Here is what I am really interested to know? Who is RR targerting to fill out this "25 person" class?
Sorry, that should read:
Here is what I am really interested to know...Who is RR targeting to fill out this 25-person recruiting class?
Posted it in an earlier thread, but RichRod stated in his radio interview with either Tirico or Patrick that the first time he was contacted by Michigan was the week after the Pitt game.
Pryor, DJ Woods, Keanon Cooper, Vaughn Carraway, AJ Price, Nick Perry.
That's 6 names for 5 available spots. RR seems to think 3 more spots will come available. I'm sure he's recruiting more than those names.
Uh, June Jones left Hawai'i because his AD was dragging its feet in similar fashion to some of the resistance Rodriguez was facing at WVU.
Reports out of Honolulu seem to indicate the Jones was repeatedly promised facilities upgrades and these promises were not kept by the AD.
MGOBLUE: Shafer is DC!
I thought Hawaii was going to fire their AD because he bungled the June Jones thing so badly.
http://mgoblue.com/football/arti....aspx?
id=104682
Rodriguez looked devastated after the Pitt loss. I don't recall seeing a coach in a post-game press conference showing that much emotion - unless of course you count anger/insanity.
Shafer doesn't have the most impressive resume. Judgement, however, will be reserved untill we see how he does.
WTF @ Easterbrook. The Ombudsman already went at him once. Looks like she's going to have to dig into his ass again.
Graduated from Baldwin-Wallace. Same school as the Vest. Does that mean Miami OH is no longer the cradle of coaching?
And to back up what Gnarls reports RR saying, I didn't get wind of any RichRod gossip until December 7, from schmoozy insidery lawyer guy at an event at our kids' school.
MRG-
You are correct, Hawaii has fired their AD for dragging his feet in negotiations with Jones.
Word is that the Warriors are looking at John L. Smith as a potential replacement.
Hawaii football is likely to be deader than Miami football now.
FIRST!!!!!1!!!!1111111eleven
Ive done Body For Life (ascending free weights to exhaustion), so I know a little about wieight training; I am, by no means, expert. In that context, can someone provide a detailed explanation of:
a)HIT
b)what Barwis is doing (v.HIT)?
Thanks
John L. to Hawaii? Awesome. Is he going to parachute in?
My suspicion is that Michigan initially contacted Rod fairly early, with a courtesy call - "We know you'll say 'No', but we feel obliged to ask anyway." And Rich politely said, "No."
Then, after the Pitt game, apparently Pastilong just laid into him something fierce (when he was already feeling so awful) and told him if he ever pulled a game like that again he'd get fired. That's when Rich picked up the phone and told Bill, "Let's talk."
That's what I've been able to glean thus far, anyway.
MMakinItHere:
Winged Helmet has a pretty decent thread about your question here:
http://wingedhelmet.com/anyboard...231&v=2&gV=0&
p=
@ MakinIt
I can provide some links, at least:
High Intensity Training
Article by Barwis: Brief and surely not complete, but I think you get an idea on how vastly it differs from HIT
Unfortunately, this discussion will inevitably drag in some WVU trolls.
:(
@MMakinithere,
HIT is short for High Insensity Training. Basically, it involves lifting very heavy weights (i.e. weights that are close to your one-rep max) for a very low number of reps (1-6, depending on the scheme) and for a very low number of sets (sometimes, only a single set of an exercise). This is in contrast to more traditional lifting schemes where you would life a moderate weight (i.e. a weight with which you can performed 6-12 reps) for multiple sets of each exercise.
Having done HIT for a few months, as well as just about every other S & C routine out there, I can say that it is not completely valueless in building pure size, but it is not optimal for the modern era of college football where speed and agility are also important. While athletes training with HIT do get larger, they simply do not develop explosive strength, speed or agility. Plus, because of the low number of reps and sets, HIT is terrible for building endurance.
Making matters worse, Gittleson employed an even more outdated method of HIT (there are newer methods, including one that is very effective that is called "doggcrapp" - seriously, can't make that up). Gitt's method was primarily based around using machines, as opposed to using free weights. Modern exercise science, as real as real world application, has shown that using machines is far inferior to using free weights, both in terms of building strength and in injury prevention.
