• Kipke Round II: Meyer v Schiano

    The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Urban Meyer (Florida) vs. Greg Schiano (Rutgers) How they got here: Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano received a bye in the first round as the #2 seed in the region while Urban Meyer crushed former M quarterback Jimmy Harbaugh in the first round. Greg Schiano [bio, Rutgers official site] is another coach that took a program going nowhere into one that is in the national conversation. He swept the coach of the year awards in 2006 and was rumored for quite of few gigs last summer. He’s likely top of the list when JoePa retires/dies. His pedigree goes from Rutgers (where he was a grad assistant), to a DB coach at Penn State, to the NFL with the Chicago Bears, over to the Miami Hurricanes and finally to the head job at Rutgers. He’s done well – you’d have to assume he’d leave Rutgers if Martin offered. Meyer is not exactly a likely candidate [bio from Florida official site]. As coach of the reigning champion Gators who of course destroyed the evil Sweatervested one, he’s definitely the rage of the college coaching profession. While at Utah he had a Miles-esque out clause for the unholy Trinity of Midwestern powers (Mich, ND,…

  • Yost Region Round II: Les Miles v Paul Johnson

    The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Les Miles (LSU) vs. Paul Johnson (Navy) How they got here: Michigan Man and LSU head coach Les Miles received a bye in the first round as the #1 seed in the region while Paul Johnson slipped by Mount Union college legend Larry Kehres in the first round. What can I tell you about Les Miles [bio] that you don’t already know? Michigan player, Michigan coach, he’s had success at Oklahoma State and he’s done pretty well at LSU. The pros? Passionate about this school and its history. He loves this place and that’s got to worth something. He seems like a great leader and has done a nice job at LSU. Every indication is that he’ll take the job and Martin may not have to shell out NFL money to get him here. It’s exciting to think about this guy coming here. The downside? Maybe not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Those fourth down plays are borderline crazy. It’s fun to watch when it is LSU playing- not sure it’d be such a ball if all that stuff happened in the Big House. Also it looks like he and Coach Carr aren’t BFF, stemming perhaps from attitude differences when…

  • Crisler Region Round II: Kelly v. Pinkel

    The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Brian Kelly (Cincinnati) vs. Gary Pinkel (Missouri) How they got here: Coach Kelly received a bye in the first round as the top seed in the region, Gary Pinkel won a tight battle with Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema in the first round. Brian Kelly [bio, Cincinnati official site] is a name that’s come up quite a bit with respect to this job. He was a strong candidate for the Spartan job but something happened somewhere along the way and MSU ended up with Mark Dantonio. Shortly thereafter Kelly then replaced Dantonio as the Bearcats coach. Word on the street is that there’s some serious hard feelings between Kelly and MSU following the hiring process, so much that Kelly wouldn’t release one of his players to rejoin Dantonio. Jim Carty of the AA News wrote on this during the summer. Kelly’s pedigree is of course largely based in Michigan, first he had ridiculous success at Grand Valley State leading his teams to multiple national titles, and then in 2005 to Mount Pleasant where he led the Central Michigan to a league championship. He took over after current M offensive coordinator Mike DeBord quit. There’s risk is giving Kelly the job. Let’s put…

  • Yost Region Round II: English v Gruden

    The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Ron English (Michigan D coordinator) vs. Jon Gruden (Tampa Bay Bucs) How they got here: #2 seed Gruden received a bye in the first round. Ron English won a close match-up against Wake Forest headman Jim Grobe in the first round which really could have gone either way. English pulled away late. As for Ron English, what a difference a year makes [bio mgoblue.com]. If we went back into time, just prior to the Ohio State game in 2006 I think Ron English would hands down be the choice to succeed Carr by the majority of Michigan fans. The only concern back then would have been experience and this concern remains. Michigan went on to lose four straight ugly games (OSU, USC, Appalachian State, Oregon) and now they’ve lost two more. The defense has looked shaky all year and the idea of English becoming the next head man at Michigan is tough to envision. He’ll get an interview and he’ll make his case, but my guess is that the Wolverines and English will be parting ways next season. He’s clearly got a lot of fans as he received the most votes out of any candidate in Round 1. His passion is…

