MichiganCardinal

Yeah a lot came out about him personally that made it clear he wasn't well liked. The story I remember best is the one that he wouldn't give teammates his cell number, and made them go through his manager if they wanted to reach him. It may be hard for a guy with that kind of ego to eat his slice of humble pie.

The way things played out in Denver too, it was never going to work between him and Payton. I wouldn't be surprised if he still has something left in the tank, particularly going to a lower pressure place like Washington or Tennessee, where he can effectively be told he has nothing to lose.

Same on the other end of the spectrum too. If guys like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen were thrown to the wolves in their rookie year in a place like Carolina or New (Jersey), I doubt they'd be the QBs they are today either.

I thought I heard it was the Jets who were interested. They wanted Van Ness and when the Packers took him at #13 they would have taken Gibbs at #15, but had to reach for Will McDonald instead.

Even with them available I think it would have been fair to have landed on Moore off of a National Championship and four wins as interim, including over Penn State and Ohio State. The safe candidate isn't always the best candidate, but there is something to be said for the obvious candidate being the obvious candidate for a reason. If Michigan got cute with it and hired Jason Candle (or a similar candidate), and Moore went on to be a 10-2 coach at UCLA, Michigan would have looked really stupid.

I'm not sure they knew Jim was leaving. He always beat to his own drum, they probably didn't know for sure until he called and told them. That said, Warde absolutely lucked into Sherrone Moore. Off a National Championship, hiring a coach in January, there was not going to be a better candidate out there. Should he have had a plan for hiring a replacement after 2020, 2021, and 2022? Probably. And to your point, I doubt he did. Now they're in a similar position, with the writing on the wall that you will need a new basketball coach at some point in the next 0-3 years. Even if you ignore this awful season, and ignore the off-the-court (and on-court) anger problems, the man recently had heart surgery. A contingency plan should be in place, and I agree that backdoor conversations should be being had. And I doubt they are.

If he had the cheat sheet of draft picks foresight, ASB probably would have been a much earlier pick in 2021. Drafting isn't a perfect science. I do think they had Gonzalez above Porter, that seemed to be the consensus from what I can remember. I think we tend to agree on more than we disagree, which is usually the case. I think lay fans last year saw DB, DT, and Edge as the three largest holes on the roster. The team seemed to agree about DB, signing Sutton and CJGJ plus drafting Branch, but did not agree about DT or Edge. The lay fans were right about Edge, the team was right about DT. I largely agree about the way the Lions go about it. I think there is some minor consideration for position though. They aren't going to take JJ McCarthy at #29 for instance, even if he's the top prospect on their board. FWIW, I wouldn't be upset if they took a guard in the first round and I don't think many fans would be either. There is always going to be the contingent that is just crazy out-there and thinks we should be starting Hooker, but I don't really pay attention to them... The OL is the most important component to this team, and the entire offense depends on them. I would be disappointed (and shocked) if they didn't address the CB position at all. Moseley is (again) no guarantee to be healthy by week one.

Regarding the edge position, I think they were just wrong. I think they thought Charles Harris would be a player who he isn't.

I still maintain that they were going to draft Witherspoon at #6 if the Seahawks hadn't taken him at #5. Beyond that, I think they would have taken Christian Gonzalez at #18 if the Patriots hadn't taken him at #17. Hell, they might have even taken Joey Porter Jr. at #34 if the Steelers didn't take him at #32. They finally put their foot down with the trade with Green Bay to jump New England and take Branch. I think there was recognition that we needed help in the secondary last draft, but the board just wasn't falling how they hoped. There really wasn't ever much behind Sutton and Moseley, and they knew Moseley was coming off an ACL and might not be ready by week one. I think they want the best players that will fit what they're trying to do. Carter was a good player who didn't fit what they were trying to do. I think it's encouraging though that when the guy they want (twice) gets taken out from under them, they don't panic. They could have reached at #6 and selected Gonzalez way too early, but instead they reacted, and got us Gibbs and LaPorta instead. They could have panicked at #18 and reached for Deonte Banks, but instead they took the best linebacker in the draft. Likewise with #34 and they got us the best tight end in the draft.

