Here is a post just recently thrown on The Fort. It summarizes our buddy Chris Balas torpedoing expectations on this coming season.
I would encourage fans to listen to the Audio of Chris's comments on the Huge Show yesterday. It included the following:
- JH found out that the talent level is not what would be expected at Michigan
- QB & WR are huge deficiencies and you can be a brilliant offensive mind but if you don't have the pieces to make it work then you are not going to make anything work
- They really don't have anything to hang your hat on offensively
- Will have to play to your strength's: defense and special teams
- A lot of folks calling for patience but about 25% of the fans base is delusional thinking that JH will turn it around immediately
- Not likely that JH wins from day one
- Not going to tear it up in his first year and JH doesn't want to make false promises
- Michigan is NOT stocked with talent.
- JH does NOT have the pieces that he needs to be highly successful right away.
- Most fans understand that this is not going to happen overnight
- 7,8,9 wins with 9 wins a ceiling which includes a bowl win [so presumably Chris thinks 8 wins regular season is the ceiling]
- Would like to wait until we see a game but today he would bet on MSU to cover the 3.5 spread without a question as UM is so lacking in playmakers
- When you have Morris backing up Rudock, you have some holes
- Had a hard time identifying 5 players on this team who would be the kind of difference makers that were a staple of the teams under Lloyd Carr
- Need a talent upgrade and until you get there you need to temper expectations
- People do understand that JH will ultimately win here. He won everywhere he has been. He is not going to fail. BUT year one, we have to temper the expectations
- JH will likely win the games he is supposed to win and maybe win one that he is not supposed to win [Yet Chris suggests 7 to 9 wins including a bowl win. They seems to suggest that he sees 5 or 6 games that we are simply not supposed to win]
As you can see from the above comments, Chris spent virtually the entire interview suggesting that this team will be fairly pedestrian this season and that the majority of fans understand that. I am certainly in agreement with Chris about tempering expectations. That said, I am not so sure that he is correct when he says the majority do have expectations in line with Chris given that so many fans post here that our talent is as good or better than any team other than OSU. The cupboard may not be bare but it is fairly meager versus the best teams in the B1G, imo.
I would encourage fans to listen to the Audio of Chris's comments on the Huge Show yesterday. It included the following:
- JH found out that the talent level is not what would be expected at Michigan
- QB & WR are huge deficiencies and you can be a brilliant offensive mind but if you don't have the pieces to make it work then you are not going to make anything work
- They really don't have anything to hang your hat on offensively
- Will have to play to your strength's: defense and special teams
- A lot of folks calling for patience but about 25% of the fans base is delusional thinking that JH will turn it around immediately
- Not likely that JH wins from day one
- Not going to tear it up in his first year and JH doesn't want to make false promises
- Michigan is NOT stocked with talent.
- JH does NOT have the pieces that he needs to be highly successful right away.
- Most fans understand that this is not going to happen overnight
- 7,8,9 wins with 9 wins a ceiling which includes a bowl win [so presumably Chris thinks 8 wins regular season is the ceiling]
- Would like to wait until we see a game but today he would bet on MSU to cover the 3.5 spread without a question as UM is so lacking in playmakers
- When you have Morris backing up Rudock, you have some holes
- Had a hard time identifying 5 players on this team who would be the kind of difference makers that were a staple of the teams under Lloyd Carr
- Need a talent upgrade and until you get there you need to temper expectations
- People do understand that JH will ultimately win here. He won everywhere he has been. He is not going to fail. BUT year one, we have to temper the expectations
- JH will likely win the games he is supposed to win and maybe win one that he is not supposed to win [Yet Chris suggests 7 to 9 wins including a bowl win. They seems to suggest that he sees 5 or 6 games that we are simply not supposed to win]
As you can see from the above comments, Chris spent virtually the entire interview suggesting that this team will be fairly pedestrian this season and that the majority of fans understand that. I am certainly in agreement with Chris about tempering expectations. That said, I am not so sure that he is correct when he says the majority do have expectations in line with Chris given that so many fans post here that our talent is as good or better than any team other than OSU. The cupboard may not be bare but it is fairly meager versus the best teams in the B1G, imo.
