It’s midweek, it’s still Free Week. We’re rolling along for Blue’s News.
(Listen, not every intro can be a banger. I’m preparing to travel for part of the week and your girl is tired already.)
GRIFTER WEDNESDAY: THE GANG FINDs (and loses) CAREERS IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Two quick hitters for you, but first, start playing this.
First, I’m offering a follow-up to last week’s installment, covering Mel Pearson hovering around the hockey program from which he was fired – a program marred with scandals of largely his design.
Connor Earegood of The Michigan Daily wrote on the various inaccuracies in Pearson’s recent tell-all with hockey site The Rink Live. He lays down the issues with the piece on Pearson in great detail, and why the facts matter here. Of particular note and concern, Earegood also reports that Mel Pearson attended a practice uninvited and contacted incoming freshmen before they arrived on campus.
The constant retweeting and recent sightings at Michigan sporting events were bad, don’t get me wrong. In my view, he’s making sure staffers at every level are aware of his presence, ensuring that the hostile work environment he fostered as coach looms over every level of Yost Arena. But, if Earegood’s sources are solid on this, more folks should be asking questions of the athletic department as to why Pearson is even allowed on the premises.
This next grifter comes from my colleague D.J.’s post on our message board, based on this tweet:
(Also, general content warning for what I can only describe as “a bunch of shit,” including eating disorders and suicide.)
University of Texas Permian Basin’s soccer coach Carla Tejas has been placed on administrative leave. The athletic department received an anonymous letter from team members reporting Tejas’ numerous policy violations, let alone her complete abandonment of common sense. The fallout comes after her DWI arrest, which somehow, is not the worst thing she’s being accused of.
The allegations and fallout, which Kayler Smith of Texas news station KMID has reported on extensively, is pretty harrowing, with allegations ranging from dark-humor funny to completely horrifying. Her pattern of behavior has persisted since at least her time at Belhaven College, where two former student-athletes are on record detailing the mental struggles they experienced at Tejas’ hand. Nothing was done about the culture of abuse she perpetuated.
Some of this stuff sounds like it’s out of Always Sunny. According to the anonymous letter, Tejas asked her own student-athletes to help her post bail, seems to have a history of inappropriate relationships with players and, upon ejection from a game, coached via walkie-talkie. She’s the anti-Ted Lasso, if Ted Lasso suspended a player who had a stroke. If you take out the more gruesome shit out of it, she’s the funniest motherfucker alive.
The aforementioned gruesome shit, of course, isn’t a laughing matter.
Given the nature of the allegations against her, I’ll leave you to read Smith’s more detailed reporting. In sum, though, Tejas’ pattern of abuse is clear, yet it seems she scammed her way into this head coaching gig. It’s a tale as old as time, regardless of level of play or athletic division – shitty coach cons their way into a job, athletes suffer and attempt to report… but only a major scandal can unseat them. Shedding light on these issues is critical to protecting athletes, especially those that garner less public attention.
UTPB should do what’s in the best interests of their student-athletes and cut ties with her yesterday. Other programs should also take allegations against her seriously in the future, since clearly, UTPB’s administration did not.
TIME TO TWEET AT *CHECKS NOTES* PUNTING RECRUITS
Jared Lee offered a first glimpse at punter advanced stats for the season, and apparently the Big Ten rocks at punting.
Ranked by EPA, the Big Ten has six of the best punters in the country. Michigan’s old-timey train hijacker Brad Robbins sits at fifth on the list, with a net yardage of punts of 45.1 and EPA of 0.31. Notably, Robbins has had to punt the least of any of the other top punters in the nation, with Ohio State’s Jesse Mirco next at 16 punts.
(And no, you won’t hear me besmirching the name of Iowa punter Tory Taylor, at least not for his off-the-field efforts. The “Punting is Winning” shirts Iowa fans love originate from his NIL deal where purchase proceeds go toward Count The Kicks, a stillbirth awareness organization. That said, the shirts have a new, ironic meaning considering the state of Iowa’s offense, which, coincidentally, punts a great deal these days.)
DUDES ROCK
Eyabi Okie was available to the media for the first time this season, after a phenomenal performance against Iowa last week. He took questions on his departures from Alabama and Houston, and what’s changed since his return to Power Five play.
He also described his style of pass rush and getting back to this tier of competition:
I still have to knock a lot of dust off, though. I start to get back to being comfortable, and that’s why you might not see me have as [many] snaps as all some other guys who are as polished. I understand that. Get in where you fit in, whatever I can do to help the team.
It all starts in practice. In practice, I really try to really burst off the ball. Give a real strong three, four yards off the ball, really threaten that tackle upfield so that I can have a two-way go. Really make his shoulders turn parallel. I’m real good at jumping the ball, seeing the first movement and just reacting off of that. It’s just really about polishing all those movements because later on [in] the season, hopefully CFP, you’re gonna go against tackles that can move as fast as that. You want to be able to counter that. What else can you do? Can you switch it up? Power to speed, and then dip that corner, really box them out? That’s what we’re really working on right now. We’re preparing for later on in the schedule, the harder teams. We’ll always worry about the next game, too. We’ll definitely always worry about the next game.
Thoughts and prayers to Payton Thorne, who’ll likely be on the receiving end of an Eyabi Okie sack very soon.
FROM THE MAIZE AND BLUE THINKING CHAIR…
I won’t take a ton of time on this, so as not to piss off my boss or catch him off-guard.
Ace recently announced that this will be his final season of full-time coverage.
That doesn’t mean anything for Meet at Midfield, except I gather there’ll be new voices on the Michigan side of the house down the line. Those details aren’t mine to know or share, but knowing everyone here, the transition will be seamless when it happens.
Right now, though, I want to thank Ace for the trust in me, on a project he cares so deeply about. He advocated for me to come aboard when my now-colleagues had no idea who I was. Ace vouching for me as a writer changed the trajectory of my life more than he knows. His friendship and guidance over the past few years – in work and in life overall – means the world.
When the time does come, I hope you’ll put your faith in me to cover Michigan as you have in Ace for all these years. In the meantime, he’s working his ass off, as always. I know he’s in the lab cooking up a shit ton of GIFs for all of you.
Sincerest congratulations to him on his next chapter.
MICHIGAN-ADJACENT VIDEO OF THE DAY
Michigan 39, Indiana 14. This is absolutely what happened the last time Michigan played in Bloomington. I actually don’t remember what happened in 2020 and you shouldn’t remind me.