spring practice 2014

[Eric Upchurch]

wait spring football is what again

It's this practice thing that we used to think was super super important because the basketball team was a wet cat and the spring game was in late April. Now we haven't even thought about it because the basketball team is IMPORTANT and also still playing and they've moved the spring game up despite having horrible weather for seemingly the last decade solid.

So… yeah. It is a glimpse into what the football team might be like next year.

So last year's was a constant parade of quotes about how everyone was getting tackled for loss?

Well… no. It is a Pravda-like glimpse weighted by both the program's desire to look good in the absence of actual games and your hope that the next football season will be a fulfilling exercise in fandom.

Consider that hope to be disposed of in a dumpster behind a Five Guys.

All right, then. Let's enter the realm of football with a properly jaundiced eye.

Things To Watch

Will they be a single thing? "Aggression" is the guaranteed defensive watchword every time a coordinator change is made, and "simple" is the equivalent on the offensive side of the ball.

Kyle Kalis says Doug Nussmeier is gradually installing the offense. Much simpler. 'Last year, you never knew what was going to be called.'

— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) March 25, 2014

How much of this is standard boilerplate and how much of it is a real problem that Nussmeier is going to solve is pretty much the question for the season. (No, it is not "who is going to start at quarterback?" You are a silly person, person who thinks that.) Lord knows that this site spent most of last year—most of the last three years—blasting Al Borges for not having anything resembling a base offense in his time. Last year's wander from stretch to power to tackle over to inside zone and all things in between was particularly egregious.

It was hardly unprecedented. Michigan never figured out how to run play action off their best play, the inverted veer, never figured out that having mobile quarterbacks run the waggle is just asking them to eat defensive end as soon as they turn around, never figured out what, in fact, they were. Having an identifiable identity is step one towards having one of those offense things.

Let's try to keep me alive this play, gents [Bryan Fuller]

Is the offensive line… tolerable? Extant? Sieve sieve sieve sieve sieve? I can't say the good feelings are pouring out of spring. This is not a world in which claims that true freshman Mason Cole has a great chance to play the most important position on the line…

Another early enrollee opening eyes at Michigan is OL Mason Cole. Competing for starting LT job. Funk says Cole has great chance to play.

— ESPN Big Ten (@ESPN_BigTen) March 31, 2014

…can be dismissed as so much spring hogwash. I mean, yeah, it's almost certainly spring hogwash. But given the situation that buzz comes off as a negative thing about people not named Mason Cole as much as it is a positive one about Cole.

Meanwhile Graham Glasgow, the one returning guy who had a job for the entirety of last season, got held out for a while due to an issue that will also see him suspended for The Horror II, and oh good now I'm thinking about what might happen in The Horror II without Michigan's best interior lineman.

…

Thinking: try not to do it.

Anyway, injuries have held near-sure-LT Erik Magnuson out and forced Michigan to try a parade of guys probably better suited to play guard at that spot. Reading the tea leaves, the most likely starting line for the spring game reads:

• LT David Dawson
• LG Kyle Bosch
• C [Glasgow placeholder]
• RG Kyle Kalis
• RT Ben Braden

And in a perfect world that would remain the line through fall camp except for the insertion of Magnuson. When pinged for offensive line data, Hoke was his usual recalcitrant self but did not seem super enthused all the same:

"The physicalness isn't where we want it yet. I couldn't point out one guy who has been a great finisher.

"Probably Graham (Glasgow), as much as anybody, in some ways. Ben (Braden) is getting better. But we're not near where we need to be."

Not that they could be near where they need to be a few months after whatever that was.

Here's to this being the "before" picture. [Fuller]

Are Are De'Veon Smith and Derrick Green any diff—. Previous sentence was tackled for loss. Green's been tweeting out pictures of his weight as he strives to get back down to the bowling ball that was the #1 overall tailback in the country to a couple of different services instead of the bowling ball he was last year. Here is a swathe of boilerplate.

"De'Veon's had a very good spring, Derrick's had a better spring than he did in the fall," Hoke said last week. "Justice Hayes has done some really good things, and I'm really proud of him. Both carrying the ball and in the protection game. It'd be nice to get Drake (Johnson) back and put him in the mix."

