Forever Saturday

Coming off a weekend of NCAA tournament watching, Serena and Matt debate the college football "blue blood" landscape, including one hot-ish Big Ten-related take, and then revisit a rather sweet weekend for both Michigan basketball (which is now in pure gravy territory) and Michigan hockey (which has celebrated with one banner and might damn well get another)

• What makes a Blue Blood? 
  • Part history, part success -- you know it when you see it.
• Can you become a Blue Blood?
  • Definitely -- Serena uses Duke Basketball as a case study 
• Can you lose Blue Blood status?
  • Matt argues that you can by picking on a Big Ten foe 
• Who are the indisputable Blue Bloods? 
  • Michigan
  • ND 
  • Texas
  • Oklahoma
  • OSU 
  • USC 
  • Alabama 
• Most people include Nebraska -- not including them is a hot-ish take 
• Who is on the cusp? 
  • Serena takes up the mantle for Tennessee
  • Auburn
  • PSU 
  • LSU
  • Georgia 
• Michigan Basketball goes to the Sweet 16 
  • Win over Tennessee is gravy 
  • Impressive stuff from Eli Brooks and T. Will 
  • This team could beat Villanova or lose by 20 -- who knows? 
• Michigan Hockey hangs a banner
  • Number one overall seed is as much as you can ask for 
  • Defense coming along just in time for the tournament 
  • The draw is about as good as you could hope for  
• Michigan Women also advance to the Sweet 16 
  • Naz is a monster 
• Michigan is an "everything school." 

Serena and Matt discuss the various good and bad tidbits from Michigan spring ball, rant about "top 25 coaches" lists, and briefly react to Michigan basketball's NCAA tournament draw and hockey's takedown of Notre Dame (finally) in the Big Ten tourney.

We play a game of good news, bad news from Harbaugh's first media availability of this spring session:

• Interpreting coach speak is a  difficult endeavor 
• Bad news is largely limited to injuries 
  • JJ out -- hard to see him overtaking Cade during the offseason under the circumstances 
  • Rod Moore out -- this is less impactful because he: 1) doesn't have an experienced starter he needs to win the job from; and 2) he probably is the most experienced guy in that role, but nonetheless, missed time when he could really grow into the role kind of sucks 
  • Is no news good news or bad news on the linebackers? 
• Good News 
  • The praise of Mazi Smith is really encouraging, especially with his size and our need to replace a whole bunch on the DL 
  • Harbaugh made some pretty emphatic comments about Mike Morris, we're happy to hear it but still skeptical; McGregor also appears to be getting work in at one of the DE slots 
  • Trente Jones is currently the leader at RT; we both think this is an encouraging sign. He was a pretty solid player to begin with, but if he's seizing the job maybe that means he's taken a step from solid to good, and given that his spot is the only vacancy on the OL, that's good news 
  • Freshman WRs are a "freak show" 
• What does it mean that Harbaugh is so emphatic with his words? "Freak show" and "scary good" are certainly departures from how tight-lipped he has been in the past. 
• Reporters are a little mean to Harbaugh about having to give up ever winning a Super Bowl 
• Matt goes on a soap box about the stupidity of coaching "rankings" 
• Michigan Basketball is going dancing! Avoid the play-in game and will face Colorado State. 
  • Colorado State only has one player taller than 6'8. Could be the Hunter Dickinson show.
• Michigan Hockey FINALLY knocks off ND 
  • This team has win-it-all potential 
  • One win away from a Big Ten Banner going into College Hockey's Selection Sunday 

Serena and Matt summon their absolute hottest college football takes, including Michigan's place in the national hierarchy and a national power that's "over," and then briefly revel in Michigan basketball's you-got-to-pump-it-up win over Ohio State and Michigan hockey's obliteration of Michigan State in the Big Ten tourney.

