(Thanks to MGoBlog, among many others.)

Internet rumor of the day comes to you courtesy of TigerDroppings, an LSU sports/recruiting site (a la Scout or Rivals, but to the best of my knowledge, unaffiliated). Various members of their message board claim to have heard directly from LSU players that Les Miles has announced to his team that he is leaving LSU to become the head coach at Michigan.

Of course, this is internet rumor until a source other than anonymous message board members confirm it.

Posted under Coaching

At this point in the coaching search, a lot of information has become available, and a lot of same information has ceased to be relevant. So where does the search stand now?

1. Les Miles appears to be the #1 candidate, with no clear #2 after the elimination of Kirk Ferentz from contention.
2. LSU has granted Michigan permission to talk to Miles about the coaching job. This permission isn’t necessary, but it shows Michigan’s willingness to do things the “right way.” The permission is also a good indicator that Miles will be the next head coach of Michigan, as information of this nature typically doesn’t leak out unless something is imminent.
3. Carr has been against Miles for a while, but if nothing else, it seems as though he is resigned to the fact that Miles will inevitably be the next UM coach.
4. Les Miles’s LSU Tigers play Tennessee for the SEC championship on Saturday. Assuming the Miles-to-Michigan rumors are a done deal at this point, Michigan fans will likely be rooting for the Tigers.
5. After this game (again, assuming Miles has reached an agreement with Michigan), it is unclear whether Miles will stay on to coach LSU in the bowl game, or (perhaps more likely), cease head coaching duties at LSU immediately, and begin some of the head coaching duties at Michigan. An announcement may be made as early as next week.
6. What duties would Miles be responsible for? First and foremost, reaching out to recruits to establish a stability on that front, as well as assembling a staff. Then, being around the current team during their bowl preparation (without actually being involved), will assist him in getting accustomed to his personnel, their strengths and weaknesses, and what schemes will work best for them, etc.

More on the Miles story as information becomes available.

Posted under Coaching

Per ESPN.

Posted under Coaching

Courtesy of the Detroit News.

The News reports that the coaching search committee is believed to have seven members, including Desmond Howard (former Heisman winner and current ESPN analyst), Ted Spencer (director of undergrad admissions), Percy Bates (athletic faculty representative), and 4 mystery members.

Thus far, however, Martin has conducted the interviews without the search committee.

Although it still is relatively early in the search process, Martin already has conducted two interviews for the vacancy.

He interviewed Ron English, Michigan’s defensive coordinator, on Monday, and Mike DeBord, the offensive coordinator, on Tuesday.

Martin conducted both interviews.

Posted under Coaching

I wonder who Jim Carty does(n’t) prefer for the Michigan job?

The Ferentz-to-Michigan thing has gained quite a bit of steam, mostly via MGoBlog (though off-the-record, I have spoken to insider-ish people who certainly believe he’s the #1 choice, if nothing further than that).

Jim Carty tries to show that Kirk Ferentz is not the man of integrity that those in the Michigan world would like to think. In fact, he’s a scummy cheater whose son steals from poor people and gives to the rich (himself), like some sort of twisted reverse-Robin Hood. Carty certainly seems to be stretching here, trying to go out of his way (and the realm of relevance) to dish some dirt on Ferentz.

As for the assertion that 10% of Iowa’s team is in some sort of legal trouble? Glass houses, buddy. That does raise a point, however, that even Lloyd Carr, bastion of all that is right in this world-gone-wrong, can’t control all of his players perfectly.

As for the search? It is quite clear that Ferentz is probably the #1 choice right now (with support from Mary Sue Coleman and Carr), with Miles somewhere behind him, and everyone else playing catchup.

