Several thoughts on what we've picked up over the last several days on a potential football season, the quarterback battle, basketball rumblings and more.
Starting with football, and the current plan for the Big Ten ...
Everyone wants to know the "most likely" scenario for a season.
"Gun to your head, when will they play?" someone asked this morning.
The answer — we don't know, because nobody knows. That's become abundantly clear at this point. There's no uniformity, a schism between university presidents, A.D.s and coaches, boosters, etc., and we're no closer to that answer than we were a few weeks ago.
We're not big Dennis Dodd fans, but the "spit show" that is the Big Ten, led by new commissioner Kevin Warren, is on full display, and Dodd captures it well in this column on how the Big Ten's credibility is being "torn apart."
He really nails it in his last few paragraphs:
... "[Other Power Five commissioners] were confused by the season postponement six days after the Big Ten's schedule release. Given all that, before asking what has changed for the Big Ten since, maybe the question going forward is this: Why we should believe the answer?"
Why, indeed? There's been no transparency in the process whatsoever, a fact players and their parents have condemned publicly (though their complaints have largely fallen on deaf ears).
Several high profile boosters — and we're talking those who contribute mightily to both the academic and athletic sides — are making it known they're not pleased. Coaches and A.D.s haven't given up on an earlier fall start (earlier even than Thanksgiving), and almost all of them and at least half the Presidents, according to latest rumblings, are aligned.
And still, one source told Dodd, it would take a "medical miracle" surrounding COVID-19 (better testing and contact tracing).
Either way, don't expect a decision from the Big Ten for a while yet. It will be a week to 10 days, at which point — if we're honest — it may or may not be the last word on it.
Spit show, indeed.
****
We provided a football update not long ago in which one person at every practice indicated quarterback Joe Milton had emerged as the guy to beat. He'd made strides and, in a few observers' opinions, had distanced himself from Dylan McCaffrey, with Cade McNamara also making great strides.
Recently, another practice observer indicated it was closer than it's been reported. Milton still struggles with accuracy ("crossing routes", one said) at times, and none of the quarterbacks have been so good that you can point to him and say, "that's Michigan's next Big Ten championship quarterback."
"That might be J.J. (McCarthy), assuming he's as good as advertised," one shared.
Keep in mind, too, that what's been going on at practice is nothing like the old two-a-days with hitting and pads. It's not the "underwear Olympics" (as our Doug Skene lovingly calls the summer camp circuit), but it's not the high-stress competition these players will be facing under normal circumstances.
This race continues to be wide-open, and all of the quarterbacks still have a lot of work to do ... to be clear, not a cold dose of reality here as much as a couple of squirts of water to the face for those who believe sunshine pumping is all that goes on here. And there's plenty of time and opportunity for one of these quarterbacks to really emerge. They are working extremely hard, and the competition has really raised their games.
****
Finally, a couple of hoops notes ...
Yes, we've confirmed, Franz Wagner continues to grow, as some have reported. A few are saying he's "approaching 6-10," though most say he's 6-9ish ... regardless, this kid is long and lean, and his size and ability with the ball make him THE prime candidate for a huge, breakout season.
We still expect the season to start in January with conference play, though again, the Big Ten needs to figure out what it's doing with football, first.
More praise, meanwhile, for Chaundee Brown. We told you last week that Brown had made an impression as a scorer, an outstanding midrange guy who could also get to the rim. Another source said recently he's been everything they could have asked and more, a leader who was accepted immediately and who has been a "great fit" in the culture John Beilein created and Juwan Howard has continued.
He is expected to get his waiver, as just about everyone else has (including U-M to Cincinnati transfer David DeJulius), sooner than later. Stay tuned on that one. His presence raises this team's ceiling immensely.
Starting with football, and the current plan for the Big Ten ...
Everyone wants to know the "most likely" scenario for a season.
"Gun to your head, when will they play?" someone asked this morning.
The answer — we don't know, because nobody knows. That's become abundantly clear at this point. There's no uniformity, a schism between university presidents, A.D.s and coaches, boosters, etc., and we're no closer to that answer than we were a few weeks ago.
We're not big Dennis Dodd fans, but the "spit show" that is the Big Ten, led by new commissioner Kevin Warren, is on full display, and Dodd captures it well in this column on how the Big Ten's credibility is being "torn apart."
He really nails it in his last few paragraphs:
... "[Other Power Five commissioners] were confused by the season postponement six days after the Big Ten's schedule release. Given all that, before asking what has changed for the Big Ten since, maybe the question going forward is this: Why we should believe the answer?"
Why, indeed? There's been no transparency in the process whatsoever, a fact players and their parents have condemned publicly (though their complaints have largely fallen on deaf ears).
Several high profile boosters — and we're talking those who contribute mightily to both the academic and athletic sides — are making it known they're not pleased. Coaches and A.D.s haven't given up on an earlier fall start (earlier even than Thanksgiving), and almost all of them and at least half the Presidents, according to latest rumblings, are aligned.
And still, one source told Dodd, it would take a "medical miracle" surrounding COVID-19 (better testing and contact tracing).
Either way, don't expect a decision from the Big Ten for a while yet. It will be a week to 10 days, at which point — if we're honest — it may or may not be the last word on it.
Spit show, indeed.
****
We provided a football update not long ago in which one person at every practice indicated quarterback Joe Milton had emerged as the guy to beat. He'd made strides and, in a few observers' opinions, had distanced himself from Dylan McCaffrey, with Cade McNamara also making great strides.
Recently, another practice observer indicated it was closer than it's been reported. Milton still struggles with accuracy ("crossing routes", one said) at times, and none of the quarterbacks have been so good that you can point to him and say, "that's Michigan's next Big Ten championship quarterback."
"That might be J.J. (McCarthy), assuming he's as good as advertised," one shared.
Keep in mind, too, that what's been going on at practice is nothing like the old two-a-days with hitting and pads. It's not the "underwear Olympics" (as our Doug Skene lovingly calls the summer camp circuit), but it's not the high-stress competition these players will be facing under normal circumstances.
This race continues to be wide-open, and all of the quarterbacks still have a lot of work to do ... to be clear, not a cold dose of reality here as much as a couple of squirts of water to the face for those who believe sunshine pumping is all that goes on here. And there's plenty of time and opportunity for one of these quarterbacks to really emerge. They are working extremely hard, and the competition has really raised their games.
****
Finally, a couple of hoops notes ...
Yes, we've confirmed, Franz Wagner continues to grow, as some have reported. A few are saying he's "approaching 6-10," though most say he's 6-9ish ... regardless, this kid is long and lean, and his size and ability with the ball make him THE prime candidate for a huge, breakout season.
We still expect the season to start in January with conference play, though again, the Big Ten needs to figure out what it's doing with football, first.
More praise, meanwhile, for Chaundee Brown. We told you last week that Brown had made an impression as a scorer, an outstanding midrange guy who could also get to the rim. Another source said recently he's been everything they could have asked and more, a leader who was accepted immediately and who has been a "great fit" in the culture John Beilein created and Juwan Howard has continued.
He is expected to get his waiver, as just about everyone else has (including U-M to Cincinnati transfer David DeJulius), sooner than later. Stay tuned on that one. His presence raises this team's ceiling immensely.
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