Figured today was as good of a time as any to write the first post. We all know what we witnessed on Saturday will be regarded as an historic event, whether it should be or not. The team that beat Michigan could compete in Division I-A. That's beside the point though. Saturday was a turning point for two programs. The Appalachian State football program is in the national conscience, and deservedly so. They have won 27 straight games, and have won consecutive Division I-AA national championships under coach Jerry Moore. They will have opportunities to play better schedules than they have in the past, and they will get to watch themselves on the big screen when Disney decides to make a movie. They're tickled to death right now. Michigan's program received a jolt unlike any it had received before. Not even a national championship could accomplish what Saturday did. The Bo Schembechler (RIP) era is slipping under the setting sun. We approach a changing of the guard. After this season, the University of Michigan football team will have a new head football coach. I say that matter of factly, but don't put your season tickets on it. Everything points to this though, from his contract change, to insider reports, to the general feelings of the fanbase. So we will have a different coach next fall, and I have a feeling that coach will not have any significant Michigan football ties. We'll get to that later.
For Michigan fans and non-Michigan fans the feeling is the same, Michigan football is stale. It has been for some time now. There isn't any desire from inside the program to create any excitement, which leads to the brand of football that you see on the field. The Big 10 Network (rocks) showed highlights of Penn State's Thursday night pep rally, capped off with fireworks in Beaver Stadium. ESPN showed highlights of Bobby Bowden speaking to a crammed arena as part of its 25 hour college football preview. This is a Florida State program that hasn't even had the success that Michigan has the past couple of years. I guess Michigan's pep rally for the year will come the night before the Notre Dame game in Elbel field. I assume it will be a festive atmosphere. This team has All-Americans all over the place on offense. What is holding it back? Lloyd Carr and Mike Debord can never put their foot on the pedal. You would have thought that the Orange Bowl victory over Alabama would signal a change in philosophy, that this team can use its weapons to score points without trying to control the clock or protect the defense. People thought it, I thought it, everyone was wrong. After every loss, we hear the same thing.
"We didn't execute. We simply made too many mistakes and had too many missed opportunities."At some point it stops being about execution. There isn't a team in college football that executes perfectly every game. Players make mistakes. It's not execution that plagues Michigan, it's the overall philosophy of how to win games, gameday coaching, and inability to adapt.....
......Which brings me to another aspect of the program, one that isn't in the eye of the general fandom, is the Strength and Conditioning program, led by Mike Gittleson.
Michigan uses the HIT (high intensity training) program, and was one of only 3 schools to use it in the entire country. Michigan State used it as well, but since hiring Tommy Hoke (from Appalachian State!) in 2004, they now use Olympic lifts. Penn State also uses HIT, but combines it with other lifts from Olympic training. This would be a good time to say that HIT is widely considered an inferior method of training for football. It doesn't produce the explosiveness that Olympic training provides in the forms of cleans, jerks, deadlifts, squats, etc. If you've ever wondered why harldy any of the players were noticeably faster in their senior year compared to their freshman year, wonder no more. You can argue to what effect HIT training has on Michigan's win and loss record, but you absolutely cannot argue that Michigan would not be better with a Strength and Conditioning program based on Olympic lifting.
It's hard to be real shocked about the outcome Saturday when we've seen this story told countless times. From team speed to defending the spread to inability to hammer an inferior oppenent, we've seen it all. Bill Martin knows it too. It's disheartening to even have to think about who will replace Lloyd Carr when it is only September 3rd, but it's also reality. I think that Martin will look for the best candidate to get Michigan into the new era of college football. We have a $260 million dollar renovation at our doorstep, so money should not be an issue at all. Whether Martin feels the same way remains to be seen. But the chances that anyone on the current staff will become the next coach are slim to none, and slim just skipped town to go to North Carolina. I can see Mike Trgovac getting a look, but he isn't a likely candidate. Les Miles is the coach with Michigan ties that gets the most discussion, and he would definitely consider it, but if Carr is in the Athletic Department after he retires I wouldn't bet on Miles being the choice. And Harbaugh? Well, who knows about that guy. A look towards other potential candidates will come a later time.
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