Posted under Coaching

Michigan currently has 16 recruits committed to the 2008 class for football.
Boubacar Cissoko CB Detroit
Mike Cox RB Connecticut
Kenny Demens LB Detroit
J.B. Fitzgerald LB New Jersey
Rocko Khoury OL Traverse City
Kevin Koger TE Toledo
Mike Martin DT Novi
Sam McGuffie RB Texas
Elliott Mealer OL Wauseon, OH
Brandon Moore TE Trotwood, OH
Dan O’Neill OT Grand Haven
Daryl Stonum WR Texas
Kurt Wermers OL Crown Point, IN
John Weinke QB Tuscola, IL
Christian Wilson RB McKees Rock, PA
Marcus Witherspoon LB New Jersey

With Carr’s retirement now official, the new coach will likely have to re-recruit all of the current commitments, as well as the final 6 or seven members to the 2008 recruiting class. Some currently committed members of the Wolverines’ class have reaffirmed their commitments, whomever the next coach may be. Boubacar Cissoko, Kenny Demens, and Dann O’Neill have all told the Detroit News that they will remain firm in their commitments. Christian Wilson, on the other hand, will reopen his recruiting. The remaining members of the class have not spoken about their intentions, but it is likely that some of the more highly-coveted guys will be recruited heavily by other top schools, and Michigan State will likely go hard after every commit from the mitten state. Will Illinois push after John Weinke, who lives only half an hour from Urbana-Champaign? For now, it’s a wait-and-see game. More news will likely come out as the recruits themselves hear from Carr, and report to their local newspapers. Every recruit will obviously have different factors working for and against Michigan (Stonum’s former teammates at Michigan, Dantonio working hard for in-state dominance, etc.).

On an interesting note, many recruits have named Ron English as a key factor to their return to the Wolverines. Kenny Demens said he is a Michigan Man no matter what, but he would like to see English on the next staff. Both of the New Jersey linebackers had Steve Szabo as their primary recruiter. Szabo is a top-notch coach as well, though it is possible he retires.

Posted under Coaching, Recruiting

Probably a lot of posting, in light of what a big day it is today.

From the Ann Arbor News.

The criteria seem to point away from Mike Trgovac, in terms of people who have already been mentioned as potential candidates. Miles seems to fit the criteria the best (Jim Carty definitely thinks so). The Best Sports Writer in America questions whether Les Miles should be considered a lock to coach the Wolverines next season. Tedford doesn’t likely have the “Michigan Tradition” knowledge that Martin talks about. Brian Kelly seems to meet the criteria well. In terms of coaching longevity, I doubt people will have to worry about DeBord (and not just for that reason).

Posted under Coaching

Lloyd Carr has informed his coaching staff and players, as well as the media, that he will retire at a 10AM press conference tomorrow.

Posted under Coaching

Assuming Lloyd Carr retires at the end of this year, which becomes less and less of an “if” each day, it seems, Michigan will be looking to hire a new head coach. One such option is former Michigan assistant Les Miles, who is now the head coach of the LSU Tigers. If Miles were named coach, what might his staff look like? Varsity Blue offers our (not necessarily informed on all points) opinions:

Current Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Lloyd Carr (Retires)
Defensive Secondary: Vance Bedford (Likely to leave)
Assistant Head Coach / Wide Receivers: Erik Campbell (Carr guy, but good coach. Status unknown)
Offensive Coordinator / Tight Ends: Mike DeBord (Will likely be replaced, rumors of personal incompatibility with Miles)
Defensive Coordinator: Ron English (Will likely move on)
Associate Head Coach / Running Backs: Fred Jackson (Will likely stay, coached with Miles under Moeller)
Quarterbacks: Scot Loeffler (Will likely stay, possibly promoted to OC, was a player when Miles was a coach)
Offensive Line: Andy Moeller (Will be replaced or moved to LBs)
Defensive Line: Steve Stripling (Will likely stay)
Linebackers: Steve Szabo (will likely retire)
Director of Weight Training and Conditioning: Mike Gittleson (Will be replaced)
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Kevin Tolbert (Likely to stay)

