Blue By Ninety - Sports Illustrated's Brandon Brown joins the show, Harbaugh vs. Howard, & Recruiting Roundup.

Episode Date: June 4, 2020

On this episode, we're joined by Brandon Brown, beat writer for Sports Illustrated's WolverineDigest.com. Separately, we discuss who we think will win the first B1G title between Jim Harbaugh and Juwan Howard, and give the latest news on the recruiting round-up.

Hey, welcome to Blue by 90. On this episode, we talk about our recent commits, then we jump into Jim Harbaugh's comments, where he talked a little bit about the QB battle and whatnot. Then we jump into an interesting question regarding Jim Harbaugh and Juwan Howard, and then make sure to stay tuned for our interview with Brandon Brown. This is the University of Michigan. Touchdowndown Michigan! The Beats of Michigan! They can't court extra pass. And it goes to the wind! The three-pointer by Jordan Poole!

Down the sideline! Peebles jumps! Touchdown, Wolverines! I'm hanging in there. I think we need to teach Ro how to apply sunscreen, man. We said I was out on the boat today. It's either golf or out on the boat, and I come back to you guys looking like a tomato every week. So Jack and I were talking earlier. We said we're going to have tomato of the week.

That's going to be one of our new segments going forward. I'm definitely gonna win nearly every week but um yeah i mean hey the sun was out i mean we've been in quarantine for three months now i haven't seen the sun in a while give me a break here guys when i go out there i take no chances man i'm irish i'm polish i'm like the whitest the whitest of white like either i've got SPF 50 or I just need to be covered. I just put a bucket hat on, my long-sleeved shirt, and I'm fine. My hand might get a little mosquito bite or a sunburn, but that's about it.

We just need to get the plaque made up for the tomato of the week, and I'll send it to whoever wins. Jack, are you a T-shirt-in-the-pool type of guy too? Dude, with this quarantine body, I might be, man. I might have my T-shirt in the pool type of guy too? Dude, with this quarantine body, I might be, man. I might have my t-shirts in the pool. That might be a good move. We're getting close to the end of quarantine. I think right now is the time to start dieting.

I've been drinking a lot of beer and eating a lot of everything, pizza, everything else. And so it's time to start this, this diet so that once we actually get out of here and I have to take my shirt off at some point, I'm not looking like, you know, I don't even know who, but yeah, we, we got to do something about what's going on here under these shirts. Now, did you guys get a chance to do any grilling over the memorial day weekend dude i've been grilling ever since i got that i'm about to go pick up some meat tomorrow and uh just spend a whole week learning how to be a girl dude i tried to grill up some ribs and it turned out pretty good okay so let's just get that out the way but i will say that i had the temperature up too high and they

didn't they like cook too fast but they didn't get that like crispy like glaze on the outside like i like you know uh so they turned out to just be like juicy ribs and not like you know with the bark and everything like that all fancy but i can can't complain. I had some ribs. As long as they were edible, right? Throw some sauce on them. Exactly. All right, well, let's go ahead and jump right in, right? Michigan had a pretty good week with recruiting, right? All of a sudden, like, boom, boom, boom, three, four-star recruits.

Roe, do you have any more specifics on that? Yeah, so, I mean, it really was, I don't think anybody, I think there were some rumblings of that we were going to get a few commits, but nobody really knew who, you know, there were some trendings towards these guys that we got, but definitely a couple of them kind of came out of nowhere and nobody thought that it was going to be, you know, like you said, boom, boom, boom, like all in one week.

But what we, the three that we got in the past week were Junior Colson was a four-star outside linebacker. Kejom Bennett is a four-star D end. And then Jaden Hood was a four-star inside linebacker. So, actually, you know, kind of going off of what I had said last week on the defensive side, we needed some of those guys. And I, you know, I talked about some of those, we had the three stars, but needed the four stars getting three, four stars was huge for us.

And I think that Harbaugh and especially Don Brown, you know, I think Gattis and Harbaugh on the offensive side, we're getting some of those bigger recruits, but on the defensive side, Don Brown hadn't gotten them. So this was a huge splash for him, like you said. I'm pumped about it, and I think it's going to keep the ball rolling here. We're still behind Ohio State, which, you know, we're going to say that forever. But we're up to fifth nationally.

So still second in the Big Ten, but fifth nationally, that's a damn good recruiting class, man. I mean, we're, you know, people have ragged on Harbaugh. You know, he hasn't recruited as good as he should be. You know, we should be, you know, top five all the time. And so, hey, we're there now. And I think that, you know, we've gotten there. Now we need to develop those guys.

I think that's where it's been the problem, you know, in the past. So I'm pumped to see what these guys, especially these three, can do going forward and hope we can get a few more in the next couple weeks. So what do you guys think about, you know, anything I said there with how it reflects Michigan and Don Brown or anything else? Yeah, Jack, you have any input on that? I honestly have no input. I'm pumped that we got some four star guys.

Believe one of my hot takes when, I think it was when we had cam on. Well, as I said, if we keep up the way we're recruiting that we'll finish top five nationally. And right. And right now that's where we're at. We're top five.

And I believe Jaden hood was actually on a um podcast episode with i don't quote me on this i want to say wolverine's wire or something and he was talking about how he idolized devin bush and you know tried to like watch his film and really model himself after that man if we can get another devin bush at linebacker i'll be a very very happy michigan fan. Yeah, just out of curiosity, I don't know if you have the stats or whatever in front of you, Roe. How many of these guys are from that New England area that Don Brown recruits heavily in? So I know that Junior Colson is from Tennessee. Jaden Hood is actually from Florida. And then Keetron Bennett is from Connecticut.

So he's up there in that northeastern region. I think that was a big one for him. But I'm pumped about getting guys from Florida and Tennessee, too. I feel like we struggle getting those guys from down south, and that's where the Bamas, the Clemsons, that's where they thrive. And that's really where, if you take a look at, you know, more of the five stars and the four stars, where those guys are from is either down south or Texas or, you know, out on the West Coast.

So I think that actually makes a huge difference. And if we can get some more pipelines to the down south, that's huge. But also getting, you know, continuing, like you said, with the New England, the Massachusetts, the Northeast pipeline with Keaton Bennett was huge. Yeah, no, I saw an article from, I think, 24-7 Sports earlier this week, and they were saying that there's no more homegrown national champions, right? The last one would have been like Texas team with like Vince Young.

And so you have to reach out and recruit and have scholarship players from many, many other states all across the nation. Example being, I think it was Urban Meyer's Florida team had something ridiculous, like 49% of the scholarship players were from other states. And I just want to see some more of that at Michigan reaching out because you can't win a national championship with only Michigan players or even only regional players at this point. I don't know if you guys have any thoughts on that either. I mean, yeah, a lot of the talent comes from Florida, Texas, and California. So he has to be able to recruit those areas. I mean, most years, that's where you see the majority of the talent coming from.