Chances are it will be hard to tell much what with the offensive line coming together and folks looking confused, but give me one cut from Green that he probably couldn't have managed last year and I'll be happy.

Is Ross Douglas viable at tailback? I kind of think no if only because the Hoke era has expressed a preference for large men running the ball even if they bring little else to the table other than size. Meanwhile, Douglas's bounce to offense comes in the context of Taylor/Countess/Peppers/Lewis/Stribling, a veritable bounty at corner that Douglas didn't figure to crack any time soon. He's also down the depth chart on offense:

"Justice, De'Veon and Derrick are a little bit ahead still, but I think Ross is giving us a little bit more depth and that's really good for us.

"We'll do this through spring and see how he does, and then make a determination if he'll go back to DB."

This kind of positional uncertainty is never a good sign for a prospect's future. If Douglas was in the mix at corner he'd be at corner. Instead he's fourth at best at tailback and probably fifth when Drake Johnson gets back.

But there is a new offensive coordinator who may do things like see what happens if you give Dennis Norfleet the ball, so you never know.

But that probably means the secondary is loaded, right? At first blush Michigan has more corner depth than I can remember. They return both starters from last year plus a couple of promising freshman who did the really hard part—sticking with your man—last year before wilting at the last minute. And then there's that Jabrill Peppers dude. Douglas's positional vagabondery would not be taking place if Michigan didn't go five deep in solid options at corner.

Wide receiver war. With Devin Funchess entrenched at wide receiver, playing time there is now at a premium. The departure of Jeremy Gallon opens up scads of catches, some of which will go to Funchess and Jehu Chesson. The rest will get spread out. While a number of those will go to Amara Darboh, who was building up steam with his play in practice last year before a season-ending foot injury, Michigan is still being cautious with him. You won't see him on Saturday:

“Right now I feel like I’m 100 percent, but they’re keeping me out,” Darboh said Thursday. “By the time fall camp comes around I should be 100 percent.”

One gentleman you will see, and possibly see a lot of, is Freddy Canteen. The freshman early enrollee has been this spring's easy winner of the Grady Brooks Memorial Spring Hype Award. Almost literally everyone who has gotten practice buzz or been there themselves has come away talking about his quickness and advanced technique. One example of many:

WR Freddy Canteen creating a buzz this spring at Michigan. Players, coaches very impressed with early enrollee. Getting run with the ones.

— ESPN Big Ten (@ESPN_BigTen) March 31, 2014

"Running with the ones" is a slightly overrated concept since in the course of a spring or fall practice just about everyone will get their shot on the top team to keep folks motivated and just to see what happens. Even so the Canteen drumbeat has been so consistent that he will be the guy everyone is watching for.

One guy you shouldn't expect anything from: Drake Harris. Harris has been shut down for the rest of spring with a hamstring issue. He had a similar problem for his senior year of high school and at this point it seems like he might be headed for a redshirt with Funchess/Darboh/Chesson/Canteen and last year's three-man class potentially ahead of him on the depth chart.

I'm looking at the man in the mirror. Middle. Whatever. [Fuller]

And then the weird thing. Jake Ryan, middle linebacker. I'm skeptical Ryan will be able to transition to a very different spot that asks him to read and react and then shed responsibly. If he does manage it, it seems like a part of his barbarian nature will be lost. Ryan is a shocking vertical attacker; middle linebackers are not generally tasked with that. When Ryan has been drafted into read and react situations by defensive alignment, it has gone poorly.

But they're going to try it, and spring will be an opportunity to see what's going on with that.

Safeties: we have them? Michigan was clearly dissatisfied with Thomas Gordon midway through last year, which just goes to show that Brady Hoke was in Muncie or San Diego for the decade of Michigan safety play between Marcus Ray and Jordan Kovacs. Great he may not have been; he was pretty much good enough, and when other guys got in the game the step down from pretty much good enough to not was obvious.

