Blue By Ninety - Sherrone's New Staff, Juwan is Out, & #88 Forever

Episode Date: March 21, 2024

Justin, Kailen, and Tanner discuss Sherrone Moore's first full staff as head football coach at Michigan, the new that Michigan basketball is looking for a new coach, and Craig Roh's lasting legacy.

All right. Welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin, joined by Tanner and Kaitlin. Today, it is March 18th, and we do not have a basketball coach, unfortunately. Do we have a team? How many people are on the team? It's dwindling. By the hour on the team? It's dwindling. By the hour, it feels like it's dwindling.

You know what, though? It was time to blow that thing up, brother. It was past time to just crater that thing, rebuild it. It's unfortunate to think about where this basketball program is today in 2024 and where it was inherited when Juwan Howard took over. And I don't know about you guys for, for me though, you know, I never saw the Fab Five play. I have a lot of love for Juwan Howard and what he did as a player.

So I'm sure it's probably different for like, maybe it's segmented by the fan base and the different generations. But just a really, really tough tenure to endure over, especially the last two years, last three years, you know, the 21-22 season, they snuck into the tournament, got to the Sweet 16. But since that moment, since they lost to Villanova a couple years ago, man, it's been just awful. I mean, just completely awful, you know, with the incident. I mean, even the incident at the Big Ten tournament with Maryland,

not even talking about the basketball results, you're talking about off-the-court stuff. Obviously, the Wisconsin issue, the John Sanderson thing, it's like just never-ending, it felt like, with this basketball team and program. And so, you know, the last two years, especially the product on the court has been absolutely atrocious. Still, Michigan football and basketball, the same amount of wins in 2024

on the calendar year. Like, that's just – that's awful. I mean, that's – when a majority of your season is played after the new year and you get two wins, I mean, that's pathetic. Just a lot of late-game collapses and, you know. So, you – Michigan football almost doubled up on wins on Michigan basketball this year. That's true.

That's wild to think about because, I mean, Michigan basketball, like the basketball season, has over doubled the games, right? Did Jerome Moore have more wins as a head coach than Juwan Howard did this year like I'm not trolling like I'm genuinely I'm pretty sure they had the same I'm pretty sure it was five for Martelli three for Juwan I think well the university may not have credited Sharon with a victory in the other game that he was a head coach, but he did coach four with three being credited to him at the end of the season. So that's not great. It's not ideal. And I don't know the names that are being floated out there. I've seen a lot of Dusty May at Florida

Atlantic. I saw Bryce Drew at Grand Canyon, which is interesting. Very good at Valparaiso. Very good at Grand Canyon. Terrible for the most part at Vanderbilt. Not seen a lot of Porter Moser this time around, which is kind of nice. I don't know. I don't think he's that great. But it's going to be very interesting.

Justin, I think you've alluded to it. I think there are some certain restrictions that Michigan basketball has with the head coaching job when it comes to the portal, maybe some of the NIL ability from the university side. So it's going to be interesting to see. I've seen Shaka Smart's name. I don't know, man. It's interesting where this program's at.

But in this day and age, I think you can turn it around quickly if Michigan's willing to play ball, it's a very different landscape for college basketball too. Right? Like I think every Michigan fan is like, bring back beeline. Right. But I definitely feel like he saw a lot of the writing on the wall.

And I think he said it at one point where he's like, you know, NIL transfer portal dealing with ward. I mean, like a lot of that stuff he wanted to get out of there so i mean i don't know if beeline will come back but obviously as a michigan fan like what more could you want yeah i i agree with you i mean listen not to be this guy but if i'm beeline why would you do that? I would say the negatives way outweigh the positives or the risk way outweighs the reward

because you, as of right now, everyone loves you. I know it was a weird exit for Beeline and we all wish that it wouldn't have ended that way, but what if Beeline can't do it in this era and then he is very average and we have to like shoo him out it's like very awkward i think you if i'm john beeline i'm gonna sail off into the sunset i'm good on btn you know like i i'm i'm good i did what i needed to do um and maybe he still has a craving because of the way his career ended in basketball. Maybe he's like, I can still do this. I don't know that, you know, but I,

in my head, I'm just like, why, why, you know, can I, can I throw something out there that I just had to Google to confirm my suspicion, Bill Snyder left Kansas State, retired for the first time when he was 66 years old, which is how old Beeline was, and then comes back at age 70 back in 2009 to take over Kansas State. Coached there for another 10 years until he was 79. Beeline, 70, I believe. He's 71? Yeah, so it's one year off, very similar parallels. Not to say that John Beeline built Michigan basketball in the way that Bill

Snyder did at Kansas state. Initially Kansas state was a doormat, but Michigan basketball under Amaker while improved from some of the, some of the sanction written years was, was much better under Amaker, but it still was never at the level that Michigan had been used to. And he brought them back obviously. But it's an interesting parallel to Bill Snyder. And I think that the rumors were last year that Beeline was potentially eyeing that West Virginia job after

Huggy Bear got himself into some hot water multiple times last offseason. So who knows, man? I mean, maybe it's a situation where even if it's just for three or four years to try and create some stability within that program to kind of keep it from further going off the rails. Because if you botch another hire, and let's not forget, Ward Manuel got his guy. And yes, it was a great year and a half, two years, the COVID year and then going to the Elite Eight,

winning the Big Ten title for sure. Fantastic. But if he botches another hire here, it's tough. I mean, in his program in a school like Michigan, you've got a lot of money. You've got a lot of support. But I don't know about you guys. It's really tough to be focused on basketball when there are 30-plus games and your team is – not only are they bad, I can handle being bad,

but they just don't even compete. They don't hustle. Yeah, exactly. It's like why would I – so Claudia, as a lot of people know, my wife is a Nebraska grad. Nebraska's in town last Sunday. She's like, hey, do you want to go? Can we go to Chrysler?

