Good morning everyone and welcome to your Friday Skull Session.
I'll be your host on Fridays now as we celebrate the end of the work week and, eventually, the coming of football Saturdays.
I'd like to urge all of you to stay strong as we go through this short football-less period between spring and summer practices. It might be comforting to realize that for the first year since 2006, the offense is a team strength rather than an afterthought.
Miller is improving his footwork, Hyde is coaching the young running backs, two solid right tackles are vying for the open spot, and Coach Smith is no longer having sleepless nights because of the clown show at wide receiver.
Apparently you all aren't concerned either, as the top forum thread is currently about beer recommendations. Good work, ladies and gentlemen (my favorites: the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Punkin Ale, and Bell's Best Brown Ale).
RUTGERS RAID THE LAKERS FOR A COACH. Rutgers has hired Lakers assistant coach Eddie Jordan to take over for recently fired Mike Rice. Rice, you may remember, was the "star" of an infamous video showing the coach physically and verbally abusing players.
While the Big Ten-bound Scarlet Knights could have chosen almost anyone and it would have been an improvement, Jordan brings a "half-court, backdoor-cut-style Princeton offense" to a struggling Rutgers program.
Interestingly, Jordan was not the Knights' first choice once again (after losing the job to Rice in 2010), with Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley the top candidate. Rutgers (and likely Jim Delany from behind the scenes) should be commended for hiring Jordan, who is an NBA coaching vet and former Scarlet Knights star.
His contract, which is estimated at over $1 million per year, would make him the highest-paid basketball coach in Rutgers history, as well as the top-paid state employee.
TSUN COMINGS AND GOINGS. Our rivals to the north will be losing their school president as Mary Sue Coleman has announced her retirement for 2014.
Coleman leaves behind a solid legacy as chair of the prestigious AAU and leader of the $3.2 billion "The Michigan Difference" fundraising campaign. Buckeye fans will likely remember her more for her role in hiring RichRod.
As you'll recall from John Bacon's Three and Out (or M Man's review and comments), Coleman and Bill Martin promised that Michigan would take care of Rodriguez's buyout from West Virginia, but later had to backpedal on the offer after failing to get permission from the Board.
While Coleman is leaving, two star freshmen basketball players, Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary, announced they were staying for (at least) their sophomore seasons after passing on potential late lottery picks in the NBA Draft. MGoBlog responded by going full-on puppets.
Michigan basketball has already taken two huge blows in losing Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. to the NBA.
Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh will have top NFL teams NFL NEWS DAY. Yesterday the NFL released the 2013-14 schedule, and it already has me desperate for the return of football.
Like most of us here (I'm assuming), I have always largely preferred the college game to the NFL, but there are 4-5 matchups in Week 1 alone that have me counting down the days: Falcons vs. Saints, Ravens vs. Broncos, Packers vs. 49ers, and Eagles vs. Redskins.
In the League's schedule version of a noogie, first-year Eagles coach Chip Kelly starts the year with the Redskins, Chargers, and Chiefs all in eleven days. I'm excited to see his system run in the NFL, but that hundred mile an hour sports car might resemble a croaking pickup truck after three games in less than two full weeks.
Elsewhere around the League, who is excited for the Seahawks vs. 49ers? Some are arguing that the Jim Harbaugh vs. Pete Carroll rivalry is the best matchup in the league.
Harbaugh and Carroll have plenty of history from their Stanford-USC days, but their personal rivalry will only intensify as their NFL units have become two of the top in the NFL. #TeamSurferPete
Finally, the draft is coming up in less than a week now, and it looks to be an unpredictable, if un-sexy, year. One agent summarized the 2013 draft like this:
This is the weirdest draft I've ever been a part of. We looked at those initial grades and seven of the top 10 grades went to linemen. There were literally no skill players. I've never seen anything like it. We have no idea how it will play out next week. I don't think anyone does.
This is because of the potential for a high number of trading, the parity between the first and third rounds, the low overall top-end quarterback talent, and the glut of linemen going in the top 10.
ESPN'S RELEASES RECRUITING RANKINGS. ESPN has released their inaugural 150 recruits and team rankings, with Ohio State entering the rankings at 11th.
Cornerback and class leader Damon Webb is the only Buckeye in the top 150 for the first set of rankings, but this is sure to change following more commitments and reevaluations following summer camps and senior year games.
Michigan only has five class members so far, but all rank in the ESPN 150. My personal opinion is that these rankings couldn't matter less, as it's incredibly early in the recruiting cycle and I'm growing partial to 247 lately.
We can appreciate the 150 and team rankings for their discussion fodder, but no one should pretend like recruiting rankings are an exact science.
DROPPIN SOME PHAT LINKS. UConn went the completely wrong direction with their helmets... Notre Dame renews that TV contract... Wow Maryland sorority rage is incredible (warning, NSFW language)... Could Dyer return and play for Bert? He'd have an embarrassment of riches at running back... Johnny M (no not that one) dominates in his spring game and is ready to avoid a sophomore slump.
