There will be bumps in the road

As I have said there are some Pillsbury doughboys on the UM team who won't like how hard JH works them nor how much he gets on their butt. There will be more defections from the current roster. In the end however the tough guys will stay and UM should be much better under JH.

9 wins with a MSU/OSU split is what I expect next season. Anything less will be a failed season.

depends on the QB play fish .... if there is not a great improvement from the past two years we aint winning 9 games

For sure it will be a tougher, more disciplined team, how many wins that translates to in 2015 is tough for me to project right now.

okay 1st the cream puffs if your not going to work for the NFL caliber coach , who you going to work for. 2nd I think the QB is an issue but more than that WR look weaker than QB, thatand the defenseive line is not very deep.

I think we will be fine at qb. We have a coach that can actually groom a player and not just play slap ass when they come off the field.

Irving Pond wrote:

I think we will be fine at qb. We have a coach that can actually groom a player and not just play slap ass when they come off the field.

Next season will be a little 'iffy. but after that I'm fairly confident. Malzone gets on campus next week (reportedly) but he'll still be young and inexperienced at the collegiate level in the fall. I have absolutely zero confidence in Morris and even though Speight red-shirted last year I'm not thinking he is that far ahead of Malzone.

I saw somewhere, probably here, that Rosen will stay with UCLA (he's young too so I don't think he'd be much better than Malzone anyway)...

flabluefan1 wrote:

As I have said there are some Pillsbury doughboys on the UM team who won't like how hard JH works them nor how much he gets on their butt.  There will be more defections from the current roster.  In the end however the tough guys will stay and UM should be much better under JH.  

I completely agree with statement.

Nobody knows a thing about Speight.  I think he starts and is fine.  UM has the talent to win 9+ games.  WTF, Meyer won 12 in year one.  Why can't Harbaugh.  Quit freaking expecting less.  Expect more.

I'm not anywhere near ready to write off Shane.

I agree that we know next to nothing about Wilton but all signs point to him being more than capable.

Malzone has been said to be ready enough to come in and challenge for the job from day one but I have a hard time believing they won't redshirt him, especially if Shane and Wilton get coached up.


could be worse, we could have signed Jayru Campbel two years ago and been even more SOL.

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

I'm not anywhere near ready to write off Shane.

I agree that we know next to nothing about Wilton but all signs point to him being more than capable.

Malzone has been said to be ready enough to come in and challenge for the job from day one but I have a hard time believing they won't redshirt him, especially if Shane and Wilton get coached up.


could be worse, we could have signed  Jayru Campbel two years ago and been even more SOL.

I just think everyone sounds like Lions fans.  A bunch of people expecting the worst and hoping for the best.  I say fuck that, expect the best.  Harbaugh is a winner.  People will follow him.  I don't think there will be players quitting.  This isn't nineteen fucking sixty-nine.  These men know what to expect.  They've heard the stories.  Screw expecting the worst.  UM will freaking win.  End of story.

we all want wins .... the facts are there , we have no one like Braxton Miller , that crier had... he almost beat us in 2011 on his own ... I don't expect any players leaving ... they see a coach who knows what's needed to succeed in the NFL

There have been plenty of tweets from current players who sound pretty damned happy about this hire.

I have to admit I'm kind of siding with fish on this. There should be a ton of experience/dabs on both sides of the ball. Shane was highly regarded coming out on my school and Speight is more than capable as well. Harbaugh is a great developer at the quarterback position.

This is one of my favorite tweets from today-


@TomLeyden: Was there as Jim met Shane Morris for first time. "You're a lefty, right? Show me how you take a snap." Within five seconds, coaching.

we will see if indeed Shane is what he was hyped to be ... if Jim cant do it , then that's that

fishgoblue22 wrote:

... I don't think there will be players quitting.  This isn't nineteen fucking sixty-nine.  These men know what to expect... 

even RR had guys quit though. I do think guys will be pushed to quit but I think they also know they could be part of something really cool in Michigan history.

I really do believe that some players had serious doubts about their chances under Hoke but I'd bet those same players are excited about their chances under Harbaugh.

one thing ... there was a sense of entitlement with players under Hoke .... they became lazy and were not held accountable .... they absolutely know that they will be expected to leave it all on the field and will now be held accountable for mistakes

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

even RR had guys quit though.

Different circumstances. RR completely revamped the offense. JH will be I roving on what is there.

Fishgoblue agree 100%.

Schedule is favorable, sparty, buckeyes, BYU, Oregon St. at home. Utah, Penn St toughest road games.

My take Harbaugh will come in step on some toes, grab some facemasks, piss a few players off. He'll bring accountability, discipline, mental/physical toughness. If a "Big Ugly" or any team member doesn't like it, I'm sure he can find the door on his way out.

Hopefully he'll bring an experienced S&C coach who will make M a lean mean fighting machine!!! Work on making team faster I think is very important.