And I'm like, I don't care if the tickets are a dollar on the secondary market. I'm not giving my money to this program i definitely not like i what i put this out on twitter a month ago it feels like now i think during that michigan msu game where it was like i've never cared less which stinks that sucks right like i i hate that like i don't even care that we're losing to michigan state right like that that is where we ended up towards the end of the season and it sucked and i want to be pissed off when my team loses like that's what being a fan is all about a rash i want to be irrationally angry right like i could have an have an impact. That's what I want. And yeah, by the end of it, I was 100% like,

this is not worth my time and energy to do this. And so I agree with you. I think it sucks of where it ended up. You know, the one thing I want to say is like, it was cool, I guess, to see the players kind of coming to, I guess, on social media, Juwan's side of just like the support. You know, I think at the end of the day, you do forget that these are human beings, right? A little bit. You know, I'm thinking of Doug McDaniel, who's now in the portal already,

which I think we kind of expect nearly everybody to be in the portal here pretty soon right but like i'm thinking about doug mcdaniel all right he's 19 years old i believe still 20 maybe he's 20 and his whole dream of coming to michigan and becoming great he's like completely flipped upside down he's got to find a new home he's got to find a new spot and that might come with a three hundred thousand dollar paycheck so i'm not like too uh you know down on him and not too sad but i think it's just like you know you a lot of people don't know what what all goes into everything you know i think at the end of the day it definitely looked like on the court there was not much care you know not much effort but um at the end of the day,

maybe they were just really bad at basketball. I don't know. But there were a lot of things, I think back to your original point, Tanner, like by the end of it, it was just time. It was time on all accounts to just be like, all right, this is, whatever's going on right now is not working. And then you factor all in all the like extracurricular stuff and it's like all right this is kind of a no-brainer um and i feel like the the product on the court was just so so disappointing that nobody's like upset about

yeah you know getting rid of joan we're kind of all, everyone feels like, yeah, okay. Like it's kind of sad because of what he means to like the history of the program, but I'm also like, all right, you know what? Like you came in, you gave it a shot. Didn't quite work out. A lot of outside things happen, you know, let's just move forward. So I actually kind of have a positive, you know, view ahead for Michigan basketball. Yeah. I mean, there's not many, not much room to go down. Thankfully. I mean, and you know, one thing I do want to say, sometimes these are important right here. This right here. Sometimes you got to hit these. Like I can't, I can't take,

I honestly couldn't take that shit seriously this year, man. Like, how do you not make, like, I just, I don't know. I don't want take that shit seriously this year, man. Like, how do you not – like, just – I don't know. I don't want to go into it too deep here, you know, because they are human beings. But, like, it's not that hard to maintain a 2.0 GPA. It's just a complete apathy from not only the fan base, which is completely justified, but from everybody within the program. Like, just a complete lack of caring from getting to class, maintaining your grades. I mean, going to the trainer's table, right?

That was one of the things that started some of the stuff in the off the court stuff this year. Like just a complete lack of caring about the team, the team, the team. And it's such a complete 180 from what the football program is right now, which is kind of crazy because it feels like we're just kind of like on a roller coaster of like football and basketball over the last. New every fucking day at this point, are we going to get into that right now? Transition from basketball to football?

Like, holy shit. I mean, let we'll talk about some things here in a second, but it is just like, we're either at the highest of highs or at the lowest of lows and there's zero in between we cannot go one goddamn day

without something happening like I just can I enjoy like a beer outside when it's 70 I know it went back down to 30 fucking it snowed today for a long time and I hated it after you know just classic Michigan stuff. But, yeah, it's wild.

I think before we move on to football, I do want to talk more about like this next coach, whoever it ends up being. You know, there are a lot – like Dusty May I think is the one like I'm hearing the most, which I know a lot of people on Twitter seem like were hesitant because he is like new. He's only had like a year and a half of success where Shaka, you know, has shown success at

multiple different stops, like that type of stuff. But I think my, well, what I want out of this next hire is just some juice behind the program. Get me excited. Give me something to care about. Like, I don't want some boring ass hire where it's like, all right. Yeah. Low risk, low reward. Like, that's not what I want, you know?

And you know, I know it does suck a little bit of like you don't want to have – like you don't want to take too high of a risk so that like the reward – I mean, we could be like really bad of a program and go way down to the depths of the Big Ten, but we're there. So we're there already. So like make a splash higher, get some juice. I want somebody like – the way that Sharon is that young guy with a ton of excitement and hope behind the program.

I want that for basketball where it's like in the world of NIL, we're making splash hires, splash recruiting. I still want to be Michigan where we're ethical and we're doing things the right way and all that stuff. But give me somebody that I can see being the coach for the next 15 years. That's what I'm looking for. I love that. Yeah.

That sounds great. That's what you're trying to do. Do we have faith in the current ad athletic department? So you never know. You never know. I don't know either. I mean, it's like – Was that your stump speech to be like, hire me?

I don't – that's like – I think I could have gotten us to double-digit wins this year. I'll say that. I think I could have gotten us to double-digit wins. I think collectively, Blue Band idea is like a – what's the four version of like a triumphant? I don't – whatever that is, like us three, Jack. We'll get BJ in there.

Let's make it a five-some, you know, with a guy with some coaching experience. Let's just go community. Let's just get the whole squad. I've played 2K. Yeah squad. I played 2K. I played NBA 2K. I used to play College Hoops 2K. I used to play Incidentally March Madness back in the day

before they stopped making them. We've got some experience here. I actually don't think we'd be able to do that. I don't think any parents would send their kids to us to play for us. I don't know longevity of a program. That's that's fair um everyone would have the 2.0 minimum can say that that that is straight up because we would be hitting them books i can like i'm not a very i'm not a very smart guy but i was able to maintain a higher gpa than than the 2.0 required like what are we doing here like we like the recruiting aspect of it i think i

we'd have to say like no parents don't no parents come come yeah then we'd be okay then like hey do you want to play war zone like you're gonna play some call of duty and they're just like oh he's the homie and then yeah then we're just we're running suicides all day because we're gonna hustle yeah that vibe switch would be would be rough for some of those freshmen coming in but and then, yeah, then we're just running suicides all day because we're going to hustle. That vibe switch would be rough for some of those freshmen coming in. But that's okay. Justin, real quick, I wanted to make a point or kind of comment on the point that you made about Michigan sports being extreme highs, extreme lows.

This is way cooler than winning the Outback Bowl and going to the Sweet 16, though. I'm going to be honest. I'll take the extreme high and miss the tournament altogether, finish last in the Big Ten in honest. I'll take the extreme high and miss the tournament all together, finish last in the Big Ten in basketball. I'll take that trade. I'd rather do that than even just go to the playoff and even go to the Final Four in playoff.

