Breakdown
Aidan Huntchinson audio 00:00-:20
Lions win on SNF :21-3:23
Corum's decision 3:24-11:45
Harbaugh's weekend 11:46-47:20
Luke Schoomaker 47:21-50:58
Feedback: Watching tonight, TCU loss, Harbaugh staying or going & Corum staying healthy 50:59-1:03:40
Rich Eisen show with Blake Corum 103:41-107:06
Blake's announcement on Eisen show 107:07-108:57
Corum coming back reaction 108:58-135:29
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All of this nonsense nfl stuff will more than likely ruin what could have been a very good 2024 class if Jim comes back anyways. Now, assuming NIL would be fixed/improved for this class, that might salvage it. But until that receives a solution, things won’t be great for recruiting. Bad 2023 class followed up by, with what I am predicting, another bad class. All of this after back to back playoff appearances... I think only Michigan could pull that off because they are always their own worst enemy.

Included with a statement from Valiant

I had to protect sources and perhaps I knew juuuuust a little bit more than I mentioned in my post.

Huge, huge news for Michigan. Sorry for being a little misleading but I had to, I promise it was with the best intentions in mind.

I want to preface this post with that it will include a lot of opinions. Before you get upset, these opinions are well-sourced and they are multiple. From those with connections inside Schembechler and elsewhere, this is everything I've gathered since the news broke that Corum is planning to announce his decision today at 2 p.m. on The Rich Eisen Show.

It is my BEST GUESS that Corum will announce his return to Michigan on the show. There has been some increasing optimism in recent weeks that he could return and those I speak with BELIEVE he will be back. I say there is a belief because the opinion is strong with multiple people I speak with but his ultimate decision hasn't made its rounds inside the building just yet and there's probably a good reason for that.

This is where NIL shows the good side of things. If he does decide to stay, you can expect that he is going to be taken care of from a NIL standpoint with a deal that is far more valuable in Ann Arbor than it would be to test the draft waters.

I also think he returns due to the fact that he's announcing on Eisen's show, the biggest U-M fan on national television. I find it hard to see a scenario where he goes on that show to deliver bad news to not only Eisen but to the U-M fanbase. Of course, I could be completely off base and that's fine, the optics would come off as strange.

Here's what I THINK will happen. Corum will go on the show to announce he is returning to the program to generate some excitement after this whole Harbaugh debacle has rocked the boat with morale amongst the fanbase. He will use his platform to help promote Valiant's 'One More Year Fund'. He will talk about the importance of it and encourage others to try and persuade the other potential draft prospects to return next season.

Again, this isn't sourced, just thinking about what makes the most sense with this announcement on national television.

This is my long-winded post to spell out what I am hearing as well as what I think is going to happen. I can't speak with certainty until I hear definitive word of what's going to happen one way or the other.

We'll all find out what he plans to do shortly.

This is awesome, GoBlue

Confirmed on Rich Eisen, Blake is coming back.

I almost threw up seeing clips of Dante Moore throwing TD passes to the top WR targets committed to OSU, followed by an O-H.
Why can’t we land these guys?
We obviously get great kids but a Mario Manningham type WR would add a serious dimension to the offense that we currently dont really have.

Man, what a great rookie season. 9.5 sacks (and counting), 3 ints.

I just remember Valenti saying he's nothing more than a "try hard", and started really spouting that when he had a slow start to the season.

So glad to see him playing well. A full offseason and I think we see a beast in his 2nd season.

Lots of news from over the weekend in San Antonio:

Tom Izzo, defender of tunnel assaulters

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People like to name Cristian Dixon as a transfer candidate often. Understandable, he hasn’t played much and been passed on the depth chart. But some guys bloom later, some guys just love the grind. Dixon never says anything but positive things about Harbaugh, Michigan, and his process. Thought this tweet was a nice reminder of why I think he sticks it through, and whether its next year or his senior year, he’s eventually going to make an impact and be a guy Michigan fans love.
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I always thought he was. Everyone who knows him well says he is. But last year after the Vikings situation he made a big deal of stating that he was done with the NFL and that it would not be an “annual thing” and that he would be here as long as he was wanted here. Welp with this latest broncos report that all looks like horse poop. No way this isn’t damaging recruiting. Possibly affecting a corum or CJ return.

I found this section of Pelissero’s article, interesting.

“The powers that be at Michigan could help make that a reality by offering Harbaugh a contract that makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football and gives him a long-term commitment. Harbaugh could end up being Michigan's longest-tenured coach since Bo Schembechler and he loves his alma mater. But it hasn't been a smooth ride.

