Postgames from the Michigan and Detroit contests this weekend coming up later. Possibly tomorrow, possibly not until after Easter.
Until then, a game column from The Wolverine on Michigan’s loss to Air Force.
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After watching the game, I think I can understand why Air Force has been so up and down this year. They play a zone defense that is a little unusual, kind of like going up against an option team in football. It took Michigan’s young guys some time to figure it out, and when they did Michigan looked like a completely different team.
JP mentioned the zone in the postgame press conference, but I didn’t put it in the game column (it’ll be in the GLS recap). Once Michigan got used to it, things went a lot better offensively – though even still, most of U-M’s goals came in transition.
Watching this team every week is a major disappointment. Michigan looked horrible on the field and in my opinion never looked worse except for 1 good period with a few transition goals.
There is definitely something wrong here. Michigan has some great players and it looks like the team is really working hard on the field. It has to be obvious that they are failing week to week because the coaching staff cannot bring their talents together. These players deserve better.
Sorry, anybody who thinks Michigan has remotely enough talent or experience to win games at the Division-1 level is just so obviously wrong (and agenda-driven) that I can do little other than laugh.
I didn’t get to see the Air Force game. I tend to agree with Tim. A little perspective is needed. They have one recruiting class. There are a few of the freshmen who are obviously going to be very good (Jackson, Logan, Hernandez jump out). But how many of the freshmen would even be seeing significant time on an established D1 team. Maybe just those three, assuming Logan beat out the incumbent goalie? Would these guys be playing their current positions or would a guy like Hernandez be a d middie right now, which is what most programs would do if they had the depth to develop a freshmen with his athleticism? How much talent is there really? Remember that this class was put together very late. The best recruits were picked over already.
Let’s say they had a win or two this season instead of 10 losses. Would that change opinion? Certainly nobody in their right mind expected this team to win more than a couple of games at most, and that was assuming High Point was a given. High Point is better than anyone expected, but they also have a team full of D1 recruits who’ve been together for two years now and more transfers so maybe it’s not a surprise. But how would one or two wins change anything? It’s not like this is an 8 win team seriously underperforming. Any wins they get now are because they play a perfect game (good luck with a young team) and the other team underperforms.
I look at the job this staff is doing by looking for statistical improvement where it’s realistic to see improvement. Any team can clear. They were bad it early. They are good at it now. They get killed on ground balls almost every game. That’s less coaching and more athletes, but the fact that they actually won that stat this weekend proves they are emphasizing it. I’m disappointed they aren’t shooting better at this point, but again I didn’t see the Air Force game and from what I’ve read they played zone which would force more outside shots so this probably isn’t a good game to judge that one on.
I’m not an apologist. I think these coaches should be judged eventually, and I’m sure they will be. I am not going to judge them on wins and losses until the 2015 season. They will have three classes then. This class, which is average to good at best, will be juniors by then. I’m going to assume the next two classes are slightly better. By that season they should be winning a handful of games. It’s going to take longer than that to build anything really special.
I agree with AndyD…although I’m not sure the best recruits were picked over already; thought this recruiting class was highly ranked. I also wonder why two of their top recruits, Brendan Gaughan and Matt Graham, quit prior to the season starting. I hear both are headed to other D1 programs. Regardless, young team and tough schedule make for a difficult season. However, at this point I do not think “it is obviously wrong” to think Michigan has the talent to compete at this level.
Regardless of the sport, when a team looks bad (and Michigan has looked very bad at times this year), it’s a fan’s natural tendency to question the coaching staff. And peggy is correct in one respect…it is up to the coaching staff to bring the talent together. I don’t agree with her assessment that it’s “obvious” coaching is the issue, but it does make you think. And as AndyD said, they will be judged eventually. Much depends on how patient the AD is…and he doesn’t seem like the patient type!
Matt Graham (like Will Perkins and one of the longpole recruits, though I can’t remember which one off the top of my head) had amicable splits with the coaching staff in the fall. The word I’ve received is that they didn’t take kindly to the workload of Division-1 lacrosse, and seemed more content to simply quit the team. On that hand, it would surprise me to see Graham join another D-1 program, but if he transfers a little closer to home, it could happen.
Gaughan had disciplinary issues this year, and while he’s still technically listed on the roster, will not (from what I’ve heard) be returning to the team, at least not this season.
My mistake, I meant Graham Conlan (not Brendan Gaughan)
Conlan is the pole who made an amicable split with the coaching staff. Not sure what’s in store for his lacrosse future.
I know Michigan is marketing this year’s freshman as “class 1” but the sophomore’s on this roster were recruited too. JP recruited those kids with the promise of the team going D1 and he didn’t have to follow NCAA rules while doing it either since they had not made the announcement yet.
Yes, half the roster is made up of guys that were MCLA leftovers, but several of these guys turned down other D1 offers to go to Michigan.