That may be a different conversation, but let's say go to the playoff and lose and go to the Sweet 16. I would still rather have the National Championship and go 8-24 in basketball. They were just showing respect to Kobe as well. True.

So very, very kind of Michigan basketball to do that. I, I a hundred percent agree. I, we kind of joke about it on Twitter all the time. I feel like I see it all the time, but like this Natty could carry me through pretty much anything. Like I, I mean, yeah. Like college football could cease to exist tomorrow and i'd be like i'd be really sad obviously but like i still would be like look we won the last one

we're that's it we're good we beat bama we're good we kind of did though like michigan kind of did win like the last of this now we're already going to we haven't even tried the 12 team playoff and they're like nope give me two more teams i don't understand that can we talk about that for a second like why what just oh did they see like oh we can play two more games and if we make you know 10 million more dollars or some shit like i i really don't understand the logic behind a lot of things that are going on right now or is there none i will tell you the exact logic uh it is money that's it that's literally every decision that's ever been made in mankind can be boiled down to money like it is and it's frustrating too because

the people that are making these decisions are so out of touch with what college football fans actually want and what would actually help continue to grow the sport and keep it healthy while also lining your wallet very substantially. It's not like you're going to be running this thing as a non-profit. You're going to make a lot of money, but they're talking about adding a two-minute warning, and we've already had the rule change for first downs not stopping the clock anymore,

so we can squeeze in more commercials. And God forbid, we already have four TV timeouts a quarter. We've got to get a fifth one in the second and fourth quarter with a two-minute warning. How about the reasoning behind the first downs was no more commercials, like less commercials. Do they think people are dumb?

That was what they tried to say, and I was like, wait a minute. Hold on. No. The funniest part about that is you eliminate the clock stopping on first downs outside of under two minutes in the first and second half. The reason you do that is because your games are running long. So the 12 games were running in the 3.30 slot,

and the 3.30 slot was running into the 7 o'clock slot. Why do you think that is? Why is that? Is that because we got Brian Bosworth playing a cop on Dr. Pepper commercials 17 times a game? I don't think it's because the games are going – like there's just so much more game time. Yeah.

Wait, can we throw it back? I want to throw it back to when everyone in like the first quarter of the season was like, oh, my God, Michigan only scored four touchdowns. Like, well, brother, they had the ball five times. I don't know. I don't know. Everyone was freaking out. And it's like, that rule affected Michigan the most. And people were like, whoa, Michigan's they only beat ECU 30-3

and then they just won the national title. I just, I wanted to make sure we remembered that because I remember it. And then I remember when the Natty and like none of the preseason games mattered at all. So, I just wanted to let that back out into the universe because it was very funny at the time. It's even funnier now. I agree.

I mean, just thinking about like people bitching throughout the year at pretty much anything, which obviously there was a lot that went on. But like, especially I agree with you, the early on stuff of, like, people – or even, like, Penn State. Like, people, like, how can you not throw the ball in the second half? Like, what's going on? And then we just, like, beat their ass. And it's, like, a monumental moment in the national championship season that we'll look back on forever.

And then you just punch me in the chest and like acting like a defibrillator in the basement of Pretzel Bell. Like just shocked my heart. Just doubled my BPM. I still think about that just like how – like what an absurd thing to do to just run it 22 times in a row. 32. 32.

You're cutting him a row. 32. 32, you're cutting 10 short. Yeah. Dude, yeah, that, like, and honestly, like, that game was probably the only game all year. I was out of Bama in the fourth quarter where I was, like, clenched. Like, that was, that and Maryland. That and Maryland in the fourth quarter. Like, those were the only two moments. Like, the Michigan-Ohio State game, I was like, dude, Michigan's winning this game

And then in Bama, a little bit But I'm like, J.J. McCarthy's about to do this Those were the only times where I was like, oh my god What a season We almost let James Franklin do it And then he James Franklin Thank god he's James Franklin Yeah, no

He's James He's Yeah. No. He's James. He's Frames Janklin, as I think that's a go blog nickname for him. What a guy. You know, unfortunately, Penn State's not on the schedule this year. So, it's tough. It is tough. It is tough. Before we go to the next thing, shout out North Peak Brewing.

Go get your hail ipa i actually think it's like kind of out of season but they've got a bunch of the diabolical fantastic beer um they've got uh siren i believe which is an amber um so they've got a number of them uh at pretzel bell and grizzly peak um they've got a bunch of them, which they're all great beers. Phenomenal. I love their branding too. It's all simple, but it changes it just a little bit. So shout out North Peak Brewing.

All right, let's talk more about football. Greg Scruggs, see ya, I guess. I mean, come on. I don't think so yet. So the thing is, this is his technically second DUI. First one was when he was in college. There was another incident when he was with the Seattle Seahawks that he pled down to reckless driving.

So it's a pattern at this point. It's the same thing. It's a pattern. It is a pattern at this point it's the same it's a pattern it is a pattern at this point i didn't read the police report i was too busy having beers myself can we a driver like dude we uber around in harbor it's not that expensive man and he makes much more money than we do and i'm like hey i can afford this 20 uber home from from the bar like it's just so it's very selfish and that's the problem with alcohol is that it clouds your judgment it makes you make decisions you would not make while you're sober and it's just unfortunate that a guy who's in his early 30s who's around our age it's like dude i mean what are what are we doing here

bro like i mean we've all listen we've all been in that situation, right, where like – and again, I don't know what the like level was or whatever. We've been in that situation. Should I drop? Should I not? You know, hopefully you always say no, you know, and make the right decision. But like – I mean, talk about just throwing away. And again, I don't know if he's totally throwing away, but, like, throwing away an opportunity of a lifetime.