Obviously, there's outliers there where, you know, some years maybe Ohio is going to be huge or Michigan or New England or whatever. But consistently, we've got to be able to recruit those areas because those are hot beds for talented talented athletes oh yeah yeah and i think that um you know even jj mccarthy is now going to img academy so it's like those top high schools are down south where they can or out west they're in warm weather states where they can be outside all the time it's just a you know michigan will never be one of those top states of recruiting just because it snows for six months of the year, you know, so it's really difficult. But I did want to touch on too, we've been fighting against Ohio State, obviously in the state of Ohio too. And I think that we've actually had a good push in the state of Ohio. I know they've still dominated there. They're going to. That's

their home state. But we've made a good push in Ohio. And I know that back in the Bo days, even in the Brady Hoke days, Brady Hoke, not a great coach, but an incredible recruiter. And he made it a point to go get guys from Ohio. So I'm hoping to see some more guys out of Ohio as well going forward. Yeah, it's just a couple misses in the Jim Harbaugh era, right? I mean, think about the whole program. If we would have had Najee Harris, Zach Harrison, just a few guys, if we would have got them, it really could have changed the whole narrative.

But anyway, speaking of the Jim Harbaugh era, Jim Harbaugh was out running his mouth this week on all the different news outlets, right? He was talking a little bit about our favorite age-old topic, QB battle. And really, it only amounted to, I told our guys to read the playbook and to go out and throw the ball. Nothing new, right? He is the QB whisperer you know so that if that if that's all it takes to be a qb whisperer i think i got to apply for some some quarterback coaching jobs well he was also out there saying uh michigan is about as close as you can be to winning a national title what do you guys think about that comment? I, I don't know, man.

I don't know. When you look back at like 2016, you know, I can 1000% agree. Like we were one play away from going to big 10 title. If we go to that game, we're more than likely beating whoever we're playing and we're going to make the playoff. And that's as close as you can be. Right. And then, I mean, 2018, if Ohio state loses to Maryland, we're in the big 10 title game, you know, and if, you know, our defense doesn't give up 62 points, right. You know, we're there. So, I mean, I can see where he's coming from,

but the thing that sucks for us is it always comes down to the Ohio state game. And especially when we're getting blown out by Ohio state, it doesn't make it look as close as maybe it really is. And maybe that's what Harbaugh is seeing where, you know, for us, that game really sticks in our heads and we see a 20 point loss and, you know, it doesn't really seem like that's reality where we're actually that close to get into a national title.

Yeah. And I, I just don't see any reason for him to say this like i mean it's just it i don't get it you know where it obviously everything harbaugh says is a headline it makes espn it makes it it's rounds on every every news article there is a news outlet but like you don't have to say that it almost feels like sometimes when he says this stuff, he's trying to say it to convince his own fan base and even himself that, like, they are there, you know? And so I get it on the recruiting trail. You're not going to go out there and say, we're not even close. You know, you want to say, you know,

you want everybody on your team and on the recruiting trail to believe that you are a top five program and you're that close. But there's just no reason to say that because you know there's going to be backlash and even though he's i don't think he's on twitter whatever reading these you know he's not on the the blogs reading the comments and the backlash to it but it's like dude at some point you got to nut up and actually do some of these things instead of just saying it and until he does that all these things are going to be just we're going to shake our heads at him yeah i feel like this comment just like it just almost shows how crazy jim harbaugh is in a lot of ways right i mean like even that 2016 team like we were so close to beating ohio state but then that ohio state team correct me if

i'm wrong i think they got blown out by clemson didn't score any points they got yeah 100 so even if we would have beat ohio state it's like you know whatever uh so i'm just kind of like it makes me scratch my head because i'm like we haven't even won a big 10 championship so how can you say like we're as close as we can be there's still a couple steps to go uh but that being said i'm like i'm also there's that other side of me who's like we are that close right like a couple mistakes here and there and we could have just totally changed the tide um yeah i mean i just i i just want to win guys i'm just sick of the like i know like i just said harbaugh is going to be in the news no matter what but it's just i wish sometimes we'd have a coach that just kind of stayed quiet but then on the

other hand i'm like i love fiery harbaugh, you know, and I feel like we need that. So, you know, it's a double-edged sword there as well. Yeah, well, Harbaugh is always going to run his mouth. But hopefully he, you know, gets it together. And I think he's putting the right players together in the right kind of system to start winning. But I'm going to use that to segue into our next topic here. Can he win? And can Juwan Howard win?

Right. So Jack, I think you have a good question to pose to both of us. All right. So question, who do you guys think is going to win a big 10 title first? Juwan Howard or Jim Harbaugh? Yeah, I'll jump right into this one. Um, I mean, I think both are great coaches um i it's hard to say with juwan just because he hasn't had a chance to even coach through the full season through the

big 10 tournament and all that uh but just i i truly believe in juwan and just seeing the way that he started to recruit and recruited these big time five star players, I think if he gets just a few of them, he can take Michigan to that next step. And really the next step for Michigan basketball is actually winning the national title. So I think that Juwan will win before Jim Harbaugh does. I am going to disagree with you here. I actually, as much as I agree with you, I think Juwan Howard is a fantastic coach. He's the right guy at Michigan. There really isn't anybody out there that has more passion and heart for the University of Michigan than Juwan Howard does. I mean,

you saw him crying at the press conference when he got introduced and just like he's shown it but on the recruiting trail he's been incredible but he I I hate to say this because I obviously don't want to see it happen and we do have some really good talent coming back I kind of think he's going to have a little bit of a sophomore slump going into next year and and so I think Xavier Simpson leaving, I think people are not giving that as much emphasis as there needs to be. So I don't know if he is going to, you know, keep trending completely upward. He'll probably figure it out. And maybe he does get back to the top of the Big Ten. But we were ninth in the Big Ten last year. So, like, they weren't even competing for a Big Ten title, and I mean, at this point for Jim Harbaugh, it's like, dude,

it's got to be one of these years, right? I mean, maybe this is just wishful thinking, but for me, I think at some point, the cards have to fall in place for Jim Harbaugh. This, I think at some point the cards have to fall in place for Jim Harbaugh. This, I think, is a pretty good year. You know, I'm excited for the quarterback position. Jim Harbaugh hasn't had a quarterback that he has recruited and developed, you know, for multiple years under his tenure. And so I think going forward this year and next, whoever it is, Milton or McCaffrey,

we could see a Big Ten title in the next two years. I'm going to say next year is probably the better year just because we play Ohio State at home. But, yeah, I think Jim Harbaugh is going to win a Big Ten title before Juwan Howard. Wow. I guess I should have framed this question better. Big Ten title, are we counting regular season or Big Ten tournament?

Because, like, what's the difference there? I always say that the Big Ten regular season is, like, the true champion because, like, that's over the full season. You can get hot in the tournament and that's a you know it's it's definitely a big accolade but like it's not a true testament to what you did over the full season i was big 10 tournament i said national title but big 10 tournament yeah sure so i guess if we're doing if we're not counting the big 10 tournament oh i then okay yeah I'm switching it up.

