As I mentioned in a tweet Sunday, I received so many unprompted text message from former players expressing their anger and frustration over what they saw on Saturday. As one former player from the 1999 team said, "Charles Woodson was being kind in saying on national TV he was embarrassed. Guys are pissed. Guys are circling the wagons, and normally when we do that, it's to give support to the players and the program and our coaches, but that's not the sentiment right now - every one of my former teammates is talking about Coach Harbaugh and how things have gotten this bad."

Writing a story with those sentiments expressed over and over again would not be helpful or even that insightful, so after 24 hours, I reached out to 10 former players to ask them specific questions about the program, about Harbaugh, about rallying the team, giving them time to cool down and speak from a place of experience and knowledge, instead of raw emotion.

Here are the answers to those questions, under anonymity because I promised it to them to get their most honest answers.

On whether this game can be a rallying point: "At some point, except the team in 1997 -- and even those guys because they got punched in the mouth in that Iowa game - a team faces adversity. We lost a game a couple of games in my career that on paper we shouldn't have lost. The first thing any coaching staff does is refocus 'Ok, if we win out, we control our own destiny. We can still win the Big Ten,' stuff like that. It is so critically important that that is the drumbeat all week, where you're just hammering and hammering it home because you need your team to believe it. If they don't, then you'll see a lot of players go through the motions in practice, and that's when you're not sharp, you're not prepared, not focused and you lose your next game.

"We play Rutgers Saturday, which is probably a blessing, but watch how this Michigan team comes out. If they really believe they can bounce back from this, then they will have a great week of practice, they will be focused and energized this weekend and they should really pound Rutgers. But if we struggle or, god forbid, lose this game, that means the team never bought in to the message, and we're in a lot of trouble going forward."

Same question for another player: "This team has very little confidence right now. They are struggling with mental toughness. You saw that in the way we collapsed after the fumble. So they're desperate, and I guarantee you no one in that building knows how the team is going to respond.

"We went through that my junior year, where we lost a game early and it wasn't pretty, and the guys were really shocked by that and it caused a lot of guys to have that self-doubt. I knew that if we came out the next week and struggled early in the game, we were going to lose. But thankfully, we made a few big plays and got up and we just ran with that momentum. It saved our season.

"A lot of these guys have never experienced adversity like this. And now it's dating back to the Ohio State game and the Florida game, and they changed offenses, and they have this new philosophy and it's an utter failure, and there are probably lots of guys in that locker room wondering if the guy next to them is capable of getting it done, wondering if their coaches know what they're doing. I'm telling you, the first quarter of this next game is either going to give this team a chance or is going to sink us, and I'm not close enough to the program to know which way it will go."

On Michigan's horrific road performances under Jim Harbaugh (this from a 2017 starter): "There are a lot of things Coach Harbaugh is really good at it, but pre-game pep talks is not one of them. I don't think it's as simple as saying if he just told us to 'Win one for the Gipper' we'd go out and crush it, but before a game, you're building and building your energy. Like you don't just get off the bus ready to crush the entire team. There is a process and I don't think he's great at that process of getting his guys ready to go. I think for home games, the crowd, running out of the tunnel, hearing the fight song, the banner ... all of that gets you hyped. On the road, you need to manufacture all that stuff, and it's not something he really excels at."

On the Josh Gattis/Harbaugh dynamic and the offense overall: "So if I was on this team and we made this drastic change in offensive philosophy in the offseason, I'd want to know why, especially from a head coach that has believed in one thing his entire career. Like, I get it when there is a head-coaching change and you change offensive styles but how many times do you go hire a new coordinator and give him the keys and say 'This pro-style offense I have spent my entire career running, get rid of it and bring us the spread.' So there is probably some sort of schism that has been taking place all along. Guys that know Coach Harbaugh and know who he is have been asking themselves, 'Does Coach really believe in this?'

"And the answer to that is a definitive no. How do I know that? Ben Mason. In Josh Gattis' offense there is absolutely no place for Ben Mason. That's why he switched to defensive tackle. That's why they didn't practice him on offense in the spring or August camp, or the first three weeks. Moving him there this week, that was desperation. That was panic. That was Coach Harbaugh saying, 'I've got no one I trust with Zach [Charbonnet] not 100 percent so we're going to insert my guy. My football player. My hard-nosed, tough-as-nails, soul-crushing fullback. We're going back to my offensive philosophy. Don't give me speed in space, give me strength and power and running it down their throat.'

"Because if this is Gattis' offense, that's not a speed-in-space play. That's not his guy. That's not his play design, his play call, that is 100 percent Harbaugh. So then it blows up in their face, and now you're an offensive guy and you're looking at the sideline and you're saying, 'My coaches aren't even on the same page. And Coach Gattis, is he in charge? Or is it Coach Harbaugh?'