Like, I just – it's hard for me to believe, like, when you get the chance to coach at the University of Michigan, and I know not everyone has the affinity for Michigan that we do, but, like, come on, man. And, like, I just – you know, when you're sitting there for cheryl moore and cheryl that's just it's almost like a slap in the face to cheryl for giving you the opportunity you know so i just i you know whatever i don't know what's gonna happen but just come on man be better be better dude yeah i mean i think with something like that so again it looks to be a bit

of a pattern not ideal but people can change they can they can they can make a decision to be better off um and maybe it's something where he's like you know what i need to go to aa i need to stop drinking i need to stop being tempted to drink i need to stop being in those situations um you know maybe maybe he's a guy that's like, Hey, I can't just have a beer. You know, there, there are some folks where unfortunately that that is just how they're wired, you know, and for better or for worse. Right. So I'm not going to disparage anybody. It's a very selfish act. It makes me upset. But I'm also speaking as a guy whose wife is pregnant, so I've got a permanent DD for the next four months. So I can't – you know what I mean? So that one's – but it sucks, man, because I was – we had been –

we hadn't done one in a minute, and we kind of wanted to let the dust settle on the coaching staff. And, man, that's a guy still I'm very excited about as a position coach, as a D-line coach, and wanted to come on here. We were planning this. I was out of town this weekend, so we're planning on doing one today and Saturday, read that. It's like, man, I wanted to come on here, talk about how excited I am about the coaching staff that Sheryl Moore put together. And we're going to do that, but it puts a damper on it.

And that's at the very bottom of the list of reasons why this stinks. But, you know, hopefully it's something where, you know, get rehabilitated and work through it. And, you know, I don't know if it's agreeing to go to AA classes and doing community service and whatever internal discipline from the university in the program. But, yeah, it's just another one of those things where it's like all right i just wake up and you know you're like oh all right that's what we got going on today uh but in the grand scheme of things there's i mean think how many times this has happened at different college programs i'm not gonna do i'm not i am gonna be like what about ism right now because this happens all over the country and that podunk college station pd all right hey we're good we're just get home you know like that so it's one of those things where it's like it happens a lot

and it's unfortunate and you got to be better but like don't kid you like any rival fans listen to this don't kid yourself come on now yeah facts um what uh what do you guys think about the rest of the staff? So, like, I mean, it took a little bit here, but we finally have the whole staff in place. And, A, Wink, I like Wink. I think that, you know, let's continue what's worked, which this system has worked pretty damn well. It's what has finally stopped Ohio State. He's the OG.

He's the OG. So it's kind of wild for us to get, like, these two prodigies that are now both NFL DCs and, like, then – well, and now – Head coach. Yeah. One is an NFL head coach coach and then you get oh we lost both of those guys in three years let's go let's just go get the guy that coached them that taught them everything that they know like okay like honestly these these are the hires that like ohio state and

bama and clemson and whoever else that's what what they usually do. It's like, oh, shit, we lose somebody. Let's just go get the next best guy. And it's literally the next best guy. So I think, like, it's pretty sweet. I mean, he's obviously just from a vibe standpoint very different than the last two guys, I would say. But I think the guys, like, he's like a guy's guy for sure. You can just see him with a big dip in just, like, just shooting the shit with the boys in the locker room. So I'm excited's guy for sure. You can just see him with a big dip in just shooting the shit with the boys

in the locker room. So I'm excited about it for sure. Yeah, no, I thought Kalen was going to talk there. So that's why I try to – I talk a shit ton. And so I'm – hey, look, self-awareness is a good thing. So I'm self-aware when I'm talking a lot. I've been doing that. So, Caitlin, I apologize.

No, I think with Wink. Yeah, I mean, he definitely seems a little more old school, obviously, coming from from Minter and McDonald, but definitely somebody who very well understands the system is going to be a guy that, you know, I don't think he's going to be much on the recruiting trail. And I also think he's probably a one and done kind of guy, but not a bad like filler as a stop gap until, you know, with like with Schroeder took over, like the coach carousels pretty much, you know, stopped like, like everybody got off the ride.

Like there was, there was not a lot of guys left that you could go and kind of tap to be your DC. So on short notice, hell of a hire. You know, I really like Wink. You know, wasn't great with the Giants, but also I think that the Giants have become one of the worst-run organizations. Yeah, I mean, you know, ever since Tom Coughlin left, they've just been a joke.

I mean, from Ben McAdoo to I don't even know who the coach was after him. Brian Dable now, like, Dable was solid with the Bills as OC. It's just the vibes there are weird, it feels like, with the Giants. You go to the Giants to die. Like, that's what it feels like. Like, you know, Danny Jones just signed a big deal last offseason, and now there's rumors that, like, they're trying to get a quarterback. Like, I don't know what's going on over there. So I don't know how much of that I put on him you know when he's with

with John Harbaugh obviously they won a Super Bowl together uh in 2012 and have been really really good um most years until he left Baltimore so yeah I think it's going to be like I said a one year stopgap I don't imagine he's going to get out to any high schools and recruit. I'm sure he'll do a little bit on-campus recruiting, but I think he's a one-year guy, but about as good as you can ask for, especially when they lined up a lot of elite recruiters on the defensive side of the ball with Lamar Morgan, Brian Jean-Marie, Greg Scruggs. You've got a lot of really good recruiters to kind of handle that,

kind of handle that, kind of offset that when it comes to Wink. So, yeah, I love it. I'm excited, especially because this defense, man, everyone's expecting Michigan to be down, and there are some question marks on the offensive side of the ball. But this defense is going to be top five in the country again. This defense is going to have them in every single football game.

So why not keep it rolling for one more year? It's going to be a very similar defense. 7-3. In terms of personnel, right? It's going to be the same defense virtually. You lose Mikey, Barrett and Saner still. You lose Chris Jenkins. Cam Good's gone. Josh Wallace.

Keon Saab's gone. Trying to think who else. Junior Colson. But you have a ton of guys back. I mean, you lose McGregor. Ton of that depth. Harrell. Yeah.

But you have Derek Moore coming into his junior year. Top 50 recruit. Showed a lot of flash as a freshman. As a sophomore, I thought he was really good. Josiah Stewart, man, in that Alabama game, I thought was phenomenal in the run game, which he is much more – there's a lot more in that Josh Uche mold as far as his size. He's not a big anchor defensive end type. But I thought in that last play, he was bull rushing a guy into the backfield. And that snap from the center – by the way, he's not Ohio State.

That snap from Alabama's center was a big reason for that play kind of being blown up. But Josiah Stewart blew his... So I'm thinking about it, obviously, so you got the two big DTs. I mean, the best duo in the country in Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Will Johnson, Rod Moore, Makari Page, Quentin Johnson. So this defense,

they're going to have to find some guys to replace some of those key starters. You're going to have to find some guys at linebacker, but you got Jimmy Roeder. You got Ernest Housman. You've got the kid coming in from Maryland, Jayshon Barham. You've got to find another corner outside of Johnson. You've got to find a nickel.