Based on this from JUB, posted a few days ago, I doubt Howard gets fired unless higher administration (like Ono) step in:

I agree that if Ono has to go over top of Warde and make the ultimate decision to fire Juwan that Ono has to also fire Warde. I just think Ono will do everything in his power to avoid having to replace an AD and a basketball coach at the same time... Whether that's by convincing Warde to fire Juwan himself or by largely accepting whatever Warde tells him as justification for keeping Juwan... He's a university president with bigger fish to fry. Athletics are supposed to be self-sustaining monetarily and easy promotion of your brand, not repeat distractions. I think Ono might even just say "okay" to one more year of Juwan, even at the expense of another 20-loss season, if it means avoiding having to buyout Warde, find a new AD, and find a new basketball coach all while being a university president.

I don't really understand the loyalty. The man has given you two separate incidences now where he could have been fired for-cause. At least after the Wisconsin incident you could claim it was isolated while recognizing the fact that he had a decent season to that point (which was capped by a surprise Sweet 16 appearance after the incident), fresh off an Elite 8 run and a B1G Championship. They gave him the same level of deference many large programs give their star athletes and coaches. I wanted him fired, but I at least understood why they were hesitant to. This go-around though? This is just stupid. Worst Michigan Basketball team in school history, man has a history of being physically aggressive with others, has demonstrated a complete inability to recruit top-end talent or coach up mediocre talent, you had publicly announced a zero-tolerance policy, and then he does this and you just.... what? Ignore it? Ono is in something of a tough spot, because his job is not to babysit Warde. He can't keep coming in and micromanaging the Athletic Department just because Warde is bad at his job; it undermines the office and makes the next person's job harder. First it was that he couldn't play nice with Jim, and now it's that he can't see what an absolute mess of it Juwan has made and continues to make... But what are Ono's options? Let the basketball program languish in mediocrity (or worse) until Warde sees the light and fires the coach (and probably hires a poor replacement) out of principle? That probably doesn't affect his job that much. More importantly for Ono though (and General Counsel), does he allow Juwan to continue assaulting school employees (or others)? The school is already certainly on notice to his propensity to act aggressively towards others. Warde's contract is up in 2026, and I have a hard time seeing them firing him before that's up (though I'd also be very surprised at this point if it's renewed). I do also think Ono's office needs to step in again, as little as he likely wants to. If Warde isn't going to fire Juwan, ask him why. What does he see that we don't? What makes him think 2024-2025 will be different than this **** show of a season? What makes him think Juwan isn't going to punch someone else, who then sues the university for outrageous sums of money?

Anyone else have Nick Punto on your Lions Offseason Bingo card?

I'm not really sure what "sneaky athleticism" is. I think he was drafted to be a large specimen of a human being in the middle of the defensive line on obvious run downs. As others have said, that role is more about brute strength and plugging holes than it is being twitchy, agile, or being a natural athlete. Even when that role does its job oftentimes it's the edge rushers or second level linebackers who are getting credited with the tackle or TFL, which comes as a result of there being no running lane. It's not something that RAS is really designed to compensate for. I think it's possible though they were asked about his athleticism and it's not like they can say "I've taken dumps with more athleticism than him," so instead they call him "sneaky athletic"

See, this is the kind of leadership I want with my football organization.

Martin was a big kid with little athleticism from a small school taken around pick #100. I don’t think he was expected to be a big day one contributor.

I’ve gotten these surveys before. Never knew they went to something like this. I’ve always rated them highly but leave comments that I want mobile vendors with hot dogs so I don’t have to stand in a 15 minute line for a dog. But do they listen?? Noooooo.

Terrible giveaway in the 1st was the mistake of the game. Hand them a pathway to a 2-0 early lead and it hard to win

Legend has it for every February Jared Goff chant his contract increases $10,000

Octopus sighting tied 3-3

Let’s go!

Ten seconds later. Thats better.

2nd period was much more lively than the 1st. They were napping for much of that 1st period.

We are probably heading in that direction FWIW.

Penalty happy crew probably goes in the Wings favor, have some catching up to do currently.