Every Wednesday from 2pm – 3pm EST, former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner, former Michigan point guard Daniel Horton, and I come together on Steady Droppin’ Dimes, a sports show featuring real talk, and real views, from three real dudes. College football, college basketball, NFL, and NBA topics drive much of the debate, but discussion of other sports will enter the fray some days as well. Non-sports topics aren’t off limits, and neither are celebrity guests.
This week on Steady Droppin’ Dimes, Sam Webb and Devin Gardner discuss impact of Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s decision to holdout, and Tennessee’s decision to cut ties, asking the question: did the Volunteers just do college football a HUGE favor when it comes to the NCAA’s NIL system? The attention turns to Michigan specifically with Sam and Devin previewing Michigan’s annual spring game.
In the excerpt below the Sam and Devin weighs in on expectations for the quarterbacks heading into Saturday’s spring game.
Sam Webb: People want to see Bryce. Just a tremendous talent. The word is that he has just been outstanding in practice. I like to hear multiple data points. I like to hear it, not just from coaches, not just from players, and then not just from visitors. You want to hear it from all fronts. From different points of spring practice, not just from guys who come to visit at the beginning of the spring, but also guys who come at the end of the spring as well. I’ve got to tell you, Devin, on all fronts, the consensus is the young fella has been really good from the standpoint of all of the things that we know… big, strong, really good arm, his mobility, ability to extend plays has been really evident. But those are the things that we know. The things that you wonder about. How quickly can he process? And not just can he process what he sees, but how quickly can he process the playbook? How quickly can he process, ‘hey, you saw this coverage (in an earlier practice), now they’re disguising it.’ How quickly can you process that? How quickly can you process these pressures that they’re bringing? They’re showing you different pressures from practice six to practice eight. Do you recognize those now, once you get to practice nine? How quickly he’s picking those kinds of things up. They’ve been really impressed by that. How quickly he’s picking those things up, they’re (saying) his dude is very, very precocious in that way. That has been impressive. And yet, this is where I want you to temper the excitement for people. Don’t tell them to not be excited… but this is where you as a player, who’s been there before as a quarterback, can really bring the perspective to them to say, no. 1), there’s a difference between doing it first on the practice field, doing it at the spring game, and then doing it on a game day in front of people when you’re getting hit. All of those things are different.”
Devin Gardner: “I was telling (the viewers/listeners) about State Street and Main Street and kind of expanding upon things you have to deal with outside of the plays, your teammates and all that. We can’t even get to the physical part because the mental part is so daunting, just dealing with all the different things that you have to deal with. And then it’s accelerated and a little different now just because of the money involved, where the expectation is higher because you’re being paid and whether it’s real or perceived. It’s in you, your subconscious mind, your heart, you feel the pressure and the weight of the world because of the financial prowess that you’ve come into, and the expectations are high. Dealing with that while also trying to perform and be a great teammate, all those different things are very difficult. This is why we take practice, even a spring game, with a grain of salt. Now, the spring game is a level above practice because it is on Main Street, but there are no real losers, if you will. I guess there’s steaks and hot dogs. There’s not, oh, you may not make it to the playoff or you may not make the Big Ten Championship. That’s not at stake in the spring. You’re in a position where you should be able to honestly play freely. Now, some people can play freely in the spring game, some people cannot. It just depends on how you look at it. What’s your perspective? Hey, I’m looking at this like, oh, it’s just another practice. This is fine, there’s no stakes. The one stake that is on the line is the physical steak that you get to eat maybe when you win. But there are no real stakes. I can go out and play free, but it’s the pressure of expectation that some people crumble. It’s very difficult to have great expectations and still succeed and keep a clear mind and all those different things.”
“So, Bryce, everything I’ve heard as well, is playing well in the spring. And not only Bryce, Jadyn Davis. I think Jadyn Davis, in my opinion, to a lot of people in the building is maybe the biggest surprise of spring. Because I don’t know how much they expected from him, but he’s getting a lot more reps because of the absence of Mikey Keene. I think that he is proving that maybe he is worth the Elite 11 and the four-star or whatever it was as he came into Michigan ranked. I think he was a kind of forgotten one where everybody said, ‘oh yeah, we’re just gonna look past him, he can’t play.’ I think he took it personally. Honestly, I’m not gonna lie. I know for a fact he took it personally. I’ve had conversations with him, and he is on a mission to prove that he is worthy. And it’s not necessarily proving any of the people who have doubted him wrong, it’s more so proving himself right. Him and his family, they believe in themselves, and they believe in their son and their brother and what have you. I think that he is in a position where nobody expects him to compete, and he’s come out and competed well. I think that this is the best thing, not only for him, but for Bryce Underwood. Because now you have a Bryce Underwood who’s got all these expectations, and you’ve got a guy who is being a great teammate to you, similar to the way Denard was to me, even though you’re competing for the same thing. That’s gonna give Bryce Underwood the freedom to truly develop organically, rather than, ‘oh my God, I gotta beat Jadyn Davis, I gotta beat him up, I gotta prove everybody, I gotta make sure that I’m worth all this money.’ I feel like Jadyn Davis Davis is giving him the freedom to grow how he should grow, organically, like we talked about many, many weeks ago before he even got to Michigan.”