But, like, this defense is going to be elite again. And if you can just find, like, Cade McNamara level of quarterbacking, you're going to win a lot of football games. So a lot of people are thinking Michigan's, oh, everybody left. Well, yeah, they did. But like there's still a ton of talent here. So it's going to be another really good football team. So having Wink come in, that's – I love that.

Like keep the continuity for another year. Try to make another run because you get into the 12-team playoff, man. Who knows what can happen? I get the impression that they want him to be more like ceo style right like overarching set the philosophy of the defense and let some of the younger guys be the energy right be the juice fire up that defense i don't i don't quite see him being like a like a fiery don brown style coordinator but maybe you know maybe he'll be out there leaving some quotes, you know, on the next Amazon series. I don't know. I think he's like a, he's like a huge X's and O's

guy is what I think he is where he's like, he's like, here's what, here's what we're going to do. And then you guys go do it. You, you go tell your, your, your position groups to go do it. So I definitely think that's the truth there. I mean, there's a chance we win games like 10-3 or something like that. And obviously, I still think there's a lot of opportunity to hit the spring portal for the offensive side of the ball for sure. And I think that's the plan it seems like um but like listen we won game we the reason that we've won games the last three years is not by a bunch of offense right like it is we we definitely ended up scoring points but it was because our defense did not let the other

team score at all and so like you, our defense this past year was literally, it was up there with Georgia in 2021, you know, in terms of statistics. So, yeah, I think that, like, I agree with you, Tanner. Yeah, you know, JJ and Blake and, you know, a lot of guys are gone. You go down it, that's for sure. But if I have one side of the ball, I want to stay. It's definitely the defensive side. Cause that's how you keep like a program going. And I think there's still a lot of opportunity to add depth to that offensive

side. And I think there's more talent than you think. I don't know that there's a JJ McCarthy on the roster, right? I don't know if there's a Blake Corum, but there's a lot more talent than you think. I don't know that there's a JJ McCarthy on the roster, right? I don't know if there's a Blake Corum, but there's a lot more talent than you think. I think if we add some pieces, we're going to be okay there. And speaking of the offensive side of the ball, how about just going and getting Ohio state's running backs coach,

just right. Just rip them right out from, from under them. You guys know that the meme where it's the guy with two buttons and he's sweating to push. That's Ohio State fans with one option being they have the best running back room in the country.

I heard that a lot. The second option is Tony Alford's not a good recruiter or coach. I don't know. Which button do I push? Yeah, that was fun. I enjoyed that. I love the mental gymnastics.

We haven't really been on the good end of that ever. You know what I mean? No, it happened twice in the same offseason within a day of each other. Like, you know, shout out Greg Madison. And I saw someone make this point, and I don't remember where I read it, but it was fantastically said. There's a lot of guys that have done stuff like this where it's like – so think about Greg Madison. He could have retired here. He could have walked around Ann Arbor and just enjoyed his time as a grandfather and stuff and maybe opened a restaurant. You can't do that anymore.

And it's the same thing with Alfred. It's like he could have been a guy who just stayed at Ohio State. I'm sure if Ryan Day gets canned for whatever reason, I don't know why you would fire Ryan Day, but maybe something happens this November that causes Ohio State to do something. I'm sure he maybe would have been able to stay on the next staff at Ohio State and just hang around Columbus. It's tough moving, right? Like it's tough just uprooting your family and saying, hey, we're going, we're going elsewhere. So the decision that he made,

Sherone must have done a hell of a job convincing him to say, hey man, come over to the dark side, right? I'm with you on that. And like, I do think that, you know, a lot of people probably do want to come play for sure. All more. But there's, it's either that or like, what the hell is going on in that offense? Like is day,

is it a power struggle? Like is, you know, there already talks a lot of talks about, Oh God, I just caught a cramp. Oh, podcasting is easy.

It's not easy. It's a contact contact sport baby it's on the 15 day somebody somebody get the trainer get the trainer we need to get you some electrolytes my my boy we need to get you some liquid iv some gatorade some gator light whatever you want some pedialyte oh that, that was brutal. Oh, my God. We need to just – This is the first. Since we're already off the rails here, we need to get a Blue by 90 basketball team in some sort of rec league.

Just live stream the shit out of it? Yeah, we need Ty to drive over three hours every time we play that because he's taller than me. He's about 6'6". He's 6'6". You know, we might get – Well, yeah. I try to make myself feel better. I try to be like, hey, I'm not that much shorter than him,

so I'm going to say he's 6'6", so I can be 6'5", and it's probably not the case. But, no, I think that would be some electric content, by the way. We could get an all-big lineup. You know, we could follow the Juwan roster construction. We can test our basketball knowledge after saying we could be a better coach than somebody who played in the NBA for 20 years. I'm going to keep it 100.

You're going to have to find the shoes from Like Mike to put me in this. What a great movie, by the way. What was I saying before I – We were talking about Coach alfred coming over to the good side what like there's got to be something weird going on there because i i think on the offensive side of the ball it feels like right it's like all right is uh was heartline calling the plays now dave's calling the plays back he pulled them back, right? And, like, is there now chips in there? Like, I feel like not everyone's on the same page.

I have a theory, and I don't know if it's that far out there. I think the problem is, now stay with me, is that Michigan has beat Ohio State and Ryan Day's ass three years consecutively, and he is scrambling and doesn't know what to do to keep it from happening. I think that's where we're at in this rivalry right now. He doesn't know what to do. I almost forgot about that.

Honestly, it slipped my mind for a second there. But now that you say that, that makes a lot of sense. He's just trying every single comment like when you're playing mad and you're just getting smoked you're like all right i gotta i gotta stop running engage eight man let me try something different like he's just trying every single combo to see how he can put together a team that doesn't fold mentally on the last saturday of november like that's what he's trying to do and so I don't know if Alfred, like if he kind of sensed that or what, but you have to think that's part of the decision.

