Forcier Ineligible for Gator Bowl & Other Thoughts

Its been a little slow around here these last few days. I have to admit, I thought being on vacation this last week would leave me plenty of time to formulate tons of original content for this blog. But sometimes, being on vacation is about doing as little as possible. I chose the latter. But that doesn't mean I've been ignoring everything that's been going on. Far from it actually.

Consider this the calm before the storm.

I do feel bad about not posting any pre-Gator Bowl stuff. But one story that's worth mentioning before the game is the news that Tate Forcier has been ruled ineligible for the game.

Forcier at Michigan's media day event in August

per UM media relations:

Forcier Ineligible for Gator Bowl

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of Michigan football program announced today (Dec. 30) that reserve sophomore quarterback Tate Forcier did not meet University standards and is ineligible to participate in the Gator Bowl.

Short. Sweet. Nondescript.

Couple that with the story that Forcier was very close to transferring back in September, and that makes this something worth noting. Mark this down as a story which will unravel after Jan 1st.

But the big story on everyone's mind going into the new year is the coaching situation. ESPN's NFL and college football analyst Adam Schefter, who is a UM alum, claims that Harbaugh is all but done at Stanford, and the word on the street is that he'll be taking the UM job. There are some NFL teams that will make a run at Harbaugh, most notably the 49ers who just fired Mike Singletary, but it's Michigan that's the leader in the clubhouse.

Link.

"Again, this is the buzz around the league. This is what people, smart people think is going to happen. That's the sense of people that I know and trust and respect, that Harbaugh will not go to the Niners, that he will go to Michigan, and it'll be up to another NFL job to see if it could entice him and prevent him from going to a place like Michigan.

"But the one thing I feel certain about, Jim Harbaugh is going to leave Stanford."

We've been hearing a lot of whispers that would verify this rumor. But the most important thing that has come my way is that Dave Brandon is running this show. The rumor is that he's been working almost exclusively on this, and people very close to Brandon don't even know the details of what has been going on. While on the surface nothing seems to be happening, there is a lot of speculation that a deal has struck with Harbaugh.

Of course I can not confirm this, but all signs seem to be pointing in that direction.

But one thing I can tell you for certain. If and when something actually does happen, which could be as soon as Jan 2nd the day after the Gator Bowl, or more likely after the Orange Bowl which Stanford is playing in on Jan 4th, whatever happens will happen quickly.

Like I said, this is the calm before the storm. Expect things to get pretty interesting around here very soon. We'll keep you updated.