Several thoughts about Michigan’s and college football’s future after watching this weekend’s games …
Notre Dame’s moral victory shouldn’t make many feel better about the state of college football. It’s a three-, occasionally four- or five-team world and everyone else is battling for scraps.
There’s no shame in finishing fifth through 10th nationally, but just making the playoff should be the goal for most programs … and as of now, that’s if one of the football factories isn’t in your division.
Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State aren’t going anywhere. These are football factories, and they’re a product of the NCAA’s idiocy, making everything but the “Final Four” irrelevant. There are quite a few willing to do what it takes to become elite, but only a few who know how to do it successfully. That means covering tracks, not letting a few violations or coaches resigning/being fired in disgrace slow them.
The other ones are flashes in the pan who usually get sloppy (and busted). Pick an SEC school over the last few decades, and they’re probably one of them.
As a result, nothing else really matters in college football. We’re seeing it with kids opting out at halftime of games now, if not altogether.
It sucks. But it’s here to stay. They’ll expand the playoff (it should be 12, with the top four getting byes), and that will help a bit with at least the top 12 to 15 programs. Occasionally, a program will bust through with some good fortune or a senior-laden team and crash the party, maybe even win one with great quarterback play (like LSU last year, which is among those willing/trying to be one of the big boys on a consistent basis).
The others will be looking for answers they probably won’t be able to find, at least consistently.
“Everybody's got the same problem there that I do tackling those guys and getting them down,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said of Bama's elite players. “I don't have a unique problem at Notre Dame."
In reality, the only reason Notre Dame’s problem is different than others — that they can make the playoff but not get over the hump — is because they don’t play in a division with one of the big boys. If they played in the Big Ten East year in and year out, they’d never sniff it, just as U-M hasn’t — maybe once in a great while with one of their veteran teams.
But let’s be realistic. This ND team (essentially the same one) got spanked worse by Michigan last year than it did by Clemson or Alabama this season. It’s lost seven of the last 11 against U-M, had one of its four wins vacated and was blown out in four of the losses.
The Irish fell to 0-7 in BCS or New Year's Six bowl games since 1998 and have been outscored by 161 points, with all seven losses by at least 14 points. Frankly, they’re Michigan (before this year), with the exception that they only beat U-M (legitimately) 30 percent of the time recently.
And for the “not anymore, Michigan sucks” crowd … there’s too much invested in the program and too many people who care to let the program languish. They made a commitment to Jim Harbaugh not many thought they’d make, and the boosters still have a vested interest in seeing the program thrive. It's more likely than not that the program will be at least "good to very good" by the time U-M and the Irish meet again.
In that respect, the new NIL (name, image likeness) bill recently signed should help. The big boys will always go the extra mile — the going rate for one elite running back seven years ago was $750,000 — but U-M has boosters willing to spend money, too, and they should be working immediately to implement this plan into its recruiting strategy.
As in, today.
Of course, there are also a ton who care about how it’s done, and that’s why you can forget about U-M joining the elite three anytime soon (this is assuming they right their ship) unless the NCAA steps in to do its job. In other words … forget about it happening anytime soon. The bodies are different, the vast majority of elite talent flocks to the elite schools and the football factories just do things differently.
That’s not defeatist. That’s just fact. Alabama’s corners are built like outside linebackers, and their linebackers run as well as many Big Ten corners (minus, of course, OSU). God bless you if you think that’s “because they work out better and more.” Strength coach Ben Herbert does a hell of a job. We’re sure ND’s guy does, too. These teams look similar in most years, and they look nothing like Bama or OSU, this year’s finalists.
And finally, there’s been a lot of “yeah, but they must cheat” stuff being thrown about after losses to MSU, Indiana, etc.
Just stop. That’s a completely different argument altogether, and there’s no excuse — none — to be losing to these teams like they have. And few, if any, are saying there is.
Also, these big programs aren’t just winning because they’re (allegedly) bending rules. Let’s make that clear. They have the best of everything and demand excellence in every area of the program — that's where Harbaugh needs to improve, frankly — spare no expense to do it (again, shouldn't be an issue here in the areas in which it's legal, and they can start by scouting other programs and what they're doing. We spoke to a mentor who was on recruiting trips at both U-M and OSU and they said there was no comparison), and are simply in better position to do it.
Football IS the education at a lot of these places, and they don’t apologize for it. It shows in the game plans, the execution and the excellence.
But to ignore the big issue here as it pertains to college football and the playoff, etc. is burying one’s head in the sand. It’s ruined the game for a lot of folks, and that’s the reason it makes many of the veterans (a lot of them on this board, of course) look back on the days of Schembechler and Carr much more fondly.
They're not "dinosaurs." They're just appreciative of sustained excellence they might never see again, probably won't, in their lifetimes.
But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be much better than it is at Michigan right now. There's a lot of room for improvement, and it starts at the top. If Harbaugh's still the guy (as it appears he will be), it starts with the demand for excellence in every area he can control, starting with himself, in rebuilding the culture.
