Friday 10 December 2010

Delonte Hollowell is all in

Four star CB commit Delonte Hollowell is all in for Michigan, no matter who the coaching staff is next year, however he did say Michigan would be stupid to get rid of Coach Rodriguez. Amen! At least we know Hollowell won't be going anywhere if the worst happens...

Perhaps more interesting were Hollowell's comments about Wayne Lyons, who he got to hang out with when they both took their officials last weekend. Delonte seemed to think Wayne was very high on Michigan, even giving a 60% chance of Lyons going blue in the end. Sounds good!

Hollowell definitely had his recruiting hat on last weekend, and looks to do the same at the Big Chill event tomorrow. Somebody sit this guy next to Anthony Zettel!!!!

18 comments:

  1. Good news for sure, just don't know about that comment.
    I live in Ohio and RR is Michigan's John Cooper, they love him down here, they do not want him to go. Does that mean anything to you? Sure does to me. I'm not understanding your overwhelming support for the direction Michigan football is going? The kids in Ohio are laughing at Michigan right now.....that's not good.

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  2. Steve, no one is happy about the OSU results over the last SEVEN years, but who is more likely to get a win against OSU next year? RR's Michigan or a Harbaugh/Hoke Michigan?

    And how many wins do you think the team would get under each coach?

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  3. I wish I had your glass half full mentality, unfortunately I don't. I respect your dedication and your opinion, I just don't agree with it.

    I have been a Michigan Fan for 40 years and its always been about defense and a solid running game. The 3-3-5 doesn't work, obviously, but is RR willing to change? Doubt it. The fast strike offense is great, but only works if your defense can make a stop. That hasn't happened in 3 years.
    If RR stays, he'll win against Eastern, Western, San Diego, Minnesota and Northwestern, and maybe Purdue. Under a new coach, a new philosophy, add one or two more W's, but they will be competitive in the others MSU, OSU, Iowa and Nebraska, with a chance to squeak one or two of those out.
    All I want for Christmas is for Michigan football to be competitive again!!

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  4. If you want a more competitive team next year, then you want RR as your coach.

    I think the drop off in offensive production will be huge with RR gone, and seen as the offense will still carry the team next year, I don't see how an average Harbaugh offense can win more games. We don't have an Andrew Luck or a Toby Gerhart.

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  5. True Mich does not have a quarterback that can last a full game, but you did have at one time one of the most storied football programs in NCAA history. But not now.

    Why is that?

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  6. One of the most storied football programs in NCAA history. History is the key word. Firstly, you can't change history, no matter what happens to RR, whether he gets fired this year or next, or goes on to coach for 10 more years, Michigan will always have the storied past. Two losing seasons doesn't suddenly take all that history away. It may dampen people's perception of Michigan in the short run, but if Michigan were to win 10 games next year, everyone would just say, 'oh, Michigan is back'. All of a sudden no one would care about the losing seasons that much.

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  7. I agree with you Benji. Our defense had some key loses due to injuries. When your secondary is all true freshmen and 1 senior your defense is going to be bad. Next year our secondary will be a whole lot better. I too think Michigan is better off keeping RR around. I also see Michigan winning 9 or 10 games next year, and maybe even more. Thanks for the blog and keep up the great work.

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  8. We should win 8 games next season regardless of whether we keep RR or replace him with Harbaugh. This decision is more about 2012 and the trajectory of the program. I haven’t seen anything suggesting that RR’s program strategies are well thought out and designed. If anything, it appears the opposite. A high risk/reward recruiting strategy + a one-size-fits-all motivational strategy = continuous attrition. Taylor Hill and Austin White couldn't get even through summer practices. Dorsey, Kinard, Rogers, Conelius Jones and Witty couldn't even get admitted. This isn't even including the close calls that were admitted. How is that a sound recruiting strategy? Pursuing Demar Dorsey instead of taking what was described as a bird in the hand in Tony Grimes. Now replace Dorsey with Conway and Grimes with A.J. Jordan. It appears he is making the same recruiting mistakes.

    Then you have the inadequate skills development on D, mainly due to an unqualified and incompetent staff that isn't on the same page. Poor overall mgmt of the D staff, not just once, but twice now in terms of the D coordinator's capacity to run his own scheme and how he works with the rest of the staff. Inadequate personnel deployment on D, in terms of using players optimally (Roh, Cam Gordon) and putting the right players on the field (Demens). Poor special teams skills development and personnel deployment (The Jeremy Gallon show). Put it all together and it says his program mgmt strategies are not well designed or executed.

