Ryan Mallett has left the building. Shembechler Hall to be more specific. The freshman quarterback is going to transfer to another school, sit out next season and play his remaining 3 years of eligibility at another school.

This sucks.

I predict that Ryan Mallett will win the Heisman trophy. Wherever he goes. He’s that good. As a freshman he stepped in with poise, and was a major part of Michigan’s return from their horrible start to this season.

He’s rumored to be heading to Tennessee. But other options are Texas A&M, Arkansas, and UCLA. UCLA seems like the best fit for him. With new coach Rick Neuheisel wanting to make a splash and open it up. But it looks like Tennessee with hire former Michigan offensive coordinator Mike DeBord, and quarterbacks coach Scott Loeffler. He obviously gained confidence in them as coached in his time at Michigan. If that scenario does happen, look for the Vols to return to the national title hunt when Mallett takes over.

What does this mean for Michigan. Well, I hope that it means that this clears the way for blue chip recruit Terrelle Pryor. National signing day is February 9th. If he really is the next Vince Young, I want him in Maize and Blue.

The games are over, the chips stale, and the victory is oh so sweet. Once again, I came out on top. I was successful in combining correct picks with my confidence in those selections. Congratulations to Mark Smith who picked 24 of the games correctly (Derek McCarthy came in with 23 and myself and my sister scored 22 correct picks). But folks, it wasn’t just about picking the games correctly, they needed to be weighted correctly to score you enough points to dethrone me… and no one was able to do that.

Below are the final results. There will be another chance to knock me off my high horse. There will be a March Madness tournament here on Vigilante Sports. So come on back for that. I certainly plan on taking that contest too.

After about a month of misfires, and hiccups Michigan announced Rich Rodriguez as their new coach on Sunday. They will formally announce it on Monday at a press conference. To take the job at Michigan, Rodriguez is leaving his post as West Virginia’s head coach, a job that he has held since the 2001 season.

During his time with the Mountianeers, Rodriguez revitalized that program and brought it back to National prominence. He is responsible for the largest turnaround in Big East history. The year he took over West Virginia went 3-8, but followed that season up with a 9-4 record, a top 25 ranking and a birth in a bowl game. The Mountianeers have been to a bowl game every year since, with 2 of the last 3 of those being BCS Bowl games.

I definitely have mixed feelings about this hire. It will drastically change the offense that Michigan plays. Michigan is and has always been a run first team. And when I say run first, I don’t mean the quarterback. Rodriguez is widely known as the creator of the spread option offense. The spread option offense is all the rage now in college football. Pundits have mentioned that it will soon be adopted in some way in the pro game. For me, that’s good and bad. I would love to see Michigan as the prototypical offense in college football. The offense that can lead the country, and be an example to all other programs. But I have to admit, I’ll miss the 3 yards and a cloud of dust. It’s what I’ve grown up with.

This also calls into question the future of Ryan Mallett, who I believe will win the Heisman trophy before he heads to the NFL. But will it be in a winged helmet? His father has gone on record that Ryan will “keep and open mind”. Already clouding the Wolverine quarterback position is blue chip recruit Tyrelle Pryor who is tailor-made for Rodriguez’s spread option. He has said that Michigan was just added to his short list of schools because of the arrival of Coach Rodriguez.

So what is my overall feeling on this? I’m a fan of this move. Rich Rodriguez has a long and proven track record of winning. I like that in a coach. I think that the Michigan athletic department could have done a much better job in filling the coaching vacancy. I would have loved to see Les Miles on the sidelines at the Big House. But all things being equal I am happy with Rich Rodriguez too. I need to see how he recruits. That will be the final test.

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So, let me get this straight. Les Miles doesn’t want to coach at Michigan, but he does want to ‘assist’ them in finding a new football coach, ‘as any loyal alumnus would’? Sounds a little fishy to me. Especially if I’m LSU AD Skip Bertman. All of this said while in the middle of a recruiting trip. One would guess he was recruiting for LSU, but who knows Miles might again be ‘helping’ his alma mater.