Notre Dame’s moral victory shouldn’t make many feel better about the state of college football. It’s a three-, occasionally four- or five-team world and everyone else is battling for scraps.
There’s no shame in finishing fifth through 10th nationally, but just making the playoff should be the goal for most programs … and as of now, that’s if one of the football factories isn’t in your division.
Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State aren’t going anywhere. These are football factories, and they’re a product of the NCAA’s idiocy, making everything but the “Final Four” irrelevant. There are quite a few willing to do what it takes to become elite, but only a few who know how to do it successfully. That means covering tracks, not letting a few violations or coaches resigning/being fired in disgrace slow them.
The other ones are flashes in the pan who usually get sloppy (and busted). Pick an SEC school over the last few decades, and they’re probably one of them.
As a result, nothing else really matters in college football. We’re seeing it with kids opting out at halftime of games now, if not altogether.
It sucks. But it’s here to stay. They’ll expand the playoff (it should be 12, with the top four getting byes), and that will help a bit with at least the top 12 to 15 programs. Occasionally, a program will bust through with some good fortune or a senior-laden team and crash the party, maybe even win one with great quarterback play (like LSU last year, which is among those willing/trying to be one of the big boys on a consistent basis).
The others will be looking for answers they probably won’t be able to find, at least consistently.
“Everybody's got the same problem there that I do tackling those guys and getting them down,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said of Bama's elite players. “I don't have a unique problem at Notre Dame."
In reality, the only reason Notre Dame’s problem is different than others — that they can make the playoff but not get over the hump — is because they don’t play in a division with one of the big boys. If they played in the Big Ten East year in and year out, they’d never sniff it, just as U-M hasn’t — maybe once in a great while with one of their veteran teams.
But let’s be realistic. This ND team (essentially the same one) got spanked worse by Michigan last year than it did by Clemson or Alabama this season. It’s lost seven of the last 11 against U-M, had one of its four wins vacated and was blown out in four of the losses.
The Irish fell to 0-7 in BCS or New Year's Six bowl games since 1998 and have been outscored by 161 points, with all seven losses by at least 14 points. Frankly, they’re Michigan (before this year), with the exception that they only beat U-M (legitimately) 30 percent of the time recently.
And for the “not anymore, Michigan sucks” crowd … there’s too much invested in the program and too many people who care to let the program languish. They made a commitment to Jim Harbaugh not many thought they’d make, and the boosters still have a vested interest in seeing the program thrive. It's more likely than not that the program will be at least "good to very good" by the time U-M and the Irish meet again.
In that respect, the new NIL (name, image likeness) bill recently signed should help. The big boys will always go the extra mile — the going rate for one elite running back seven years ago was $750,000 — but U-M has boosters willing to spend money, too, and they should be working immediately to implement this plan into its recruiting strategy.
As in, today.
Of course, there are also a ton who care about how it’s done, and that’s why you can forget about U-M joining the elite three anytime soon (this is assuming they right their ship) unless the NCAA steps in to do its job. In other words … forget about it happening anytime soon. The bodies are different, the vast majority of elite talent flocks to the elite schools and the football factories just do things differently.
That’s not defeatist. That’s just fact. Alabama’s corners are built like outside linebackers, and their linebackers run as well as many Big Ten corners (minus, of course, OSU). God bless you if you think that’s “because they work out better and more.” Strength coach Ben Herbert does a hell of a job. We’re sure ND’s guy does, too. These teams look similar in most years, and they look nothing like Bama or OSU, this year’s finalists.
And finally, there’s been a lot of “yeah, but they must cheat” stuff being thrown about after losses to MSU, Indiana, etc.
Just stop. That’s a completely different argument altogether, and there’s no excuse — none — to be losing to these teams like they have. And few, if any, are saying there is.
Also, these big programs aren’t just winning because they’re (allegedly) bending rules. Let’s make that clear. They have the best of everything and demand excellence in every area of the program — that's where Harbaugh needs to improve, frankly — spare no expense to do it (again, shouldn't be an issue here in the areas in which it's legal, and they can start by scouting other programs and what they're doing. We spoke to a mentor who was on recruiting trips at both U-M and OSU and they said there was no comparison), and are simply in better position to do it.
Football IS the education at a lot of these places, and they don’t apologize for it. It shows in the game plans, the execution and the excellence.
But to ignore the big issue here as it pertains to college football and the playoff, etc. is burying one’s head in the sand. It’s ruined the game for a lot of folks, and that’s the reason it makes many of the veterans (a lot of them on this board, of course) look back on the days of Schembechler and Carr much more fondly.
They're not "dinosaurs." They're just appreciative of sustained excellence they might never see again, probably won't, in their lifetimes.
But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be much better than it is at Michigan right now. There's a lot of room for improvement, and it starts at the top. If Harbaugh's still the guy (as it appears he will be), it starts with the demand for excellence in every area he can control, starting with himself, in rebuilding the culture.
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