Finally, for HIT to work at all, the trainee must put in maximal effort. Because of the low volume of sets and reps, each set must be taken to total and complete failure, where the lifter simply cannot do another rep. From what I have heard, Gitt was less than demanding of his players, and did not push them to go balls to the wall.
That "low hats" concept is pretty sweet. This guy is not stupid.
RR said himself that his first conversation with BM was the Thursday after the Pitt game. He said they began talking then.
I'm so excited to see what this guy does with the talent we've got.
From previous comment section:
" Well, like I said, that was 1990. I was actually at the first game played in Jordan-hare. Truthfully, the night prior to the first game, we were up late ..... ummmm ...doing some .... coffee ... yeah, coffee, and ended up riding bikes around the campus. The gate was open to the stadium, and we actually rode our mountain bikes out onto the field. That was a some good shit.
I can not comment on the talent level of theswim/dive team after 1991."
My biggest problem with HIT training is the entire "one set at or near the one rep max" concept. That is a strategy almost guaranteed to lead to injury at some point.
My second biggest problem with HIT derives from:
Power = Speed x Force
HIT mandates a very tiny number for "Speed", so it's not going to maximize an athlete's power development.
really? shafer?
blue, 83, and goblue,
Youve answered my ???s in complementary ways, and my lunch hour isnt half over!
Would that I could tap into mgoblog to answer work questions......
how many former db's coaches can we hire?
Bluewolvering,
I agree with your point re: power and speed. On the injury point, the risk is somewhat minimized by the fact that Gitt used machines instead of free weights for the majority of his lifts, which significantly minimizes the risk of injury. I think that the flip side of this, however, is that while out players did not really get injured during workout all that often, the use of machines over free weights made them more prone to injuries during games and practices due to the fact that machines do nothing to strengthen stabilizer muscles and do not mimic "real world" movements.
sorry bluewolverine, didn't mean to mangle your name in my prior post.
Easterbrook, of course, is a total asshat. This sounds vaguely similar to his rant earlier this year about the Patriots in which he insinuated that the Colts represent all that is good and are more godly that the evil Brady led Pats.
I'd email the omsbudman (again) but it's not like you can take him seriously.
If MichiganStudent has moved on from the last comment section....my last name is Coston. About eighty years ago it was Κοστοντινος. But I welcome the change.
OT, are there any other super-greaseballs here? any greek-italian-croatians like me?
The only advantage to using a machine (especially for HIT where you have to push to failure) is that you do not need a partner/spotter. But in college athletics, that absolutely shouldn't be an issue.
FYI - carr's final press conference video is on MGoBlue.com's video section, which is actually pretty good. John Bacon has a nice interview with Red as well. Most of the content there will assuredly be puff pieces of a P.R. nature rather than journalism, but - and I can't stress this enough - none of the clips will feature SEC ballwashing or Jay Bilas.
I'm surprised that at some point Easterbrook didn't make a comparison between RR and greedy, money-grubbing Jews.
gobluemich,
I agree that in some ways machines are safer than free weights. Some dynamic free weight movements, like power cleans, are not simple to learn, even for gifted athletes.
On the other hand, I don't like machines because they have a limited ability to adapt to all the infinite variations of the human body.
In the past I've used several weight machines that I just couldn't adjust to suit me. There just wasn't a "2.5" notch between the "2" and "3" notches on the seatpost!
I'm only half grease ball.
Any thoughts on the DC? Seems like a low-profile hire (which can be a remarkably good thing).
any where on the net to hear the press conference. Is it still going on?
Yeah, I know the only important thing is how the team does on the field. But..
Looking at it from a pure resume standpoint, I'm underwhelmed by the staff that RR's put together. One of the things I liked about Miles was his willingness to get guys with pretty impressive credentials on his staff, esp. at key spots like coordinator. For whatever reason, that doesn't appear to be RR's modus operandi.
@MRG, I have been tasked by Bo's ghost (or maybe it was Hamlet's father) to roam the internet defending the honor of my undergraduate alma mater. I don't know shit about Baldwin-Wallace's coaches cradle chops but Tressel was an assistant at Miami University so Mother Miami claims him also.