In January 2021, coming off a COVID-shortened season, Harbaugh took a paycut that nearly halved his salary. Then, following the team's first Big Ten title since 2004, he had his pay restored -- but it was still less than Penn State's James Franklin and Michigan State's Mel Tucker. Harbaugh earned $8.05 million in 2022. While there have been some discussions with Michigan about a raise in the past couple of weeks, nothing has come to fruition yet, helping open the door to NFL interest.”

There’s been a lot of bitching annd moaning about a large tent-like structure temporarily replacing Michigan’s student CCRC for a long time while it is being renovated.

if you really want to feel bad, and if you have a chance, visit Ohio State’s campus and look for their student rec centers. They have five recreational sports facilities located throughout their campus with a wide range of operating hours. The most eye-popping facility is what they call their RPAC (Recreation and Physical Activities Center). It has stacked basketball courts, one on top of the other, a running track, more aerobic, free weights and resistance training equipment than I’ve ever seen in one place. Their student rec facilities have everything you might ever desire, including sand volleyball courts, rock climbing walls and other ”adventure” sports, a canoe and paddle board training center, squash, handball, pickleball, volleyball and racquetball courts, indoor astroturf facilities, and I’m not attempting to describe their massive aquatic rec center with multiple pools and even a diving pool/facility.

Michigan has some state-of-the-art athletic facilities and fields on the athletic campus, but those are for intercollegiate sports teams. Unfortunately,Michigan is waaay behind in providing recreation facilities for students.

Hypothetical to consider (there is no inside information around this although I do find it to be rational/possible):

Jim's ideal (or a highly possible desired path) is to coach next year's Michigan team to a national title and THEN go to the NFL.

If you are in charge and tasked with protecting the future of Michigan football, how do you handle the current contract negotiations?

I present that losing Jim next offseason is much more damaging to the expected outcome of the subsequent 10 years than losing him this offseason.

Yes, the ceiling on the 2023 team could lower BUT the leverage you have to hire whatever coach and assemble whatever staff you want is HIGH going into a 2023 season where Michigan will be unanimous top five pick (if not higher).

Wait a year for Jim's departure and you could have another year of recruiting uncertainty for the same reasons as last year. That potentially stacks two mediocre classes and now you are bringing in a new staff without JJ McCarthy, Donovan Edwards, Will Johnson, etc. AND you likely won't have Jadyn Davis coming in either.

If the band-aid is ripped off now you can almost guarantee a floor of 10 wins (still have a legit shot at the title) and get a new staff humming on their messaging and recruiting and try to keep key players and recruits in the fold.

So if you've gamed this out, and you think Jim is likely to return this year based on all of your intel, how would you handle negotiations?

I'd be tempted to, alongside paying Jim big, explore ways to minimize the chances of a January 2024 departure because that could be a massive hit to the program and much bigger than a 2023 departure.

Leaving Jim a wide open door to do this again next year without the carrot of a national title contender to return to - doesn't seem like the type of leadership we'd want out of an ideal AD right? While folks are busy punching the pillows of today, the leaders are supposed to be seeding the ground of tomorrow - right?

Warde about this being an annual occurrence.

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This feels like a really winnable recruitment given the list.

I had heard before we were monitoring him.

Decision before the end of the year.

Don't currently have the space, but I've never bought that as a reason to not win a recruitment of a guy we want.

@Josh Henschke
@DavisMoseley

Won’t He do it?

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With this distraction why do we not hear of any of these guys leaving or taking interviews? Do they know something like Harbaugh is using thr NFL as leverage to better the program for the long term.

People here are saying the way Harbaugh is conducting himself is “just the way it is”, or “It’s just Harbaugh being Harbaugh” or “It’s OK, it’ll all get resolved “.

No this is NOT the way it is or should be! It is NOT acceptable! Name another coach and program which has on-field success and tolerates public post season job hunting by its coach?

Jim Harbaugh clearly wants to leave Michigan and go back to the NFL. His job at Michigan is a well-paying backstop which permits him to have a job and publicly search for another one at the same time.

Enough! Send him on his way. Use the NCAA allegations as his violation of his contract. Hire Sherrone Moore, who is ready for a good head coaching gig. The threat to recruiting would be fixed, maybe even improved. You’d have a good head coach who will concentrate 100% of his attention to recruiting for and coaching Michigan! All that would be needed is to hire another assistant coach, probably a replacement for Jay Harbaugh.

Do it, Warde… do it NOW!