I was going to say Jawan Howard just because we've seen Michigan basketball win a Big Ten tournament a couple times now in the last five years or so. I might be off a little bit there. So I think they've got the momentum where they believe that they can get it done. done and they don't have a goliath sitting in their way like we do at the end of every season whereas ohio state ranked you know top 10 somewhere and they just kick our ass so um i do i do like what you said bro we've got like the next two years we've really got you know we know we're gonna have a quarterback that harbaugh's been able to groom and has been in the system for multiple years and a guy that uh we can really believe in that has a hell of a lot of talent so i do i'm gonna say harbaugh i think harbaugh won the big 10 title before juwan does and i think it won't be next year but the year after when we do play them at play ohio state at

home oh man i hope so i'm just i'm tired of saying i'm tired of saying this is our year and then we just get destroyed yeah yeah i mean we it's been what every year for the last 20 years i think about this like honestly if juwan howard does win a big 10 title before jim harbaugh how much crap is j Harbaugh going to take from the national media, even his own fan base here? It's going to be like, dude, Juwan Howard came in with not – he's never even been a head coach before, and he could get it done before you can,

and we're still paying you $7 million a year, man. I mean, that's – yeah. Yeah, it's time to put up all right all right well uh does anybody have anything else before we move on nope all right well great stay tuned for our interview uh with sports illustrated writer brandon brown all right thank you guys for uh staying tuned we have Brandon Brown now. He is a content creator, beat writer, covering Michigan football and basketball with Sports Illustrated. Brandon, thanks for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate it.

How have you been staying busy during quarantine? Yeah, trying. Yeah, trying to stay busy. You know, no spring football. Well, I was going to say no media availability, but they've actually made a couple of the coaches available to us via Zoom call, which has been nice. So we're just – you know, everybody out there is just trying to find stuff to write about. You look at old stuff. You compile lists. You look at previews.

You do predictions, roundtables, opinions. I mean, just trying to piece it together. I mean, that's all kind of stuff we would do anyway, but that's all we have now. So it's just trying to be efficient with it and, and trying to, trying to put stuff out there that people want to read about. I mean, everybody's looking for a little bit of a sports escape right now. So people are reading stuff. It's, but it's, it's been challenging, man, to come up with stuff to talk about every day. And I guess, how long have you, um, how long have you been doing what you're doing? Yeah. So, I mean, I've transitioned around a little bit.

I think I started my own website or blog back in 2009 or 10, somewhere in that range. That was the M Block. It was just something that I was living in South Carolina. I was a teacher. I was a football and basketball coach. And I started it really just for fun, kind of stay connected a little bit to the program and the teams that I was a fan of. I was living basically on Clemson's campus, so it was like purple and orange everything all the time. So I started that site and just kind of did it for fun, would talk to some of my friends back home, and then I got hired for a very brief stint at

Emgo Blog to cover recruiting from remotely. I was still living in South Carolina, and then Rivals and TheWolverine.com reached out to me and hired me full-time in 2014, moved back to Michigan, did that for five years, and then jumped over to The Maven and Sports Illustrated last August. So, yeah, kind of been jumping around a little bit, but pretty close to 10 years now I've been doing something, whether it's covering recruiting or following Michigan football

and basketball pretty closely. And just that recruiting life, I feel like it seems like it can be pretty exhausting. There's so many kids out there, and they're flip-flopping all the time. So give us a little insight about what that's like to follow a kid from, it seems like they're even younger and younger now, down to 13, 14 years old. So yeah, give us a little insight on what that's like. It's tricky, man. I mean, the rise of social media has certainly changed that a little bit. Kids kind of want to break their own news now. You don't get, you get scoop, you kind of find out stuff at a time, but it's mostly the kids doing their own announcements. So there's that aspect of it. It's really saturated.

I mean, there's a lot of people covering recruiting. It's more and more every year. But it's something I've always really had an interest in, even going back to when, like, playing, like, the NCAA football games on, you know, PlayStation or whatever. I always loved the recruiting class part of it. I don't know why. I mean, I feel like it's a niche market.

Like, I always say, like, my dad is one of the biggest Michigan fans in the world, and he doesn't really follow recruiting that much. It's just not his thing. But there is a faction of people who are so into it that they will consume everything. So, yeah, you mentioned how early it starts for kids, but people care. Like, oh, who's this eighth-grade quarterback who just got an offer? They care about that stuff. And sometimes it pans out and sometimes it doesn't.

But it's something I've always had an interest in and again i i used to teach and coach middle school so i just have always been around coaches and kids and sports and their parents so it kind of all even though i went to school to be a teacher it kind of helped prepare me to cover recruiting so um yeah i don't know something i've always been into and something that's really it morphs like it seems like monthly almost like it changes so much and the rules have changed now too with the early signing period and all of that like it's just uh it's a very very fluid thing to cover and some people hate it but some people love it and so that's that's kind of where I got my start and that's that's how I got into

this business in the first place yeah that's it is that it's just crazy especially going younger and younger and it seems like you guys now have to cover almost you know up until the day a kid signs you know a commitment isn't even a commitment anymore so i we appreciate you guys on the on the recruiting front because it's something that it is it has to be you know just wild to to go through that whole process with so many kids and do write-ups for kids that never even come to Michigan at all. I was just thinking that. I've taken flights and trips to different parts of the country to see these kids in high school and talk to them and their coaches

and get to know their parents, and maybe they're committed to Michigan at the time and then they end up signing somewhere else. It's just like, man, did I really do all that and spend all that time, you know, away from home on the road and whatever? But I like that. I mean, I like watching high school football. I mean, that's always been something I've been into. And, you know, it just comes with the territory.

Some people are really, really annoyed by it. But for me, it's just like it's the way it goes, man. It's a really big decision for kids. And I think they should really be able to do it however they want i don't care i mean i don't get upset or take it personally that i covered a kid for three years and then he goes so i don't care like it's their thing it's just kind of part it comes with the territory and it's something i've always i've always enjoyed following and then when i got to cover it it just it really was an enjoyable thing for me. And even with like, with that recruiting and I mean, obviously the Michigan fan base,

it seems like people are either super optimistic or they're super pessimistic. And I guess one of the questions we had is how do you believe that fans affect recruiting? Do you think that it is something that the recruits really pay attention to? And do you think, I guess, what can fans do, and maybe even Michigan fans or just fans in general, to positively affect that if the recruits are even paying attention to that?

Completely, that's zero. I think it's zero. I don't think the fans have any effect on it at all. I really don't. Covering it like I did and talking to parents and talking to kids and talking to coaches, it never comes up, like never. They don't care. I know there's probably they see it, but in the grand scheme of them making their decision,

I don't think it's a factor at all. I think there's so many things that are so much more important, the distance from home and the vibe with the coaching staff and how they fit in scheme-wise, how they're going to be used uh the culture of the team i mean there's so many bigger things that come in that i just i really don't think it matters that much and not only that it's not a michigan specific problem it happens at every single school the exact same way and so if you're going to pick one school because of their fan base or how they interact or don't interact or like you or don't like you, you're going to get the same thing at another school, too, on your visit or whatever.