I like Easterbrook. You have to read him with a grain of salt and understand sometimes he brings a political hack's eye to sports (ie jam all the tortured 'evidence' into one box facts notwithstanding.) Clearly, his RR stuff is over the top but I do like his campaign for good sportsmanship, honesty, and honor over greed and winning at all cost. He also says things others don't--like his recognition that Ray Lewis is an odd poster boy for the NFL--refusing to give up the goods on his murderer friends and all. God's LB indeed. For realz, God's LB is J. Lehman.
bluewolverine,
That's actually funny that you said that because just this morning I was using a leg extension machine (which I rarely do) and the "2" was too far down whereas the "3" was too short. I could have used that 2.5. Ha!
I really don't like machines much, except for the basic few, such as a pulldown machine and leg press. Good old fashion free weights are the way to go. From what I can see, Barwis agrees with us on that point.
HIT is actually perfect because defensive linemen come at our offensive linemen on a very stable rail that won't potentially force our players to use any lateral muscles to support their blocking. So long as they can attack in a single, consistent direction, we will dominate using HIT.
Here's what else Easterbrook wrote:
"Who won college football's sort-of championship? LSU, where Les Miles wavered, but in the end stayed true to his school. Clearly, the right move. Let's hope Miles has the good sense simply to stay put, not entertain offers and be happy with what he has, not endlessly squint at the grass on the other side of the fence to see if it's greener."
So even though Miles was immersed in Michigan's coaching search right before the SEC title game he is the ideal, but Rodriguez, who didn't talk to Michigan until 2 weeks after the game, is a weasel? That makes sense. And like his sorry ass wouldn't move to a better job if offered. Oh wait, he went from NFL.com to ESPN. I wonder if he was in negotiations with ESPN while still writing for NFL.com. Gee, how was he able to do his job? He had a duty to NFL.com and all he could think about was the greener pastures of ESPN. Unethical bastard.
This is the second time Easterbrook has really pissed me off. He also took unnecessary shots at D-III powerhouse Mount Union for playing a "weak" schedule (even though 9 of their 10 games were against predetermined conference opponents) and for running it up on those weak opponents (even though their universally admired coach Larry Kehres has been known to do things like kick field goals on first down to prevent the score from getting too high). Idiot.
Being an old fart I went through a fitness assessment/training program with a guy up at M-Fit, and he stressed working the core with stability balls, just like Barwis shows on his (old) WVU web page.
At first I was skeptical; I always thought the whole ball thing was for bored suburban women looking to kill some time between trips to the mall. It's harder than it looks starting out, and you definitely use a whole range of muscles when using them, rather than isolated units.
Gobluemich:
Actually, its the exact opposite. Many personal trainers and S&C coaches will tell you that training almost exclusively with machines will lead to MORE injury in the long run. Compound exercises with free weights such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses, barbell rows etc., strengthen multiple muscle groups as they require the stabilizer muscles to contract during the lift. Machines simply cannot do this as effectively as free weights. Take a machine bench press, for example. While it effectively targets the pectoral muscles, the other stabilizer muscles like the shoulders and triceps simply are not as involved in the lift on a machine as they are with a barbell or dumbells. What you are left with is unbalanced muscular development and, thus, more risk for injury. I remember reading once before a couple of years ago that former players who went on to the NFL were told by their team trainers that they were trained completely the wrong way while at Michigan. Once they started doing squats, deadlifts and power cleans, they became much stronger and more explosive on the field. Some of these players tried to tell the Michigan coaching staff what they were told, but, were blown off by Lloyd and others.
Lets hope that Charlie Batch really enjoyed the 6 years he lived in Ypsilanti
I think Batch should take Pryor to EMU for a recruiting visit... show him where he'll graduate from if he attends U of M.
If you haven't watched the "See Rod Draw" videos, do so. They're awesome.
it certainly doesn't feel like an upgrade over English, regardless of Shafer's Midwest ties. I wanted Orgeron.
And I know we are going to place an increased emphasis on speed and agility, but it makes me nervous that we have four db's coaches and nobody with considerable DL coaching experience.
He graduated from college in 1990, making him about 40 or 41....so he's pretty young, but not Muschamp young. And no younger than Ron-E.
