Borges Conference Video Up
If you can watch this without yelling and screaming at the screen the entire time, you are a better man than I.
http://www.mgoblue.com/allaccess/?media=411577
What is amazing is that he talks about how you need to go away from the power game when it is not working. THEN WHY THE HECK DID YOU KEEP RUNNING IT IN OT!!!????
October 16th, 2013 at 9:48 PM ^
^^^By far, the best post of the day.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:56 PM ^
It couldn't possibly be because they're busy coming up with a gameplan and fixing the problems with the team.
October 16th, 2013 at 2:29 AM ^
Because talking with the media is so important.
Even when things are going great they never answer a single question in pressers and are at times stand-offish, so what makes you think they're going to be anything other than curt coming off a loss?
October 15th, 2013 at 11:02 PM ^
but firing the O-coordinator mid-season is like spilling a 5-gallon drum of blood in the shark tank just before going for a swim.
Mack Brown has dumped a couple of coordinators that the last couple of years and all it has gotten him is a stopwatch ticking down to his removal.
If Hoke is going to change assistants, you do it quietly behind the scenes when no one is looking. Maybe make a back door offer to Cam Cameron when the season ends. If he bites you make a change. Maybe he knows of a great Oline coach as well.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:06 PM ^
It's a slight upgrade.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:14 PM ^
October 15th, 2013 at 11:48 PM ^
Meijer, not Meijers
October 16th, 2013 at 12:36 AM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 1:58 AM ^
Kroger's. WalMart's.
October 16th, 2013 at 1:05 PM ^
October 15th, 2013 at 11:28 PM ^
I don't understand the love this guy is getting right now. If anyone watched the Ravens before he got fired, Cameron is all about running it directly into stacked boxes on first and second down. I would rather keep Borges.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:36 PM ^
That's with three ranked teams on the schedule. Also, before he was in Baltimore, he was at Indiana where they put up points and the Chargers, where they broke quite a few team offensive records. Baltimore might not have worked out last year, but he has a very solid resume.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:40 PM ^
Do yourself a solid and look at Al's resume.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:47 PM ^
We are averaging 39.5 pts/game. Granted our defense has scored some, but LSU's probably has as well.
The grass is always greener.
October 16th, 2013 at 1:04 AM ^
Wow, tha't an amazing stat. Especially considering we've played a schedule equally as hard as LSU's.
No, wait . . .
October 16th, 2013 at 6:55 AM ^
The point is it's easy to just look around and say "hey that guy has a Michigan connection and the team he is coaching is scoring more. Let's hire him."
Hell, our opponents are scoring 2 more points a game than LSU's (and their incredibly hard schedule as you point out). Maybe we should fire Mattison while we're at it and hire Chavis b/c it is so easy to just swap coaches as get the expected result.
October 16th, 2013 at 9:26 AM ^
I agree that hiring Cameron wouldn't solve anything, but your example is terrible because if I was absolutely forced to replace Mattison and could magically hire anyone, Chavis would probably be in the top 3 of my choices.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:09 PM ^
October 15th, 2013 at 11:11 PM ^
October 15th, 2013 at 11:14 PM ^
First of all commend Borges for even agreeing to be interviewed becuase if this was Ft. Schembechler of old this never happens...that being said.
Hearing this from Borges; "Just becasue the power game is not working you can't give up on it" is beyond frustrating.
If you face a 8 man box with a cover 1 safety and two corners playing 10-15 yards off the recievers and refuse to throw a bubble screen it is on you Al Borges. AL-You can run from the spread formation.
Funchess, Gallon, Dileo and Norfleet on the field togehter and face 6 in the box and try running from that-PLEASE!
AL-THROW THE DAMN BUBBLE SCREEN!
Lastly-whoever was asking the questions to AL-very soft and mediocre job.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:19 PM ^
October 15th, 2013 at 11:32 PM ^
Reminds me of Lloyd after the 2007 Rose Bowl loss, wherein he said something to the effect of, their game plan was optimal and they were not going to change it (even after getting stymied in the first half and blown out in the second). Really?
There is cowardice behind such stubbornness; change requires us to admit fallibility. Lloyd was effectively blaming the players with his inflexibile rhetoric -- and Borgess implies the same. "Change our tactics? Why would we ever do that! If we can't succeed, it's not the fault of our plan, that's for sure!" While not explicitly stating so, reason dictates if it's not the plan at fault, then it must be the agents executing the plan.
What is most frustrating about this rhetoric, IMO, is that the players take the heat for not being able to execute these pristine game plans, while not being put in a position to succeed due to said game plans. Though, I suppose this prepares those student athletes going pro in corporate America for what to expect...
October 15th, 2013 at 11:39 PM ^
That was one of the more conservative game plans I've ever seen. 3-3 at halftime and only USC remembered their passing game. To be fair, USC was getting pressure, causing us to keep our TE in to block most of the game.
October 16th, 2013 at 1:09 AM ^
That was one of our most frustrating losses ever. Both teams wanted to run in the 1st half, but neither could. It was 3-3 at halftime.
In the second half, USC adjusted and went to the air. Michigan still kept trying to run. Game over. USC in a blow out.
My biggest fear in the Hoke/Borges hire is that we would get DeBord 2.0. It would be the 2007 Rose Bowl on a continuous loop. But Hokes willingness to be aggressive and Borges' willingness to run the spread with Denard made me believe that that fear was unfounded.
But now I'm not so sure . . .