Now Gordon is gone and the list of potential replacements is short (inexplicably so given Michigan's apparent need): sophomores Jeremy Clark, Delano Hill, and Dymonte Thomas. Michigan barely has enough dudes to put together a two deep, and there are few candidates to move from corner. Stribling's 176-pound frame would get him run over; ditto Lewis; they're not moving Countess; Taylor's run support is not a strength. That leaves Peppers (moving him away from boundary corner would be a travesty of justice) and redshirt freshman Reon Dawson, who's super super fast but raw and skinny.

So finding someone to play opposite Jarrod Wilson is an important target to hit with few bullets. Here's hoping Clark wins the job with ease; he's got the most experience.

Can a tight end hit something? One of the underrated problems with Michigan's offense a year ago was the tight end spot's total lack of progress. Devin Funchess proved that as a tight end, he was a good wide receiver; more worryingly, AJ Williams was hardly better despite not being, you know, a game changing receiver. Jake Butt was probably the best blocker Michigan had available, and he promptly tore his ACL. Jordan Paskorz left the program.

So. Michigan will hope Williams makes a step forward and turn to two guys coming off redshirt: Khalid Hill and Wyatt Shallman. They've also converted former SDE Keith Heitzman to that side of the ball. The freshmen are more H-back types than inline ones; Michigan may end up playing them both places just because they have to. Shallman's flirtation with tailback seems over:

Shallman has taken a few reps at running back this spring, but Hoke said he envisions him as a tight end-fullback hybrid.

Given the depth chart that makes sense. I'll be looking for anything resembling a block out of this crew.

Weather. Let's hope it's nice.

More Aerris Smith. Starts boilerplate, and then gets COLLEGE, like Junior Hemingway after the Sugar Bowl COLLEGE:

Dusty.

Uh. Here's a first hand look at Wofford from a gentleman who saw them take on Davidson. Expect a lot of Cochran trying to get a shot for someone, usually himself.

WIN THE (hockey) GAME. A gentleman has run through all three million or so possibilities remaining in the college hockey season and presents us with everyone's chances of finishing at position X. The Penn State game turns out to be kind of a big deal:

PWR	Win 0	Win 1	Win 2	Win 3
#6	 	 	 	0.7%
#7	 	 	 	0.0%
#8	 	 	 	20.5%
#9	 	 	0.1%	56.5%
#10	 	 	2.5%	22.3%
#11	0.0%	21.9%	38.9%	 
#12	2.0%	43.4%	39.6%	 
#13	12.9%	25.6%	16.8%	 
#14	30.5%	7.5%	2.0%	 
#15	33.2%	1.5%	 	 
#16	17.4%	0.1%	 	 
#17	3.4%	 	 	 
#18	0.5%	 	 	 
In:	20.6%	95.9%	96.6%	100.0%

That is a hell of a swing.

The breakdown is off, as it assumes all remaining games are coinflips. This paints a more pessimistic picture than is realistic since it gives bid thieves a higher shot at theft than they actually have. So the picture with a Penn State loss isn't quite that grim. Michigan's chances in the event of a loss are probably in the 40-50 range if you live in a world where MSU's shot at a bid is less than 12.5%.

But it's pretty easy: win on Thursday and you're in barring worst-case scenarios where everyone else on the bubble does spectacularly well and bids get stolen. If only I could claim a game against Penn State is not a coin flip given the fact that Penn State is very bad at hockey.

The imperative is clear. #winthegame.

WIN THE (basketball) GAME. Sports On Earth profiles John Beilein, the "maestro of March":

On the eve of the Final Four, John Beilein's most important player was a mess. Practicing against teammates imitating Syracuse's famed zone defense, Mitch McGary's footwork was awful. If Beilein couldn't correct the problem, Michigan had no chance of playing for a national title.

Beilein wanted his 6-foot-10 freshman center to operate around the foul line and distribute the ball. The coaching staff spent all week trying to get him to pivot a certain way. Most of the time, he traveled or threw the ball away. "He couldn't read the zone because he couldn't see it, and he couldn't see it because he didn't have the right balance and leverage," Beilein said. Frustrated, he brought McGary, along with a few managers and players, back to the court after Friday's practice and said, "OK, Mitch, one more time: This is how we're going to do it." He told McGary to slow down and trust his instincts. He finally executed.

