Change 3 Things: Michigan

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: April 8, 2017

This tweet came across my timeline the other day:

3 sports things you’d change if you could go back in time. (Non-death division.)

— Please Grab a Sprite (@eric_time) April 6, 2017

So I’m going to apply this to Michigan sports. A couple modifications:

We’re only looking at the last 25 years.
We’re taking injuries out of the equation as well, but not signing a recruit in favor of signing one who ended up getting hurt remains fair game.

So here we go…

Honorable Mentions

Chris Webber’s timeout in the 1993 National Championship Game

This would have ended up getting vacated anyway, so how you feel about this is up to you.

That field goal getting blocked

You know the one.

Trey Burke’s “foul” against Louisville in the 2013 National Championship Game

This made my original list then one came to mind that bumped this off. “Somebody locking down Luke Hancock” also applies here.

J.T. Barrett gifted a first down on 4th-and-1 (2016)

Do I think Michigan would have won the national championship had they won that game? No, I do not. That offensive just wasn’t good enough and Wilton Speight probably wasn’t, either, especially if he was banged up. I would have liked a shot, though. OSU losing 31-0 in the playoff was a fine consolation prize, though.

On to the actual list:

3. Shawn Crable’s penalty against OSU in 2006

I don’t know if Michigan would have beaten that Florida team. They ended up losing in the Rose Bowl to USC and Florida whomped Ohio State, but I would have liked the chance. At the very least, they would have come away with a conference championship and a victory in a huge game after Bo passed.

2. Losing the 2011 hockey National Championship

Shawn Hunwick was outstanding all tournament. That team as a whole may not have been the greatest (the game against North Dakota was a prime example of this), but that dude just kept winning games for them. That run should have ended with a ring. Then Red could have ridden off into the sunset, Mel Pearson slides in as head coach and much, if not all, of this current mess is avoided.

1. Scot Loeffler hired as QB coach in 2002

This isn’t about Scot Loeffler. This is about Jim Harbuagh. Because Jim Harbaugh was available in 2002. If Jim Harbaugh’s hired instead, he gets to develop John Navarre and then Chad Henne and then the coaching search after the ’07 season becomes kind of a no-brainer and we avoid the mess that ensued.

The punt against MSU doesn’t make the list, because it didn’t keep Michigan out of the playoff, it kept Ohio State out. And I think if that Ohio State team gets into the playoff, they win it. Between that and everything that’s happened to MSU since, I think we can all be over that one.

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com