  • Kipke Region Round II: Ferentz v. Petrino

    The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Kirk Ferentz (Iowa) vs. Bobby Petrino (Atlanta Falcons) How they got here: Ferentz received a bye in the first round as the top seed in the region, Bob Petrino crushed Kansas State coach Ron Prince in the first round. We’ll start with Ferentz [bio, Iowa official site]. Born in Royal Oak Michigan, Ferentz’s career took him from places like Connecticut, Maine, and even the Cleveland Browns under NFL coaching god Bill Belichick before settling in at Iowa. As one of legendary coach Heyden Fry’s star pupils in the 1980s, Ferentz returned to the Hawkeyes in 1999. His status as a candidate is elevated by the fact that current Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman was the Iowa president at the time of the hiring. He’s had a tough season and there are a few in Iowa City that feel the bloom is off the Rose. A season ending loss to Western Michigan didn’t help things. In the past couple days we’ve heard the Ferentz name come up more and more, to the point that there’s a rumor that the Iowa coach has been offered the Wolverine job. Of course we don’t know if that’s true, and if true, whether Ferentz would leave…

  • Bo Region Round II: Tedford v. Petersen

    The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Jeff Tedford (California) vs. Chris Petersen (Boise State) How they got here: Tedford received a bye in the first round as the top seed in the region, Chris Petersen smoked Ball State coach Brady Hoke in the first round. Despite Cal’s decline after a fast start this year, Tedford [bio from Cal’s official site] is one of the hottest names in coaching. He’s turned Cal into a title contender and attracted some solid talent. His pedigree is purely west-coach based, he was graduated at Fresno State and then served as QB coach at Oregon before settling at Cal. He’s been vocal about his dissatification with the Cal facilities, so much so that he’s got an out clause in his contract if certain factility upgrades don’t happen. He’d have everything he could need in Ann Arbor of course, and he’d almost certainly take the job if offered. Here’s mgoblog‘s thoughts earlier this season: What he’s done at Pac-10 Indiana is staggering. He runs a pro-style offense that would fit Michigan’s current talent well (and better than, say, Rich Rodriguez’ spread option). He turned Joey Harrington into the third pick in the NFL draft. He’s young enough to coach Michigan for 20 years…

  • Crisler Region Round 1: Trgovac v Stoops

    The last of the first round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (full bracket here – background here). Here’s a printable version. Mike Trgovac (Carolina Panthers assistant) vs. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) As 3 and 4 seeded players, these guys have come up quite a bit in the lists of potential coaches. Trgovac [bio, Panthers official site] was instantly on the list due to his status as a Michigan man. Check out his credentials as a player under Bo: As a player under Bo Schembechler at Michigan from 1977-80, Trgovac started three years at middle guard and was second-team All-America as a senior. He earned All-Big Ten honors twice and played in three Rose Bowls. An all-state football player at Fitch HS in Austintown, OH, he was named defensive lineman of the year in 1976 and won the state heavyweight championship in wrestling. He continued on under Bo for 2 seasons as a graduate assistant then moved on to Ball State from 1986-88, Navy in 1989, Colorado State from 1990-91 and worked under Lou Holta at Notre Dame from 1992-94. He’s been with a few NFL teams including the Redskins, Packers, and Eagles before taking over the Carolina position. So he’s a Michigan man, probably knows Lloyd Carr and Les Miles very well. Looking over his resume I’ve got a few…

  • Kipke Region Round 1: Harbaugh v Meyer

    The first round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (full bracket here – background here). Here’s a printable version. Jimmy Harbaugh (Stanford) v Urban Meyer (Florida) As 3 and 4 seeded players, realistically neither of these guys is a candidate for the position for different reasons. Harbaugh burned the bridge this summer, and Meyer both burned the bridge last year during the BCS title game debate and given the fact that the Florida gig isn’t exactly a stepping stone to Michigan. We’ll start with Harbaugh [bio from Stanford official site]. The question really isn’t whether he’ll be a candidate. The answer is a big fat ‘No’. Vegas thinks he’s got a shot for some reason as he’s coming off at 10 to 1 to get the position. I’d work a strategy to short that. I have an MBA but struggled in derivatives…anyhoo, there’s a profit in shorting Jimmy somewhere. Harbaugh has sufficiently burned the bridge with the current administration whether it be AD Bill Martin or search committee members such as former RB Jamie Morris. No, not going to happen. BUT..obviously a Michigan man, long ties to the program and did pull off the 2nd biggest upset in football this year when he downed the Trojans… The question really comes down to whether Harbaugh could ever be a candidate. Meyer…