So, I mean, kids do say, you know, when they go on an official visit, like, oh, the fans knew my name. Like, that was so cool. Like, that's cool for that day. But I really think it has little to no effect on how kids make their decisions and what school they end up going to. I just think it's a very, very small part that doesn't even register when it comes to making a decision. So you're telling me that it's not a contest of how many people can put a Michigan GIF under a recruit's tweet out there? I thought that was how it worked. It was just, you know, who can throw the most M emojis at them. And then if we win, then they'll recruit or commit to us.

Yeah, no, I mean, don't get me wrong. There are a lot of kids out there who like, yo, Michigan nation, get me to 5,000 followers or yo, Bama, get me to 10 K. Like they say that, but no, it just, I mean, think about it. If a kid's making a decision at all, like, what is that kid doing? And, look, I know they're 16, 17, 18 years old, and, like, the clout on social media is, like, kind of important to them. But, look, I've talked to hundreds and hundreds of kids, and I've never once had one say, like, I made my decision because the fans were better here than there.

Like, it's never been said, and I don't think it's a part of it. Do you, would you say that fans could positively or negatively affect players once they get on campus? I feel like sometimes, you know, once those guys are now on campus and maybe they're looking to transfer or even just like looking to fans reactions of how they play on the field or what they're doing. I feel like guys see that maybe more in that instance, because it's only one fan base now that they can receive feedback from. Yeah, I think, man, I don't know. I mean, I think they hear it, they see it, they read it. They know, I think back to the Amazon series a couple years ago

when Wilton Spate specifically mentioned Nick Baumgartner by name. That's a media person. So they see it. They see the articles. They see, like, oh, the fans were booing at the last game after the interception thrown or whatever. They know it's there. But I still just don't think it's –

I really don't think it comes into play comes into play when it when it comes to like i'm either going to stay at this school or look to transfer i'm going to pick this school my recruitment or i like this school but i don't like their fans like i just i don't know i don't think it's a big enough deal um at the end of the day you know most of these kids that we're talking about that are recruited by michigan are going to be playing in front of 80 90 100 000 people on a saturday i don't think that they care that much about a small faction that might not like what they did and then the next week they're the hero though i mean i don't know i think it doesn't it changes too much it's not that big of a deal of what they're actually trying to do their ultimate goals their bigger picture

so i know fans like to think they have a big influence i just don't really think they do i just don't think they do you'd be better you'd be better asked better served to ask a player i don't know if they'd give you a straight answer or not but i i don't think it matters i really don't honestly i think that's probably good i think that's probably a good thing just based off of like stuff we see like all the time on social media and whatnot um but i guess like in your to kind of like segue off of this in your experience with, you know, Michigan football and, you know, preparing for the fall season. I mean, obviously I feel like nobody really knows exactly what's happening right now and,

you know, how the season's going to look if there even is one. Um, but like, let's say if there would be a regular season in your eyes, like how does in your experience, how does that kind of, kind of go about like during the spring and the summer where maybe the players and the coaches can't do that right now yeah it's i i don't i don't know what i mean we've you know we've heard a lot about what the coaches and all all the programs across the country are doing during the pandemic and it's obviously very different right now it's what june 1st so in a week or so or right around now is when the freshmen would be arriving on campus and getting moving into the dorms and starting to get their playbooks and they're they some of them might

have that stuff already you know i don't even know the ins and outs of that perfectly but this is when they would be getting on campus you know fall camp would be just a you know a month or a month and a half away where they're starting to get together and work out and start to really learn the installs and stuff like that so that that's what we would be doing right now, hoping that we would be getting some nuggets of information from insiders. I do know some of the parents of current players a little bit, so I'm tapping into them here and there to see what's going on. Some of the former players that I had a better relationship with,

a lot of local kids, especially Detroit area kids, that I would have seen in person 50 times from the time they're in 9th or 10th grade where I can still you know shoot them a text and be like yo how you know how's this going or what's going on i don't ever expect to get a lot of in-depth information that way but you know just getting a response back or hearing from them about certain things is always cool um but yeah we just we don't know right now it's just up in the air like i think if i even got completely honest answers from parents and players and even the coaches

themselves like they wouldn't be able to tell you much right now they just don't know and so until until we figure out a date on when you know everybody's going to be able to come back and when they do come back what are they able to do we're all just kind of in a wait and see and holding out hope that the season takes place um you know takes place like it's supposed to on paper right now the the the opener at Washington I mean certainly just because it's supposed to on paper right now, the opener at Washington. I mean, certainly just because it's so far away and it's the first game of the season, that one seems to be in real jeopardy. But I hope not.

I mean, I hope everything gets back to normal and everything is safe. But, man, people want their football. Everybody wants it to play out how it's supposed to. So that's where everybody is right now, I'm sure. And so it's sounding like June 15th could be the date that Michigan players are back on campus, you know, depending what goes on with the stay-at-home order in Michigan. But do you think so? June 15th, guys are back on campus.

Are they way late? You know, is that affecting where they're going to be at come that first uh Saturday and in the of the season or or do you think they can get fully prepared by that time you know I think they would get up to speed pretty well I mean certainly missing spring football is a big deal and I do think Michigan specifically without having a starting quarterback is going to be behind anybody who does have a starter already kind of in the lineup um you know you got to wonder where guys are in terms of how good a shape they're in what were they doing during this whole two two and a half three months

or whatever four months whatever it ends up being by the time they can get back on campus and start working out again i'm sure some guys took it very very seriously and stuck to the strict diet and did the workouts the best they could and i'm sure sure some guys didn't. I mean, that's just the nature of sports. I mean, if you guys played sports, you know how some teammates are. Some guys are just machines about it and others aren't. So I think that's going to be a really big part of it, just seeing where guys are physically. And then the quarterback situation is huge in college football. And Michigan not having a starter is going to be behind the eight ball a little bit but so are a lot of other schools I mean unfortunately Michigan's biggest rival Ohio State is not one of them they got Justin Fields and he's

the guy and that's going to be what it is uh he's already good enough and now you know they've got they've got a heads-up advantage because he's been the starter for a year um so I think those are some of the bigger factors if you've got position battles that you haven't seen anything, quarterback probably being the most challenging, and then offensive line, where Michigan's got a lot of work to do there as well. And then physically, where are the guys at? But I think in terms of learning and scheme and just getting up to speed, Michigan's got some continuity with its coaches, so there shouldn't be a lot of catch-up there. But, I mean, it's everybody. It's not just a Michigan problem.

It's not just a Big Ten problem. I mean, everybody's been dealing with this. So once they get back, they're going to hit the ground running. We'll have to see if any rules are amended about how much they can practice, when they can start, how long do they have. I mean, all of that stuff is still up in the air. But I think for the most part it's going to look pretty normal it's just a few of those key things that i mentioned that that michigan specifically missed out on yeah and so um speaking on just kind of where we're at in this you know with this pandemic and the whole country the country as a whole and moving towards the ncaa how do

you feel about how the ncaa has handled it with and they've been pretty hands-off and left it up to the universities but is there anything that you've seen that you think they could have done better they did really well with the handling of this it's just it's just such a big question because in one of the first things that comes to mind is not every state was affected the same way. There were some states that people were literally afraid to go outside. And there were other states that were much more rural or depending on where the campus is. I mean, it felt probably pretty normal. I mean, I think of Iowa or Nebraska.

