, watch out.