The next night in the Georgia Dome, McGary, who had a total of 18 assists all season unitl then, sliced up the 2-3 zone, recording a team-high six assists, while also scoring 10 points and grabbing five offensive rebounds in a 61-56 win. "It was a week of work getting him to figure it out," Beilein said. "His assists won us the game."

Read the whole thing. Also in Beilein hagiography: Frank Martin talks him up. Yes, that Frank Martin, the demon-screamer late of Kansas State who inexplicably took the South Carolina job.

NMSU's announcer has to thank God every day that he gets to exclaim SIMMMMMMMMM BHULLLLLAAAAAAAAAR at maximum volume.

The other random obsession with a basketball player. Remember SIM BHULLAR? 7'5", 360 pound Indo-Canadian Michigan was poking around who ended up at New Mexico State? Guy with an all-time combination of game and announcer-friendly name?

SIM BHULLAR plays about 20 minutes a game for the Aggies, has excellent rebound and block rates, shoots 64% from the floor with decent usage, and gets fouled a lot, whereupon he hits only 54%.

He and New Mexico State will take on Steve Fisher and San Diego State in the first round in a Michigan Old versus Michigan What Might Have Been matchup.

Seriously though, given the way Michigan plays offense they could really use an offensively challenged guy who looks like he's been in contact with a radioactive spider. Radioactive spider guy challenges shots and flushes putbacks and dumpoffs. We need to get in contact with whoever's importing the Joel Embiids of the world and see if there's a guy who's maybe not Joel Embiid but good enough for Michigan's purposes.

Dogpile. Yet another lawsuit has been dropped on the NCAA. This one is from a Jeffery Kessler, noted sports anti-trust lawyer, and it's a doozy:

"The main objective is to strike down permanently the restrictions that prevent athletes in Division I basketball and the top tier of college football from being fairly compensated for the billions of dollars in revenues that they help generate," Kessler told ESPN. "In no other business -- and college sports is big business -- would it ever be suggested that the people who are providing the essential services work for free. Only in big-time college sports is that line drawn."

Maybe it was not the best move to include a Rutgers basketball player in your suit when you're claiming college athletes should be given something more than a stern talking-to and return to the American conference, but this Kessler guy is bad news for sports leagues trying to keep the man up:

Kessler helped bring free agency to the NFL, winning a key jury verdict for the NFL Players Association in 1992. He remains outside counsel to the NFLPA and the NBA's player union, has taken on Major League Baseball and represented star athletes including Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. For municipal authorities, he forced the Raiders to honor their stadium lease and stay in Oakland.

Given the skepticism of the judge in the O'Bannon case and Kessler's history of wins here it seems hard to believe the NCAA will look much like it does now in a decade. And that's a good thing, both in terms of fairness and for Michigan specifically. Michigan has a lot of money. Alums have a lot of money. We are currently using that in indirect ways while others are using their money to get to the point.

Meanwhile. An article on Michigan's surging revenues highlights the absurdity of the claim that most athletic departments lose money:

Department revenues rose $41.5 million from 2009-10 to 2012-13. During that same four-year period, expenses increased at a similar level, rising from $87 million to $132 million.

Funny how that works. It's almost like athletic departments spend all the money they have.

I mean:

In 2009-10, Michigan paid $33 million in wages to about 275 people. By 2012-13, the athletic department had 321 employees (it has grown even more this year to 336 workers) and projected $44 million in pay, including $19 million on coaches' salaries.

It's long past time to redirect some of that to the players.

Oh man. IU's Fred Glass making me feel slightly better about the AD gap:

"Finances wouldn't be an issue if we thought it made sense," Glass told The Star. "But we're Indiana. We don't play in the CBI."

A sentiment better left unexpressed after the last decade.

Right, that. Gregg Doyel makes a good point about Wichita State getting the stink eye from the committee:

We can debate whether Louisville deserved to be seeded so poorly, but what we cannot debate is what is being asked of Wichita State. The top seeds are supposed to be geographically protected, helped out if possible but not completely screwed at a minimum. And Wichita State was completely screwed.

Any idea how far Louisville is from Indianapolis? About 90 minutes by car. It's nothing. And southern Indiana is a hotbed of Louisville fans. Louisville is more than comfortable at Indy.

