If they're going to do it, might as well be Gardner. [Fuller]
Schedule for roundtable Legends jerseys:
- Akron: Brian Cook switches to #1
- Minnesota: Seth Fisher will wear #2
- Nebraska: Mathlete shall don #77
- Ohio State: Blue in South Bend changes to #7
- 30 seconds before the end of the season: Ace Anbender will change to #32
A question:
Brian started to mention this in the game column but I thought it warranted some obsession. So now that ol' 98 is unretired and #12 has once again been abandoned before reaching its seniority* I'd like your thoughts on the Luminaries Numbers. Would you run the Interesting Integer program differently? Which have you been happy with, and which annoyed you the most?
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| To infinitely weird numbers and beyond! [Photo sent in by Scott Rains] |
Brian: I would cleave as closely to the old numbers' origins as I could. 98 would be a skill guy, as would 47 and 21, 11 would be on the defensive line, 2 would be a defensive back. Ford's number would be some sort of DL/LB since it can't be an OL and the front seven on D is a little thing. I'd avoid switching anyone to those numbers after they'd been established. You can get it after your freshman or sophomore year, but after that your number is your number. Kovacs is 32, dammit, and Gallon is 10.
I was most happy with Gardner as 98, because that is weird and weird is good. Weird makes Michigan not Generic Sporting Experience. I am least happy with Funchess switching to 87, because who has any association with 19? Well, you would have. And shouldn't 87 be a lot more rough and tumble? Yes. To get the 87 you should have to sass the president.
Wait. No. I was least happy with Kovacs switching to 11 with two games left in his career because I think Kovacs should have his jersey legend'd right now and handed to any walk-on who finds playing time outside of the offensive line. 32, man. 32.
Actually it was Ford who sassed the tight end.
[Photo from HTTV Kramer article, courtesy of Gerald R Ford Presidential Library]
[After the jump: Un-retire 77!]
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| Seth's plan: earn it by being the #1 wide- out at the break of fall camp, and earn a spot on the patch forever by being a 3- time All-American like Carter. [MGoBlue image bank] |
Seth: I can't get past 32 as A-Train's number. And Kovacs but that kind of demonstrates the problem: Michigan has been wearing numbers for a good century, and has been very good for most of that, meaning there's been hundreds of great players here. What about Kevin Dudley and Jarrod Bunch? Can 32 be the number we put on fullbacks who arrive at 6'1 and graduate at 5'11?
I don't mind putting the numbers back into circulation since retiring jerseys is unoriginal. What I don't like about the program (other than changing established numbers) is they've stripped all meaning from it by not matching the player. Michigan ought to ask for special dispensation to allow a tackle or DL to wear #11, and a center to wear 48, and there should be very Gerald Ford things you do before you get to wear it.
The model for this is what grew up organically here around #1 (and to a lesser degree #7). It was Carter's number, and it was special because it made him easy to spot. It meant something, and that's why Alexander wore it, and that's why Terrell wore it, and that's why Braylon asked to switch to it (and Carr tacked on some academic qualifiers because Carr).
I'd start them young and make the whole thing goal-oriented: freshmen or sophomores can apply to the coaches for a Legend's number, and there's a set of things you must do in spring or fall practice to earn the right to wear it that exemplify the guy who set that number. For each I would also set list of accomplishments comparable to those of the Legend which if you achieve them in your career you earn the right to have your name added to that patch, for example Devin can get his name added to the 98 patch if he wins the Heisman and leads the nation in scoring, and Ryan would need to be a three-time All-American and two-time captain to have his name added to 47. Have a wall at the stadium somewhere that honors all of them and lists the accomplishments, and open it up a bit so there are easier numbers to attain (#7 for a QB who beats OSU three times as the starter, #46 for a QB who leads his team to an undefeated season and national championship, #77 for an OT who's a 4-year starter and two-time All-American, 60 for a DL who does the same, 76 for a guard).
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| Demonstrating safety competence is good enough to earn Jamar Adams's 22. [MGoBlue image bank] |
Most annoying: #11 to Avery and #87 to Moore. At least Funchess has time to grow more Kramer-like and maybe it'll motivate him to be a better blocker if he's wearing the digit of the all-time best. And honestly Kovacs was just a few games at the end of his career; it was a mild annoyance I can easily overlook. But in the hands of the coaches these are just becoming things to reward seniors who stuck around only to have their senior seasons damaged (or lost Moore's case) to injury. You're doing it wrong!