And also he's got to know, like, if I'm in Columbus on this staff, the day after Michigan beats Ohio State in Columbus this year, I'm going to have to find a job anyway. So why not go to the team? You're literally walking home probably, honestly. Yeah, you're not even – like they're cutting off your access to your least suburban like immediately. So you might as well jump ship, you know, smart man,

getting off that sinking ship and come over to Ann Arbor and coach a better running back room anyways. So, you know, I think it's's a smart savvy business decision from him and we're gonna see what happens with with uh with who they hire who they go after but man i love like it's ballsy like it's it's some bravado i love it man this rivalry is fucking awesome right now and obviously i say that more so because we're on the winning side of it. We're on the good end. Yeah, but like this is – even if you're an Ohio State fan and they're not –

they wouldn't be able to comprehend this because like they're – like they'll just put their head through a wall before they like say, you know, yeah, Michigan – it's good when Michigan is good. They'd rather just beat us over and over right which i don't like disagree with i would rather win every single time out there but like it's fun when the rivalry is back and forth where like all right michigan wins three times in a row they win a natty like and then ohio state is like we have to do literally everything possible to stop this. And just the back and forth of like, all right, then we go grab the running backs coach.

And then they hire Chip fucking Kelly. The moves that are being made right now to try and be the top dog in this rivalry are awesome. And yeah, I'll very much enjoy being the top dog in this rivalry are awesome and yeah i'll very much enjoy being the uh the top dog and one thing that i've gotten lost in in all this is what happened to my card it's a good question somebody asked me that today they like thought i had the inside track and like i have no idea like nobody is there is nothing being said i haven't heard a peep yeah i've heard it's personal stuff like that's like all i've heard so i really don't know yeah i i don't know either i asked around by ask around i sent our group chat a text

nobody said anything so i figured nobody knew. But I did. I said something. I was like, hey, does anyone know? And then the conversation changed. I was like, all right, cool. I know that nobody knows. But I think the thing that people need to remember here is that Mike Hart is one of the all-time greats at Michigan,

and we're having fun talking about Michigan stealing Ohio State's running backs coach. But, you know, whatever it is, whether it's – you know, because there's a lot of rumors out there, man, a lot of unsubstantiated rumors. Whatever it is, if it's something as simple as just sour grapes for not getting the coordinator job, I don't know if that's what it is. I'm just throwing that out there, right?

Like, no matter what it is, man, show Mike Hart some grace and respect and class. I mean, that's a guy, all-time leading rusher at the University of Michigan. That is a guy who won a national championship, three-time Big Ten champion as a running backs coach. Like, accomplished a lot, and not only as a player and as a coach, right? Like, as a player, you wish they could have won the Big Ten, wish they could have beat Ohio State,

but that guy was one of the best players in the country when he was there. So, like, I guess my point is, like, just have some grace. Show some respect to an all-time legend who did really good things as a player and a coach here. Kind of in the same light of, like, talking about Juwan Howard. Like, there were some really good things here. So, like, yeah, we're kind of joking, but, like, just – you know, like Justin said, they're people.

They're humans. And, you know, sometimes life gets really difficult and you don't know what's going on with somebody yeah and if it's personal then then definitely shut up right like yeah then absolutely if it's sour grapes you know it's that's life right like and i i you know there's i man i get it i've i get it I've made decisions where I'm like, all right, cool. Even if it's a place that you went to college and you grew up at and you love it, that doesn't mean anything. This is a job. And think about how you think about your jobs and whatever you do in your life and in your career it's like loyalty is a two-way street right so like i don't know what i again i don't know what the situation is but i think just you know having a bit of grace and just showing him some some love and respect um after what he's done for michigan i think goes a long way and he's a guy who all-time legends uh one of my favorite players as a kid like you know like so i don't know i just on a soapbox a little bit there but like i think that's important to just

remember um and i could you know give myself that same thing because i've kind of you know had some thoughts on juwan but like you know they're people too no matter how much money they're making right like that doesn't change it absolutely well um go ahead kaylin no that's that's a lot more than you put in the group chat, but okay. Well, I just asked. I said, no, I didn't preach at you guys there in the group chat. That's what the podcast is for, to get it all out, right? I love it. Well, speaking of these guys being human,

I wanted to not end it on a somber tone, but it'll kind of be uplifting, but wanted to say some just some things about my cousin, Craig Rowe, who passed away this few weeks back. And we flew out to Arizona this past weekend for his funeral. And so we got to spend some time with his family and my cousins and uncle and aunt and everybody. And so, first of all, I just want to say, like, you know, the Michigan community is unbelievable. You know, I think when I was talking to his cousins uh when we were talking about like to go fund me and hey can we get this out to as many people as possible in the michigan

community um you know i think it's like okay yeah he was a four-year starter at michigan a decade ago right and you never know sometimes people get forgotten about and like, you know, all that stuff. Um, and then all of a sudden it just like blows up and everybody's talking about, like, I loved him when he was here. And like, it was story after story about how Craig impacted random people that we didn't even know about and like you know fans and like everyone's like he was he was the one bright spot during a tough time and um so i just want to say thank you to the michigan community out there if you donated to the gofundme you know unbelievable if you didn't i love you anyways you know just any support uh possible um you know helped just from the our family and specifically his family

was just like in shock because they're not michigan people um you know he went to michigan but they've got four d1 kids that all went to different schools and first of all shout out to my uncle getting every single athletic gene and not giving any to my dad. So thank you for that. But so, you know, I it was just it was really cool to see the the support that the Michigan community, you know, brought to to the our family and to him and just all hearing all the stories was was really, really cool. I think we're nearing $250,000 on the GoFundMe, which is just how it's amazing. And, you know, it's really like that is literally going to change his wife, Chelsea's life and his two year old son's life, because, you know, I think the reality of cancer is like 18 months of cancer treatment.

I think you can imagine how expensive that is. And the fact that Chelsea hasn't had a, you know, she hasn't had a source of income for a while because Craig was that person for their family. So she's trying to figure out life now and that is going to just like really make a big difference. Um, so the, the, uh, the Michigan community is unbelievable. Um, and then the other thing that I wanted to say was just like, so Kovacs came and spoke, Gundy and Steve Wilson, and a couple of his former teammates came and spoke at his funeral.