When you look at those maps of where the, where the cases were, like they didn't even show up almost in some, in some instances, whereas Michigan was pretty bad. I mean, I think it was the fifth or sixth worst state in the whole country for a while there. So I think that's a part of it. So I understand why I think it does need to be school by school. Cause there, there's not like a blanket over the country as to who was affected or how the different states and schools were affected. think certainly having you know a practicing immunologist as a as a school president and mark schlitzel is that's pretty cool i didn't i didn't even know i don't even think i knew that that's what his background was in until this all started

and so i feel pretty good about him making decisions and getting advice from the from the right people so i'm totally fine with the n NCAA kind of being hands-off a little bit and letting schools figure it out for themselves because it's case-by-case. I don't think you can say everybody goes back on this date because it wasn't the same across the country. So what that's going to mean for different schools and different conferences and the different schools within the conferences, we'll have to to see I know the SEC kind of said everybody goes back I think the Pac-12 is doing like one at a time the Big Ten has been kind of one at a time so far so yeah we'll just have to

have to let it play out I'm fine with the approach I just think that you know at some point everybody needs to be back and everybody needs to be to feel good about it and feel like it's the safe right decision to make do you one more thing on that then so like it's the safe, right decision to make. One more thing on that then. So because it's school by school and Michigan has definitely been on the side, the state of Michigan has been on the more cautious side of keeping things closed down. Do you think that could affect them in a negative way as far as preparation or compared to know, compared to maybe a team, the University of Florida or even Ohio was a little bit more open

than the state of Michigan was. Would that maybe hold them back a little bit compared to other teams and schools? I think that's reasonable. I think it's reasonable to think, like, if other schools are allowed to get back together and the teammates are together and bonding and watching stuff together and working out together, even if it's in smaller groups or it's slightly altered and Michigan's not

able to do that or allowed to do that I yeah I would think that's I would think that's certainly possible I mean I still think I've always thought thought this in in football and it's definitely on another level in college all the preparation and the film and the homework and the studying but when it's like when it's real football and it's practice and it's pads on and it's hitting each other, that's the most important part. So until that gets affected, I don't think it would be a huge influence. But, yeah, I mean, it's very reasonable to say, like, if other teams are able to be together in the same building

and Michigan's not, that's not good. That's not good for them. But at the end of the day, I just don't know how you could really be that upset by it. If people are trying to err on the side of caution and keep people safe, then I don't know how you can really fight that. I really don't. Yeah. I mean, that's kind of like, I think most of us are obviously we want, you know, the football season to happen, but I think it's cool for the president to really, like, speak out of Michigan's president, Schoesel, and just say, you know, if there's no students on campus, why would that mean we'd have football players on campus? We want to keep everybody safe. And like you said, Aaron, the side of caution.

And I think it shows they really care about, you know, all of our students as a whole, whether they're student athletes or they're going to get their degrees and not participating in athletics. So I think it's a really cool stance by Michigan. I mean, again, obviously I want football season to happen. I want tailgating to happen. I want all that stuff to be there. But I think it's a good look for the university, definitely, to take that stand. Yeah, I think it's the right one. I mean, I don't know how anybody could, you know, aggressively or actively push back against that. I just don't.

I mean, I'm with you. I want football just as bad as everybody else, and it's a massive business. I mean, shoot, if there's no football season, I might not have a job. I mean, that's the reality of what's going on. But you have to be safe, man. You've got to put that first and foremost. You just have to. Yeah.

So moving a little bit away from football and all that, but not really, I guess. With your job, you've had probably so many awesome experiences, right? You've been on the sidelines of Michigan football, and you said you've been down in Clemson and Michigan basketball and all these places. Is there one moment that you're like, holy crap, I'm really here in this moment right now? I can't believe it. Unfortunately, it's a bad one, but it was the bobbled punt against Michigan.

I was standing – I mean, if you go back and watch that clip, I'll point myself out to you guys. I was standing on about the 10- line watching jackson run right by me uh yeah i mean that one that's the most memorable it wasn't the most positive or fun you know experience but that one was just like you just don't see plays like that you don't see endings of games like that you don't hear the big house that quiet you know it was just you know it was dark out it was kind of cold and crummy it was just eerie and all of a sudden all of i was shooting photos that game so there were you know several of us photographers standing down there

and all of a sudden we're like i guess that's it let's go inside and do the media stuff like it just was it sucked it just was it just sucked the life out of you suck the air out of you and the whole stadium felt like that. So that one, I mean, as soon as you started the question, that one jumped into my head. So I know, I know that's the one in terms of memorable and like, I will never forget what that felt like. I've had so many of my friends and family be like, dude, you could have, you should have took the lifetime ban and just run out there and just not

stuck your leg. But it was really that close. Like, I mean, I have a very noticeable, like, gray coat on. I had a big beanie hat on, and I had my hood up over it, so my head looks like it's about this tall. You can see me standing right there as he runs by. And, yeah, so that one was just, I mean, otherworldly kind of feeling. Another one that jumped into my head was the opening kickoff return touchdown by J.U. Cheston against Northwestern.

Just early in the season, the game was really hyped up. Both teams were undefeated. Both teams were ranked. And then right out of the gate, he ran that back for a touchdown, maybe the loudest I've ever heard in Michigan Stadium probably. So that one was a beautiful day out, probably 75 degrees out sunny. So I remember that one pretty clearly too just because it was such a cool start of a game. First time I'd ever seen that in person down in the field like that.

And then, I mean, shoot, man, sharing a field and being on the same footing level as Michael Jordan and Tom Brady, even though I didn't get that close to him, that was – I mean, getting photos on my own camera like of tom brady's face like right here michael jordan's you know head and sunglasses and everything pretty cool that's pretty cool stuff as well so yeah i've been i've been lucky man to be able to do some of that stuff and get paid for it it's pretty crazy and especially after watching the last dance here right it's like he's legitimately the most iconic athlete of all time, and you're able to be, you know, 50 feet from him.

That's just crazy. But I also, I was up in the club seats for that Michigan State game, and I just, all I remember, like, I don't have a, I must have blacked out when it actually happened, but I remember everybody leaving, and it was just dead silent. There wasn't, you know, normally after a loss, like especially a crazy loss, people are mad or angry. It was just stunned.

Everyone was stunned. Even Michigan State fans were just like, did that really just happen type of thing? It was wild. Yeah, no question. I mean, stunned is the perfect word. It's just like the shock to the system however you want to describe it but yeah i mean yeah just just asking yourself over and over

did that really happen man and i remember you know at the time i was working for the wolverine so i had you know we had a little office space and i remember i would just a week later two weeks later three weeks later i would still just think back and look at that record and be like did they really lose that game like did that really happen that way? That dude really returned that punt, that blocked punt, fumbled punt, however you want to categorize it. And, yeah, I mean, and forever, forever, forever, I will be able to watch that clip and see my dunce Catholic

on the sidelines get the front row view of a crazy play. One of the craziest plays probably in the history of football, honestly, in the history of college football. It was nuts. And we've seen a couple of those. I mean, under Harbaugh, right? We had that. We had the JT was short, you know, call where he was ruled the first down.

