Michigan Tuesday: Time Is on our Side

As regular readers of this blog know, I believe kickoff time is very important for how the Wolverines will play.  I believe the Wolverines play better at Noon, then they do at 3:30 or 7:30.  I don't have any stats to back up that opinion, but I know what I know 😀.   Coach Whitt seems to have similar football sensibilities to Jim Harbaugh, even though Coach has lived in the Mountain time zone most of his career.  

Now TV contracts has thrown a wrench into playing more Noon kicks.  Fox owns the Noon time slot, CBS owns the 3:30 kick, and NBC the night game.  BTN gets the rest of the games.   Which means to play at noon, its has to be big game that Fox wants or a bad game BTN gets. 

The TV Networks have started to grab games next season and of course, Fox has grabbed two big Michigan games.  Oklahoma @ Michigan and Michigan @ OSU, both of course Noon kicks.   To me, playing The Sooners at noon is a big deal! 

Michigan's Big 3 are at the NBA Combine and measured in yesterday.   Per Jonathan Givony from X: 

Michigan's Morez Johnson measured 6'9 barefoot and 251 pounds at the NBA Draft Combine, with a 7'3.5 wingspan and 8'11 standing reach.

Michigan's Aday Mara measured 7'3 barefoot and 260 pounds at the NBA Draft Combine, with a 7'6 wingspan and 9'9 standing reach. Absolutely absurd measurements. Tied with Mark Williams for the second-longest standing reach in Combine history, behind only Tacko Fall.

Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg measured 6'8.75 barefoot and 241 pounds at the NBA Draft Combine, with a 7'3.25 wingspan and 9'0.5 standing reach. No surprises after last year's Combine, but still outstanding dimensions for a player who slid seamlessly from the 3 to the 5 this season.

• John Henry Daley is expected to be 100% by June 1st

• Greg Crippen signs with the Steelers 

Michigan Monday: A Mody Maor Monday

Dusty is hiring Mody Maor an overseas coach as an assistant coach.  Nobody knows anything about this guy but if Dusty knows him I bet he is a special coach that can bring some new ideas/strategies to the team.   When Dusty was at FAU, it was once quoted his team plays an "International Style".  That thinking continues with the hiring of Maor, who last coached in Japan and New Zealand.  In Dusty we Trust! 

Speaking of FAU and Dusty, the Wolverines were at FAU's gym this past weekend playing a pick up game.  Seems Dusty made a few calls for them! 

Dusty wasn't the only Michigan coach doing work over the weekend,  Coach Whitt and staff picked up a 2027 commitment from a 4 Star Edge from Indy, Jayce Brewer.  

Jayce is 6'5 and 240 pounds and rated the 28th edge and 8th player in Indiana by the composite.  His offers included: IU, Purdue, UNC, LSU, Florida, Miami, Wisconsin, Auburn, ASU, OSU, Oregon, PSU, USC and More...........

Welcome Big Man, can't wait for you to Jayce a ton of Big 10 QB's! 

• Congrats to Michigan Softball making the tournament!

• Congrats to Michigan's Endowment for their $20M Open AI investment that is expected to be worth $2B when they IPO.  Now that is a good return!  Hello NIL! 

Michigan Thursday: Basketball Locking In a Difficult Schedule

Dusty is taking his team on the road to play a couple big time neutral site games.  They have already scheduled Duke in Madison Square Garden and now UConn in Boston.  Michigan as reigning National Champions will be a headliner and Dusty is smart getting the team difficult matchups to prepare them for March.   I love the strategy!

• CBS predicts a Michigan - Alabama Citrus Bowl - Really again?  No thanks! 

• College Football coaches want a 24 team playoff and no Conference Championship games, with everything being completed in early January.  That means the Bowl System would be dead!  Which is just a matter of time.

Wolverine Wednesday: Bryce Putting In The Work

As you know, I didn't think Bryce's freshman year was as bad as most people thought.  None of us would've been ready to lead the Michigan Football Team a few days after our 18th birthday.   With that said, I thought his Spring Game performance would be graded as a D.  He got out shined by a fundamentally strong true freshman.  Bryce's fundamentals didn't look better and he looked exactly what we saw last season.

So to recap:

• Bryce is Michigan's highest paid and rated player 
• He has a brand new QB Coach dedicated to make him better 
• He had a true freshman outshine him in the Spring Game 
• He needs to improve over the summer 

Bryce is a smart guy and he knows his earning potential and his playing time could be under attack if he doesn't take a big leap forward next season.  There is nothing wrong struggling as a 18 year old first time starter, there is for a guy with a years playing experience.  We know he has the talent, he just has to clean up his fundamentals and decision making. 

To that end, Bryce is working with Jordan Palmer (brother of Carson) who is an ESPN analyst/famous QB Coach and Cincinnati QB Joe Burrow.  That is a great start and I hope they are able fix some of his QB fundamentals.  If Bryce puts in the work, he will be fine.  He just can't always just rely on his strong arm.