We're too reasonable for hot takes: 

• Hot Take #1: Georgia is five star Iowa 
• Hot Take #2: Offense is too advantaged 
• Hot Take #3: Michigan is not a top 10 job 
• Hot Take #4: Abolish replay 
• Hot Take #5: Abolish the CFP 
• Hot Take #6: Clemson is over 
• Hot Take #7: The Pac12 might not ever win another national championship 

Michigan Basketball beats Ohio State 

• DeVante' Jones coming on is huge for Michigan's chances to make a run
• Shades of Derrick Walton 
• Stringing two wins together seems important in a single elimination setting 

Michigan Hockey stuffs MSU in a trash can

• MSU hockey is sad 
• Michigan hockey can win it all, but single elimination hockey sucks -- hold on to your butts. 

Serena and Matt discuss the five things we're most excited for/curious about/intrigued by as Michigan opens spring ball, including who fills the crater-sized holes at defensive end and idk maybe some talk about what happens at quarterback. We also briefly touch on Harbaugh's buyout and the weirdness around the Big Ten voting against CFP expansion.

• #5: The new Spring Game format 
  • Will we actually be able to see the draft?
  • Interesting that Clinkscale and Moore are coaching as opposed to Minter/Weiss
• #4: The crowded WR room
  • Lots of weapons, lots of speed, interested to see if someone separates themselves as a no. 1 WR 
• #3: The corners 
  • Floor seems reasonably high 
  • Hellooooooo Will Johnson 
• #2: Defensive Ends
  • Uh, somebody? anybody? Plz fill the Ojabo and Hutchinson sized holes in our defensive line 
  • Can't even imagine having to replace that kind of production, but we have to try 
• #1: We took the bait 
  • McNamara vs. McCarthy 
  • The floor at this position is SO high
  • We don't think anyone is going to really seize the job during the spring 
  • Neither of us would count Cade out 
• Bonus Topics: 
  • Harbaugh's contract 
    • The buyout stuff is silly. No amount of money is stopping a billionaire from hiring your coach if that's what they want to do 
  • CFP Expansion 
    • Not quite yet but probably still coming
    • Big Ten, Pac12 and ACC vote against, all for different reasons 

Serena and Matt discuss the labor complaint filed by players in the Pac-12 in which they seek to be recognized as employees, which could reshape college sports as we know them. We also touch on the Juwan Howard situation and suspension.  

• The Juwan thing is unfortunate
  • Neither of us thinks he should have been fired, but it also wouldn't have been unreasonable for him to be fired
  • The punishments mostly make sense and seem fair
  • It can't happen again
• The NLRB Labor Complaint
  • This has the power to reshape college sports as we know them
  • College players want to be regarded as employees entitled to wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act
  • The inclusion of UCLA in the suit is a way of testing the waters on jurisdiction because the NLRB usually only has jurisdiction over private employers
  • Discussing the feasibility of the joint-employer theory
  • Neither one of us wants to see college sports become full of 24 year olds who flamed out of the NFL or NBA - there's something magical about knowing these kids are in your classes and "just like you"
  • Do any of the benefits college athletes currently receive count as wages? There's a good argument that room and board do, but perhaps not tuition
  • What happens if they win?
    • Nonrevenue sports could disappear or become club sports
    • Maybe not much changes? It might depend a lot on what the players bargain for
    • What of women's sports? There are some Title IX implications here
    • Could they adopt a grad student model?
    • Might Congress just change the law to exempt college athletes from the FLSA?
  • We could talk about this for 1000000 years and not assess all of the possible outcomes, so we have to wait and see

WVU Law Review Article: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6307&context=wvlr

Serena and Matt react to the Michigan coordinator dust settling, discuss our comfort level with Jesse Minter and the apparently collaborative approach they'll be taking at OC, speculate some more about why Josh Gattis was so damn salty, and address Michigan's NIL program taking a step forward with The VICTORS Exchange.