And, you know, it gets us thinking, you know, Harbaugh has been so close, you know, like a couple, a few times where, you know, we could have taken that leap and he'd be in a totally different view and perspective. And the fan base is like far, it's way more positive than it seems to be now. I guess if, let's say it was a different coach that wasn't as hyped up as Jim Harbaugh, do you think there would be this much? It seems like negativity around that that person

it's a loaded question because honestly if it is a different coach without as much hype as harbaugh and the connections he probably wouldn't be here in year five if we're being honest i mean you hire a michigan coach to beat ohio state win big 10 titles and be nationally relevant and i don't think michigan's in any of those they're not in that in two of them uh for sure i mean i you can argue the fact whether or not michigan is nationally relevant still just because of the brand and the history and the tradition but on the field they're not and he's 0-5 against ohio state hasn't played for a big 10 title and really hasn't been that close to the playoff i mean i guess if you look at what, you know, that, that, that JT game, that JT was short game in 2016, a yard, and I guess maybe they're, they're in the discussion, but you hire

Michigan, you hire a head coach at Michigan to do those things. And he's, he's over across the board. So, you know, I, I think about a lot of different angles and this is one of the most talked about things with Jim Harbaugh is, is, the money is he doing what he's supposed to is he underperforming is he underachieving and he's done a lot of really good things but he is striking out massively in the biggest ones and I don't know how you can ignore that and again if it's a different coach I don't know if they're still here heading into year six uh when you're 0-5 against Ohio State haven't even played for a Big Ten title and you know I mean three and two against michigan state three and two against penn state so you're losing games to teams that are on the same or on a pretty close field playing field as you the only

games he's winning all the time are the games that like everybody should win who's coaching michigan and so i like jim harbaugh. I mean, as a football mind, I was super stoked when he got hired, but I think he's fallen short of what he was supposed to do. And like I said, if it was somebody else, I don't think they'd still be here. I just don't. And I think that what bothers me the most is that Jim Harbaugh has not won those games. He hasn't won a game that he's not supposed to win. To take that leap, right, Mark D'Antonio made a living on winning games that he wasn't supposed to win. They were underdogs all the time, and that's why he became such a great coach

for Michigan State. And so Harbaugh, like you said, he's won those. thing for the next two years, he wins those games at home, wins the ones that he's supposed to, but still doesn't beat Ohio State and doesn't go to a Big Ten title game, is he gone or is he still here? What do you think happens there? I think he has to be gone. I don't know how.

I know the question that always gets kicked back is, who are you going to get then? I'm like, well, you can ask that all you want but like there there's tons of examples of coaches who weren't like the biggest name in the sport and have elevated their programs to levels that michigan's not at um so i mean if you go oh and seven against ohio state and never even make it to indy i i don't like what coach at Michigan is staying is keeping their job through that. I just don't, I don't know how you can, I don't know how you can do it. Look, it's not Jim Harbaugh's fault that Ohio State is as good as they've ever been. Like they are a machine right now. I'm not taking anything away from like, nobody beats them. So like,

most of the schools in the country, if they had to play Ohio State every year, they're going to lose to them. Like That's just where they are right now. But Michigan is the only school who that's their number one rival, and that's how coaches are measured. I'm sorry, Jim, but that's the deal you signed up for. It's just tough. It's a tough spot to be in. I'm not trying to make excuses.

Ohio State's an amazing program right now. Ryan Day is as sharp of a coach as there is in the country. They're not going to miss a beat going from Urban Meyer, who's maybe one of the best coaches in the history of the game, to Ryan Day. And they just had an unbelievable run of good fortune and insane recruiting and super smart coaches and great recruiters. And across the board, they've done everything right to put their program where it is. So that sucks for Michigan fans and for Jim Harbaugh on the program, but it is what it is. And so, I mean, if we're sitting here right now on June 1st, I'm not picking Michigan to beat Ohio State in Columbus this year. And I would have to say,

unless something drastically changes, I wouldn't pick them to win again next year. So 0-7 looks like a real possibility. And if it is, and that probably means no big 10 titles either i don't know how you can keep them i don't know how you justify that even though he has done some of the other good things and he still is a pretty big name even though that's even the shine of that is wearing off a little bit at this point and then based off of that too i mean obviously so you're saying you know we're going to go oh and2 versus Ohio State the next two years, which basically means we're not going to get to the Big Ten title game. And basically, that means we don't have a shot to win it. Do you think that Jawan Howard will be able to win a Big Ten regular season

title in basketball before Harbaugh can get a Big Ten title in football? I think it's almost just by default because of all this. I feel like I'm on an Ohio State podcast now but like they're so good uh like the thought of beating them and getting past them to make it to a Big Ten championship just seems farther off than what Juwan Howard is doing in basketball I you know the Big Ten in basketball seems much more wide open there is not one team that you can point to that you're like oh my, my God, they're just on another level. I mean, there's really good teams. Iowa's really good.

Michigan State's going to be really good. Penn State is coming up. Maryland's always been pretty solid. So there's good teams, but there isn't any one team where you look at them and say, like, they're recruiting far better than everybody else. Their coach is on a completely another level. The play calling is insane. They have the best athletes.

They're untouchable. And that's where Ohio State football is right now. They are, I mean, they're in the tier one of with three or four other schools named Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia, probably. And then Ohio State. I mean, I think that's it. And then everybody else falls in line behind them. And it's just not like that in basketball. So if I had to just say one way or the other, I would say Juwan's going to win one before Jim Harbaugh is because it's just the road isn't quite as daunting to me. Again, it's a shame, but that's where Ohio State is right now. Michigan's lost by like 30 points the last two years to them.

You don't just close that gap in a year, especially when Ohio State's recruiting the way they are. It just doesn't happen. To think about the statement that you just said you know all that comes with it Jim Harbaugh is you know five years ago we thought we'd be you know in the national title discussion year after year at least by year three four or five you know we'd be there and Juwan Howard has never even been a head coach before at any level. So for you to say that about Juwan Howard before Jim Harbaugh, just it's just such a wild statement. But I don't think it's wrong in any means.

You know, it's just kind of like you'd never have thought that that would be the case. And so another question about Juwan then is, where do you think the basketball program is heading? Is it going to be, you know, a top five program? They had a great start to the year last year, kind of faltered near the end, ninth in the Big Ten. Are they going to take the next step? I know he's been pretty great on the recruiting trail. Where do you think we're headed for the Michigan basketball program under Juwan Howard? I was thoroughly impressed with Juwan Howard in year one. I mean, I was skeptical for what you

just said, just not him personally or anything I'd ever heard about him. But when you've never been a head coach before, there's automatically going to be a lot of questions that come with that. I thought he would recruit very well because he's a personal guy. He's really smart. He played in the NBA for, you know night he's been in the nba in some form or fashion for nearly 20 years uh as a player and a coach um even though it was before a lot of these kids were born i mean the fab five is iconic you know so that that history is always there i actually wrote an article about this too like not only do the kids love juan howard kids dads love juan like they love juan how, man. That's a big part of it.