Of course I’m playing, and making light of it. But it does cause me to wonder. Is Les Miles going to bolt LSU after the National Championship Game on January 7th? Make no mistake, I want him as the head coach at Michigan, but it certainly does call into question the ethics of Les Miles. I would never go so far as to put him in the same category of the snake with ties to the state of Michigan (albeit Michigan State ties), Nick Saban, who left LSU after leading them to a National Championship.

Is it a matter of Les Miles’ heart strings are getting pulled too hard for him to resist? Or is he compromising his ethics?

Well that certainly puts a dent in plans to bring Miles to Ann Arbor. Apparently Miles had no interest in the position. According to Skip Bertman, LSU’s Athletic Director, Miles never held that over their head. He sure could have. I’m glad to see that he didn’t.

One thing that causes me pause… Why? Did he know he could make better money and sit in a hotbed of talent? If that’s the case, what does it say about Michigan? Are they not willing to spend the money? If we ever find out down the line that money was a factor in this at all, I’m gonna be pissed. Michigan has the money.

So, who are the leading candidates for the coaching vacancy in Ann Arbor? Kirk Ferentz? Bobby Petrino? Cam Cameron? Jeff Tedford? Greg Schiano? Bob Stoops?

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I’ve said it before, multiple times. The NFL Network Sucks! And this time I am not able to watch the beloved Bears because of their greed. It’s one thing to deprive a man of a good football game, it’s another thing altogether to deprive a man of watching the Bears.

Some might say that it’s actually a blessing to not have to watch the train wreck Chicago Bears. They just don’t get it. I don’t watch them because they’re good. I watch them because they’re my team. And tonight… I don’t watch them at all.

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The week of blown opportunities.

Devin Hester might be the best return man in the game, but he’s not even close to the top 4 wide outs that the Bears have. And that is not because the Bears receiving corps is anywhere close to good. They’re not. They’re actually not very good at all. Bernard Berrian is fast but had trouble holding onto the ball (except last week), Mushin Muhammed is old, a step too slow and rarely can be found at the end of a game, Rashied Davies is fast, and might be good (but probably not), Desmond Clark can disappear and Greg Olsen is probably the best threat the Bears have, and he’s a rookie tight end. Throwing Devin Hester in the game expecting that he’s going to make a difference on offense is just silly. He is definitely fast, and has wiggle that you can’t teach, but realistically, he’s Az Hakim. Unless, he can learn how to run routes, run under the ball, and eventually HOLD ONTO IT.

But all that about Devin Hester doesn’t explain the loss to the Giants. I think that Roberto Garza, Terrence Metcalf, John Tait, and John St. Clair might help to explain it, but I haven’t seen them around in a long time. They definitely didn’t show up on Sunday afternoon. Rex Grossman was sacked 6 times, and was under pressure the entire game. The offensive line is the problem with this football team. Even though Adrian Peterson ran well against the Giants, Lovie and Ron Turner didn’t seem to have the confidence to run behind that line very much as the game wore on. Terrence Metcalf cost the Bears at least 2 first downs, possibly 2 touchdowns because he couldn’t get his feet moving to plant his body in between Adrian Peterson and the guys in the white shirts. Perfectly executed screen plays, timed perfectly, called at the right time in the game, but the offensive line could not execute.

Before the game Tom Coughlin mentioned that it was going to be a field position game. It was, and the Bears won it. They did not capitalize. If it wasn’t a sack by the porous offensive line, it was a penalty. Converting any one of their many red zone visits into a touchdown would have iced the game. I’ve said it before and let me say it again. Please don’t think that the position that needs fixing most in the off-season is the quarterback. It’s the offensive line. No doubt about it.

And with that said, I think all Bears fans can look forward to the 2008 season. Because folks… this one is over.

