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Friday, June 1st, 2018
| Time | Event |
| 7:03p | Michigan All-Blank Teams: The Blue Chips
But which position is he on? [Patrick Barron] Heres some very important #content for #content week as our focus remains on pushing out two very important projects. MGoBlog photographer Eric Upchurch last night tweeted one of those make your all-time lists that generate the same answers (our board is up to that now). I thought Id up the difficulty/interest by theming them, sort of like how Ace made his all-Beilein teams last year. First: the 5-stars. ---------------------------------- Rule: Has to be over 4.5 stars on my database and a five-star to someone. Cut-off: Had to commit (or transfer) to Michigan after 1989. If you want all-Bo teams talk to Dr. Sap, and anything earlier go to MVictors, because Im not old enough to have strong opinions on anyone before the mid-1990s. Also my recruiting database only goes back to 1990 (yes, millennials, crootin existed before the Rivals database). ---------------------------------- Quarterback: Chad Henne
No this entire post wont be me posting gifs and slapping some words on it; I just wanted to try it once. Four-year starter, his healthy junior season was the best by a Michigan quarterback under Lloyd Carr despite being up against a parade of NFL draft picks. Drew Henson at his best was the best, but as the owner of a Henson jersey I can vouch it was Henne who really rescued the value of that purchase. Speaking of that parade, partly because the position gets ranked higher, Michigan has brought in a LOT of five-star quarterbacks. Brandon Peters didnt get anyones 5th star but was a 4.60 for reference. Other candidates: Shea Patterson, Shane Morris, Devin Gardner, Ryan Mallett, Clayton Richard, Matt Gutierrez, Drew Henson, Jason Kapsner Running Back: Tyrone Wheatley, Anthony ThomasThe first time I learned that Michigan had to convince high-schoolers to play for themrather than, I dunno, springing from midfield or somethingwas a Free Press article about Wheatley being the most perfect human-football specimen ever produced in the state. Wheatley is the but& response to are our 5-star running backs cursed? You youngsters probably dont know what it feels like to have this massive pair of shoulder pads gliding away from smurfs (and Nits). To this day his signature shoulder-dip is my go-to move when trying to dodge a person in an enclosed space. If you do have a frame of reference, its probably because A-Train was a near carbon copy of #6. Thomas didnt have much of a pro career but he was a great college player, fast enough to return kicks and one of the best pass blocking RBs of the modern era. And he always. Fell. Forward. Other candidates: Kareem Walker, Ty Isaac, Derrick Green, Kevin Grady, Kelly Baraka, Justin Fargas, (okay okay were cursed!), Ricky Powers. [After the JUMP: This all could have been (was) a Tweet. Happy June] Fullback: Chris FloydYes back in the day fullbacks got five stars. Other candidates: Demetrius Smith, J.J. Brown Tight End: Jerame Tuman, Devin Asiasi :(Sorry. Maybe youll understand if I show you what the pool was? Other candidate: Tim Massaquoi (was a WR) Wide Receiver: Amani Toomer, David Terrell, Marquise WalkerNo YOU pick just two of them (Mario barely missed a 5th star else its four). Toomer was the possession receiver-plus we dont use enough for YMRMFSPA comparisons because Avant and Hemingway are more our era. Also Toomer could also just blow by a guy. Please note in the video above how the Michigan fans would get really loud when the usual handoff suddenly became a play-action and our eyes shifted downfield to find 18 going deep. THROW THE BALL MORE! Then theres my classmates, Terrell and Walker. Terrell blossomed first, abusing the tiny corners of Alabama once Michigan realized theyre allowed to exploit that. Walker hung around after the party and was basically Michigans offense in 2001. Other candidates: DPJ, Drake Harris, Darryl Stonum, Antonio Bass :(, Tyrone Butterfield, Seth Smith, Mercury Hayes Offensive Line: Jeff Backus, Damon Denson, Rod Payne, Maurice Williams, Trezelle Jenkins
