A pivotal moment in the direction of Michigan football will occur later this week, when the Wolverines name either Devin Gardner or Shane Morris as their starting quarterback for next Saturday's Big Ten opener against Minnesota.
Gardner, a fifth-year senior, has had a checkered run as Michigan's starting QB since making his debut at Minnesota on Nov. 3, 2012, when he led the Wolverines to a convincing, 35-13 victory.
He replaced an injured Denard Robinson that day and had to relearn the quarterback position on the fly because he began the year as one of Michigan's starting wide receivers, a position he had moved to during the offseason.
Morris, a sophomore, came to Michigan as a five-star recruit and has seen limited action during his brief college career.
Coach Brady Hoke told the media during his Monday press conference that he will name his starting quarterback on Tuesday, and if it's Morris, it will be a sad ending to Gardner's tenure at Michigan.
Make no mistake; if Gardner isn't Michigan's starting quarterback on Saturday, his playing career is essentially over. Only a significant injury to Morris would put Gardner under center again for the Wolverines.
During Saturday's lengthy rain delay at Michigan Stadium, I had a conversation with one of my colleagues about Gardner, who was benched in favor of Morris just before the heavens unloaded. My colleague agreed with me that if Gardner rides the pine for any prolonged period, he's done. We disagreed that his benching would divide the team, though.
If Gardner is benched, I believe that the Wolverines will become a divided team. My colleague does not, saying, "When Brady didn't name captains is all you need to know about Devin. If he was a true leader, the players would have marched into Hoke's office and demanded that Devin be named a captain, and they didn't."
That might be true, but not being named a captain is a heck of a lot different than losing your starting position, especially at quarterback, because it has ramifications throughout the entire team.
We're talking about kids who just happen to be Michigan football players, and like all kids, they're loyal to their friends and think they have all the right answers. We've all been down that youthful road.
According to a source with knowledge of the team's inner dynamics, Gardner has strong support from many of the Michigan players. They trust his ability and believe that when he agreed to change positions, he demonstrated a loyalty and commitment to the team.
This is a very delicate situation for Hoke.
Do you give up on Gardner and throw your Michigan coaching future into the left hand of a talented, yet extremely raw sophomore? Because if you do, the result might not be what you intended.
Based on Michigan's performance thus far, the Wolverines, despite putting up a brave face, certainly appear to be on the verge of imploding.
The same mistakes are being made each week, and once adversity strikes during a game, Michigan doesn't react very well -- which leaves me to again wonder if the Wolverines' real problem is with the leadership of the program, not its signal caller.
And trust me; there isn't a college quarterback in America who can improve that situation.
