CaptainComeback said...
The Truth about Nussmeier to Michigan
Okay, here we go ago, Nussmeier to Michigan! AD Dave Brandon made the steal of the century to bring this young OC to the Wolverines and wrestled him away from the mighty Crimson Tide, right?
Not so fast my friend. If you know anything about Nick Saban, it’s that even those assistant coaches that appreciate learning under him, have a hard time tolerating him for very long. He is demanding, he is a perfectionist, and behind his back some have called him things that rhyme with Nick. However, since he wins National Championships, all is soon forgotten—but then they soon leave and he is rotating coaches in, including offensive coordinators every couple years. Yes, some are promoted or seeking advancement, but it is a double bonus to get the heck out of there as soon as they get an opportunity.
Some will remember when Saban left MSU for LSU, none of his assistant coaches followed him. That might have shocked him--that would not be a shock to any of the assistants left behind. Former MSU assistant Greg Colby got the wrath of Saban on the defensive side of the ball and as everyone knows Saban is not afraid to take over. At LSU, he took over the 2nd half play-calling for D-Coordinator Phil Elmassian during the Peach Bowl.
After having just 10-men on the field against Penn State the last game of the year and last series (during his tenure at MSU)—he walked into a defensive coaches meeting the next day and threatened to fire everyone on that side of the ball. That might have happened as Brad Lawling would explain later, but MSU intercepted the ball even with a defensive back missing.
Saban can be funny as well in his demanding way, when he was at Toledo, he says to his offensive coordinator Greg Meyer, “Hey you see that free safety cheating up on every play, do we have a play-action pass in our play-book? You know something over his head?” The next play is a play-action pass for a TD, Saban gets on the head set and says, “Thank you!” Also you better have the coffee ready, just ask Tim Staudt about that.
So fast forward to today---you don’t want to be an assistant under Saban where he feels you need to get better and that’s what was happening. Saban brought in Lane Kiffin in December to take a look at the offense because of perceived failures during the season despite averaging over 39.7-points a game. Too much of this against A&M, not enough of this against Auburn fans would say. The wrong play at the wrong time—in other words Nussmeier was being second guessed. Just like someone else we know… Al Borges at UM. I have to laugh at the vicious cycle of scape-goating in big time college athletics; it would be rather amusing if people weren’t losing their jobs like Borges.
Anyway—So Nussmeier is desperate to leave and interviews with Washington, which goes to Chris Peterson. So after he loses the head coaching job there, he says ‘I want to be a head coach someday, but am very, very, excited to remain a part of this (Alabama) program.' So excited he bolted for the Wolverines as soon as they called. Which makes no sense. Hey, if you want a head-coaching gig, you do not leave Alabama for Michigan where things could go wrong and you have less talent. Doesn’t look good on the Resume’, which means something was not right at Alabama.
Saban has had three offensive Coordinators, and supposedly Major Applewhite couldn’t get along with Joe Pendry. Jim McElwain, another John L. Smith assistant coach like Nussmeier, bided his time for three years and became the head coach at Colorado State. So why wouldn’t Nussmeier do the same? Again, it doesn’t make sense. (Of course it makes sense to the delusional UM fan because it’s ‘Michiganfergodsakes’.)
Another concern the Wolverines should have with Nussmeier is that few if any Alabama fans cared if he left. There was no outrage he was gone, no outrage at Michigan for this ‘steal’. Rather, Alabama talk radio was filled with relief, hoping they could get Lane Kiffin, Mike Groh, or even Mike Shula to take over. Many of the Alabama media who once covered Al Borges feel he is a better offensive coordinator that Nussmeier.
Then what does Michigan get? They went from giving Al Borges a raise to firing him. Sure UM struggled on offense at times, but they did average 32.2 points a game, scoring 40+ points against Notre Dame and Ohio State. Oh wait, except that doesn’t count because they are worried they were held to negative rushing yardage by their non-rival Michigan State, so it all makes sense..in their minds. So let this be an important lesson to you aspiring coaches, if you average 29.8 points a game, you can keep your job and get a raise, if you average 32.2 points a game---you can lose your job. Must be the Michigan difference.
Here’s another thing, teams take on the personality of their head coach. Keeping Brady Hoke on board is the real problem when you have Greg Schiano available or Bowden at Akron—but oh wait, Hoke is a certain species that continues to plague Michigan football—he is a “Meeeecchigan Man,” whatever that means. What it really means is they are going to be rotating assistant coaches like deck chairs on the Titanic without realizing the real two-headed problem with Michigan football---Hoke and Brandon.
Hoke is a good recruiter and probably a decent position coach, but hopelessly over his head as a head coach. Brandon is a problem in my opinion because Hoke was Brandon’s hire and he doesn’t want to admit he made a mistake---and apparently breaks down film with Hoke, so he can vicariously live out his dream as a quasi-head coach.
Finally, this does not mean Nussmeier isn’t a good coach, he certainly is to an extent---which means he can average 39+ points a game with five star talent at Alabama, and with less talent at Michigan, he will be in the, dare I say it, the Al Borges area code. Which ultimately means, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Saban still watches Spartan football, and next fall he will tune in on October 25th (if it doesn't conflict with Alabama football-they play Tennessee that day so he may tape it) to watch the Spartans play the Wolverines. He might still be wearing that green t-shirt under his Bama gear, and inside... he might be smiling just a little bit, because it's not Dave Brandon pulling the strings, it's Nick Saban still running the show.