If Louisville was going to be a 4 they should have shipped them anywhere else. Does the NCAA really care that much about attendance?

Spring whatball? There is some thing with a oblong ball that isn't quite rugby that Michigan appears to be doing.

Oh good, more tackles for loss.

Departures. Matt Painter grumbled publicly about having selfish players, so a transfer does not come as a shock. Ronnie Johnson is gone from the Boilers. This is not a harsh blow statistically—Johnson's ORTG was under 100—but it is not a good look for Purdue, which loses seven contributors after going 15-17 and doesn't have the recruiting class to make up for that. Painter's apparently going to get another season, but it looks like his last unless he performs a miracle.

Also in bad teams from Indiana, Noah Vonleh is "strongly leaning" towards entering the draft. Losing Vonleh would leave Indiana hoping that Hanner Mosquera-Perea or Jeremy Hollowell can become basketball-type objects. Possible… but not looking good after this year.

Etc.: Guptill's September suspension turns out to be for assault; judge determines that Guptill made a guy "in fear of being pushed or shoved." Mark Richt has lost control of Alex Guptill. That is some straight-up UGA petty misdemeanory.

Tommy Amaker: "we're not trying to win a championship, we're trying to be a championship team." Peak coach-speak has been achieved.

A semi-annual tradition: Michigan releases a roster, I go over it to add to my ever-growing pile of slightly different numbers. To the pile!

QUARTERBACK
Player	2010	2011	2012	Spring 2013	Fall 2013	Spring 2014	10 to 11	11 to 12	12 to 13	13 to Spring
Devin Gardner	210	205	206	210	210	218	-5	1	4	8
Russell Bellomy		189	201	213	215	210		12	14	-5
Shane Morris						202
Wilton Speight						230
RUNNING BACK
Player	2010	2011	2012	Spring 2013	Fall 2013	Spring 2014	10 to 11	11 to 12	12 to 13	13 to Spring
Justice Hayes		176	183	190	192	190		7	9	-2
Drake Johnson			203	212	213	212			10	-1
Sione Houma			221	229	231	240			10	9
Joe Kerridge					238	247				9
De'Veon Smith					224	223				-1
Derrick Green					240	227				-13
Wyatt Shallman					237	243				6
Ross Douglas				176	176	186				10
WIDE RECEIVER
Player	2010	2011	2012	Spring 2013	Fall 2013	Spring 2014	10 to 11	11 to 12	12 to 13	13 to Spring
Devin Funchess			225	228	235	230			10	-5
Amara Darboh			218	213	212	214			-6	2
Jehu Chesson			183	193	196	195			13	-1
Dennis Norfleet			170	168	169	167			-1	-2
Jaron Dukes					190	200				10
Csont'e York					180	194				14
Da'Mario Jones					192	198				6
Freddy Canteen						170
Drake Harris						180
TIGHT END
Player	2010	2011	2012	Spring 2013	Fall 2013	Spring 2014	10 to 11	11 to 12	12 to 13	13 to Spring
Jordan Paskorz		246	?	251	255	255		?	9	0
Keith Heitzman		251	?	277	280	271		?	26	-9
AJ Williams			282	265	265	263			-17	-2
Jake Butt				231	237	250			0	13
Khalid Hill					258	255				-3
OFFENSIVE LINE
Player	2010	2011	2012	Spring 2013	Fall 2013	Spring 2014	10 to 11	11 to 12	12 to 13	13 to Spring
Jack Miller		263	287	291	290	297		24	3	7
Blake Bars			282	284	291	290			9	-1
Ben Braden			299	314	318	319			19	1
Kyle Kalis			292	297	302	304			10	2
Erik Magnuson			290	286	285	295			-5	10
Kyle Bosch				307	302	301				-1
Logan Tuley-Tillman				285	300	290				-10
David Dawson					297	295				-2
Graham Glasgow					303	308				5
Dan Samuelson					283	282				-1
Patrick Kugler					287	295				8
Chris Fox					338	310				-28
Mason Cole						275
DEFENSIVE LINE
Player	2010	2011	2012	Spring 2013	Fall 2013	Spring 2014	10 to 11	11 to 12	12 to 13	13 to Spring
Frank Clark		228	260	277	277	270		32	17	-7
Matt Godin			270	277	280	283			10	3
Willie Henry			302	306	306	297			4	-9
Ondre Pipkins			337	308	315	313			-22	-2
Tom Strobel			250	262	265	268			15	3
Chris Wormley			268	290	289	292			21	3
Mario Ojemudia			223	244	250	250			27	0
Taco Charlton				265	270	275				5
Maurice Hurst					270	277				7
Henry Poggi					260	271				11
Bryan Mone						315
LINEBACKER
Player	2010	2011	2012	Spring 2013	Fall 2013	Spring 2014	10 to 11	11 to 12	12 to 13	13 to Spring
Jake Ryan	225	230	242	241	240	235	5	12	-2	-5
Brennen Beyer		225	252	254	250	256		27	-2	6
Desmond Morgan		220	230	227	228	232		10	-2	4
Allen Gant			196	203	212	222			16	10
Royce Jenkins-Stone			206	215	225	221			19	-4
James Ross			225	223	220	225			-5	5
Joe Bolden			230	222	225	225			-5	0
Ben Gedeon					236	236				0
Mike McCray					237	242				5
Michael Ferns						233
CORNERBACK
Player	2010	2011	2012	Spring 2013	Fall 2013	Spring 2014	10 to 11	11 to 12	12 to 13	13 to Spring
Raymon Taylor		169	183	186	183	182		14	0	-1
Delonte Hollowell		164	177	175	180	175		13	3	-5
Blake Countess		176	182	181	182	183		6	0	1
Terry Richardson			154	162	167	172			13	5
Jourdan Lewis					170	174				4
Channing Stribling					171	176				5
Reon Dawson					170	178				8
Brandon Watson						185
SAFETY
Player	2010	2011	2012	Spring 2013	Fall 2013	Spring 2014	10 to 11	11 to 12	12 to 13	13 to Spring
Jarrod Wilson			190	196	200	202			10	2
Jeremy Clark			191	201	205	206			14	1
Dymonte Thomas				187	190	191			0	1
Delano Hill					205	205				0