And just the stories that they had to tell were awesome. And just like, I think there's that just Michigan brotherhood that you carry forever. I had, you know, Mike Martin called me immediately after he heard and said that he was in a group chat with Brandon Graham and, and a lot of those Troy Wolf folk and a lot of those guys. And, and it's just like, you know, it hits you, especially with him being 33. They, they were pretty shaken up about it. And so it was really cool. Those guys to come, not only just come, but to be able to speak and share some really good stories.

His dad, I want to share a couple of stories that if you didn't see the live stream of his dad shared a couple of recruiting stories that I thought that our listeners would really enjoy. The first one was Pete Carroll. And so Pete, like Pete Carroll at the time, this was, they were literally, it was the off season after they won the national title at USC. So he is God of college football. Right. And, and so they're sitting, my uncle, I think his high school coach and Craig are sitting in his office and they

had just went to a practice. He said it was like Ronnie Lotz on the sidelines, like Will Ferrell's on the sidelines. Like he said, it was the most unbelievable like showing of all time, like just L.A. to its max. And they were just the coolest thing on on planet earth at the time and they go into his office after and he's in uh um p carol speaks to him for an hour so he goes and talks you know they're just he's saying all these good things and then by the end of it it's like he's like all right craig the university of southern cal Southern California is going to offer you a scholarship. Craig sits there and he's just like, okay.

And then Pete Carroll, he like repeats himself. Craig, the University of Southern California is going to offer you a scholarship. Okay. That was it. And I think Pete Carroll probably just with how things were like things were going and so it was a big deal to get a scholarship offer to usc at the time and craig just didn't give a single shit was just like okay and like my uncle was like we were like freaking out internally as his dad and his coach they're like oh my god that's

this is insane and craig is just like okay sounds good like that was it and just like classic craig just really not caring like he was like okay that's cool i guess um while everyone else is like freaking out and then they get up up and Craig goes to shake his hand and Pete Carroll's all of like five foot five, right? And Craig was six five. And Pete Carroll goes, no, we don't shake hands around here. We hug. And Pete Carroll goes and like wraps his arms around his neck. And then Craig just like no reciprocation, just kind of stand.

Oh, no. Oh, no, you're frozen. Technical difficulties coming through. He might have to leave and come back in. We may have to carry it for a moment so while while justin's dealing with his technical difficulties you know caitlin and i've said this you know talking with justin or talking to folks i share about craig and and you know just hearing from justin what he meant to the family because i never had the the privilege or the honor to meet craig but i watched him i watched every single game that man played. The one thing for me that stands out

about Craig Rowe is he holds the record for most starts for a player in the University of Michigan's 145-year program history. Like ever. Most starts? No one has started more football games than Craig Rowe. That's insane. The other thing, and to a certain extent, yes, Craig Rowe and a lot of other guys were some bright spots on some bad Michigan teams, a 5-7 team with Rich Rod, a team that got smoked by Mississippi State. But I will say that that 2011 Michigan team is one that probably deserves more respect than it gets for Brady Hoke's first team because it's in the midst of – they hadn't beat Ohio State since 2003.

They had been losing to Michigan State on a more regular basis, which hadn't happened. And that team did lose in East Lansing. They did lose in East Lansing, but they won 11-2. They beat Ohio State. They won a BCS Bowl for the first time since Tom Brady beat Alabama in like 99 or 2000, whatever year that was. So that 2011 team, people make the point, and I've said it too.

I've said it. Craig Rowe was a bright spot on those, on those rough Michigan teams, but that 2011 team needs some more respect, man. Like that team, that team is a couple of plays away from potentially going undefeated. They, they, they lose two games at Iowa and there was, there were some, some plays in that Iowa game that if they go the other way, that that team wins in Iowa City. And that Michigan State game, you got second and one. Al Borges dials up a beautiful play-action pass. I guess Denard Robinson sacked.

And then I think they turn it over on downs. Michigan State scores and make it a 14-point game. I'm talking, Justin, about the 2011 team. And my point was that – and I've said it too, right? And Craig Rowe was a bright spot on some bad Michigan teams, but that 2011 team needs a little bit more respect on their name because that team was a couple plays from being undefeated. Like that team, they smoked Nebraska first year in the Big 12, a lot of hype.

Bo Pelini coming in. They got Taylor Martinez. They got a dominant defense. Man, Michigan beat a 45-17 at the big house. You know, they beat Ohio State. They beat Notre Dame in a crazy comeback. Like the defense was better. Like the defense was so much better.

Like that team deserves a lot more respect than they get and a lot more love than they often get. Like that was a really fun year in Michigan football where there hadn't been many fun years in the years prior. So that was – while you were gone, fixing whatever technical difficulties, I figured talk about the 2011 team, man, because I love that team. It's one of my favorites when I was younger, one of my favorite teams. That was like the worst time ever for my Wi-Fi to just completely drop.

But, yeah, no, I agree with you. Like, I don't know, a lot of of people like rich rod himself will tell you like that was my team essentially and if you would have kept me for one more year we're doing that exact same thing and then like on the up and up um so but yeah you know i mean it you know before, that was the team that we had, right? Like that was like the one team that we like had to – Oh, no. Oh, no. Yeah, I know there's a good Craig story with Jim Harbaugh

back when he was at Stanford. I know. I think you've shared it maybe once a long time ago, but that was always a good one. Can you hear me? Yes. Jesus, this is brutal. Yeah, I mean, they were the team.

They were the only team that we had for a while there that beat Ohio State right up until 2021. So, like, that was a squad. But to finish my story about pete carroll so would they they get he he starts huck pete carroll starts hugging him hands around his neck and craig does not reciprocate the hug and my uncle said that he's got like a vision of pete like literally lifted off he's like i don't think he was actually off the ground but he's like in my head he was lifted off the ground

hugging just hanging off of Craig's neck as in Craig's just like what is going on like who is this guy and like I don't think Pete had ever had anybody at that time like treat him like that right like he was that God

and so that was just a classic craig uh craig story wait hold on i'm curious who hugs hey i'm just gonna who hugs somebody around their neck i agree when you're a foot shorter when you're a foot shorter wild move like i hug my wife sometimes around her neck uh that yeah that's yeah that's wild like like i'm imagining pete carroll's like hands like dangling off over his shoulders like what are you doing like that's like a that's like a hug and a kiss like hug type of hide bro yeah that's wild this. This might have to be the blue by 90 hug, right? Like we all see each other. I think Jack already does that now.