Les Miles’s Current Staff
Offensive Coordinator: Gary Crowton (Not likely to stay with Miles – first year together, he’s been on a downward slide (BYU HC to Oregon OC to LSU OC)
Defensive Coordinator: Bo Pelini(Not likely to join Miles – HC gig elsewhere)
Tight Ends/Recruiting Coordinator: Josh Henson (May join Miles – been with him since OkSt, and DeBord will be replaced)
Defensive Line Coach: Earl Lane (Not likely to join – only second year with Miles, though he did go to college in Michigan)
Defensive Backs Coach: Doug Mallory (Likely to go with Miles – played for Bo at Michigan, been with Les since OkSt, has good players)
Wide Receivers Coach: D.J. McCarthy (Not likely to join – 1st year with Miles, no real connections)
Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers Coach: Bradley Dale Peveto (May join Miles, 3rd year with him, and LSU’s special teams have been decent, pulls double duty)
Asst. Head Coach/Running Backs/Special Teams: Larry Porter (May come – coaches a white guy right now, has multiple responsibilities, but Jackson is already around)
Offensive Line Coach: Greg Studrawa (May come – Ohio guy, though it is his first year with Miles)
Strength & Conditioning Coordinator: Tommy Moffitt (May not come – longtime LSU guy, and could want to stay, though LSU always has strong, conditioned athletes)

Hybrid Staff:
Head Coach: Les Miles
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks: Scot Loeffler
Co-Offensive Co-coordinator/Offensive Line: Greg Studrawa
Tight Ends: Josh Henson
Defensive Coordinator:
Associate Head Coach / Running Backs: Fred Jackson
Defensive Line: Steve Stripling
Linebackers/Special Teams: Bradley Dale Peveto or Andy Moeller
Director of Weight Training and Conditioning: Tommy Moffitt
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Kevin Tolbert

The only space left empty here is the Defensive Coordinator. Would English be willing to stay on, and would Michigan be willing to take him? Otherwise, Michigan would have to go outside both programs to find a new name (which, in all reality, they are likely to do for one or more of the other positions as well).

Posted under Coaching

Wondering what Paul and I were talking about Saturday night? Here is your chance to find out. Moderately edited version of our conversation follows.

LSU v. Kentucky

Paul: that [LSU/Kentucky] was a crazy game
Tim: yeah
Tim: i can’t decide if i’m happy about the result or not
Paul: i now have no clue what my ballot will look like
Tim: no joke
Tim: i probably have osu #1
Tim: cal #2 [pre-Cal loss]
Paul: les miles threw rock
Tim: yeah
Tim: which is what lloyd haters hate
Tim: but…
Tim: i guess he is a true michigan man
Paul: kentucky wasn’t exactly paper against rock all game
Tim: truf

Play-by play Announcers

Tim: cbs announcers are terrrrrrrrible
Paul: i don’t hate verne
Paul: that would be like hating your grandpa
Tim: they are frontrunners to promote the SEC. Whoever is winning is doing so because they are just that much more awesome than the almost equally-awesome team they are beating
Tim: i’m going to be honest
Tim: the SEC, Pac 10, and big 10 are about the same on a multi-year basis
Paul: yeah
Tim: =-o
Paul: and also… there’s no way to compare conferences
Tim: the SEC thing comes from an exclusive-ish contract
Tim: because CBS promotes the SEC like its their job
Tim: whereas ABC/ESPN is split amongst all conferences
Tim: pac-10 gets bonus cred from the fox thing, but not much
Tim: when BTN is national, B10 will get more respect [I believe this to be inevitable ay this point]
Paul: i watched a bit of the nd game
Tim: yeah
Tim: ND sucks
Tim: BC was unimpressive
Paul: nbc seemed to be thinking “fuck. first hockey, now this”
Tim: yeah
Tim: they were still pathetic ND homers though
Tim: per usual
Paul: i only get so mad at the homerish
Paul: i mean…
Paul: it’s basically like the announcers on fsn for the tigers
Tim: yeah
Paul: if they only cover one team… i guess it’s allowed
Tim: but vastly different
Paul: it’s that it’s a national network rather than an rsn
Tim: because FSN uses tigers-specific people
Tim: nbc is a national network
Tim: and should theoretically be bias-less
Paul: i bet a vast majority of their audience (esp. this year) appreciates the bias
Paul: and if they were non-biased, they would be accused of hating
Tim: haha espn throws hart a bone in heisman race
Tim: in case you aren’t watching ak/auburn
Tim: ak being my hilariously erroneous “arkansas” abbreviation, rather than its accurate “alaska” abbreviation

