Jeez. I guess you hate Kirk Ferentz. Evidence, as if I needed it: 1. The barrage of callers to WTKA this morning freaking out over the prospect. 2. Over 500 votes later into Round II of Death March Madness, and Bobby Petrino (at best a sketchy candidate for this job) takes down #1 seed Ferentz. 3. Jim Carty, while not accepting any of the rumors just yet, cited several reasons to question Ferentz’s character.
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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…
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The Biggest Losers
Sports Illustrated ran a factoid this week [Defeat Don’t Fail Me Now – Sports’ Biggest Losers] that listed the players with the worst winnings percentages in games which they’ve appeared. Heading up the NBA and NFL are Michigan grads: Jamal Crawford [Michigan ’00] leads this painful category in the NBA with a .303 winning percentage over his career, nearly thirty points lower than his closest rival. He’s played for the Bulls when they sucked, and now is on the freakshow that is Isiah Thomas’s Knicks. James Hall’s [Michigan ’99] really been on the losing end. He of course been with the NFL’s worst in the Detroit Lions for several years and lately caught on with lowly St. Louis. He’s walked off a loser in nearly 75% of the games he’s played, “tops” in the NFL. Yikes. Don’t cry too much for these guys. The fact that they even qualified for this thing means they’ve been in professionals at the highest level for quite a while, and played in a bunch of games. At the time of the piece, Crawford had played in 461 NBA games; Hall in 99 NFL contests.
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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…
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Just Rumors – Ferentz offered?
Can’t anyone keep a secret anymore!! From the man that nailed the Lloyd Carr retirement details, Brian at MGoBlog posted the word that Ferentz was offered the gig: I’ve sat on this a couple days waiting for some third-party corroboration and now I have it: Kirk Ferentz has been offered the Michigan job. The general feeling is he will turn it down out of fidelity to Iowa, in case you were thinking of making a late-night run to Ann Arbor (or Iowa City) Torch & Pitchfork. I do realize that this — unlike the Lloyd thing — is unlikely to ever be publicly acknowledged if Ferentz turns it down, but this comes from someone in a position to know, and how. Also unconfirmed rumor: I saw Mary Sue C. sneaking out of Brian’s apartment early this morning. And how!
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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…
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Could Blue meet LSU at Capital One?
How about this: LSU loses in the SEC Championship game and Illinois squeaks out an at-large BCS bowl bid. The Capital One bowl would then essentially be picking from the remaining Big Ten teams for that game. It’d come down to Michigan or Wisconsin. LSU most certainly drop out of BCS bowl contention with 2 consecutive losses and coud likely end up in the Capital One. It’d be a circus under almost any circumstance. Here’s four different scenarios, each brings its own level of creepy weirdness: – Michigan hasn’t yet selected a new coach and Miles is a candidate. Is Bill Martin evaluating Miles during the game? – Michigan already signed Miles. Pretty weird. Is it some kind of love fest all week? I think we’d find out if Carr really doesn’t like Miles as rumored. – Michigan has already signed someone else (not Miles) or confirmed that Miles isn’t a candidate. And Miles is pissed. – Miles was offered the job but turned it down. Wow.
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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…