• Minter has a good but not great resume
  • We like the playcalling experience 
  • It's hard to translate the Vanderbilt defense to what Michigan athletes are capable of 
  • This feels like a continuity hire, but its hard to see the continuity because what Vandy ran under Minter is so different than what we were running 
• Matt wonders why there weren't bigger names attached to the job
  • Last year Harbaugh took a risk (and he probably had to, because no reputable DC with options is falling over themselves to take a DC job with Michigan while Harbaugh is hanging by a thread) 
  • This year is significantly different circumstances. So why no big names? 
  • Perhaps the timing in the cycle? 
• Gattis is still salty 
  • We try to reconcile reports that Gattis was going to be named head coach if Harbaugh left with the way he behaved in his departure
  • Something doesn't make sense, but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle 
• Matt Weiss/Sherrone More get the nod 
  • Again, a totally expected continuity move 
  • Just hoping the offense can take a step forward 
  • Please don't take 30 seconds to get the play call in, we're begging 
• Michigan launches an NIL portal
  • Serena wants to form an LLC just to drop bags 
  • Seems like OSU and Michigan are taking similar approaches at this stage 

Serena and Matt discuss Josh Gattis' weird exit, what it means that he scorched the earth on his way out, whether it was Harbaugh's "fault," and what we expect/want Michigan to do at offensive coordinator.

• Every podcast is an emergency podcast 
• It certainly seems like Josh Gattis did not get the head coaching nod based on his reaction 
• This kind of makes it seem like Gattis wouldn't stay regardless of how the Harbaugh NFL flirtation played out
• Is this Harbaugh's fault?
  • Probably not. Gattis was probably only going to be around one more year anyway (he was already getting head coaching interviews), so this probably just accelerated the timeline a bit
• Candidates? 
  • Internal - Moore/Hart/Weiss 
  • Joe Brady? 
  • Tom Brady is a pipe dream 
• Having to replace both coordinators is less than ideal but at least we have a veteran coach doing it 

Jim Harbaugh stuns us all by announcing his return to Michigan. Serena and Matt talk about his return, piece together the timeline, our states of panic (or lack thereof) and where things stand now. 

• Putting together the timeline
• Balas' report sends the drama into overdrive
• Serena thought this was a done deal and spent last night coping like she just got dumped.
• Matt remains skeptical as always
• Who said no to whom?
• Discussion of other candidates is moot, thank goodness because we weren't sold on any of them
• Talk of firing Harbaugh should have been fired for taking this long nonsense for a lot of reasons: 1) the optics are terrible to your employees in the athletic department coming off of Covid layoffs and salary cuts; 2) sending a message to a future coaching candidate that Michigan is willing to oust a coach for even looking at another job is crazy
• We want coaches to feel a weird  amount of loyalty to their employers. They're not fans. Its their job
• Still need a DC
• Let the younger guys on the staff marinate and grow in their roles

Serena and Matt assess Michigan's D-coordinator options in the wake of Mike Macdonald's exit, imagine what Paul Chryst would do with Caleb Williams, and discuss what the Big Ten can do with its divisions to stop being so stupidly lopsided.

• Still no Harbaugh news 
• Mike Macdonald departure was not at all unexpected, but was probably sooner than expected
• PLZ hire someone capable of stopping spread passing attacks -- no one wants to get Don Browned again 
• Internal candidates include Mike Elston and Steve Clinkscale
• External candidates? Jon Heacock, Larry Foote, Derek Mason, Vic Fangio 
• Caleb Williams to Wisconsin -- Does Paul Chryst even know what to do with a Caleb Williams? 
• Big Ten realignment scenarios 
  • Whatever you do, don't make it worse 
  • Kind of feel like Michigan can't really win in this scenario because its guaranteed to have two of the better teams in the current Big Ten East as its "locked" rivalries
• Serena campaigns for Kevin Warren's job 

Reading Tea Leaves: 

• What the Mike Elston hire means (if anything) for Jim Harbaugh's future at Michigan 
• Whether the Ravens' DC opening is another thing for Michigan to worry about on the Mike McDonald front

Discussing:

• The odds that Michigan hires an internal candidate in the event of Harbaugh's departure.
  • Mike McDonald vs. Mike Hart vs. Josh Gattis 
• External candidates 
  • We hope you like soup! 
  • Luke Fickell has an Ohio State tattoo. That seems like a bad idea. 
  • Dave Aranda? 
• Following up on lingering NIL questions 
  • What happens in states where there are no NIL laws 
  • What if a state repeals their NIL law (like Alabama is threatening to do now)