Mathlete: This week's Gardner as 98 unveiling was easily the best application of the new number process. Big time player, had a core identity that matched as the most dynamic/important offensive player on the team. And the QB as #98 was so strange it made the whole concept stand out in a way that grabbed attention and was really reminiscent of the past. Everything prior to Gardner's change was just an absolute mess. I think it's a great concept but the first round seemed to be haphazardly thrown together.
I don't think you can throw too many rules or narrow definitions on it or they will never be used. They'll turn into the #1 jersey which isn't technically retired, but might as well be at this point. The most important thing to me is that they catch a player on the way up. If you make the change too soon then you run the risk of giving them to big time recruits without production or guarantee of future exposure. If you give them too late, then have a Kovacs situation where the player already has an identity in a number and it just becomes disconcerting. Ideally, it would be after a freshman or sophomore season when the jersey gets assigned so there is some track record but also plenty of time for the jersey to stay in one place.
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| Our consensus: Gallon is the right kind of guy to wear #21 but not after he has already established himself as #10 [Upchurch] |
In terms of who should get which jersey, I think each Legend can probably be loosely defined with one or two characteristics. Usually it's position, sometimes it's personality. 98 should be a dynamic offensive player, 21 an undersized offensive weapon, 48 may be defined more by a player showing outstanding leadership rather than a position. 2 should obviously be for a great defensive back, perhaps one who could some damage in the return game or on offense, we should recruit a guy like that this year. If 1 comes into the Legends fold, as well, that's the classic Michigan outside receiver. Understand the identity of what you want the jersey to represent, give it to a matching player who is somewhat proven but will have at least two years to be a part of the legacy.
BiSB: I do generally like the idea of the Legends jerseys. By putting the numbers back in rotation, you bring the legends' stories back into the public eye. And while that might not be necessary for someone like Desmond Howard, the Wistert brothers have gotten more attention and praise than they otherwise would have. It's also a nice public nod to the This Is Michigan-ness of the program. I don't know how recruits feel about that kind of stuff, but it probably can't hurt.
I agree with everyone that said that the numbers should roughly match up with the position. Where I think I'd like to see a change is in how often they are deployed. You can't have all the legacy numbers on a player all the time and expect people to attach the same kind of importance to it. This year, it was simply a press release and a few photos saying, "this year the open legends jerseys go to Avery, Funchess, and Gallon." You're not always going to have exactly six guys on a given team for whom the jerseys make any sense. We all like Courtney Avery, but putting the #11 is pretty clearly not about the Wisterts' football legacies. There has to be a happy medium between the #1 jersey's "we will only give it to Neo, and only after he learns kung fu and has two extremely productive years," and the current legend jersey policy of "well, three guys in legends jerseys graduated, so let's find three new guys." If a jersey sits a couple of years waiting for an appropriate fit, it'll be that much more important and meaningful when it gets dusted off again.
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| B-Will was rather excited about how many people were wearing his jersey around the stadium last Saturday. I mean, he is the last guy to graduate wearing it. |
They also need to stop making every freeking senior wide receiver wear #21, as I find myself cheering for Junior Gallontree pretty regularly. There is a part of me that is relieved we have no junior wide receivers, because it means that for once I'll probably get to watch two straight years with the same person wearing that jersey.
On a somewhat related note, would anyone object to just giving Jabrill Peppers #2 from the get-go? I know, I know, you have to earn everything nothing is given The Team The Team The Team. But I say we address the elephant in the room from day one.
Ace: I have very little to add, so here's a Jordan Kovacs quote from right after the number switch:
“I’ve worn 32 for quite some time, and I think I’ll always be 32.”
I loved watching Devin Gardner play quarterback as #98 last weekend, and Gardner—who changed his Twitter handle to @qu9rterb8ck, so he's clearly cool with the switch—will be instantly recognizable both at Michigan and around the country as the QB with a number you'd normally see on the D-line. With Kovacs, seeing him wear #11 was just jarring.
I do think in the future they'll start using these legacy jerseys as more of a recruiting tool; as BiSB suggested, Jabrill Peppers wearing #2 from the get-go (if he wants it) seems like a grand idea.
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* [Gardner (switched to 98), Roundtree (switched to 21), JT Floyd (switched to 8), Cone (switched to 17), Gutierrez (transferred). Who wants to bet Gant ends up with a linebacker number sometime in the future? Last guy to wear #12 all the way to graduation: Brandon Williams.]