So it won't be a change for him. And so he had one more recruiting story too with the one and only Jim Harbaugh, as you mentioned, Kalen. So Harbaugh at the time was building up Stanford, and things were going pretty well there, right? Like he was definitely not Pete Carroll USC yet, but I think he was building. Like, you know, things were going well, and he was Jim Harbaugh.

So the name alone had some some juice and so they had gone to USC and then I think it was like the next week they went to uh they went to Stanford and um they they went to the practice again then they go and they um they go into Harbaugh's office. And first of all, before any of this happened, Harbaugh was recruiting a kid from my high school. My dad was the assistant principal. Harbaugh ended up like sitting in my dad's office, like waiting to talk to the kid and our football coach. And Harbaugh, my dad's like, hey, you know,

I didn't know if you guys knew, but my, my nephew actually getting, you know, decently heavily recruited in football. He plays out in Arizona. Harbaugh like calls his guy is like Arizona guy, regional recruiter or whatever. And the guy's like, yeah, we're, we've got him, you know, we're, we're recruiting him. And Harbaugh is like, okay. I like, I'd love to talk to Craig, but I can't call him because this is like a no contact period. And he's like, John, if you call him and get him on the phone and hand me the phone, then I can talk to him. And that was how Craig's recruitment at Stanford with Jim Harbaugh started. Well, so he had my dad to thank for all that,

which is just pretty funny how it all worked. But anyways, they get to Stanford, they go to the practice, they get into Harbaugh's office and Jim's being Jim. I think he was a little smoother back then being a little younger, but still just like a little odd duck. Um, and, uh, Craig odd duck as well, just like very quirky. And like, was it like from the story you just heard about Pete Carroll, just like, wasn't the sales guy. Wasn't like, didn't, didn't eat it all up. Like, like a lot of people do. And Jim, he's like, so what do you, uh, you know, what do you think about, uh, what did, what did you think about our practice? Or you say, Craig, what's like, so what do you, you know, what do you think about, what did you think about our practice?

Or he said, Craig, what did you think about our practice here? And Craig's like, well, to be honest, I actually really liked Pete Carroll's practice last week. It was way more organized than yours and things flowed a lot better. And Jim Harbaugh is sitting there like, what? And he's like, what? Like, I think he had to be one of the only people that ever had Jim Harbaugh speechless right there. I'm like, Harbaugh had no idea what to say back to him because I don't think Harbaugh takes criticism very lightly. This 17-year-old kid who doesn't even have a scholarship offer yet is telling him that his practice sucks.

Maybe Craig prompted the changes in organization of Jim Harbaugh's practices at Stanford that led him like butterfly effect, right? If Craig doesn't say that, who knows if Jim Harbaugh even comes back to Michigan. Is Craig the reason for Jim Harbaugh's success? Maybe. You know, people are posing that question online. Who's to say? Who's to say?

It's not me, but people are asking. Yeah. So, um, those are a couple, I mean, we, we sat around, uh, with our family talking recruiting stories for hours this weekend. Um, just like what a world it was and talking about memories. Um, so Craig for our family, um, he, he was Superman,man you know it was wild to see him in a you know a state where the cancer unfortunately took him to because like he was that dude he led their family um led our he was the focal point of our family for a lot of things and i know um you know we all looked up to him for sure like he he was the oldest cousin out of our like crew. And we had a lot of people that looked up to him.

And I know when I was in Ann Arbor while he was in school and playing at football, I know for a fact he was just like so annoyed because I was like this little brother figure that was just tagging along with him completely like just like yeah where are you going today like hey just text him and he's like I gotta go to practice dude like stop bothering me um and then I like hey what's Denard like yeah literally and then I like made friends with his teammates and would like show up at parties where he was and he's like oh my god this guy again um but uh you know chugging smeared off vodka yeah he was like chugging like just egg protein shakes just that was in i'm sitting there

like chugging beer he's like just amateur hour over there um but the uh mean, the reality was like the reason for all that was like, I wanted to be Craig so bad. Like I, that was the reality for it was he was, he was, he did it all. And like his resume was unbelievable. And I like him being that Michigan football player was like my dream and he was doing it. And I just wanted it to be him. And I tagged along with him as much as i could and you know i'm as much as i annoyed him i'm happy that i did it because i

was able to spend more time with him so you know what i think i think there's i remember a blue by 90 related craig story um when he was on the podcast i I gave him the big question, which goes to show at the time, the question was, what do we need to do to beat Ohio State? Yes. And I remember he goes, well, I'm writing a book about pass rush. So I'm going to say pass rush. That was his whole answer. But since he said that, it's like Aiden Hutchinson, Josh Uche, David Ojabo, Mike, like go down the list of crazy defensive ends who just destroyed with pass rush. And why did Michigan win the national championship?

Pass rush, pass defense. I mean, you run an NFL scheme with with nfl players craig was spot on man just 15 and 0 national champs if anyone forgot since we started uh recording this podcast i wanted that to be known again absolutely i mean maybe he's the reason i don't think he's getting enough credit at this point i don't think so, go buy the number 88 jersey t-shirts. I got mine. Mine's a little snug, man. So I got to –

Is that why you're doing the diet? Partially, yeah, definitely. Before the show, I mentioned we did Greek yogurt and flour, like pizza dough and, like uh turkey pepperoni and like you know uh so i'm trying to get into it for the spring game uh so it's not as snug you know i don't want it to look like if it feels like those adidas era jerseys you know and uh i'm not as slender as craig rowe was so i'm unable to fit into those at the moment, but we're getting there. But go buy the T-shirt, man.

It's beautiful. It's great. It's fantastic material. It's very high quality. It goes to his son Max's college funds, and we're all going to be rocking him at the spring game. So, you know, if you all want to match, make sure you get the memo. We're all going to match,

and we're going to rock our 88 jersey to the spring game love it love it all right well um and the go fund me still still open as well so appreciate everyone that has contributed um there but um r.i.p craig love you dude um we'll see you again someday uh so appreciate you all. Thank you. For us, you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, at Blue by 90 Podcast on YouTube and blueby90.com. We appreciate you. Go Blue.

Go Blue. Go Blue.