Michigan Injuries

Paul: any word on mhart’s condition?
Tim: he’s fine
Tim: was going to come out soon anyway
Tim: could have come back otherwise [prior to the high-ankle sprain news]
Paul: i kind of felt like it was a 30pt lead injury
Tim: and, apparently mouton isn’t so much injured as he gets beaten out by chris graham
Tim: ouch
Tim: that’s like getting beaten out by jason gingell
Paul: i know
Tim: sorry, bryan wright
Tim: but you suck
Paul: apparently wright has a groin injury
Paul: at least that’s the excuse
Tim: really?
Paul: except he’s doing kos
Tim: i had no idea
Tim: he’s not having distance issues
Tim: which i would think would be the probem with an injury
Paul: i know
Tim: especially since an injury like that wouldn’t last 8 weeks, without getting either better or worse
Paul: what happened with englemon?
Tim: ?
Paul: was it just “blow out- get him out?”
Tim: dunno
Paul: stevie was in with the rest of the 1st team
Tim: i didn’t notice he went out
Tim: i think it’s “try to prepare for the future” time
Paul: which could make sense for learning
Tim: in that particular case
Tim: i didn’t feel like staying for the press conferences
Tim: so i don’t know for sure
Paul: gotcha
Tim: but englemon was walking fine after the game
Tim: so i’d assume it’s getting brown starting minutes
Paul: i bet it was learning
Tim: esp. considering he was really the starter at the beginning of the year
Paul: yeah
Paul: good choice…

Michigan Special Teams

Paul: what’d you think of our ko strategy?
Tim: especially since an injury wouldn’t last 8 weeks
Paul: some kids behind me were bitching
Paul: yeah
Tim: i wasn’t upset
Tim: when they are #2 in the country in yds/ko
Tim: plus the first one
Paul: by the way… zoltan has mind lasers
Tim: you do what you have to
Tim: it’s an example that lloyd doesn’t just throw rock while ignoring the results
Tim: zoltan has all sorts of lasers
Paul: this team has made so many adjustments throughout the season
Tim: including fuck lion lasers

The game itself

Paul: so do you ascribe to the “we’re actually a pretty good team at this point” reasoning or the “purdue == straw man” argument?
Tim: a bit of both
Tim: though i definitely believe in each
Tim: so more like a lot of both
Paul: the thing is… michigan didn’t just win
Tim: we could have put up 80 if we wanted
Paul: they were like, “I’ll see your shellacking, and raise you a walloping, OSU…”
Paul: so… can we say that the D didn’t give up one legit TD?
Tim: whether you give them a 6 yard drive or not, you still gave up a td
Tim: especially since you allowed them to tie the game
Paul: it was 4…
Tim: but the only legit td was definitely on the offense
Paul: yeah
Tim: sorry i was on the field where i couldn’t see exactly how many yards

Crowd

Tim: the crowd was actually pretty fucking good
Tim: especially for a blowout
Paul: it was pretty quiet after hart went out
Tim: hart went out when the game was long over
Paul: and when we couldn’t find him after half
Paul: it’s true
Paul: it was nice to have a full on wave in kind of garbagy time
Tim: yeah
Tim: and it was early 3rd too
Paul: it was nice to have garbage time

Comcast

Tim: i hate comcast fyi
Tim: i fully intend to call and bitch at them wasted tonight
Tim: though BTN has them by the balls if they get the UM/MSU game
Paul: yeah
Tim: as both talent and the exec producer and producers think will happen
Paul: the comcast OD lady gave me the company line when i was talking to her
Tim: oh yeah?
Paul: yeha
Paul: i bit my tounge

Posted under Analysis, Coaching, Personnel