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Michchamp
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at lunch I read this ESPN article on stories of under-handed coaching tactics going back to the '80's. Everything from intercepting headset communications to dumpster diving for playbooks. It's a fun read (link)
No Michigan games are mentioned directly, though a few years ago, I read about how Northwestern had figured out our signals, which explained their success against us. that run only ended in '97 when a UM ball boy caught them doing it.
I do wonder how much of Tressel's success against us was due to sneaky shit (beyond their obvious paying players with cars and cash, no-show jobs, turning a blind eye to selling team gear, etc.). no question a slippery fellow like Jim Tressel would excel at this.
the '04 and '07 games always stuck out in my head as being odd outcomes. '04 they obviously had that bullshit "terrorism scare" where the Ohio state police detained our bus. in '07 I remember being at the game... and granted it was a cold and wet day, but jesus Manningham and Arrington dropped just about everything thrown to them. meanwhile ohio state didn't throw much, but managed runs up the middle that went for long TDs (random huge runs seemed to plague us against OSU during the years). NO ONE else ran it up the gut like that against us under Carr... not Texas, not USC, not even Wisconsin. did they know something about our defensive calls?
it was never surprising to me that Jim Tressel never won any awards from his fellow coaches (or from the media it turns out... not a single Big Ten COY award). the insiders must've known what was up.
also after reading that article... having open practices or even letting anyone into practice who's not a current coach or player, or team official or booster of impeccable morals, seems nuts. you might as well just mail the opposing team your playbook
No Michigan games are mentioned directly, though a few years ago, I read about how Northwestern had figured out our signals, which explained their success against us. that run only ended in '97 when a UM ball boy caught them doing it.
I do wonder how much of Tressel's success against us was due to sneaky shit (beyond their obvious paying players with cars and cash, no-show jobs, turning a blind eye to selling team gear, etc.). no question a slippery fellow like Jim Tressel would excel at this.
the '04 and '07 games always stuck out in my head as being odd outcomes. '04 they obviously had that bullshit "terrorism scare" where the Ohio state police detained our bus. in '07 I remember being at the game... and granted it was a cold and wet day, but jesus Manningham and Arrington dropped just about everything thrown to them. meanwhile ohio state didn't throw much, but managed runs up the middle that went for long TDs (random huge runs seemed to plague us against OSU during the years). NO ONE else ran it up the gut like that against us under Carr... not Texas, not USC, not even Wisconsin. did they know something about our defensive calls?
it was never surprising to me that Jim Tressel never won any awards from his fellow coaches (or from the media it turns out... not a single Big Ten COY award). the insiders must've known what was up.
also after reading that article... having open practices or even letting anyone into practice who's not a current coach or player, or team official or booster of impeccable morals, seems nuts. you might as well just mail the opposing team your playbook
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