when Michael Spath is considering the conference talent for his B1G preview article, UM has NONE of the top 25 players in the B1G -- OSU had 8 and MSU had 5. UM .....NONE. NOT ONE.
Every year. I mean EVERY SINGLE YEAR, I read on this site that so fans have UM winning more games than we actually do.
Optimism is fine but every year? And why? Why do the fans reason that we will have these great records?
Most of the fans argue that it is because we are "so much more talented" given the recruiting star rankings than (take your pick): MSU, Minnesota, Utah, Wisc, PSU, Nebraska .... (it goes on and on and on and on).
And when we lose to those "less talented" teams, the fans always blame it on the lack of coaching. It couldn't be the talent could it? I mean, the "stars" are the gospel, aren't they? They could never be wrong. I mean Laser Rocket was projected to be a star. So, regardless of the actual results for THREE YEARS, we will continue to argue that he is simply on the verge of breaking out BIG. "By the way, did I mention that he was a four star and even considered a 5 star at times.....With JH coaching him for THREE WHOLE WEEKS at the end of the summer, he will clearly emerge as an ALL-B1G performer THIS season....JH is THAT good"
So, it is all about the lack of coaching and not about the talent. Yet, the NFL draft has clearly shown (for 7-8 years now) that our actual talent is NOT better than all of these other teams that the fans point to every preseason as less talented than UM. And now, Spath, in a moment of rational consideration, has concluded that UM does NOT, in fact, have OSU type talent, or even that it is NOT better than MSU's talent.
And others point out that we have few, if any positions, on the whole team that are B1G championship caliber. And a Minnesota coach suggested last fall that UM had very few difference making talents ... especially compared to the TCU team that manhandled the Gophers. And, an outside coach observing our spring practices suggests that our QB situation is "dire". Are all of these experts missing something?
So, faced with more objective observations, the star gazers stick their collective heads in the sand and respond that JH's coaching will somehow transform our talent (the FBall equivalent of silk purses out of sow's ears) -- that JH will "reveal" the true talent that has simply been hiding on this team up until now. The optimists use any argument they can find to rationalize why this is a 10-2 team ..... It is the same tired arguments that I have been reading each and every preseason for almost a decade. They say "We are going to win because we are MICHIGAN for gosh sakes ... We are DUE..... We are more talented than every opponent other than OSU ... We can't possibly lose to BOTH our rivals again ....."
Am I confident that JH will get the most out our team? ABSOLUTELY!
Do I believe that he will build a championship team in Ann Arbor? YES!
Will the existing talent on this year's team be sufficient to make our Wolverines championship caliber in 2015 or even beat OSU or MSU. No. Not yet. Not this season.
I just do not see it despite the emphatic optimism of the star gazing koolaide drinking fans on this site.
We are simply not as talented as several teams on our schedule, even with the much improved coaching staff.
Every year. I mean EVERY SINGLE YEAR, I read on this site that so fans have UM winning more games than we actually do.
Optimism is fine but every year? And why? Why do the fans reason that we will have these great records?
Most of the fans argue that it is because we are "so much more talented" given the recruiting star rankings than (take your pick): MSU, Minnesota, Utah, Wisc, PSU, Nebraska .... (it goes on and on and on and on).
And when we lose to those "less talented" teams, the fans always blame it on the lack of coaching. It couldn't be the talent could it? I mean, the "stars" are the gospel, aren't they? They could never be wrong. I mean Laser Rocket was projected to be a star. So, regardless of the actual results for THREE YEARS, we will continue to argue that he is simply on the verge of breaking out BIG. "By the way, did I mention that he was a four star and even considered a 5 star at times.....With JH coaching him for THREE WHOLE WEEKS at the end of the summer, he will clearly emerge as an ALL-B1G performer THIS season....JH is THAT good"
So, it is all about the lack of coaching and not about the talent. Yet, the NFL draft has clearly shown (for 7-8 years now) that our actual talent is NOT better than all of these other teams that the fans point to every preseason as less talented than UM. And now, Spath, in a moment of rational consideration, has concluded that UM does NOT, in fact, have OSU type talent, or even that it is NOT better than MSU's talent.
And others point out that we have few, if any positions, on the whole team that are B1G championship caliber. And a Minnesota coach suggested last fall that UM had very few difference making talents ... especially compared to the TCU team that manhandled the Gophers. And, an outside coach observing our spring practices suggests that our QB situation is "dire". Are all of these experts missing something?
So, faced with more objective observations, the star gazers stick their collective heads in the sand and respond that JH's coaching will somehow transform our talent (the FBall equivalent of silk purses out of sow's ears) -- that JH will "reveal" the true talent that has simply been hiding on this team up until now. The optimists use any argument they can find to rationalize why this is a 10-2 team ..... It is the same tired arguments that I have been reading each and every preseason for almost a decade. They say "We are going to win because we are MICHIGAN for gosh sakes ... We are DUE..... We are more talented than every opponent other than OSU ... We can't possibly lose to BOTH our rivals again ....."
Am I confident that JH will get the most out our team? ABSOLUTELY!
Do I believe that he will build a championship team in Ann Arbor? YES!
Will the existing talent on this year's team be sufficient to make our Wolverines championship caliber in 2015 or even beat OSU or MSU. No. Not yet. Not this season.
I just do not see it despite the emphatic optimism of the star gazing koolaide drinking fans on this site.
We are simply not as talented as several teams on our schedule, even with the much improved coaching staff.
