Brandon Graham Quickie Quote

From this ESPN interview:

Adam Rittenberg: Has everything that happened this week at Michigan brought you guys together any more?

Brandon Graham: Oh, yeah. Everybody hangs out with everybody now. That's one thing that changed in my years being here. There are no more cliques. If somebody says, 'Let's go here,' everybody wants to come. We hang out a little bit more. We're more of a team.

Yet another relic from the Lloyd Carr era out the window. Toss into that light offseason workouts, a pizza-a-day diets, and babying of star players. Ah wait, I left out perhaps the most important thing: being completely unable to defend the spread.

Going into tomorrow's game against WMU and All-Mac QB Tim Hiller, I for one am glad that Ron English is not our defensive coordinator. Cast the frustration of Appy State and Oregon out of your memories, friends. Welcome to the new harder-hitting, competitive, fast version of Michigan football. A new era begins tomorrow, let's see what this thing can do. Go Blue!

"Open" for business...see what I did there?

Yes, it is indeed that time of year again. Screw football, I'm talking about a real sport: Tennis. Well, real to me.

The U.S. Open, the last of the four "majors" of tennis, is indeed upon us. It couldn't have come at a more exciting time either, given the current state of (men's) tennis. While I know most of you are avid followers of the sport, allow me to enlighten all those n00bs out there.

In the past calender year, the sport of (men's) tennis has been cast from it's curse of predictability into utter disarray. Let's break it
down chronologically:

• July 2008: World #2 Rafael Nadal defeats World #1 Roger Federer in an epic Wimbledon final winning his first non-French Open grand slam.
• August 2008: Rafael Nadal takes over the top spot in the rankings, unseating Roger Federer after his record-breaking run of 237 consecutive weeks at #1.
• January 2009: Rafael Nadal defeats Federer in the final of the Australian Open (the first slam of the year), confirming his status as #1.

Now, at this point, it seemed almost as if Fed's time had passed. He was undoubtedly the second best tennis player on earth, but he had hit an immovable force named Rafa. Even he thought his era had come to a close (as evidenced by his crying on court after losing the Australian Open).
Not so fast...

• May 2009: Rafael Nadal inexplicably loses in the fourth round of the French Open (a tournament at which he had NEVER lost...ever) to...Robin Soderling??? (we learn later that Rafa was battling tendonitis and ended up taking 10 weeks off) Sure enough, Roger Federer takes advantage and suddenly redeems his year by winning the only Grand Slam that had, up to that point, eluded him. In the process, he added his name to a list of only 5 men who have won all four majors in their careers and garnered his 14th grand slam titles tying the record holder Pete Sampras.
• July 2009: After Nadal pulls out due to injury, Federer reclaims his Wimbeldon title, but not before Andy Roddick puts up a monumental fight in a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14 match that goes down in history as the longest Wimbeldon final ever as measured by total games played. As a result, Fed reclaims the #1 spot in the rankings and becomes the record holder with 15 major titles to his name.
• August 2009: Nadal finally returns from injury but not at 100%. Meanwhile, Andy Murray, from Great Britain (Scotland to be exact), has a lights-out summer and claws his way to #2, dropping Nadal to #3.

So, here's where we stand as far as "contenders" for this year's open.

• #1 Fed has won the open 5 straight times and, in the year of his redemption, is looking like he's in good position to tie the record of 6 consecutive titles.
• #2 Andy Murray is having an amazing run and, after making it to the U.S. Open Final last year, wants to finish the job and has the resume to back it up (currently he has a 6-3 career record against Fed, with all 6 wins coming on hard courts).
• #3 Rafa Nadal has said himself that he does not expect to be a contender this year due to the rust he acquired during his hiatus...but is he simply lowering expectations?
• #4 Novak Djokovic has been under the radar lately but did make it to the finals of the biggest non-slam tournament leading up to the U.S. Open (Cincinnati).
• #5 Andy Roddick is in the top 5 again for the first time in years and looking for vengeance after a huge disappointment at Wimbledon. Don't be surprised if he takes Federer out in the quarterfinals this year. Each time they've played A-Rod has gotten closer and closer to victory...it's time he finally took one home.
• #6 Juan Martin Del Potro: You've never heard of him (he's the person you've never seen in the picture to the right), though he's been arguably the second best player this summer (behind Murray) and has a chance to go far, he ain't gonna win it.

Excited yet? Likely not because there's a good chance you never even got this far in the post. That said, here are my bold and not so bold calls for the Open:

1. Watch out for the 22nd seeded American Sam Querry, who hits a falling star in #8 Nikolay Davydenko in the 4th round. My prediction: Querry takes the match in 4 sets and goes on to face (and lose to) Federer in the Quarterfinals.
2. Andy Roddick hits #4 Djokovic in the Quarterfinals. My prediction: Roddick wins the match in 4 sets and hits Federer in the Semi-Finals. If he finds a way to take down Fed with the crowd behind him, he wins the whole thing...but that's a BIG "if".
3. My final call: Despite my red, white and blue blood (Go Andy!), it's a rematch of the 2008 final with the same result...Roger over Andy Murray in the final (4 sets). Long live the king.

Jonny Childers = Owen Scmitt?

Walk ons are a very important aspect to any Rich Rodriguez football program. As a former walk-on defensive back for WVU in the mid 80's, Rodriguez recognizes the importance of having a passionate, in-it-only-for-the-love-of-the-sport type of player. And where best to put this type of player than at the most blue collar position on the field: the fullback. Anybody who knows anything about recent West Virginia football knows the name Owen Schmitt, or perhaps better known by his charming moniker "the runaway beer truck." Schmitt was a walk-on for RR at WVU and is now in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks. He just wants to smash people, and oftentimes himself as made famous in this incident (at the end of this video):



Awesome. A cult figure like that for Meech football would make it that much more fun to watch. With that, I present to you Jonny Childers, walk on from Muskegon Michigan. Feast your eyes:



He just looks like he's ready to break twenty facemasks per season. Childers appears to be in the mold of a RR-type fullback, though at 6-2" 216 lbs he could benefit from a year of two with Barwis (eeee!). From his ESPN writeup:

Childers is a tough, thickly-built, blue-collar fullback prospect who also is an effective inside run plugger when employed at linebacker. Looks a bit like a throwback player and his game lacks a lot of finesse. He has good height and a compact, well-built frame that could bulk up to the 240-pound range while retaining his adequate straight-line speed. More of a battering ram of runner who is effective on quick North-South hitters up the middle. Good initial quicks through the hole for his size and will surprise you now and then with his agility as a runner. Tends to run high though and flashes difficulty sliding through the small creases. YAC is inconsistent. Won't be much more than a short-yardage fullback at the next level but has soft hands out of the backfield and shows the physical tools needed to develop into an effective blocker. Can stalemate defenders but will need to work on leverage and controlling/finishing blocks at the point of attack. Not as powerful or superior at the high school level as you would think as a blocker. Defensively, he is a bit stiff, range is limited to between the tackles but he can blow up the Iso and is difficult to turn at the point of attack. Overall Childers looks good on the hoof and has the physical tools for a mid-major program to mold as a situational fullback

Lack of finesse? Battering ram? Agility as a runner? Perfect. As some of you may know, I have a soft spot for hard working U of M fullbacks (Obi Oligubo is my recent favorite). As long as he doesn't get switched to LB, I would be oh-so-pleased if Childers becomes the next Owen Schmitt. Or better yet, the first Jonny Childers. Keep an eye on this one.

Links

The Owen Schmitt story here

Devin Gardner vs. Pioneer quick video bullets

For those of you who don't know, this is Devin Gardner class of 2010, Michigan's QB of the future.

What I see:

1) Improved passing mechanics when he can set his feet. Stands tall in the pocket and uses his height. Sometimes when hurried compresses and dips down to add zip, needs to stand tall. His screen passes need some work, as he simply tosses them up. The screen pass is still a pass like any other, and on the next level those are going to get picked. In summary, his passing mechanics are night and day from last fall after a summer full of hard work and going to camps. I expect to see further improvement over the fall in this aspect of his game. Once he gets to Michigan under Rod Smith, he'll already be lightyears ahead of Terrelle Pryor in terms of passing mechanics at the same point in their college careers.

2) Elusiveness: what a marvelously talented athlete DG is. His burst of out his cuts are impressive, and his lateral movement is really surprising for a guy his size (6'4). It looks like he's a man amongst boys out there. For further rushing highlights check out this video from his junior year. I had heard DG was fast, but man is he FAST.

3) Leadership: DG wants to win. He elevates his teammates. No hot dogging or trash talking that I could see, but simply playing his game to the highest level. This young man will not only be a fine QB for Michigan in years to come, but a fine Michigan Man as well.

Links

True freshman Craig Roh's father responds to the Freep accusations.

Our tight ends, Meech football, and YOU!

As the upcoming season approaches, there is much excitement surrounding our shiny new offensive weapons. We return an experienced and talented offensive line, a pair of game-changing QB's, five amazing running backs, ninja slot receivers and a handful of reliable split ends. But wait, there's more! Left over from the Carr recruiting era are also two freak athletes that play tight end. But wait, Rich Rodriguez's spread option offense historically doesn't use tight ends, you say? Will our best athletes be rotting on the sidelines?! NOT so fast my friend.

How are we going to involve these awesome athletes in our offense? I think the TE question is a good measuring stick for RR as a coach. The ability to adapt your scheme to your personnel, the ability to innovate and adjust, I think separates the incredible coaches from the very good ones. Pete Carroll and Urban Meyer have proven themselves as elite amongst the coaching ranks for this reason.

It is largely regarded that this year, the TE position is one of the most deep and talented on the squad with Koger and Webb. With QB's in the fold who can now get our TE's the ball, as well as two dominant athletes at TE, the responsibility for our TE success, I think, cannot be blamed on lack of personnel; this year it lands solely on the scheme. RR has been consulting with offensive coordinators in the Big 12 in the offseason, and will be implementing a new "Trojan" quick passing scheme this fall, so a new look is already in the making.

If RR is able to feasibly adapt his scheme to effectively use our TE's this year, it will be a matchup nightmare for defenses. I expect to see the tight ends line up in the slot a fair amount this year in our 4 and 5 receiver set formations. As an opposing defense, needing to prepare for having enormous quick humans as well as tiny lazer-powered electron athletes in the slot will be tough.

So I'm just saying, friends, that the involvement of tight ends will be a great subplot to keep an eye on this upcoming football season. Reports are that we're getting the TE's the ball in practice occasionally. Since, according to Calvin Magee, the entire offense is already installed, let's hope that we'll hear that the TE's are getting the ball more as we get closer to the season.

RR has innovated at every stop that he's made on the path to coaching at U of M. I expect Michigan to be no different. If the TE situation works out, hopefully we'll be seeing more of this (1:30 in the video).

Links:

Good summary and commentary over at Forever Saturday about the whole "mandatory practice" Freep nonsense.

DB's

I am a big Boubacar Cissoko fan. This pleases me. From this scout article, DB's coach Tony Gibson:

Question: Can you talk about the progress of Boubacar; last year, he kind of got his feet wet. It looks like you guys are going to depending on him quite a bit this year.

Tony Gibson: “Yeah he has got to have a great year. He’s a solid kid on the field. He loves to play football and he needs football. I love the way he approaches it. Once he steps between those white lines, it is all business for him and he competes on every single snap. He gets up in their face, press man. If we could tell him, you play press man 80 plays a game, he’d be in heaven. He's getting better every day and it's important to him. That's what I like."

Boubacar should have a big year. He's my second favorite player on the defense behind to Mike Martin (redshirt freshman LB JB Fitzgerald, who may get a few snaps this year, is my third favorite). I don't even count Brandon Graham since he's ridiculously awesome and everybody knows it. This whole interview is a gold mine for information on all the DB's. A must-read if you've got a sec.

With the most recent Heisman winner from Michigan being a CB, it's surprising that we've kind of had some uninspiring DB play the past few years at U of M. The last truly great CB's we had, I think, were Marlin Jackson and Leon Hall, both now in the NFL. As far as what we currently have, Donovan Warren came in a 5-star steal from the state of California, but has been hampered by injuries his whole career. With D. Warren finally healthy this year and Boubacar as a physical, very talented but undersized corner, I'm happy with our starters at the CB spot. Depth, as is the case with our entire defense, is a major concern. But right now we've got 5-star JT Turner impressing in camp with his size and athletic ability, hard working though physically-meh redshirt freshman JT Floyd in the fold, and true freshman Teric Jones catching on quickly after the position switch from RB. With underrated 3-star converted QB from OH Courtney Avery (As well as 5-star PA strong Michigan lean Cullen Christian and the physical CB from FL Tony Grimes, hopefully) coming in next year, corner is probably the position I am most comfortable with, barring injuries, for the present and future on the U of M defense.