He named his son Wolfgang, which tells me he likes badass stuff. That is a huge selling point for me. In fact, that's the only thing I feel good about with Shafer.
his 2006 wmu defense was actually pretty awesome. t-5th for turnover margin, 39th scoring d, 11th total d, 57th pass d, and 6th run d. most interceptions and sacks in d-1a. this all came with an offense that was 64th in scoring, 78th in total o, and 67th in pass efficiency. not bad.
I think it's hard to knock the resume's of RR's staff. It's WVU-heavy, which means that it's heavy on people that have coached 3 consecutive 11-2 teams, and 3 consecutive BCS participants, and 3 consecutive BCS bowls winners. That's not a bad thing on the resume, right?
I agree that Shafer's resume isn't wonderful, but I'm not going to freak until he give me reason. He's been coaching a defense with the worst talent in his conference. Any placement of his team in the top 5 of the conference in any category would be impressive.
I'm going to go so far as to say Easterbrook is a fraud. He already printed that totally bogus article about the "shotgun spread" that blurred several completely different concepts into a false continuum.
His shtick - the funny team nicknames, the stop-me-before-I-blitz-again fallacy, the cheerleader photos - has gotten old. He's the kind of thing the intelligentsia can read and think they're reading a smart man's football analysis rather than a lunkhead coach's views. Except they're just reading a guy who thinks he's smart. (Besides, who wastes their time analyzing all those tedious cookie-cutter NFL games?)
To my knoweldge he's never put on a coaching hat or done a UFR. I'm no Vince Lombardi, but at least I hang out with coaches and try to pick up on their thinking. Now he's floating a completely false theory about RR's negotiation timeline.
Brian and others, it's time to unload - politely - on the WWL. Easterbrook has printed a rank falsehood and in the process strongly impuned the propriety of both Michigan and Rich Rodriguez, not to mention feeding the neurosis of the (understandably) jaded WVU fanbase. A retraction is necessary, let's let ESPN.com know that.
pretty good freep article here on our receiver situation. Personally, I'm not too concerned. I think the turnover will be a good thing in the sense that the younger guys will get considerable playing time which always helps morale (and attitude is important). I think the attrition at OSU is a secret weapon as much as it is an achilles heel.
how about that link....
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.d...ORTS06/
80110018
Jay,
I think we are saying the exact same thing. From my prior post:
"On the injury point, the risk [of injury during the workout - I should have said that the first time] is somewhat minimized by the fact that Gitt used machines instead of free weights for the majority of his lifts, which significantly minimizes the risk of injury. I think that the flip side of this, however, is that while our players did not really get injured during workout all that often, the use of machines over free weights made them more prone to injuries during games and practices due to the fact that machines do nothing to strengthen stabilizer muscles and do not mimic "real world" movements"
Longtime lurker, very rare poster. But I wanted to chime in on Barwis, as I have the utmost respect for him. One of my good friends went to play basketball at WVU, and they gave him a workout for the summer. Despite being older than him, I tended to assist him with his workouts while I was also in the gym. Even though this was around 2001-2, Barwis's programs were very innovative and emphasized core muscles. Most importantly, Barwis had told my buddy to call him if he ever had any questions about the exercises. In fact, my buddy did call, while we were actually in the gym, and Barwis walked him through the workout. That type of dedication is outstanding and I, for one, cannot wait to see his effect on the Michigan athletic program. Go Blue!
I submit that the most effective method of keeping the score down is to take a knee 4 times. Kicking FG's on any down actually increases scoring.
2007 Stanford D:
3rd worst Points per game in Pac-10.
2nd Worst in Yards, Rushing Yards, Passing Yards, and TO's.
That's not so hot.
I take that back - they had the worst pass defense in yards/game.
Dead on opinion of Easterbrook up there. He is a guy who is smart, and watches football, therefore he assumes he must be smart about football.
Except he isn't.
The stop-me-before-I-blitz-again theory is just f'n terrible. Does he not realize that if every team were to completely stop blitzing on 3rd down that the opposing offense *might* catch on to that tendency and then take advantage? Of course not. Instead, he cherry picks specific instances, 3 or 4, from an entire weekend of football, where the blitz failed for any number of reasons and uses that to say "ah-ha! i'm so much smarter than these dumb jocks, why would they blitz when it so clearly did not work on this particular play!"
