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Mailbag

RJ:

I was listening to a wtka podcast Phil Steele. He thinks Penn State is going to be good. Why is it that our transition to the spread is looked on as a rough one but Penn State’s transition is going to help them for next year already. What gives?

I admittedly have not finished the Penn State preview yet, but I do think a lot of “experts” are overrating them, if only slightly. In regards to the spread question, I think the transitions by Michigan and Penn State are rather different.

Michigan has a completely new coaching staff, with new terminology and a new base offense. Penn State, on the other hand, has the same coaching staff, and will still use the same base offense, but incorporate spread elements into it. Sadly, Penn State also has an experienced quarterback (Darryl Clark) with a skill set more suited to the spread than any of Michigan’s returning players.

Anonymous commenter:

I think Rich Rodriguez is trying to bring the West Virginia-style jerseys to Michigan. Didn’t he learn anything about Michigan’s tradition with the #1 jersey debacle?

The new jerseys probably have nothing to do with Rich Rodriguez, and I think he has far more important things to care about than what jerseys look like.

The “new jersey” that was leaked is a product of the Adidas deal (and Adidas trying to go for a change from the Nike jerseys) than anything to do with rodriguez. I don’t think it is likely to end up as the final product, and when a final design is decided upon, there will probably be some sort of official unveiling.

Commenter phillip provides:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/news/story?id=3459062

and I raise with:
http://www.roanoke.com/sports/college/wb/167203
These two articles definitely provide less chicken little-fodder for the Michigan fanbase. It is clear that Newsome is willing to do what it takes to improve his game, and become a better teammate, football player, and quarterback. As fans of the school to which Kevin is committed, that should be wholly acceptable to you, loyal reader.

The move to Hargrave, at this point, seems to be on account of his wanting to get the best coaching (and competition:

“The kid just came to play against better competition. That’s it. Nothing controversial. He gets to play against [junior-varsity teams from] Marshall, East Carolina and the University of Tennessee.”

) available and to get away from pro-VT pressure close to home. Until further notice, Kevin Newsome should be considered firmly committed to Michigan.

RJ:

do you think the fact that buckeyes class is virtually full will help Michigan..Especially considering the Zach Borens and James Jackson that Michigan didn’t want that bad?

It certainly can’t hurt with top prospects who like both Michigan and Ohio State because OSU simply won’t have enough room to take all of the guys who are interested in committing. That doesn’t necessarily mean those guys will come to Michigan, but there is certainly one less team in the running for a lot of top prospects that Michigan is interested in.

Posted under Coaching, Mail Bag
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2 Comments so far

  1. RJHOVE says...

    why doesn’t penn state always use this spread hd if it worked so well when they have used it…is there coaching staff braindead? The offense they had last year sure didn’t work well. They had none

  2. Tim says...

    “is there coaching staff braindead?”

    Yes. As is Anthony Morelli.

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