I am not excited about Sherrone Moore as head football coach.
On the basketball side of things, it is going to be a long time, if at all, until the basketball team is respectable.
---
Start with basketball. For me, respectable means when I start to watch the games and really follow the team again.
I gave up on following the incoming portal players with Olivier Nkamhoua and Nimari Burnett. At the time of their free agent signing Michigan had already lost out on the best players available. Neither of these guys were the kind of solid student who didn't get a D1 offer who comes from the Ivy League or a lesser conference. They weren't graduate transfers who have already fulfilled their original commitment and goals. They were and are just fillers--young men just seeking to prolong their basketball careers.
Now, with four players left and a few others who will test the waters and maybe come back, Dusty May has no choice but to play the role of barker on the sidewalk. Just to rehash, one player left is Juwan Howard's son Jett, another is Burnett, glory be Will Tschetter decided to do the right thing and stay in the best place he can, and the other I think is George Washington III who chickened-out of the portal. For May it is an impossible task. He is supposed to piece together a team from unknowns and expect them to play together as a team and win in the Big Ten? Everyone in the portal is out for himself. No one could turn a new roster of such pickings into a winning team.
The whole exercise has nothing to do with the best players and young college students developing. When the team stinks that is the process that holds the whole thing together. Undesirable as it may be, you may as well watch or go to an NBA or developmental league game.
To make things worse, Dusty May has no connection to Michigan and he has no particular experience doing this. He doesn't know how Michigan athletics (or admissions or NIL) work and he doesn't know what sells. And unlike say John Calipari or Rick Petino--not that either would be a good choice for Michigan--he has no experience piecing together a top-notch roster. He does not have a record of rebuilding programs, plural, or quick-fixing, e.g., a top recruiting class.
I have been looking every day: what is his plan and what is he doing? Raiding one's old employer (a la Harbaugh) will not impress me in the least. I appreciate a lack of rash choices, but you want to show progress even if they are baby steps. Nothing is still nothing.
UPDATE. No transfer is perfect but Danny Wolf is about as close as you can get. A 7' center with a couple of years left, Ivy League, from nearby Illinois, is someone to build around. Justin Pippen and Rubin look to be fine pick-ups too. Mea culpa.
Sherrone Moore is off to an even worse start, and he has been at it longer. At the moment, April 16, 2024, Denard Robinson is the subject. I don't understand the hold-up in the blood alcohol level test, and why not a breathyzer?
The Spring Game is upcoming. So far this off-season in terms of the season is Rod Moore out for the season and Jack Tuttle gets a 7th year.
I am not aware of a single prospect commitment or portal transfer in under Moore.
The coaching staff is mishmash. Synonym: hodgepodge. Still waiting... Denard is probably gone for good.
Back to Coach Moore. Why are coaches like... Nick Saban is retired. Harbaugh is thankfully gone. Why are coaches like Brian Kelly in demand? Because their teams are almost guaranteed to be good, or at the very least better than .500 and bowl eligible every year; throw in a possible national championship. Also, they have been around a long time, meaning they have deep ties and a wide reach.
Moore went to and may have ties to Oklahoma and Louisville. Is is from Kansas. It is truly weird that Michigan would bend over backwards--e.g., negotiating to not hold Harbaugh responsible for NCAA violations--to keep a veteran coach and then hire a rookie.
That's probably a reason why there has already been so much instability in the coaching staff. Moore has never filled a staff or worked with most of these people before. Ohio State leftovers (i.e., running back coach) are no solace. There are a quite a few Michigan alums on staff, but they lack experience in their respective roles.
4/19/24. Tomorrow is the Spring Game. There's the usual gossip about names never heard who are going to break out. Sometimes, e.g., David Ojabo, it is true--year 1 he plays and year 2 he is a star. Most of the time it means they have or they could crack the lineup.
There are a few big name holdovers: Donovan Edwards, Colston Loveland, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, and CB Will Johnson. That probably equates to a good but not great team.
Another time I'll look at the schedule, but I predict a downturn from last year given the losses of Blake Corum and J.J. McCarthy. Last year Tuttle was the second best quarterback--he is the only one who managed drives a la McCarthy and I haven't seen that yet in the names that keep getting mentioned. Maybe even one of the two freshman--inherited-- qb's will turn into a ringer. He has certainly earned his chance, and there are backups, but Edwards has not proven yet that he can be a one-man show.
Of course there is talent there, and this is Moore's specialty, but for now the offensive line is a mystery.
Skip to problem: Moore inherited a good but not spectacular team. There is no evidence whatsoever of reloading.
I fear there will be more weird things happening. Maybe a scandal. Two OWIs is not a good start. It is hard to see Moore having the mettle to clamp down. I doubt anyone is scared of him, like his predecessor.
Enow Etta is one of those plays for whom I'll believe it when I see it. Defense, perhaps another another time.
Harbaugh was getting to big for his britches. Blame him anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment