One of these days, Jay Flannelly will let folks know how he really feels.
Tom Brady’s buddy from his college days, “The Beav,” is well known from Schembechler Hall to Tampa Bay. He’s a heartbroken New England Patriots fan, now hoping the Pats lose for 20 years.
He’s an enthusiastic Buccaneers rooter, hoping for one more ring out of “Tommy.”
Mostly, these days, he’s a disenfranchised Michigan football fan, voicing the frustrations of many. He sees what Jim Harbaugh has done to provide safety for his team. He sees other leagues playing. He’s not happy about any of it.
So his appearance on TheWolverine.com podcast brought him out of his shell, on various topics, such as…
• No Big Ten football in September: “I’m just very sad for a lot of the guys. They see high school football being reopened here in Michigan. Most of the states are playing high school football. Hockey is playing, baseball is playing, the NBA is playing.
“It’s just very sad. I was at the event Saturday, and I was amazed. About 20 of our players [were there] and parents, led by the Hutchinsons and McCaffreys, and Coach Harbaugh showing up. It’s just very sad.
“I just don’t think the Big Ten, and Michigan specifically, have made every effort to play. When you’re losing $100 million for a business, and my good buddy [U-M Athletic Director] Warde Manuel has to let some people go … I don’t think Warde likes firing people.
“If you try and it fails, that’s cool. But you never achieve anything by sitting on your ass at home. That’s what somebody told me when I was a little kid.”
• Michigan’s loss if others play successfully: “You think it’s hard recruiting against Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney now? It’s going to be hard for Ryan Day to recruit against those guys, let alone Jim Harbaugh and all the other coaches of the mortal teams in the Big Ten.
“You are just giving them a walkout advantage. It’s just going to be so bad. They’re going to say, ‘Hey, they’re not serious about football’ …
“The guys that play in 2020 are going to have a huge advantage in the draft class. It’s all over the internet, and you can look this up. There are scouts talking about this. The kids who only played in 2019, they’re going to be downgraded because of the Covid … it’s going to impact everything.
“I just don’t know if they made enough of an effort to try to play, and that’s the frustrating thing.”
• Michigan President Dr. Mark Schlissel: “I think he shouldn’t have his job anymore. I had no idea about a lot of things until Saturday at the event. He hasn’t met with our coach. He hasn’t responded to our coach, in any emails, texts and phone calls.
“He hasn’t met or seen our players, or come down to the facilities to talk.
“Think like a logical human being. You’re in charge of a business … you’re going to lose $100 million, and people are losing their careers and jobs over this, and you don’t meet with people and talk with people? …
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you don’t want to talk and meet with Coach Harbaugh and our players, you should not be the president of the University of Michigan. That’s part of the gig.
“I know he’s dealing with the graduate student thing right now, and the two scandal cases … but when you’re the leader of something, you have to deal with things. That’s why you make a lot of money…
“This is a catastrophic event that will destroy our league if we do not play football. It impacts every sport at the University…
“You should make every effort to try to play, and they’re not even trying, which is really indefensible. It’s like a fire-able offense. He needs to answer for what’s happened here.”
• Jim Harbaugh: “What he did Saturday took big balls. He showed up at that event. He could be fired for that, by the way. He showed up at that event to support those kids, and the parents.
“He’s a coach, an alumnus, and a star quarterback at Michigan — a Big Ten champion quarterback …
“He didn’t have to do that. He showed up. That’s a big deal. I thought that showed a lot, that he showed up and defended his guys like that … when he showed up, that just magnified everything …
“He’s a big deal, in sports and college football. For him to show up, hats off. I can’t say enough.”
Flannelly said more, of course. He mused about whether the events of the past few weeks could ultimately cause Harbaugh to move on. He hinted that more players will be leaving, an assertion confirmed by unnamed sources.
He’s a local football Everyman, but with considerably more knowledge than most. And he’s miserable — a trait he’s sharing with more than a few, heading into a week featuring NFL and SEC football, but no Michigan.
