@FootballGuy_Al @Mr29or2for50 This was Fitz’s biggest handicap at northwestern. Bad sign as a hire.
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TheCMFFLCommish
3.8K posts
Fully aware.
Regardless, it’s still a supremely underwhelming hire—an offensive assistant brought in out of familiarity, with little evidence of a meaningful ceiling or innovative element, especially for what was supposedly a deep coaching-staff budget.
A resting-on-laurels move—the same approach that left Northwestern at 4–20 in Fitzgerald’s final two seasons there.
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From 2022–25, in 39 games with Mike Bajakian as offensive coordinator (Northwestern, Utah, UMass), his teams averaged just 16.07 points per game against FBS opponents — a mark that would rank second-worst among all 136 programs over that span.
By comparison, Michigan State averaged 19.69 points per game versus FBS opponents since 2022, ranking 129th.
Matt Fortuna@Matt_Fortuna
Sources: Michigan State is set to hire UMass OC Mike Bajakian as its next QBs coach. Bajakian was Northwestern’s OC from 2020-23, working the first three of those seasons under new Spartans coach Pat Fitzgerald.
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@bobwojnowski @detroitnews Keep spinning it for your employer Woj
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Two days after Sherrone Moore was fired, Whittingham said he was stepping away from Utah. For Michigan, it’s a match of convenience, and a good one.
Wojo: With Whittingham, Michigan wisely goes old school to start fresh detroitnews.com/story/sports/c… via @detroitnews
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@WolverineCorner I live in Salt Lake. Almost all of my clients are Utah or BYU fans. BYU fans were hoping Whittingham would stay at Utah. Utah fans wanted him gone. There are reasons for that. Kyle had a good run. But as a top-tier coach now? Nope. He’s done. Inside the Utah program they knew it.
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Kalen DeBoer actually wanted to come to Michigan. He was waiting on an offer. Michigan didn’t offer because they got the better coach in Whittingham
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Sources: Michigan State is set to hire UMass OC Mike Bajakian as its next QBs coach.
Bajakian was Northwestern’s OC from 2020-23, working the first three of those seasons under new Spartans coach Pat Fitzgerald.
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@MoneybaggH0E This covers two of Fitz’s biggest Achilles heels: crappy offense in his final yrs and surrounding himself with former northwestern friends who aren’t cutting it and he doesn’t want to move on from.
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I’ll give it a chance before I’m totally out on it, but the offensive staff coming together is a little concerning
Matt Fortuna@Matt_Fortuna
Sources: Michigan State is set to hire UMass OC Mike Bajakian as its next QBs coach. Bajakian was Northwestern’s OC from 2020-23, working the first three of those seasons under new Spartans coach Pat Fitzgerald.
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NEW: UNLV EDGE Tunmise Adeleye plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, @Hayesfawcett3 reports
The former Texas A&M, Michigan State and Texas State EDGE was a top-50 recruit in the 2021 class.
on3.com/transfer-porta…
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Kyle is a top 5 coach in CFB and has been for over a decade. Incredible hire by Michigan. Watch out. Wow!!
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Kyle Whittingham is a great coach and will bring some Jim Harbaugh physicality back to the program.
Michigan can win a National Championship with Whittingham.
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Whittingham to Michigan always made the most sense.
Bob Wojnowski@bobwojnowski
If Michigan is looking for an experienced coach with a winning track record, well, Kyle Whittingham is sitting right there. Wojo: As Michigan coaching search continues, why not Whittingham? detroitnews.com/story/sports/c… via @detroitnews
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@mikegolicjr 66 and whole relevant career at Utah. Interesting rationalization. Guess this highlights what a mess you think Michigan is in more than anything.
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@CollegeHoopsTIk Same was true of Magic. More complete player. And his career got cut short. But you do have recency bias on your side.
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Hot take, but Steph Curry (formerly Davidson) is the greatest pro point guard of all time, even over Magic (formerly Michigan State)
The entire basketball world had to change the way it played, coached and executed to keep up with prime Curry’s skillset.