If you went through an entire weekend of NFL games, I guarantee you could find 3 or 4 times where a team blitzed on 3rd down and either got a sack, a stop, or pressured a QB into an incompletion.
cliffs:
-Easterbook hates Jews
-Smart + watches football != smart football fan
-For people who want to think they are way more football intelligent than men who get paid to dissect, live, and breathe football every day of their lives
WOW - Michigan got Shafer? Oh, man, that is an awesome hire.
I am not making this up. Having done three years of football for Stanford student radio, I can say that Shafer is a coaching stud. His style is very aggressive and confident, he tries to get big plays, and the players love the system. He also has Midwest roots (was rumored to be going back to No. Illinois earlier this offseason.)
Stanford's defense tended to wilt, but that's because the offense had a habit of posting multiple third-quarter three and outs. the D was excellent against USC, Cal and Arizona, three of the team's four wins, and Shafer himself has a strong history of being involved in turnarounds.
And Michigan won't have an offense that has trouble staying on the field.
This is a real coup and the Stanford diehards are going to be apoplectically disappointed. He was definitely one of the brightest stars on the staff.
Regarding D - Stats at Stanford. It was year one, with no players. And that worst D in the conference beat SC. Look at what he did in his two years at WMU. Considering so many teams run a spread. 11th is great.
"I submit that the most effective method of keeping the score down is to take a knee 4 times. Kicking FG's on any down actually increases scoring."
It was not said that kicking field goals are the most effective way of keeping scoring down. That doesn't mean kicking field goals when touchdowns are imminent does not decrease the rate of scoring.
"He named his son Wolfgang, which tells me he likes badass stuff. "
An 18th-century Austrian composer is considered badass?
I have a question. If we have the worst schemes(Debord) and the worst training(HIT), how can we possible be expected to keep up with the great athletes in the SEC such as Florida??? I guess we'll find out how bad a shape we are in when in the 4th qtr we fold like a tent. Hopefully it won't get too ugly.
I love the sounds of Barwis's intensity, but I beg everyone to take a breath. You will complain about people being slow next year just like every year.
Unless you are willing to admit that Lloyd was the greatest evaluator of talent ever seen and that it was only the poor coaching and conditioning that kept us from winning the NC every year.
Trent must never train to keep his speed up cause he mowed Harvin down like he played in the Big Ten.
Stanford's D stats are wack, but it was worse last year. Also, the games were really of two types: either the entire team clicked and was in the game, or it didn't and got rolled. Again, a lot of it has to do with the offense not holding the ball, tiring the defense out (the D would switch like a light after about 75 plays from a wall to a sieve.)
This is a good hire. I'm jacked.
@Mike
You made it into a black-white issue. HIT can work, but it isn't the most advanced or, IMO, effective way to do things.
I agree this isn't going to be an earthshaking difference in the long run, except for speed like Trent is going to be more the norm than the exception.
If you have any experience in strength training at all, you know the HIT vs. Alternatives debate has been done to death and almost everyone has landed on the Anything Else bandwagon for sports.
I'll reserve judgement, as I said. I guess I'm not accepting this as awesome before seeing what happens.
"The stop-me-before-I-blitz-again theory is just f'n terrible. Does he not realize that if every team were to completely stop blitzing on 3rd down that the opposing offense *might* catch on to that tendency and then take advantage? Of course not. Instead, he cherry picks specific instances, 3 or 4, from an entire weekend of football, where the blitz failed for any number of reasons and uses that to say "ah-ha! i'm so much smarter than these dumb jocks, why would they blitz when it so clearly did not work on this particular play!""
He keeps pumping the "they blitzed on 3rd and 7 even tho the avg 3rd down gain in the NFL is only 6 yards so they gave up the first down lol."
That makes zero sense from a football or a statistics standpoint. Playing a base defense doesn't mean you will give up the "average" gain. In fact, the "average" gains are (presumably) computed using all third-down plays, meaning the statistics include plays that use heavy blitz packages. And it depends on who you play - if you're playing The Face and his Colts, you better find a way to screw with his mind. If you're playing the Dolphins and you're up 70-7, why bother?
