Just as a disclaimer, anybody who knows me as a poster knows I'm in no way part of the perpetual sunshine crowd. With that said, I must just be a crazy person because I cannot understand how upset everyone seems to be about the state of the program. Yes, I'm extremely displeased to have lost Hill, a, in my opinion, generational talent at the safety position. But consider this for a moment:
-From 2008-2014 Michigan was 39th in the nation in total wins. Michigan was essentially .500 overall, had suffered 3-9 and two 5-7 seasons, and missed a bowl 3 times in 7 years (the most of any decade since my 67 year old father was born).
-Michigan not only went 1-6 against MSU, but at one point went nearly four full games without scoring a touchdown, culminating in the poetically pathetic fist pumping bonanza of Doug Nussmeier after scoring a meaningless touchdown in EL to pull within 3 scores.
-In Brady Hoke's last season Michigan suffered losses to such football powerhouses as Rutgers, Maryland, 5 touchdown shutout to a mediocre Notre Dame, etc.
-Even with this horrendous era, another first for michigan football: NCAA sanctions. Very stupid reasons as we know, but regardless. RR brought us the worst APR we've ever had (since APR became a stat) to an extent Hoke and co. had to perform gymnastics with that initial roster just to avoid dipping below the mendoza line.
Four years into the Harbaugh era and we've accumulated the 6th best record of any college football team. If Michigan beats florida this month, JH will be the only Michigan coach to ever average 10 wins per season. JH has averaged more wins per season than any Big Ten coach (now that Meyer is gone). Michigan is in the top 5 in APR, hasn't lost to any team while favored by 10 points or more (what a define as a "very bad" loss) and has three times entered the final weekend of the season controlling its own destiny for a conference title.
Am I satisfied? No. We have been so close and finally beating OSU and winning the conference seem repeatedly within grasp. But think about what has happened that coming up short regarding championships, the playoffs etc. is what we are despondent about. Michigan has inherent disadvantages: Michigan is not a talent rich state, it is absolutely freezing, we will not pay players like seemingly half of the "blue bloods" will and all of the SEC, our admissions department is far more stringent and will not allow JUCO transfers (Sheffield, the #1 corner for OSU, for instance, was a JUCO transfer), and, perhaps most of all, recruits in the 2022 class (not as far off as you think) have literally never been on this planet when Michigan won its own conference.
So ridicule me as you will, but, as someone that was at UM during the final year of the RR experience and the Hoke era, frankly complaining incessantly about a program that averages 10 wins per year, beats MSU, is clean, impressive academically, and every year essentially has a shot at a championship all season, is not so bad at all. I hope we take the next step, and I think that we will, but on the way a little perspective is very much needed on this board.
-From 2008-2014 Michigan was 39th in the nation in total wins. Michigan was essentially .500 overall, had suffered 3-9 and two 5-7 seasons, and missed a bowl 3 times in 7 years (the most of any decade since my 67 year old father was born).
-Michigan not only went 1-6 against MSU, but at one point went nearly four full games without scoring a touchdown, culminating in the poetically pathetic fist pumping bonanza of Doug Nussmeier after scoring a meaningless touchdown in EL to pull within 3 scores.
-In Brady Hoke's last season Michigan suffered losses to such football powerhouses as Rutgers, Maryland, 5 touchdown shutout to a mediocre Notre Dame, etc.
-Even with this horrendous era, another first for michigan football: NCAA sanctions. Very stupid reasons as we know, but regardless. RR brought us the worst APR we've ever had (since APR became a stat) to an extent Hoke and co. had to perform gymnastics with that initial roster just to avoid dipping below the mendoza line.
Four years into the Harbaugh era and we've accumulated the 6th best record of any college football team. If Michigan beats florida this month, JH will be the only Michigan coach to ever average 10 wins per season. JH has averaged more wins per season than any Big Ten coach (now that Meyer is gone). Michigan is in the top 5 in APR, hasn't lost to any team while favored by 10 points or more (what a define as a "very bad" loss) and has three times entered the final weekend of the season controlling its own destiny for a conference title.
Am I satisfied? No. We have been so close and finally beating OSU and winning the conference seem repeatedly within grasp. But think about what has happened that coming up short regarding championships, the playoffs etc. is what we are despondent about. Michigan has inherent disadvantages: Michigan is not a talent rich state, it is absolutely freezing, we will not pay players like seemingly half of the "blue bloods" will and all of the SEC, our admissions department is far more stringent and will not allow JUCO transfers (Sheffield, the #1 corner for OSU, for instance, was a JUCO transfer), and, perhaps most of all, recruits in the 2022 class (not as far off as you think) have literally never been on this planet when Michigan won its own conference.
So ridicule me as you will, but, as someone that was at UM during the final year of the RR experience and the Hoke era, frankly complaining incessantly about a program that averages 10 wins per year, beats MSU, is clean, impressive academically, and every year essentially has a shot at a championship all season, is not so bad at all. I hope we take the next step, and I think that we will, but on the way a little perspective is very much needed on this board.