    As for Harbaugh, I don't think the drop off in offensive production will be nearly as bad as proclaimed. Harbaugh runs multiple offensive sets, from the I-form to spread. He is known for exposing an opponent's weaknesses by using different formations to dictate the defense. He has gone run heavy (Gerhart) and pass heavy (Luck). Luck has run for 440 yards this season, mostly on designed plays. He took a zone read 50 yards for a TD against Washington. Harbaugh will utilize Denard fine.

    I'm also confident in Harbaugh's ability to form a solid D staff. He has made some impressive hiring decisions. Fangio is solid. The recruiting strategy is sound. He's landing quality kids. His recruiting has improved each year at Stanford. He is known as a coach that can motivate on both the collective and individual levels. There's a reason he's the hottest coaching candidate in the market. It's a bonus that he has the UM connection, understands the traditions, knows the rivalries, etc. Time for Brandon to deliver.

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  9. Deltron....thank you for putting into words my thoughts exactly

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  10. I'm not really sure you can take a dig at his recruiting strategy. What is wrong with going after a five star prospect like Dorsey....and landing him on signing day over other powerhouses like USC, FSU and Florida?
    As for admissions, RR has raised the standard required for football player admissions, but what's wrong with that, pushing recruits to strive for more academically. They knew the situation when they committed. This is after all a top 20 world university.
    He's made some bad hires on his D-staff, that's for sure. But that is correctable this off-season if he chooses to hire an actual 3-3-5 co-ordinator.

    But then again, that defense had nine freshman(6 true fr!) see the field this year, no matter who the coach was, it was always going to be a trainwreck.

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  11. I understand Michigan's history of smash-mouth football; a bruising running game and a stout defense. The former can be possible again, if we score both Hayes and Dee Hart. They definitely fit Rich Rod's game plan. The latter can be achieved with the right recruits, which coach Rich Rod has lined up. Several top defensive recruits are awaiting his status for next season. Which scheme he'll utilize is still not clear. They don't have the DB's to play the 3-3-5 right now. If the team continues to win the top players will come. Rodriguez never had a lot of Blue Chip talent at West Virginia, yet he won a lot. He can certainly get the type of players at UM to make his system a nightmare for opposing defenses and offenses.

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  12. I don't know what's more disturbing, the support for RR or the support for the 3-3-5 defense?

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  14. Steve, I'm not supporting the 3-3-5. I stated that they do not have the personnel to run the 3-3-5. If that was directed at me, your lack of comprehension is disturbing.

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  15. West Virginia has the #2 defense in the nation with a 3-3-5 base defense. They held LSU to zero offensive touchdowns, and they have the #1 run defense overall.
    Whilst they do play in the Big East, that's still extremely impressive.
    Further rumors are surfacing that WVU's head coach could be out after the season, leaving Michigan to take another swing at Jeff Casteel for their DC.

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  16. Good facts Benji. But it doesn't work without great personnel. We are so thin at Safety and there are not many guys left out there for this upcoming class. Casteel would be great, but we need some Blue Chippers to play in it.

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  17. Tradition just means the past, and yes, we have great tradition. But do you think OSU is winning with traditional OSU football? No, they have adapted. The Michigan offense has adapted into a top offense. Better players make a better system, in any system. Michigan's defense needs better players. The 3-3-5 is not a traditional defense, but it's effective. Don't believe me? TCU ( Ranked #1), West Virginia (#2) and Boise State (#4) all utilize the 3-3-5. 'Nuff said.
    If you are a fan of this University, of this football program, keep things in perspective. Anyone old enough to have watched Jim Harbaugh play at Michigan knows that he is a Michigan Man without a doubt. But the reality is that being the head coach at Michigan is not his dream job. He wants to coach in the NFL, first and foremost. I doubt if you would get more than 3 years out of him. If he won big right away, maybe less. And guess what? Then we are right back where we are now. Talking about a new coach. I think Brandon is throwing Rodriguez under the bus. We have top recruits jumping ship left and right because a decision has not been made. We have lost two top defensive recruits in the last 36 hours because of the uncertainty of who will be the coach (Walls and Cooper). So if we beat Miss St. and Brandon elects to keep Rodriguez, he's put him in a hole as far as recruiting goes. Fortunately there are a few recruits who have stated they are awaiting the decision on Rich Rod before making a commitment, but there are not many Safety's left on the board.
    Bottom line, give Rich one more year to fix the 'D'. They have a shot to bring in Jeff Casteel, the D Coordinator at WVU (Nations #2 defense; #1 rushing defense).

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