And so I think shooting for, you know, yeah, top five in the Big Ten every year is not out of the realm of possibilities and competing for a Big Ten title. And if he can continue to recruit, I know he had two pretty big misses down the stretch here with Joshua Christopher and Isaiah Todd, but that's a discussion that Michigan wasn't even in under John Beeline. And I'm not taking anything away from Coach B because he was phenomenal and took the program to where it is and played in two national title games over the stretch of a couple of years.

I think Jawan Howard's going to be fine. I think in his first year he did beat Tom Izzo. He beat Purdue on the road. He did have the program ranked in the top two or three in the country for a stretch there, was beating some really good teams. I think everybody, as the season started to play out everybody kind of saw you know that water found its level a little bit they played a little above where we thought they were going to be and then probably a little below and then kind of finished out where a lot of people thought they would be in year one and i think the team was going to take a pretty

big step back even if beeline had stayed losing who he lost from the year before and you know you've got a tremendous leader in xavier simpson and another one in john teske but neither of them are really like take over the game score a bunch of points kind of guys and so i think it's pretty it's pretty uh reasonable to say they finished maybe a tick below where i thought but the big 10 was really really good this year really strong stronger than most people thought they would be top to bottom and the way way he's recruiting, I think, is going to have Michigan in the discussion. I think they're going to be just fine, and yeah, competing for Big Ten titles as he gets into year two, three, four, five, maybe down the road a little bit, that's really all you can ask for, especially from a guy who's never been a coach before. I

think he's put some really good assistance around him, and that's about all you can ask for at this point of his head coaching career. So you've given a pretty good prediction for basketball for the next year and beyond. We'll put it on you here. What's your record prediction for Michigan football next year? I mean, go out on a limb and say 9-3 like they do every single year. I mean, you know, I'm being a little bit – Let me – sorry, let me –

It's just when I say that, but, like, you'd be kind of dumb not to say that. But, no, go ahead. Is there a – just a question? I'll explain it a little bit better. Would you say that there's a better chance that they go 11-1 or 8-4? That's a tough question. I'd probably say 8-4. I mean, I hate to say it, but just with the – you don't know what you have at quarterback.

You just don't know yet, and you're replacing four guys along the offensive line. You've got to go on the road. Again, we're just taking the schedule for what it is on paper right now. You've got to go on the road against Washington. Road games have not been kind to Michigan and Jim Harbaugh against good teams. You are going to play Penn State and Wisconsin at home, but those are two pretty good teams that beat you last year.

I know it was in their house. Michigan State on the road. Look, I don't expect them to be very good but it's michigan state and we all know how that goes all the time i do think the team is going to be you know motivated under mel tucker and he's going to change things enough to where it'll be different than what we've seen in the past and then ohio state i mean is like an automatic loss to me at this point so i i don't know if there's i just did this the other day too i looked at 11 games they should win 11 games but it never goes that way it just doesn't like i do this every year to myself i look at the schedule more talented than them more talented than them more talent and then they lose two of them and then they lose to ohio state at the end of the year and then they lose the bowl game and there you go there's your nine and four season

again so i don't i mean i I would say just based on history, even though I know the past seasons have nothing to do with this one, the old grandfather fallacy there, but that's what happens. College football is tough. Big Ten is tough. And I would say that losing a couple of games is more likely than only losing one. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know how you can really justify it any other way based on what has happened and how the schedule looks. I think you're speaking just as every fan does. I do the same thing with the schedule every year. I'm like, all right, let's look at the schedule. We could win every one of these games you know outside of after thanksgiving but like every single one of those should be a w or could be a w and then it ends up that three or

four of them are so yeah um it's just funny to hear that from you know from somebody that's not only a fan but you're speaking just as every other fan is too. I mean, I really do try to keep it as real as possible when I look at the schedule every single season. And Michigan is more talented than every team they will play except for Ohio State and maybe Penn State at some spots. They're pretty close to Penn State when you look at how they've recruited and who's got what at different positions. And to me, that means you should win those games.

But that's why you play them. That's why you play them. And like you just said, two or three times a year, Michigan comes up on the short end of the stick in those contests. So we'll see. Playing at home against a couple good teams is always a good thing. But that also means you've got to play some other teams on the road that maybe you shouldn't lose to and you end up losing.

So hopefully we play. Hopefully the games are played and then we can look at how it goes and see what happens at quarterback and stuff. But that would be my prediction, man. I hate to do it, but that's just how it goes. Yeah, and, I mean, hopefully we are closer to 11-1 than we are 8-4. But even another tough game, Minnesota, right? Yeah.

I think we're playing at Minnesota, and we've seen what P.J. Fleck has done in the past with, you know, Western Michigan and even what he did last year with Minnesota. You know, they seem like a really good team. But, I mean, again, even with the quarterback battle, we don't know who's going to be the quarterback, and we haven't seen a whole lot of playing time from either of them. But I guess I've got to do it to you. Who do you think is going to be the quarterback. We haven't seen a whole lot of playing time from either of them. But I guess I've got to do it to you.

Who do you think is going to be the starting quarterback? Yeah, I mean, this is another topic we've talked about a ton. Well, I'll tell you this. I think my answer is different on who do I think and who I would pick. I would go with Joe Milton. I would go with Milton. I think he's got the higher upside. I think you can work the kinks out to a point where he's not costing you games.

And, you know, the arm strength, the athleticism, the size, the durability, I think he checks the box stronger than Dylan does in every one of those. Now, on the flip side, I think it might end up being Dylan McCaffrey. He's been the backup longer. He's been at Michigan longer, although under Gattis, they're the same. They've had the same amount of experience there. so that one kind of goes out the window a little bit but just in terms of what we've heard about his preparation and how seriously he takes everything not that we've heard anything negatively about Milton in that regard but just you know I

think McCaffrey was scout team player of the year last year the year before and he always really took preparing for the preparing as the opponent every week very, very seriously, and he's an athletic guy as well. I think it's probably going to be McCaffrey. That's just the vibe I get. But I think if I was pulling the trigger, I would go with Milton. I mean, granted, I've seen as much practice as this ball on the floor over here. So I don't know.

We don't know. We don't know. We don't know what's going on. We don't see film. We don't see, you know, maybe Joe Milton's throwing 10 picks of practice. I don't know. But if he's not, I think the upside is higher with him. So that's my answer. Probably would be Dylan.

If it was me calling the shots and it wasn't egregious, I'd go with Milton and let him figure it out. I'd love to hear it. We got half our podcast is a big Milton fan and half of them, I'm on the McCaffrey train over here. I don't dislike McCaffrey either. I think he's good. I think either guy who wins the job I think has got a chance to be better than Shea Patterson.