“Jadyn Davis, on the other hand, his development has been accelerated because now he’s got a fire lit under him by a guy who’s the first 100% recruit. Which means he’s for sure a first rounder, for sure gonna be a franchise changer in the NFL. You get him walking in the door and when you see him next to each other, you’ve got this big, giant dude, as big as they come at the quarterback position in Bryce Underwood. And then Jadyn Davis just an unassuming, regular sized guy. You have that to drive you, I think that this is perfect for both of these guys to become their best self as we move forward.”
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Contents and episode notes:
00:00 – Start of show
- Sam is back at it after battling an illness.
- Sam explains why he won’t do a blow by blow for spring practice but one report.
- Sam and Devin explain how practice doesn’t necessarily equate to games.
11:45 – On Daniel Horton and promo for Ann Arbor Sports Commission.
- Daniel Horton is out today with an illness.
- Sam gives promo for Ann Arbor Sports Commission.
- Sam says they are your resource if you are coming up for the Spring Game.
- Spring game is April 19th at noon.
17:10 – On Nico Iamaleava’s decision to holdout
- Devin makes fun of Sam for not being able to say his name.
- Devin says Nico is not very talkative by trait.
- Devin says that he doesn’t think it is Nico making these demands but his team.
- Devin says that a booster at Tennessee did say they will match the top offer for a QB at Tennessee.
- Devin sees Tennessee’s side of it as well. They have already paid him 4 million as a freshman and sophomore and he hasn’t done much for them.
23:00 – Know your worth = knowing your leverage
- Devin doesn’t agree with him sitting out of practice.
- Devin says at some point you have to be realistic.
- Sam agrees with Devin that Nico’s team overshot their shot.
- Devin says that Tennessee is betting on the person behind Nico being equal if not better.
- Sam says he should have asked for a modest raise, such as $400,000 instead of 2 million.
- Devin says that he was already making 2.4 million and that was too much, jokes the deal needed to be restructured.
28:35 – Iamaleava got TERRIBLE advice from those around him
- Devin talks about the defensive players knowing what Nico is making and potentially being upset given they were the main reason for Tennessee’s success.
- Devin agrees with Sam that Nico’s camp should not have gone public.
- Devin says that Nico is not like that, he believes it is his camp pulling the strings.
- Devin says that average QBs in college can lead great teams or win big games, mentions Davis Warren beating Ohio State.
34:20 – Tennessee had no other choice other than to cut ties
- Sam says Nico’s camp put him in an impossible situation.
- Devin feels bad for Nico.
- Sam thinks that Nico will get less now.
- Sam mentions Urban Meyer’s tactics.
39:20 – Other schools will benefit from Tennessee’s line in the sand
- Sam thinks this situation may help some coaches out.
- Devin talks about how Tennessee saying no thank you tipped off other coaches.
- Sam says that every program is battling, poaching and tampering.
- Sam says at Michigan, there are certain guys Michigan won’t let get away.
- Tennessee was obviously willing to let Iamaleava go.
- Promo for Golden Limo.
- Sam has technical difficulties, and Devin takes over for the Golden Limo promo.
50:40 – Devin gives his broad strokes on spring practice
- Devin says that state street and main street are 2 different things.
- Devin says playing in the big house is a different beast.
- Devin goes over the mental side of practice vs game.
- Devin welcomes Sam back.
- Sam says the spring game attendance is going to be high due to it not being televised and wanting to see Bryce.
55:05 – Sam Webb on spring practice intel
- Sam says you want to hear from people who came to the beginning of spring practice as well as the end.
- Sam says by all accounts; Bryce Underwood has been great.
- Bryce is picking things up quickly.
- Devin settles things down and says doing it in front of people in the big house is different.
- Devin talks about how the pressure is less in the spring compared to fall and during the season.
1:00:00 – Devin on the QB Battle
- Devin says that Bryce is playing well but so is Jaydn Davis.
- Devin says that Jaydn Davis is proving that he was worth the elite 11.
- Devin says that Jaydn took Michigan fans counting him out personally.
- Devin says it is a true and organic competition.
- Devin says that both QB’s have improved and benefited from each other.
- Jaydn Davis’s camp was not afraid of Michigan recruiting and bringing in Bryce.
1:07:25 – Sam discusses a few things coming to The Michigan Insider
- Sam explains the reasoning behind spring practice reports being limited this year.
- Sam says the reports of players who have already shined on gameday are the reports which translate the most.
- Sam gives an example with Jaishawn Barham and Ernest Hausman.
1:15:46 – End of show
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