Tuesday, May 5 , 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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THREET SPEAKS
Daily Sports Writer Joe Stapleton sits down in an exclusive
interview with the soon-to-be Sun Devil QB Steven Threet
Stapleton: Why Arizona State?
Threet: The first thing I looked
at for any school I was going to go
to was the offense they run and the
coaching staff. Arizona State, I feel
it fits me offensively with the type
of offense they run, it's a pro-style
offense. I get along very well with
the coaching staff, I feel like they
will be able to help me get better
every day in practice and through-
out the season and help me devel-
op.
S: A lot ofpeople look at the situa-
tion you had at Michigan, with a good
chance you'd enter the season as the
starter. What don't they know that
made it not that favorable for you?
T: If you really look at the situa-
tion I was in, it really doesn't fit me.
My friend likes to say it's like com-
ing to Michigan to go to be a doctor,
and then they get rid of the Medical
school, you knowySo it's disappoint-
ing to me because I love Michigan,
I've said thatbefore, I grew up a fan
of Michigan, but it's a situation now
where I have to try to do what's best
for me. That's the situation I'm in,
and now I love Arizona State, too.
S: How important is the system
you're playing in to the success of a
quarterback?
T: I think it's more important
for the quarterback than any other
position. I have a specific skill set
as a quarterback, and that skill set
doesn't match up with the offense at
Michigan. I don't want to overstate
it, because I ran the offense - some
would say not very well - but ulti-
mately it comes down to wins and
losses. ButI think alot of times peo-
ple overlook certain things. Michi-
gan fans were used to Chad Henne
as a junior and a senior, and not too
many people were thinking about
how he did in his freshman year, or
John Navarre's freshman year. It
comes down to wins and losses, but
you have to put it in perspective.
S: How bigofa role did all the crit-
icism of last year play in your deci-
sion to leave?
T: None at all, to be honest with
you. During the season, and even
now, I don't really read the news-
papers, and I don't read the blogs,
because even if there are people
saying positive things you can't
only listen to them and block out
the people saying negative things.
I'm my own harshest critic anyway.
S: There was one quote that stood
out for me from last season. It was
after the Michigan State game when
Michigan's offensive coordinator
Calvin McGee described your play as
"inconsistent, as always."
T: I guess I feel like that's a dif-
ference of philosophy from the
previous staff. Granted, coaches do
different things to get the most out
of their players. Some people close
to me were upset that a coach would
call me out in front of the media, but
you know, in the end it didn't really
matter to me. And to be honest, my
play in the Michigan State game
was inconsistent. Is it right to say
that at the press conference after
the game? I mean, we had just lost
a big rivalry game, so I would chalk
most of that up to emotions after a
big game like that.
S: What do the coaches at Arizona
State provide that Rich Rodriguez
and his staffdon't?
T: It's mostly the difference in
the offense. The offense here is
pretty much set in stone, while
Coach Erickson and Coach Olsen
have been in the pros, they run a
pro system, and it's just a difference
in offensive philosophy.
S: So it's strictly a difference in
offensive philosophy, not in dealing
with players?
T: They could deal with players
differently, but like I said, every
coach has a different way of trying
to get the most out of their players.
But I wasn't switching because the
coaches were too hard on me, or
anything like that. It wasn't a situ-
ation where I hate getting yelled at
or anything. I mean, I'm a football
player.
S: You're the latest in a pretty long
line of guys who came to play for
Lloyd Carr and left when Rich Rodri-
guez came. Why do players leave?
T: I don't know. I think when
they came, they knew what they
were getting, the system was in
place, and so was the coaching staff.
I mean, Michigan, before Coach
Rodriguez, had had the same basic
offensive philosophy and group of
coaches for 30-some years. I know
(former offensive lineman) Justin
(Boren) left because he felt that it
wasn't Michigan anymore, at least
not the same Michigan.
S: In this system, had you stayed,
do you think you would have been
able to keep the starting job the rest
ofyour career?
T: With the way they run the
offense, no. But, it's tough to say. I
know a lot of people say, you know,
"Oh, he saw the writing on the wall,
with the freshman quarterback
coming in," but that's not it. It's not
that I couldn't be successful ina sys-
tem like this, I just think it's better
for me to be ina different system.
S: So you're giving up a starting
job just to be in a system you think
fits your skills?
T: It is the single most important
thingfor a quarterback. It's why you
don't see a 5-foot-9 kid who's really
fast running the style of offense
that we had here a year
ago. So people say, "you
come to the school for
Michigan." Yeah, but
at the same time, can
you imagine any of the
guys who came before
me - Chad (Henne),
Tom Brady, Brian Gri-
ese, Navarre - can you
imagine any of them
runningthis offense? It
wouldn't happen.
S: What do you
think when people
say you're transfer-
ring because you're
scared of the compe-
tition? -o
T: I justr
laugh at it. I
transferred to
Michigan to
compete with
Ryan Mal-
lett for the
starting
quarter-
back job,
and now
I'm going
to trans-
fer away RODRIGo GAYA/Daily
because Former Wolverine quarterback Steven Threet decided to transfer
they to Arizona State after last season, the second transfer of his career.
brought
in two freshmen who are supposed everyone is putting the work in to
to be good in this system? And getting better at executing their
it's not like the cupboard's bare at job. There were a lot of times last
Arizona State, either. You're never year where maybe one guy didn't
going to find any Division I teams do his job at 100 percent, and that's
telling you that if you come there, the difference between a touch-
you will automatically be the start- down and a three-yard loss. Work-
ing quarterback. ing together like that is especially
S: What does Michigan need to do important offensively. Defensively,
to make sure last year doesn't hap- you can get bailed out sometimes,
pen again? but offensively it really does take
T: They need to make sure that all 11 guys.
'M' finds a win after a no-hit affair
By RYAN KARTJE
ManagingSports Editor
The bases were loaded in the
sixth inning of Saturday's first
game at Bill Davis Stadium in
Columbus. Ohio State designated
hitter Ryan Dew came to the plate
against Michigan senior pitcher
Chris Fetter, who had been firmly
entrenched in a pitcher's duel with
Buckeye pitcher Alex Wimmers
until that point.
Dew launched Fetter's fastball
straight up behind home plate, but
junior catcher Chris Berset lost it in
the bright sun, and Dew took Fet-
ter's next pitch into the outfield for
two runs.
The hit was all the momentum
Wimmers needed to shutdown the
Wolverines in no-hit fashion, 6-0.
It was the first time Michigan
(7-11 Big Ten, 24-21 overall) has
gone without a pitch 27 years, with
Ohio State (13-5, 34-11) dealing the
Wolverines' National Pitcher of the
Year candidate his second loss of
the season.
"You never want to be no-hit;"
Berset said. "It's discouraging. But
what's most disappointing about it
is Chris Fetter not being able to get
the win he deserves."
Through five and a half innings
See NO-HITTER, Page 12