Rule one of Roster Overanalysis Club is all weight change is good.

Various other things that leap out:

Not a lot of movement. This year features many fewer large swings than 2013 or 2012, and while that's partially the fact that old stuff is measured in year increments instead of six month moves, there are many position groups where 2x  the amount of movement seen here is still basically no movement. Linebacker, safety, and both lines are relatively static.

In general, that's good, as Michigan goes from a breakdown/rebuild cycle to tweaking amongst players expected to play.

Derrick Green is slimming down. Important thing #1 is Green dropping 13 pounds on his way to 225 or 220. Hopefully he regains the form that saw him atop the hype lists as a recruit.

Technically listed at tight end. Anyone on the move-Funchess-to-TE-to-cover-for-Butt train should note that Funchess is listed down five pounds from last year. Dude is a wide receiver.

Gardner more prepared to take a pounding. Up eight pounds going into a senior year is unusual for QBs.

Brandon Watson enters as Michigan's heaviest cornerback. If he adds any weight he'll be hanging out at safety, where some help would be appreciated.

The freshmen last year all put on 5-8 that will probably be 10-12 by fall, just in time for Peppers to provide a stiff challenge.

Might want to pump the breaks on Canteen a smidge. 170 is perhaps untenably light.

OL moves. Not a whole lot there other than Kugler, Miller, and Magnuson moving up into the 295 range where they're still a little light but probably workable; Fox dropping 28 was inevitable as he recovered from major knee surgery and necessary if he was going to see the field.

This should be good. Michigan has their guys mostly where they want 'em and is now just working on making them stronger.

Wonder what's up with Tuley-Tillman.

Work needs to be done on the DL. Beyer (still listed at linebacker) up six to 256 is a bit less problematic if Michigan plays more over fronts but still unappealingly likely to be thrown into the sideline as an SDE. The two redshirted DTs added a bit of weight but are still in the 270s. Godin and Strobel are going to need to pack it on.

Clark drops seven pounds, presumably to be quicker off the snap. All weight change is good.