For the full Flannelly interview, check here ... https://michigan.rivals.com/news/mi...ball-podcast-jay-flannelly-with-john-borton-2
Tom Brady’s buddy from his college days, “The Beav,” is well known from Schembechler Hall to Tampa Bay. He’s a heartbroken New England Patriots fan, now hoping the Pats lose for 20 years.
He’s an enthusiastic Buccaneers rooter, hoping for one more ring out of “Tommy.”
Mostly, these days, he’s a disenfranchised Michigan football fan, voicing the frustrations of many. He sees what Jim Harbaugh has done to provide safety for his team. He sees other leagues playing. He’s not happy about any of it.
So his appearance on TheWolverine.com podcast brought him out of his shell, on various topics, such as…
• No Big Ten football in September: “I’m just very sad for a lot of the guys. They see high school football being reopened here in Michigan. Most of the states are playing high school football. Hockey is playing, baseball is playing, the NBA is playing.
“It’s just very sad. I was at the event Saturday, and I was amazed. About 20 of our players [were there] and parents, led by the Hutchinsons and McCaffreys, and Coach Harbaugh showing up. It’s just very sad.
“I just don’t think the Big Ten, and Michigan specifically, have made every effort to play. When you’re losing $100 million for a business, and my good buddy [U-M Athletic Director] Warde Manuel has to let some people go … I don’t think Warde likes firing people.
“If you try and it fails, that’s cool. But you never achieve anything by sitting on your ass at home. That’s what somebody told me when I was a little kid.”
• Michigan’s loss if others play successfully: “You think it’s hard recruiting against Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney now? It’s going to be hard for Ryan Day to recruit against those guys, let alone Jim Harbaugh and all the other coaches of the mortal teams in the Big Ten.
“You are just giving them a walkout advantage. It’s just going to be so bad. They’re going to say, ‘Hey, they’re not serious about football’ …
“The guys that play in 2020 are going to have a huge advantage in the draft class. It’s all over the internet, and you can look this up. There are scouts talking about this. The kids who only played in 2019, they’re going to be downgraded because of the Covid … it’s going to impact everything.
“I just don’t know if they made enough of an effort to try to play, and that’s the frustrating thing.”
• Michigan President Dr. Mark Schlissel: “I think he shouldn’t have his job anymore. I had no idea about a lot of things until Saturday at the event. He hasn’t met with our coach. He hasn’t responded to our coach, in any emails, texts and phone calls.
“He hasn’t met or seen our players, or come down to the facilities to talk.
“Think like a logical human being. You’re in charge of a business … you’re going to lose $100 million, and people are losing their careers and jobs over this, and you don’t meet with people and talk with people? …
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you don’t want to talk and meet with Coach Harbaugh and our players, you should not be the president of the University of Michigan. That’s part of the gig.
“I know he’s dealing with the graduate student thing right now, and the two scandal cases … but when you’re the leader of something, you have to deal with things. That’s why you make a lot of money…
“This is a catastrophic event that will destroy our league if we do not play football. It impacts every sport at the University…
“You should make every effort to try to play, and they’re not even trying, which is really indefensible. It’s like a fire-able offense. He needs to answer for what’s happened here.”
• Jim Harbaugh: “What he did Saturday took big balls. He showed up at that event. He could be fired for that, by the way. He showed up at that event to support those kids, and the parents.
“He’s a coach, an alumnus, and a star quarterback at Michigan — a Big Ten champion quarterback …
“He didn’t have to do that. He showed up. That’s a big deal. I thought that showed a lot, that he showed up and defended his guys like that … when he showed up, that just magnified everything …
“He’s a big deal, in sports and college football. For him to show up, hats off. I can’t say enough.”
Flannelly said more, of course. He mused about whether the events of the past few weeks could ultimately cause Harbaugh to move on. He hinted that more players will be leaving, an assertion confirmed by unnamed sources.
He’s a local football Everyman, but with considerably more knowledge than most. And he’s miserable — a trait he’s sharing with more than a few, heading into a week featuring NFL and SEC football, but no Michigan.
For the full Flannelly interview, check here ... https://michigan.rivals.com/news/mi...ball-podcast-jay-flannelly-with-john-borton-2
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