I know he emphatically said that he was the coach at LSU, and the he would be the coach at LSU, and that the media was doing him and his team a disservice by reporting that he would take the job coaching the Michigan Wolverines. He also said that he felt bad for Michigan fans because of the rumors. Blah, blah, blah.

LSU won the SEC Championship, and earned a spot in the BCS National Championship game. Good for them. Sunday Michigan AD said that he has not spoken with Miles about the position. I’m not sure that he has to. I’m pretty sure everyone is aware that Miles is the leading candidate. It seems that the job is his for the taking.

Will Miles stand up in front of the media, and his team, and the LSU chancellor and say that he can’t wait to get to Ann Arbor? Hell no. What he will do is go through the back channels, let Bill Martin and all involved at Michigan know that he is very interested. They’ll keep the seat warm. Trust me. Les Miles is the guy they want. He’s a Bo guy. He’s a Michigan guy.

It will take some deep pockets to secure Miles, but Michigan is consistently at the top of the list of NCAA merchandising, and licensing. So money isn’t the issue. They have it. They may need to wait until January 8th to spend it. But they will.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I think the NFL Network is a bad idea that is purely a revenue generation scam by the NFL.

My problem this week is that I actually want to watch the game “featured” on the NFL Network. The Packers vs. the Cowboys is the biggest game this year, this side of the Patriots vs. Colts game a few weeks back. This game means a lot. Granted, it’s only one game, but it is most likely a preview of the NFC championship game. It’s a big deal. And the fat cats over at the NFL probably think that this will prompt the average NFL fan to go out and get the NFL Network. What they fail to realize is that it’s actually pissing off their most loyal fans… again. Cowboys and Packers fans are some of the most loyal, and most annoying (at least to me) fans in the NFL (btw, Oakland gets the nod for the Most Annoying). Just because they’re loyal doesn’t mean they’re going to bow down to whatever crazy idea the NFL has. They’re loyal, they’re not stupid (most of them).
The NFL needs to remember that the fans pay the salaries, and line the lunatic owner’s pocket’s with cash. You don’t need to alienate them. Sell the broadcast rights to a network. Even ESPN, it’s pretty widely available these days.

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The Chicago Bears did not deserve to win on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. The Bears were outplayed on both sides of the ball. The only reason they were even in the game was that Devin Hester is an amazing returner. For some reason, teams think that they can stop him. Todd Sauerbrun said that the Broncos were not going to be afraid to kick to Hester. I wonder if he thought that after the first time Hester ran by him to score on a punt return. Surely it couldn’t happen twice in one game Todd, could it? Well, I’m sure he was thinking that when Hester blew by him on his kickoff return for a touchdown. Truly amazing.

Besides Hester, it seemed like Brian Urlacher and Peanut Tillman are the only Bears who actually want to win the football game. Sure there were good plays by Adewale Ogunleye, and tying touchdown from Grossman to Berrian was a thing of beauty, but none of those players played with a sense of urgency.

I do have to say, Rex Grossman cannot continue to take the fall for the terrible offense. Their offensive line is horrible. HORRIBLE. Rex was running for his life every time he went back to pass. And even though the running backs the Bears throw out there are below average at best, even LT couldn’t run behind that line. I grew weary of watching Adrian Peterson (the bad one) run into the back of an offensive lineman. It’s just not the most productive way to run the football. And the dropped passes? Muhammed, Olsen and Berrian all dropped makable catches for first downs. That’s unacceptable. Grossman is getting the ball there. It’s hitting them in the hands people. Make the catch.

The defense looked lifeless in the first half, and tired in the second. I can’t blame them too much. They’re on the field way too much. I know Ricky Manning Jr. is not supposed to be a number one corner… but he got torched. And torched. And torched. Adam Archuleta can’t tackle, or cover. It turns out safeties in the NFL should be able to do both.

This team is not a playoff team. I know that Lovie thinks that if they run the table, and finish with 10 wins they’ll make the playoffs. If you ask me, they’ll be lucky to win one more game. Oh yeah, Ricky Manning Jr. just got torched again.