Two more All-Americas to go, Cesar. [UM Bentley Library] Weighted towards OTs (for good reason) so you can choose which right tackle slides inside. While Michigans hit rate on straight 4-stars is pretty low on the OL, the five-stars usually floored at decent and most were longtime starters. Denson and Maurice Williams both came in as defensive linemen (so did Hutchinson but he wasnt as highly recruited). Trezelle (Superprep #1 offensive lineman of 1991) is the 77 everyone forgets (even if they include Tony Pape) for some reason even though he started 28 games. Payne will make it tough for Ruiz to eventually crack this lineup. Others: Cesar Ruiz, Patrick Kugler, Justin Boren, Jason Brooks, Ben Bredeson, Kyle Bosch, Kyle Kalis, Stephen Schilling, Todd Mossa, Dann O'Neill, Tony Pape Defensive Tackle: Will Carr, Jason Hornremember when two five-stars shut down the double-Heisman walk-on? You guys all underrate Gabe Watson but I thought it was close because Watson was really good. Horn maybe gets knocked down in the Michigan memory banks because he was starting as an underclassman on teams with better players around him, and was a very good upperclassman on teams with severe linebacker problems behind him. I remember him from when I was first starting to pay attention to more than quarterbacks and running backs, and #94 was this neck roll with legs constantly jumping on the back of some poor penned in soul (or spooking Stanley Jackson into another interception). Will Carr was Greg Mattisons other DT of that era, and was an All-American his senior year in part thanks to Horn requiring a lot of attention, and in part thanks to that massive ass. Watch the other side of the Biakabutuka game sometime. Thats good enough for a surprisingly short list given how well Michigans developed DTs over the decades. Aubrey could supplant him. Others: Aubrey Solomon, Ondre Pipkins, Marques Slocum, Walter Reggans Defensive End: Brandon Graham, Rashan GaryWe could argue about including Rashan Gary over LaMarr Woodley here, or we can punt Woodley to the next section and watch BG highlights outside of the context we originally had to. Others: Vilain, Roh, Jamison, Pat Massey, Juaquin Feazell, Rasheed Simmons, David Bowens Linebacker: LaMarr Woodley, Victor Hobson, Prescott Burgess |
| 8:11p | Reports: John Beilein Interviewed For Pistons Job
A Wojbomb has struck Ann Arbor:
Wojnarowski's report was corroborated by the Freep's Pistons beat writer, Vincent Ellis, who added some detail:
Woj mentioned a couple other candidates in a quick article posted shortly after the news broke:
I won't lie: this isn't the news I wanted to hear, especially since The Athletic's Brendan Quinn tweeted that "a number of people extremely close to Beilein" were not aware this meeting occurred. Beilein, notably, acts as his own agent. The Pistons are owned by Tom Gores, noted Spartan who's done a not-so-great job of running the franchise since buying it from the family of noted Wolverine William Davidson. That said, there's plenty of reason to believe this will end in a nice raise from Michigan for Beilein—and quite possibly his entire staff—when the dust settles. The Pistons are looking at a number of candidates, including one with NBA head coaching experience in Dwane Casey, and a few other names (like TNT's Kenny Smith) have popped up without anything seeming to come of it. Meanwhile, Beilein has three years left on a deal that pays him $3.37MM annually, second in the Big Ten only to Tom Izzo—but the gap to MSU's coach, who makes $4.4MM a year, is sizable. An extension is being discussed, and athletic director Warde Manuel has made it clear he wants Beilein around for a long time. Beilein is in a strong negotiating position; he's coming off his second national title appearance in six years, the men's basketball program has been easily the most consistently good of the major sports during his tenure, and the money for his assistants doesn't stack up to M's Big Ten competition:
Manuel passed his first major test at Michigan with flying colors when he hired Mel Pearson to replace Red Berenson, a move that's brought an immediate turnaround for hockey. This may be the one he's ultimately judged on, however. For everyone's sake, let's hope this moves quickly and results in Michigan firing the money cannon. |
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