Daily Brews: Former Michigan athletic director passes away

Sad news to relay to those who have not heard it yet today, as former Michigan athletic director Joe Roberson passed away on Monday at his home in Grand Blanc. The 84-year-old was Michigan’s eighth athletic director and was best-known as the man who hired Lloyd Carr as the football program’s head coach in 1995. He also gave current AD Warde Manuel his start in administration.

Figures from around the university and Michigan family chimed in on his passing and shared tributes to their old friend and colleague.

Former Michigan president James Duderstadt:

“Joe Roberson was one of the University’s most dedicated, hard-working and versatile leaders. He not only served as a leading administrator at both UM-Flint and UM-Ann Arbor, but he led our development activities in the late 1980s, helping to launch the University’s first billion-dollar campaign, actually achieving $1.5 billion, then as our athletic director, not only achieving leadership with integrity in many programs including national championships in men’s swimming and ice hockey, and he was particularly instrumental in stimulating and building Michigan’s strong program in women’s athletics.

”He was also characterized by great wisdom, loyalty to the University, and a sense of humor that was valuable when we joined together to fight the many political battles necessary to support the institution, its programs and its students.

”We must honor his memory and his impact on the University over a long and dedicated career. He will be missed.”

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel:

“The loss of Joe Roberson marks an especially sad day for me. Joe hired me here at the University of Michigan when I returned to Ann Arbor to get my doctorate. He could be considered my first major mentor. He believed in the student-athlete model with ‘student’ as the most important factor in participation. When Joe spoke, he did not mince words; he was straightforward and fair. Michigan is grateful for his service and so am I. He will be missed by me and by many.”

Former Michigan hockey head coach Red Berenson:

“Joe was an athletic director who communicated well with the coaches and cared about the student-athletes. He gained their respect and confidence and did that in a short while. Though he had to make major decisions during his tenure, he did it in a quiet way. I remember Joe’s excitement when we won the national championship in 1996. Even though he was a baseball player, you could tell he was excited about our team and all our sports at the University of Michigan.”

For more reactions and information on Roberson’s passing, be sure to check out the obituary that was posted for him over on the Michigan Athletics’ official website.

PFF ranks Shea Patterson’s 2019 season compared to rest of country

At this point, Shea Patterson has become a punching bag of sorts for Michigan fans after the completion of his senior season. His performance ranks about where some feel he deserved to be, as Pro Football Focus named him the No. 42 quarterback in college football after this year.

Here’s why:

Reaching career-high figures in 2019 across the board, Patterson didn’t quite grade as well as he did in his first season at Michigan, but he certainly brought an exciting brand of football at times. There were three games in which he averaged over 10.0 yards per pass attempt and three games with an elite passing grade above 85.0. He had too many middling passing game grades to warrant a higher spot than he has now, but he still finished his career with a career-high 3,058 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. While pressure really affected him, he was dominant from a clean pocket, even more so than the most as he finished with the 22nd-ranked passing grade from a clean pocket. He whipped out 2,618 yards and 20 passing touchdowns from a clean pocket and combined to secure another 98 first downs for the Wolverines.

The quarterbacks head of him in the conference were Wisconsin’s Jack Coan (40), Iowa’s Nate Stanley (24) Indiana’s Peyton Ramsey/Michael Penix Jr. (12), Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan (7) and Ohio State’s Justin Fields (3).

Other Brews

• Clemson Basketball defeated Duke on Tuesday after beating North Carolina on Saturday. In any other sequence of days, Clemson fans might actually be excited for this after what happened to the football team on Monday.
• Odell Beckham Jr. of the Cleveland Browns was handing out money to players after the win over Clemson on Monday night. LSU maintains that it was fake money.
• Back to LSU, apparently players were told they would be arrested if they continued to smoke cigars in the locker room after the game. This gave us the most iconic college football picture these eyes have ever seen.

• Apparently Missouri State is going to hire either Art Briles or Bobby Petrino to coach its football program. I have another suggestion. (NSFW)