There's a lot of the same know-it-all bias against the prevent defense, "lol prevent defense prevents victory!" It's actually gotten so absurd that whenever a team gives up a late drive, the bobbleheads start talking about the prevent defense even if the defense didn't run it. Football analysts of all types want to lock on something schematic to give the idea that the game could have gone differently if the coach had done something different, but a lot of times it doesn't matter what's called, because a Brady or Manning executes the play properly, and there's nothing the opposing coach can do about it.
(gsimmons might want to augment this, but the prevent is what you run when you've got two plays to stop before the game is over. Not when the opponent has 90 seconds. Anything used improperly - condoms come to mind - isn't going to succeed.)
Easterbrook's anti-blitz shtick is the other side of the anti-prevent coin.
"I'll reserve judgement, as I said. I guess I'm not accepting this as awesome before seeing what happens."
You don't have to, that's cool. I wasn't that excited when I heard Harbaugh called Shafer up after scanning the NCAA statistical abstract and finding out WMU had an unusually productive defense. But be prepared to be pleasantly surprised. Maybe buy a six-pack and write Shafer on it, and put it in the basement where it's cool, and when the D puts on their first good performance you can crack one open and say "I'm glad I kept an open mind."
topher, thanks for making me a little more optimistic about shafer. english would have been nice, but it looks like there's no need to jump off a cliff over this. plus, it's great to see a stanford guy drop 'apoplectically' on a football board.
topher, you are a good poster. (not sarcasm)
it's great to see a stanford guy drop 'apoplectically' on a football board.
My supercilious Michigan demeanor absolves me of all cerebration over such mellifluous prose and linguistic gymnastics.
Dex,
I'm not a fan of HIT, all I am trying to say is that we have our share of people in the NFL. Penn St. seems to have had some pretty good athletes as well. Do you really think that we could attract athletes of the caliber of Warren, Woodley, Woodson etc... if it was that far off. Do you think Bo, Lloyd, Gittelson never talked to anyone about it or adapted it if they didn't see any results??? I'm glad we are moving on, but I don't know and I'm certain most of the people on here have no idea as well. I know enough and am in good enough shape to know that every year there is a new idea on what is the new key to getting faster and stronger(less reps more reps, explode, east germans, etc...., but the real key is always the same regardless of technique....hard work!!! Please see Bo Jackson and Herschell Walker for their training techniques... they seemed to do ok.
Also, don't alert me when we hear the obligatory change over article on how it is so much better, tougher etc... Whenever there is any type of change you always here how great it is going at 1st.
Mike -
Hard work, yes, but also hard work with specificity, tapering, nutrition, etc. (I.e. doing 800 situps a day is eventually going to stop reaping benefits, and most athletic people are strong enough anyway in the situp area.)
An overlooked aspect of S&C is team-building and camraderie. I'm no S&C expert, just a very observant former amateur athlete.
Great video clips of RR talking about the spread. Thanks.
Wow, those videos of RichRod have me positively salivating over our the future of our offense. Before now, I knew, intellectually, that Rodriguez was an offensive genius... but I don't think it really sank in until just now. And I, for one, welcome our new spread-option overlords.
What's perhaps most impressive about those videos, though, is how simple they make it all seem. Serious thought clearly went into designing those schemes, and yet when RichRod explains it, it all just seems obvious. It's great to know that our coach is also an educator. I recall one of the knocks on Hermann was that his defenses were so complicated that college kids had a hard time learning the whole package, and therefore didn't execute well. I think it's safe to say we won't have that problem with Rodriguez running the show.
An overlooked aspect of S&C is team-building and camraderie. I'm no S&C expert, just a very observant former amateur athlete.
this is the kind of thing barwiss/RR installed at WV. it was a team building exercise that develops trust, teamwork, etc. never knew this was the case for any S&C program.
Coaching points. Love it!!!!!
Those not sure about the new DC. What made English's resume so stellar before he took the title at Michigan?
TWO THINGS I noticed from the videos...
RR says preVALEnt instead of PREvalent and the word "receivers" was misspelled haha.
I've got an old H.I.Ter workout from the Redskins. Full body workouts usually with 1 warm-up set and 1 work set. The effort is high but the variety/intensity didn't vary much. They mostly keyed on maintaining strength and injury prevention.
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[i/]eyetalics[/i]
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