don brown's buddy ryan impersonation

This is spring ball. There are guys on the field who are never going to play, there are guys on the field who are going to play who not playing very well, and the coaches, whom I haven't spoken to, are not going to show the really juicy stuff in a public scrimmage. Therefore all of this is written in very light sand.

But I think…I think I saw a cool variation of a thing that's all over Don Brown's 2013 playbook, and if you'll bear with me and a lot of asterisks we might learn a thing about how Michigan's personnel fits the stuff we've been talking about in the Dude Glossary.

So late in the spring game the Blue team ran a backside power play and got stuffed. Some of that was good play by the defense, some of that bad play by the offense. But the play design itself appeared to illustrate an example of a "Bear"-like* defense they can get into any time they're in 3rd and short or near the goal line, and then change up at the line based on what the offense shows.

* [It's not a real Bear because the backside DE is not in a 3-tech. Speaking of the Bear, JeepinBen wrote a thing on Buddy Ryan's 46 Defense when it appeared in Hoke/Mattison's first year if you want a refresher on that)]

--------------------------

THE PERSONNEL: BUTKUS, TECHNICALLY

"Butkus" is the one I described where they trade some middle meat on the line for extra upfield rush. BC would usually use this formation for a 46 Bear defense. I mentioned at the time that Michigan's NTs work just fine as the gap-attacking meatheads the Bear likes, and here Maurice Hurst is indeed the tackle. The "Butkus"—a hybrid specialty position that's meant to be a DE/OLB (Jake Ryan-esque player), is Alex Kaminski, who is 5'10/215 (the standup guy hanging off the edge at the top of the line above).

 

As for the rest, the End (E) is Chase Winovich, the Will (W) is Mike McCray, the Mike (M) is walk-on Cheyenn Robertson, the free safety (F) is Dymonte, the Anchor (A) is walk-on Garret Miller, the Rover (R) is Tyree Kinnel, and the Sam (S) is Lawrence Marshall.

If you said "huh?" at the last bit, yeah Marshall is a defensive end. In this formation that's not so important since he, like the Butkus, is in there primarily to be an edge-rusher/-setter. Forget that "Sam" is a "linebacker" and instead think about Will Gholston lining up outside tight ends and getting unblocked sacks.

Also remember Peppers is going to be somewhere on that map this year, and it's my guess from the way Brown set this up that the somewhere will be Butkus, i.e. the place they've got Alex Kaminski.

Anyway if you're counting that's really four DL who are the same as the white team's base DL, three linebackers who were the base linebackers, and the same four defensive backs. In other words Brown didn't take his 4-3 personnel off the field. He did, however, put them in places that emphasized different skills. I bet that will be a regular feature of this year's defense.

[After the jump: how they attack (I think) and how it works (I'm pretty sure)]

[photo: Bryan Fuller.]

The Question:

What are you watching for in the Spring Game? What is there to learn?

The Responses:

David: Brian and Ace did a good job during the Podcast of pointing out some of the main things to watch for on Friday night. Here are some additional battles/guys that will grab my eyes:

No no the one on the right. [Fuller]

Not De'Veon Smith running backs. At this point, we know who Smith is and what he can do. After him, there is quite a race happening. Isaac has been hyped a little, but he was last year, as well. Kareem Walker is a big recruit, but as of a couple weeks ago, he was still with the Maize group. Also, I guess Joe Hewlett has gotten some nice run.
Bobby Henderson at fullback. He's the only returning true fullback. They've moved a couple other guys (Hill and Poggi) back there, but I'm curious to see if Henderson will fend them off and be able to earn PT just because he will be more familiar with the position.

Dymonte Thomas and Tyree Kinnel at safety. Thomas blew up towards the end of 2015 and earned his spot on the field. He's a crazy athlete and a little more practice time could turn him into a dynamic deep safety. Tyree Kinnel is a guy I still wish they would have red-shirted, but he is also a guy to keep an eye on for not only next season but for the future. There's not a whole lot behind these guys. *We've seen Delano Hill before and mostly know what we'll get from him.

The rest of the tight ends. Jake Butt is YAY! There are also some interesting guys after him. Bunting, Wheatley, Jocz, and Gentry are all different kinds of players and each can create his own matchup problem. Seeing Wheatley slip out, Jocz block (ha), and Bunting/Gentry use their size against smaller DBs will be some things to keep an eye on that could get them on the field in the Fall...and very much diversify Michigan's tight end arsenal.

[Hit THE JUMP to find out who the coaches' thought their #3 overall player was at this time last year. Hint: he didn't play.]

[Photo: Upchurch]

Last week we introduced the defensive terminology for Don Brown's base defense and his 4-lineman sub packages. Quick clicky-popup diagrams of the 4-3 and 4-2-5 forms we covered:

This week I'd like to get into the 3-4 and 3-3-5 and 3-2-6 looks, or in Brown's terminology, the "50" formations.

-------------------------------

SO WHAT DOES THE 3-4 LOOK LOOK LIKE?

The BC defense Brown brought over is a base 4-3 and 4-2-5 nickel, and they'll run a relatively small suite of plays from that base on most downs. But a lot of the fancy stuff—truly, most of the playbook—are out of what are usually called "30" and Brown refers to as the "50" fronts*, i.e. formations with three defensive linemen.

Here's the basic version, as taken directly from the 2013 Boston College playbook that James Light posted.

Technically, the "Tackle" (Hurst's position) has been replaced with a "Backer" (B). When you hear about a guy you thought was playing defensive end being called a "linebacker" (e.g. Kemp) it's possible he's playing the Backer position. If a dude's getting mentions as an "OLB" that's also a sign they're using him in that Backer/Sam role, where "Sam" means "Jake Ryan-esque."

That isn't anybody yet—I've been using Winovich as a placeholder—but the ideal here is clearly LaMarr Woodley: a 6'2/260-ish, athletic, stand-up, high-burst, space-tackling, strong-enough-to-stand-up-to-blocks attacker who can play rush end or cover some. That last is notable because it gives the 50 formations a suite of tactics that are generally absent from Brown's 70 formations: zone blitzes.

* [It's 50 and not 30 because look at the pic above and count the guys on the line. Now think back to that ol' Schembechler 5-2 "angle" defense. The more things change…

] 

[After THE JUMP: bandits, canidae, diagrams that look like they're saying "Mike Gedeon" and "Will McCray", and blitzes. Oh lawdy do we got blitzes.]