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Howard Lutnick: The US economy grew 4.3%. What that means is that Americans overall—all of us—are going to earn 4.3% more money.
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BREAKING: Per sources, Michigan is now preferring to get this right and not let the bad timing get in the way. As a result, here is a new tiered candidate list. I will once again explain the tiers first. It is possible that the contingent within Michigan who wants this done sooner could still win out. But donors have expressed a substantial increase in support for staff and NIL money on top of what is already promised, for the right guy. I am now of the opinion we are waiting this out. Also, I am still hearing Michigan has agreed to terms with a specific candidate. However, nothing is signed yet and eveything is still fluid so either side could back out. And I have a good idea of who it is.
This list only includes names who have reciprocated interest so far.
Tier 1: Could have signed before December 31st.
1) Jeff Brohm
2) Jedd Fisch (Back in play - vetting showed issues but they could look over it)
3) Mike Elko (Unlikely - Advanced stats guys not impressed)
4) ??? (Big splash but big risk too)
Tier 2: Could have signed/agreed to potentially before January 2nd.
1) Kalen DeBoer
2) Glen Schumann
3) Bryant Haines
4) ??? (Proven winner in NIL era)
5) ??? (Everything you would want but flight risk to NFL)
6) ??? (In playoffs - has ties to Michigan)
7) ??? (Name no one is talking about)
8) Kelvin Shepard (Unlikely now)
9) Adam Stenovich (Willing to leave early)
Tier 3: Will be after portal opens but include NFL and playoff candidates. And good ones.
1) John Harbaugh
2) Todd Monken
3) Jesse Minter (Likely NFL head coach)
4) ??? (No hints)
5) ??? (Threat of leaving for NFL or another school at anytime - so low chance)
6) ??? (OFFENSE WILL BE GREAT)
MichiganNation2@MichiganNation2
BREAKING: This is just a small update on my previous tiered candidate list post which is quoted below. Given the timeline is being pushed due to interviews/vetting and Alabama winning. New candidates are emerging now. I will post a new list after this. Tier 1 (6 candidates): 1) Kalen DeBoer - Still in play. Moving to a tier 2 candidate now. 2) Kenny Dillingham - No longer in play. Michigan did not have serious interest and Dillingham knew it. 3) Jeff Brohm - Talks and interviews taking place. Strong contingent against an offer. But could happen. 4) Lincoln Riley - Didn't pass vetting. (Have to play school too) 5) Steve Sarkisian - Moving to tier 2 now. 6) ? (Big time and totally unexpected, will set off a chain reaction) But threat of leaving. - Moving to tier 3 now because they will wait out NFL offers first. Tier 2 (3 candidates): 1) Mike Elko - Still in play. 2) ? (Proven success with NIL and good culture) - Still in play 3) ? (Someone no one is talking about) - Still in play Tier 3 (7 candidates) : 1) Jesse Minter 2) John Harbaugh 3) Kelvin Shepard 4) ? (But with the packers currently) - Adam Stemovich (could leave early and join Michigan) 5) ? (Great offensive mind and QB developer) - Still in play 6) ? (Eveything you would want) - Still in play 7) ? (No hints) - Still in play
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@Castellani2014 Chris Illitch is cheap and greedy. What are ya gonna do?
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Imagine how stupid of an organization you’d have to be to draft and develop a generational, multi-time Cy Young winning pitcher TWICE and not having either one of them finish their careers with your team.
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I have officially entered my name in the transfer portal as a graduate transfer with 2 years of eligibility left.
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Trump says broadcast licenses should be terminated if networks are "almost 100% Negative" about him cbsn.ws/4aqCuam
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I don’t like OSU but I respect
oSU. I don’t like or respect Sparty.
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Why can’t you all just accept that inflation is gone thanks to Trump, but we still have inflation because of Biden. GDP is up thanks to Trump, but consumer confidence is down because of Biden. The stock market is hitting highs thanks to Trump, but markets are spooked because of Biden. Layoffs are WAY UP because of Biden, but interest rates are down thanks to Trump. ACCEPT IT!
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