See mgoblog. I sure hope this is bogus. If it’s true this confirms the concerns about Miles’s intelligence. Maybe he told them to promise not to tell! Maybe he thought it was fourth down. I’m very skeptical. I can’t see him not letting Martin announce a deal. Pretty sure this is pure nonsense. (Posted via Crackberry)
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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,…
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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…
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Crisler Region Round II: Stoops v Rodriguez
The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) vs. Rich Rodriguez (West Virginia) How they got here: West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez received a bye in the first round as the #2 seed in the region while Bob Stoops absolutely crushed Mike DeBord in the first round. Stoops [bio from the Sooners official site] Also from Youngstown OH, Stoops coaching pedigree traces from Iowa (where he holds a degree), Kent State Kansas State, to Florida to the OU gig. Like Trgovac, he also has some cred as a player: Accomplishments as a Player # Four-year starter for the Hawkeyes (1979-82). # Honorable mention All-America honors at defensive back, Iowa’s MVP (1982) # Two-time All-Big Ten selection (1979 & 1982) # Finished with 205 tackles and 10 interceptions and was called “the hardest hitter among Iowa defensive backs.” Like Florida’s Urban Meyer, Stoops is a proven winner and still a hot name in the coaching ranks. Also like Meyer he’s had some player issues but no serious recruiting violations (yet). And again just like Meyer, Oklahoma isn’t exactly a stepping stone to bigger college football opportunities. Would he leave OU for a chance at the Michigan gig? Doubtful, but who knows. Here’s Stoops on this topic…
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Permission Granted
Take: Just because LSU granted permission to speak to Miles it doesn’t mean a deal is in the works. I have a sense this committee is following a process and speaking to each candidate is part of that process. We’ll see what happens but I wouldn’t start the welcoming party for Miles just yet.
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Bo Region Round II: Cowher v Cameron
The second round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (current bracket HERE – background here). Here’s a printable version. Bill Cowher (CBS analyst) vs. Cam Cameron (Miami Dolphins) How they got here: Former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher received a bye in the first round as the #2 seed in the region while Cam Camerson absolutely crushed Mike DeBord in the first round. Bill Cowher [bio from CBS] is of course the former Steelers headman who’s last game was the victory in Super Bowl XL just up the road in Detroit. Many see Cowher as a great fit for the college game. He’s emotional and seems to have a good rapport with his players (despite the allegations in Jerome Bettis’s book). The question for NFL coaches always seems to come down to whether they’d be willing to do the other things that come with the job, that is, not just call plays and review film, but recruit, do charitable work, represent the community, turn boys into men. Cowher is one of those NFL coaches that seems to be worth a shot. My question on Cowher is why would he take a college gig? Yes, NFL jobs are more work but couldn’t he name his price if and when he decides to return to coaching? Who wouldn’t shell out $6M for…
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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…
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Michigan Football Lost Luggage in 1914
There’s been so many great items auctioned lately and this one is really nice. A pre-WWI scorecard from the Wolverines trip to play Harvard. The piece consists of 4 pages: the cover, an layout of the starting line-ups, a scorecard and roster, and finally a list of key college football rule changes for 1914. Pretty cool. It fetched a sweet $366.50 on eBay. Check it out: Rule ChangesOne cool thing about scorecard is the back cover lists ‘Important Changes in 1914 Football Rules.’ You could tell the college football rulesmakers were concerned solidifying some of the rules around the game’s latest innovation: the forward pass. Two of the key rules listed in the scorecard related to the quarterback position. It didn’t take folks long to realize that a QB shouldn’t be able to dump the ball to avoid a sack: 3. A penalty to 10 yards is inflicted on the team attempting a forward pass, and, finding the making of the pass impossible, intentionally incompleting the pass by grounding the ball. While taking away the ability to ground the ball, they knew back then that they’d need to protect those precious quarterbacks: 4. There shall be no roughing of the player who has just made a forward pass. Street Clothed WarriorsThe trip to Cambridge was a big one from the…