Safety, however, is a different story entirely. Largely regarded as the weakest position on the Michigan defense for the past few years, the mere mention of safety play causes eye rolling and groaning from those who have closely followed Michigan football recently. The tendency for MIchigan to give up big plays of late has become more of a habit, and poor safety play is a large part of this. This year, hopefully, will be better than last. With perennial goat Stevie Brown's move to the hybrid position (a much better position to utilize his athleticism, size and coverage skills, IMO), let's give Troy Woolfolk and Mike Williams a shot. Though Coach Gibson has positive words for them (what is he going to say? We're screwed at safety?), the truth of the matter is that our safeties are unproven (T. Woolfolk and M. Williams have game experience, but not much), and our depth is scary. The GBMW guys seem to think the Strong Safety position battle between M. Williams and true freshman Vlad Emilien will be one to watch this year. After M. Williams and T. Woolfolk, we've got Vlad Emilien, and walk-on converted QB-->receiver--> safety transfer from Southeast Missouri State, Jared Van Slyke. After that, somewhat impressive (though injured: ankle) true freshman Thomas Gordon from Cass Tech and... well... Yeesh. Kind a terrifying depth for the position that is the last line of defense. Who knows how good these guys are, though, and I won't judge until I see them in a game. I'm hoping for a pleasant surprise, so let's keep our collective fingers crossed that the coachspeak from Gibson holds some water.

I'm not quite sold on Coach Gibson, but let's give him some good talent first and see what he does with it before we assess his ability as a coach. RR likes him (Gibson was a former player for RR at WVU), but then again RR doesn't seem to know squat about the defense. That's Greg Robinson's job.

Link(s):

Great RR interview from MLive, not just the same old media-spin questions.

Also, the suites are selling well.

Related to the Gruden post: the composer of the epic NFL Films soundtracks, Tom Heddon, talks to NPR.

What position will Zack Novak play for U of M basketball this year? Dylan at UMHoops has his take.

Gruden, savior of MNF announcing

Finally, my friends, the anguish is over. For those of us who suffered through the dim-witted comments of Dennis Miller, the sheer stupidity of Joe Theismann and the awkward outsider/punditry of Tony Kornheiser, we can now rejoice. With the addition of Jon Gruden to the Monday Night Football broadcasting crew, we can now watch MNF football with the sound ON. Not only that, but we can enjoy it!

As they struggled to fill the gaping hole left by John Madden and Al Michaels at the end of the 2005, the process of the higher-ups at ABC/ESPN to find their perfect three man booth was painfully transparent. It felt as if they were trying to insult our intelligence by thinking that we could not fathom thoughtful commentary and analysis, but that we needed to be entertained. But by hiring former Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden, ABC/ESPN has finally gotten back to the formula that John Madden had a pivotal role in carving out for football broadcasters and commentators.

Many do not know that behind Madden's seemingly aloof and befuddled grandfatherly facade, lies the man who helped make broadcasting what it is today. From a NYT article

Madden’s influence on sportscasting has been enormous. He parsed X’s and O’s in a clear but garrulous, even hyperkinetic, fashion never seen before. He turned the Telestrator into an onscreen tool to suit the antic personality he displayed as the Raiders’ coach and as the wild, red-headed, arm-flailing Miller Lite spokesman.

Whereas before Madden joined broadcasting, televised football thought to be more like a drama. With narrow camera angles on the person with the ball, all the pomp and bombast of a horn-heavy epic soundtrack, and with Keith Jackson eloquently narrating the action, NFL ball was more like a war film than a football game. John Madden felt the average football watching audience was adroit enough to grasp the X's and O's of football. He petitioned for wider camera angles so that one could see the entire field in order to better understand the game. He also brought the now-ubiquitous telestrator to pro football to diagram what was happening on the field. John Madden was a large player in bringing the audience into football, not holding it high above them.

Bringing Gruden into the booth is a tip of the cap to John Madden, acknowledging his spirit is alive and well on MNF. Aside from the fact that both were former head coaches of the Raiders and that they're both named Jo(h)n, Gruden is like a lusty reincarnation of Madden on Monday Night; Madden 2.0 if you will. Where the lovable senility of John Madden once reigned, the fire and vigor of Jon Gruden now resides, with some additional improvements over the old guard. Having been a head coach in the NFL as recently as last year, Jon Gruden is intimately aware of the up-to-date inner workings of personnel, scheme and culture of the NFL. He brings to the table enthusiasm, recognition and an incredible knowledge base to the booth, which serves as a great compliment to the almost transparent play-by-play of (Ann Arborite!) Mike Tirico, and the savvy commentary of the veteran broadcaster (and former QB) Ron Jaworski. Even in the waning minutes of the Jets-Ravens game last night, when the thirds battled it out for roster sports (as an aside: Danny Woodhead is awesome!), Gruden and Co's discussions were illuminating and riveting while the gameplay, simply, was not.

I for one am finally ready for some football.