Steve Threet makes it official: Our take on it

Steve Threet makes it official:

Threet announced Monday that he is leaving the University of Michigan football program. In a prepared statement to the Detroit News — article from Angelique Chengelis ( http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090216/SPORTS0201/902160378/1131)

“I have requested and received my release. I do not yet know where I will continue my collegiate career and will have no further comment until that decision is made.”
We have been hearing about this rumor for quite sometime. There are things that are going around about what actually happened. We are not stating these are facts, but what we have heard. First off, sometime after the last game and Christmas break Steve Threet and his parents asked Coach Rod for a meeting to talk about Threet’s future and the direction that Coach Rod sees for Threet.

They were told that this meeting would have to wait until after signing day??? Does this seem right? To be telling your possible starting quarterback for the 2009 season that you don’t have time for him right now, because you’re to busy recruiting kids that might not even come here? Basically saying that those kids are more important than giving thirty to sixty minutes to meet with your starting quarterback and his family.

And what happened to all the talk of using some schemes of an Oklahoma-style offense that we kept hearing about involving the tight end and the wide receivers? Will we see it this spring? We need to … to keep Tate healthy and get the best players the ball.

How does this help and hurt the program in the long term and short term? Again, if you win, these issues will go away very quickly. But if this team struggles, a lot of criticism will focus on how these situations were handled. It is the nature of the beast. We are going to examine some of these issues and discuss where the program go from here.

The negative of Steve Threet leaving now:

This is a short term loss, which will hurt in the spring, summer, fall and early part of the season. Having your starting quarterback transfer does not make for good media coverage. Even if Threet did not start the whole year and was replaced in the middle of the season, having an experienced quarterback, that teammates respect, is worth his weight in gold. Threet could have helped the younger quarterbacks deal with the wrath of Coach Rod and what to look out for.

Threet was the quarterback who gave Michigan the best chance to win last season, regardless who started the first game of the season. Even in that game, it was Threet who gave Michigan a chance to win. The other advantage about Threet, is that his teammates supported him 100%, his support of the young quarterbacks would help them immensely in fitting in with the team.

In games, like against Notre Dame, where Threet threw 23 passes, and Sheridan only threw 4 or something like that, Threet has gained knowledge and experience that Sheridan doesn’t have. In the film room, Threet can talk about what looks Tenuta threw at him, what looks confused him, what he read wrong, etc. Square peg in a round hole, or not, there’s a lot Threet could have passed on to help Forcier prep for games.

Forcier, if he now wins the job, will give Michigan less of a chance to beat Notre Dame than Threet would have. Coach Tenuta / Brown will throw more SHIT at him than he will have been exposed to in practice simulations that early on in the season, with the different pass coverage’s, blitz packages and anything else they can dream up to throw at, and confuse, a very green, freshman quarterback.

Steve, having extra year of time in the film room under tutelage of Coach Smith, Coach Rod and Coach Magee, would have been a huge help. Having already prepped for opponents and having an idea what sorts of schemes they run, and their various personnel, Threet would have an edge over any freshman quarterback. Another year of physical maturity, and time with Barwis, was another advantage. Having been on sidelines and dealt with Coach Rod’s wrath and frustration is yet another advantage. Having already earned the respect of his teammates, having survived an extremely trying season, taking a lot of heat with class and dignity, is yet another. We can go on and on!

Sheridan did not gain the experience Threet did. He usually put in, not so much to help the team win, but more with the goal of not making it any worse than it already was.

Ridiculous to celebrate Threet leaving. I swear, we never learn. How many kids have been labeled potential superstars, recently, but have fallen flat? How is losing a kid, who may not have been the best player, but one who provided a little experience and gumption, be a good thing? There is no guarantee that Forcier will be a great quarterback. What happens if he gets hurt? In this offense it could very well happen, then we are stuck with Sheridan again, or Denard Robinson who might not even be ready to play this year, but will be forced to. (Our guess is that D-Rob would see about 5-10 snaps this year.)

You can’t keep losing players and then suggest that the new kid(s) will save the day. At some point, you need to stop the bleeding of talent and get players to stay and learn to get things done on the field, as opposed to the message boards. Threet leaving makes Michigan weaker in 2009 — period — whether or not he eventually lost his spot to Robinson, Forcier, Sheridan, etc. (And by the way, Gardner and Bolden are not guarantees to pick Michigan, especially Bolden who wouldn’t pick Michigan if signing day was today.)

The positive of Steve Threet leaving now:

In the long run, having a quarterback who is a better fits for Coach Rod’s system is going to pay dividends in the long run. That would be Tate and Robinson. They will both hit the ground running, not having to learn a third offensive system in as many years as Threet had to do. Also, whoever starts at quarterback this year will have a big leg up from the fact that the rest of offense will know the playbook much better than last year. This alone should account for noticeable improvement this spring. Not having everybody start from Square One is a definite help.

If Tate stays healthy, by the end of the season, he will give Michigan a better shot at beating Ohio State than Threet would have.

Sheridan can be a big help, and we expect he will be. Sheridan can be a definite positive influence on the young quarterbacks.

Happy players make for happy football programs. If Threet was not going to be happy in his role at Michigan, then it is better for all involved that he moved on. One of the top priorities of any coaching staff is to get everyone on the same page, pulling together as one. Unhappy players can split a team, negatively impacting the all important team cohesion, but make no mistake, Threet’s leaving is truly a loss.

Having said this, there were parts of the playbook that Threet, try as he might — and he valiantly did try — just did not have the skill set to execute. Threet’s exit will afford Forcier more reps with the first squad and open up the way for him to takeover the needed leadership role. And finally, with a true dual threat quarteback taking snaps, Michigan can put away their stop-gap offensive measures and start looking to the future where Coach Rod and staff start implementing their entire offensive arsenal.

We will have a better feel for what is going on after spring practice. Let’s see how Tate holds up, especially if, like last year, the quarterbacks were “fresh meat” for the defense and actually taking hits.

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Written by CoachBt and ErocWolverine