But I like Milton. I mean, I saw Milton in high school in person and was I I don't know I was enamored by how big the dude is and how far he could throw the ball that's not all there is to playing quarterback like I get it but uh I like the idea of Nico Collins running about 65 yards down the field and having a quarterback who can get it to him and you know well so we'll see we'll see. By all accounts, they're both working extremely hard to win the job, and that's really all you can ask for at this point. And that was actually – you just touched on it. It was going to be my next question was,

do you think either way with either McCaffrey or Milton, do you think we'll be better off at the quarterback position in 2020 than we were in 2019? Part of me says yes. I mean, I feel like I'm not, I don't want to say I'm piling on Shea Patterson, but I just feel like he left a lot out there a lot of times in 2019 early on, whether it was the injury thing or getting used to the system. Like I just felt like his decision-making wasn't very good.

You know, we broke down film a lot with Devin Gardner and just time and time again where Shea would just bail out of a clean pocket, like for no reason and put himself into trouble. And I know he didn't throw a ton of interceptions and he was pretty good, you know, percentage-wise he was okay. And he had like the, what, the fifth or sixth most yards in a Michigan for a minute or maybe third, something like that. He was up there on the leaderboard for the most yards thrown in a season and his touchdowns, you know, again, 23, I think he threw, I just, I feel like, I feel like the offense was held back a little bit because of him. And I think McCaffrey and Milton both have a couple different tools that

Shea just didn't have. I think both of them are going to run better. I think both of them have a slightly better arm and I don't know. I think there's the potential for it to be better. I feel like it's really premature to say that right now because we just haven't seen enough. But just something in my head tells me that there's another dimension that either of them could unlock that Shea just wasn't able to for whatever reason. I think all of us on the podcast agree with that for sure. But yeah, I think that's a good place to end it.

Thanks for coming on with us, Brandon. It's great to see insight up from your perspective where you've been around this for so long and this is literally what you do for a living. But where can people find you on social media? I mean, I know your Twitter is in trouble right now, but eventually once we get that figured out, where can people find you on Twitter and Instagram and where you write?

I mean, they can still find me there. I just can't do anything. I was telling you guys during the recording, suspicious activity randomly popped up. I've been locked out of my Twitter account since last Wednesday, which is really starting to give me a migraine here. So it's BSB underscore Wolverine on Twitter. You can find us at Wolverine Digest on Instagram.

The website is WolverineDigest.com. So we've got a lot of good stuff going out. Myself, Michael Spath, Steve Dase, and Eric Rudder, we've got a four-man team covering Michigan football and basketball and recruiting. So putting up, I mean, anywhere between eight and ten stories a day usually. That's what we try to get to. It's been tricky during the pandemic, obviously, but a lot, like I said to you guys before we started as well, just looking back on history lists and predictions and roundtables and anything we can.

I mean, anything we can put out there that we think people will want to read, that's what we're trying to do, breaking news stuff, of course. But, yeah, we've got it all over the place. And, again, hopefully I'll be on Twitter again. I can put my stuff out there. But, yeah, go out there, check it out. We take a lot of pride in what we do, and hopefully people are enjoying it. Awesome.

Thanks. And, hey, hopefully we're able to have you here on again once football starts back up um but yeah good luck to everything and go blue yeah thanks for having me guys good stuff and great topics appreciate it all right thanks for watching our interview with brandon brown i hope you enjoyed it uh but now we're going to try for our zero to 90 takes. So Jack, I know you say you want to go last. I'll take it. I'll take it. All right. Volunteer. He volunteers his tribute. All right.

Here's your 30 seconds starts now. All right. My prediction is that we will be watching football inside Michigan Stadium with over half of the stadium filled come the first game of the year. Well, second game of the year because we're at Washington. But I think we really will have fans there, and it's going to be louder than normal because people will be going nuts and just happy to be there.

And so I think that the scared um the scaredness oh that was what did i say your 30 seconds is over anyway do you want to start it over just leave it just leave that was great that was great just leave it just put me out to pasture. He still believes we're going to Washington, too. We're full schedule, going to Washington. I can't even speak because I'm so excited about it. Oh, that take is on fire.

Oh, my God. If it's wrong, come fall, just don't remember i said this okay don't forget all all right i have one this will be my first time doing zero to 90 wow all right do you want us to say it oh yeah somebody record the time all right here we go here we go oh i hope you go over 30. Oh, we will roast you. I'm just going to end the call and the whole podcast. All right, Kalen, your first ever zero to 90 starts now. Okay, do you miss Jim Harbaugh going absolutely nuts on the sidelines?

Well, here's what we're going to do. We're going to get like 30 GAs, a whole bunch of GAs. They're going to come down on the sideline and they're going to be like Jim, our Jim Harbaugh's anger translator. He's going to tell them like,

Oh, that was a shitty call. Go off on the ref. And then that kid will go off on the ref. He'll get ejected. And we'll bring a new GA in to just continuously yell at the ref. Then we get permanent entertainment as people on the sidelines watching

Jim Harbaugh still get to freak out. Done. Wow. I love how you started it off like a ShamWow commercial. I hate these balls. I have something special for you. I'm Billy Mays.

I'm Billy Mays. That hooked me. That hooked me in. I won't lie. I mean, that was at 29.9 seconds. For your first time, that was incredible. Yeah. I've just been pushing the stopwatch so much now, it's just like, I know. Just measure my life in zero to 90 takes.

All right, Jack, you can wrap us up with hopefully the best of the three. You know, I'll do what I. All right. Your zero to 90 begins now. All right.

We may have fans in the stands. It may not be at the beginning of the season, but I am betting that Roe will have at least five more sunburns before that day. I feel like that's pretty low, to be honest with you. Well, I'm hoping you heal. I'm hoping you heal. You put some sunscreen on, and then it's just like every other week, you know, maybe every once a month. If we're able to tailgate this year and we have some of our listeners stop by the tailgate, they're going to come by and be like, dude, what's wrong with your face? I finally get to see your red ass face in person.

Oh, man. Oh, that is. That's a hot take. Literally hot. I'm sweating. I'm really slumbering from it. Oh, geez. Oh, jeez. That's great.

That was our Zero to 90 segment. That's our show for this week. Thanks for tuning in. Check us out at Blue by 90 on Instagram and Twitter and at Blue by 90 Podcast on YouTube. We'll see you next time. Yep, go blue. Yeah, go blue. Yeah, go blue. I'm told, but everything at all just feels the same.

At my high school, it felt more to me, like a jail cell, a penitentiary. But time spent there, it only made me sick. And I don't ever wanna be like you. I don't wanna do the things you do. I'm never gonna hear the

words you say. And I don't ever wanna, I don't ever to do the things you do. I'm never going to hear the words you say. And I don't ever want to, I don't ever want to be you. Don't want to be just like you. I want to stand as this is the end and throw all your hands up. You don't want to be you. Go to college or university Get a real job, that's what they said to me But I could never live the way they want I'm gonna get by and just do my time

On a step while they all get in line I'm just a minor threat, so pay no mind Do you really wanna be like them? Do you really wanna be another trend? Do you wanna be part of the crowd? Cause I don't ever wanna, I don't ever wanna be you Don't wanna be just like you Oh, what I'm saying is this is the end

So throw all your hands up You don't wanna be you Shake it once, that's fine Shake it twice, that's okay Shake it three times You're playing with yourself again