Kinda followed Malzone's career, his HS, Brother Rice, is a 2min drive from my house. I work for Seaholm, a 5min drive from my house. Though I hate everything Rice stands for, have to give credit to the kid. I've seen Malzone in person vs the HS I work for. This was his junior yr., 2nd round of playoffs. He threaded passes a HS jr. shouldn't be able to make. Won 2 state titles at Brother Rice, played against very good competition. Heard nothing but good things about the kids, a first class young man.

Yes I understand playing against a HS team is a little different then possibly starting your career on thurs night at Utah in front of 50,000 wild, rapid fans. My gut says he could handle it.

Whoever the QB is, I trust Harbaugh & his staff will properly develop him.

BOLEACH7 wrote:

one thing ... there was a sense of entitlement with players under Hoke .... they became lazy and were not held accountable .... they absolutely know that they will be expected to leave it all on the field and will now be held accountable for mistakes

I do totally agree with this comment. However, even with as great of a Coach as Harbaugh is I can't help but compare vShane to Tate. Mind you, I don't think Shane is anywhere near the head-case that Forcier was but Shane hasn't played much since his Junior year in High School. And the experiences he's had in college haven't been the best, but I'll give him that he is one gritty SOB....

Wilton has a year (redshirted) in the collegiate ranks now, but that was with questionable at best coaching. He's got a hell of an arm but there are highly questionable mechanics and decisions that he makes. Coach Harbaugh (God that feels good to say and mean) is more than capable to develop him but I'm concerned about how fast. As 'eggo said, hopefully Malzone redshirts, but that is depending on if Speight will become serviceable (or Morris takes off, which I don't see happening). I could be wrong, and I might be. That's just what I see.

Regardless the future looks bright for Michigan Football. Has anyone seen anything from Malzone regarding the Harbaugh hire? I know Alex is still committed but is he uber-excited about Coach Harbaugh?

booboo wrote:

Though I hate everything Rice stands for..

Oh yea, why? Is it just the rival thing or do you have dish?

Back in High School I competed against somne BR guys in skiing during regionals. They were pretty good, but only one beat me my Senior year.

Its the "academic scholarships" or "financial scholarships" they give out. A Rice parent will scout a 7th or 8th grader, whether its FB, hockey, baseball, lacrosse game. If kid is a super athlete, they befriend the that kids parents. They talk, then they ask parent have you thought about having your kid come to Rice? If kid is super super athlete the Rice parents will say to the parents something like you know Rice is expensive but I'm sure Rice can provide a academic/financial scholarship. Its a athletic scholarship!!!

Coaches never get involved so technically nothing illegal done. But phone calls are made by parents to someone who in turn call the admissions director, magically a kid is admitted to Rice. Maybe its a partial scholarship

Are there kids that go to Catholic middle schools & want to continue their education at a Catholic school? yes. They also happen to be a very athlete, that's a bonus for Rice. Did dad go to Rice, son wants to follow his foot steps? yes. Also happens kid is a very athlete like his dad was, a bonus for Rice.

Are all Rice kids on some kind of scholarships? Of course not. I don't know how many kids are. But I bet the better the athlete better odds kids on scholarship.

Do kids go to Rice for academics? yes! They are a very good academic school. Maybe their public school isn't as good.

Do kids go to Rice because of athletics? Hell yes!! They have a great tradition of winning. Again maybe their public school sports teams aren't good.

We had a very good student-athlete at Seaholm, lived in Bham school district. In 8th grade, current and former Rice baseball players constantly sent him letters why not come to Rice? Parents went to MHSAA showed them the letters. But because no coach involved nothing illegal, MHSAA couldn't do anything.

You take 2 or 3 super athletes from Troy, Birmingham, Rochester, Pontiac, Farmington, Detroit, etc. You now have an all-star football team. Or an all-star lacrosse team.

No question Rice's retired coach Al Farcassa was one hell of a great coach. But if he didn't have an all-star team most yrs., would he have won as many games he did? I don't know.

Lets talk lacrosse, that's their best sport. They practice illegal all winter. A parent runs practices so coaches aren't there, but its still a practice. MHSAA won't do anything because technically no coach is involved.

Don't get me started with Country Day, they're worse than Rice when it comes to recruiting. It was always said Chris Webber had to take pay cut after he left Country Day. Don't laugh, most likely true.

I'm being bitter? I guess so. It frustrating when we, Seaholm, have a good team but go against Rice and lose, knowing there kids are from all over Metro Detroit area. We beat them 50% of the time in basketball over the yrs. I guess basketball isn't doing a good job of getting top athletes, hahaha!!

Seaholm sports programs have been very successful over the yrs., many state titles though mostly I call the country club sports, golf, swimming, tennis.

I've met many Rice kids over the yrs., good kids, very polite. Don't have anything against the kids. Its Rice has an advantage over all public schools. ALL Catholic & private schools have a huge advantage.