That’s just not accurate. Maybe three kids in the sophomore class (including the one you’re referring to, as well as a kid who’s no longer on the roster despite starting last year) committed to Michigan knowing they’d play Division-1 lacrosse. Everyone else heard the same thing Michigan’s been saying to kids for years: “we hope to go Division-1 by the time you graduate, but nothing is promised.”
Not true. The official announcement was in April of 2011, but in the fall of 2010 they were hosting these kids on visits, taking them to football games, sitting in the new suites in Michigan Stadium and telling them that the announcement was coming. Because they were not an official NCAA team yet they didn’t have to follow the recruiting rules yet either.
They had to have faith that JP was telling the truth, but those kids were recruited, they were promised D1 games under the lights in the Big House.
Technically May 25, 2011. Looking at the list of recruits again and a list of the players significantly contributing now from that class, it looks like Meter was really the only one with significant D1 offers (the type of offers that ECAC players have and is the standard we are looking for Michigan live up to in the near term).
The official announcement was May 25, 2011 but JP told the team in late April, right after he found out. JP did not recruit any of them except Meter and Weiss with the promise of D1 lacrosse and that only came very late in the process once it was a done deal (but not yet official). They definitely did not know in the fall that it would be coming that soon. Once it became clear that Brandon wanted to do this, JP’s line was consistent. It is probably coming eventually, but you are coming here for the club team if you choose Michigan.
As for visits, JP did all of the stuff Reg mentions for years with his club team recruits. Football games, sidelines, etc. I don’t think he had recruits in the suites since they were just built, and he can’t do that now since that would be an NCAA violation, but my point is that stuff hasn’t really changed. They did all of it for years.
Lacrosse got no admissions help in 2011. This freshman class was the first class that admissions worked through the system and the first one with scholarship support.
Bottom line, the sophomores getting a lot of time now are Meter, Gembis, McCormack and Orr. Plus Francia, who just transfered in. Weiss obviously started last year but he’s gone now and would not be starting anymore anyway. I can see Meter continuing to be a factor going forward. Not sure about the others as the recruiting classes fill in.
The comments questioning the coaching are silly given that this is a team with one real recruiting class of freshman and holdovers from the club team. I don’t want to sound like an East Coast elitist, but living in the DC area I get to see several games of East Coast teams every week on television. I’ve also seen 4 UM games so far this year (one in person, one on TV, and two on the web). The gap in talent level and experience between every D1 team I’ve seen and UM right now is huge. The fact that UM can stay competitive in a game against Colgate and not get embarrassed when playing Loyola speaks volumes about the preparation and teaching that the coaching staff is doing. Andy D. is right on the money: let’s wait until 2015 to judge the coaching. And anyone who thinks Dave Brandon won’t be patient with the coaches need only look to his wise decision to stick with John Beilein when Brandon became AD. Brandon is a great AD and he will recognize that Coach Paul is building a team and that some time and patience is needed.
Anybody who thinks the athletic department should or would consider firing John Paul before the end of the 2015 season is either absolutely clueless or agenda-driven. It’s just not happening. On the same token, anybody who thinks this team isn’t night and day from last year’s edition is also delusional.
That said, Beilein might not be the best example… He was less than a year removed from taking Michigan to its first NCAA tournament in 15 years when Brandon was hired. Even if the 2009-10 season went somewhat horribly, there had already been positive results for Beilein at Michigan. No so much (for the varsity program, at least) with Paul.
You’re absolutely correct that this year’s team is far better than last year’s team in terms of talent and execution. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb now and predict that UM beats either Delaware or Detroit, and maybe both.
I’m not suggesting anyone gets fired. Some of us just aren’t as “sold” on this coaching staff as you are. Great club level results. Not sure that translates into D1 results. Time will tell. Again, I agree with AndyD, the staff will be judged eventually, and I think next year’s performance will dictate their future. Brandon may be patient, but he is VERY demanding.
I think it’s fair to not be sold on them. They haven’t done anything at this level yet to close the sale. I’ve chosen to give them the benefit of the doubt given a) unprecedented success in the MCLA, b) obvious improvement of a vastly undermanned team, and c) the fact that Brandon went with JP in the first place when he didn’t have to. If Brandon has shown anything it’s that he does what he wants to do. If he didn’t believe in JP, he wouldn’t have hired him. He’ll give him time. He has to know how tough this is to take a club team and make it D1. I believe they will have 4 or 5 years to prove that they are capable of becoming competitive, and you have to think he understands that competitive does not mean winning championships already at that point. That will take longer.
I’m not “sold” as much as I am patient and evaluating the coaching job year by year. Last year obviously was a mulligan. This year’s team is much improved over last year in terms of talent and execution, so while I would like to see some wins, I’m more interested in the team’s progress. I would like to see UM stay close with Delaware and maybe beat them, and think UM will best UD. But in the end, this year isn’t about wins and losses as much as it is about improvement. I just get frustrated with comments criticizing the coaching this year when that shouldn’t be the focus right now as much as the team’s progress from last year.