"The two biggest things that can kill a season is poor veteran leadership and when guys don't trust their coaches and vice versa. What I'm seeing is a void of leadership and coaches creating self-doubt in what they're running and what they're calling."

On the offensive identity: "So in 2015, it took us half the season to figure out our identity, and that was throwing the football to set up the run, which we weren't great at but we got better as the season went on. We got really good at passing. In 2016, there was a lot to build on from the previous season, and we had some playmakers back and Wilton [Speight] did a pretty good job, and we transitioned more into run-first, play-action, take-advantage-of-our-outside weapons type of team. I'm not sure what 2017 was supposed to be but there were quarterback problems. Last year, they were starting to realize the culmination of four years of Harbaugh recruiting and instilling a culture built on big, strong, run-blocking offensive linemen and these tall, long receivers and tight ends that could win one-on-one matchups.

"Then Ohio State happens, and everything gets thrown in the trash. Ok, it was probably an overreaction, but I get it. Now, for this new offense to succeed, especially early in the season, you have to make a decision by the start of fall camp what you're going to be. What the identity is, and you need to get your quarterback to buy in 100 percent.

"I just don't know that they decided that by the first week of the season. I think they figured they would have a few weeks to play around with it and have it just sort of emerge naturally by the time they went to Wisconsin. But after their first two games, what was their identity? Do you know? I don't know. And I can tell you they didn't know. So now you're spending the bye week trying to figure that out and I just don't think they had a clue."

Another player on his theory about the offense: "Can I tell you what I think happened - I think Zach Charbonnet was better than they expected, and this is where I think Coach Harbaugh's fingerprints were on this because I think they decided they would be a run-first, play-action team out of the spread instead of the pro-style. And that actually makes a lot of sense, because if Coach was going to give up his offensive scheme he probably wasn't going to give up his entire philosophy. But does that really mesh with Coach Gattis? Does it fit his quarterback? Does it fit his wide receivers and tight ends? I think they decided Zach would be their bell-cow and everything would build off that.

"But ... all the talk about Zach being banged up turned out to be true and now you spent the bye week a run-first play-action and your running back - really the only guy you trust at that position - can't carry it 25 times. So you come out firing but that's not what you want to do. That's not what you prepared to be, and the offense just appears lost the entire first half."

On whether Michigan figured something out in the fourth quarter: "Maybe. I hope so. The strength of this offense was always our wide receivers. Throw it up and let them go make a play on the ball. Saturday, they showed they could do that whether it was Nico [Collins] or Tarik [Black] or Donovan [Peoples-Jones]. So maybe we'll just come out firing the ball downfield this week and next week and the week after, but man, why did it take us that long?

"I think part of it is our quarterback got gun-shy because of the turnovers. I think he felt he was to blame and he became so worried about throwing an interception that he refused to throw it up for grabs, but in those moments, as a coach, you just have to force his hand or replace him.

"Especially in this Wisconsin game. You're without your No. 1 running back, you're in a hostile environment. You need big plays. You're down 7-0 and then 14-0. Just start chucking and let Nico and Tarik go get the ball and get some momentum back and make the plays they're capable of. Damn, it just really should not have taken us four quarters to figure that out."

On the rest of the season: "Rutgers, Iowa, Illinois. I know everyone is really down on Coach Harbaugh and Coach Gattis and Don Brown and all of the players, but there are three very winnable games on the schedule before they go on the road and play Penn State. Maybe it's just me being a former player, but there's a switch you flip where you let go of a loss and move on, and if they can do that, and win those three games, you never know what could happen.

"Honestly, a team with our talent, if they can block out all the noise, and the coaches and players can get on the same page - and that's a BIG IF - this season is not lost and Coach Harbaugh can win back the fans. But they have to win these three games and they have to figure it out offensively and defensively because I tell you, if there are still cracks in the ship when they have to go on the road to play Penn State and then come back home and play Notre Dame, those are two losses, and then Michigan State and Ohio State are two more losses.

"I'm not throwing in the towel. I know it doesn't look good. It looks really bad but don't underestimate a team and a group of guys who become brothers. I guess the question I don't know the answer to is whether these guys like each other, whether they believe in each other, and whether they believe in their coaches. If the answer to all three is yes, then the talent hasn't gone anywhere, and they could still pull something off.

"But what we all saw at Wisconsin would suggest that they have very real problems, that the chemistry is off, the leadership isn't there, the coaches are being second-guessed and are second-guessing themselves. If they're not all 100 percent on the same page right now then it will fall apart, and we shouldn't have to wait very long for us to learn if that's the case."

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