Thoughts On The Minutia From Monday's Media Presser

I didn’t catch any video of Rich Rodriguez’s Monday morning presser, but I have to imagine it looked something like this…

“Real quick guys, before we talk about the quarterback situation, I’d like to address a couple of things.” The anxious reporters in the room sit down and stare at the ceiling.

“Carwin Johnson is listed as the starter at the “bandit” linebacker position. Mark Huyge will start the season as the left tackle although Taylor Lewan is looking great in practice so far.” The aforementioned reporters nod their head because they recognize the name Taylor Lewan.

“Also, Teric Jones will be moving back to offense.”

“Okay, let’s talk quarterbacks.”

All the reporters jump out of the chairs and start shouting, “Rich! Rich! Over here!”

Maybe I watch too much TV.

Rich Rodriguez will field questions about the starting quarterback situation until kickoff this coming Saturday and rightfully so, however what interests me is what was lost in the midst of a typical Monday morning news conference. Peppered into the conversation about whether Devin Gardner will redshirt, or if Tate will get the start against Connecticut, were a few bullet points that were thrown out to the media to paint a clearer picture of the Michigan Football program.

According to reports, Carwin Johnson is listed as the starter at the “hybrid” or “bandit” linebacker position; the one left open by Stevie Brown. Rodriguez received a ton of flak for recruiting a player in Johnson who was completely overlooked by the top high schools recruiting media outlets. Johnson has quietly gone through spring and fall camp and apparently excelled to the point where he has cemented a starting spot in Greg Robinson’s defense.

Personally, I try not to get into the early recruiting game (I try to have a life out of sports. My wife appreciates that I put in some effort to have a social life.), but I clearly remember RR getting hammered over Johnson. Yes, I’m a supporter of Rich Rodriguez (as I think every good Michigan fan should be) and it is refreshing to see more of RR’s recruiting tactics come to fruition.

The second, and in my opinion, the most intriguing fact to come out of today’s news conference is that sophomore Teric Jones, who was recruited as a running back and was moved to the secondary for depth needs, is being moved back to the offensive backfield.

That’s it?

Where’s the speculation? What does this mean!?!?!?!?!

Is this a good thing? Does it mean that the big named freshmen that we have heard so much about are really looking impressive in camp and Jones isn’t needed for depth?

Is this a bad thing? Rodriguez will use a committee of running backs but are they looking so mediocre that they need to bring Jones back to see if he can add something to the mix?

Or is it something completely unrelated? Does it just mean that Jones wasn’t contributing on defense? The guys they have in front of him have been okay, but Jones really doesn’t help out. For all we know, the running backs look great and will be extremely productive and Jones will only further their productivity.

My head spun for ten minutes trying to figure out what this announcement means. After doing some more digging, moving Jones is a minimal move and shouldn’t make any waves. He was low on the depth chart in the secondary and moving him back to running back is likely a move to maximize his potential. With Touissant banged up and Shaw still missing time due to summer classes, Rodriguez has another guy to plug into practices. You never know, maybe he will show something.

Does anyone else think its ironic that these media pressers, which are designed to clarify issues surrounding the team, really only create speculation and “blog chatter”? It seems to me that these pressers really only keep superfans (or superfreaks) occupied until they have games to break down and stats to geek over. (Yes, I used geek as a verb. I’m not getting paid to write for b/r, so I can bend the rules a bit. Get over it.)