October 15th, 2013 at 11:23 PM ^
October 15th, 2013 at 11:31 PM ^
Amazing how everyone is a body language expert all of a sudden. You're all reading into his mannerisms way to much. He clearly has a bug bite. Plus he always looks uncomfortable. The man clearly is not the healthiest and gets short of breath easily. Go watch the Mattison interview. He's acting the exact same way. My guess is they were trying to squeeze these interviews in and were in a hurry because they had a lot of work to day with the team. Imagine that.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:27 PM ^
If Borges really doesn't understand why the running game isn't working then we're doomed. The solution to 9 guys in the box is not to put both tackles on one side and try to block them all, it's to get the ball outside of the box. How does he not see this? He's only been an OC for like 30 years
October 16th, 2013 at 12:14 AM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 12:46 AM ^
Plays that are bad to beat a 10 yard cushion: 10 yard curl
October 16th, 2013 at 1:06 AM ^
I still think Borges is somewhat accountable since some of those throws came in a tough 3rd and long situation that resulted from the "run Touissant in the middle" plays in the first two downs.
I understand the youth of the OL makes it harder for Borges, but I still want to see some level of game time adjustments, adapting to our team's and the opponent's strength/weakness....rather than repeating the same fruitless play over and over.
October 16th, 2013 at 1:12 AM ^
This^^^
Putting your QB in constant 3rd and 12 is not going to help his accuracy or turnover rate.
October 16th, 2013 at 10:49 AM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 3:24 AM ^
Yeah, you didn't come here to dog on a player. You came here to defend a shitty gameplan to the death.
October 16th, 2013 at 12:11 AM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 12:55 AM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 1:11 AM ^
That only scored that many points late when PSU was going for it on 4th down on their own side of the field?
Indiana has a better offense than Michigan does right now. Indiana has a top 3-4 offense in the B1G. What's your point again?
October 16th, 2013 at 9:37 AM ^
if indiana has a better offense than michigan, then fire everyone.
October 16th, 2013 at 1:34 AM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 1:16 AM ^
Indiana hit them for fucking 40+, AND held them to fewer points.
The gameplan was incredibly flawed, if you can't see that, there's no helping you. Penn State has one glaring weakness, their secondary, and they hung them out on an island all game so they could stuff 8 in the box, because Borges was giving them a free down!
October 16th, 2013 at 1:29 AM ^
People keep on making this comparison, as if suddenly the trasitive property works in sports.
Indiana, which has a better offense and is designed to be a passing spread is, guess what, a better passing team. Personnel matters. What you do as a scheme, system, etc matters. And Michigan can't just be Indiana for one week because Indiana just had success against PSU.
Indiana was up 19-17 after the 3rd quarter. Indiana, which scored 23 points in the 4th quarter, has one drive that started in the third quarter, and then had a 33 yard drive for a TD and a 9 yard drive for a TD, and a safety when PSU was desperate.
Indiana was at home where they could communicate much easier. Michigan played at night in Happy Valley.
Michigan's offense wasn't good, but everyone likes to bring up the Indiana game as if that's what Michigan should simply be able to do. Well Indiana is a good team with a really good offense, and the circumstances are completely different. The comparison is weak at best, and not nearly as strong enough to justify "INDIANA PUT UP 40+ POINTS AND BORGES DIDN'T! BURN THINGS!!!"
October 16th, 2013 at 3:46 AM ^
You offer a lot of great analysis, which I am not taking issue with, but there is at least one thing that is worth pointing out about Indiana. They have our old OL coach. In the wake of the past four games, a number of people have tried to excuse our OL performance because we (a) are too young/inexperienced, and/or (b) don't have enough talent. Indiana/Coach Frey had to start two true freshmen last year - one at LT and one at G. Both were three star recruits, and combined they had one non-Indiana Big Ten offer offer among them (to Illinois). Given what Indiana is accomplishing with young, inexperienced, and relatively lightly regarded recruits, this idea that Funk and Borges need 4 years of coaching up 4 and 5 star talents before we can expect competent line play is crazy, in my opinion. (Not saying you are arguing that, but a lot of Borges/Funk apologists appear to be.)
October 16th, 2013 at 9:59 AM ^
Don't get that wrong, this line was never supposed to be good (much like Indiana's isn't good, they get by). But, like Indiana, they should be able to get by. Now, Indiana has made things a little easier on their OL. They run zone and zone and zone. I
've strongly agreed with Magnus in the past, run man or zone blocking concepts. If Borges still wants zone stretch as a change of pace, fine, run it once or twice as a change of pace so the blocking doesn't need to be great to succeed. But trying to run everything out of a base means you do nothing well, making the experience issues even more apparent.
Now, schematically, are fine, seriously. The things Funk is teaching these guys is also fine, trust me, he didn't forget what proper OL technique is. And people claiming that this team isn't making progress at every position honestly has on blinders. The issue is they are not making improvement at the trajectory they should on the offensive line. They should be getting better faster and becoming more consistent. Now, youth, switching line ups, those thigns don't help, but it's still not been pretty. Some how, the way he is teaching is not getting through to the players. But I know how Hoke's coaching staff works, it's prided on instruction and technique, and Funk is part of that methodology. So he's stressing and trying to teach those things too, but obviously it's not getting there, which is an issue.
October 16th, 2013 at 3:20 AM ^
Just ahead of MN and everyone is much better than Purdue! It is sad to say that we may be somewhere in the middle! Even though we have talent something horrible is going wrong since we are slipping backwards. 10-2, 8-4, now probably 7-5 or 6-6 this season. But I still say Hoke should be given through 2015. If we are still 8-4, then it may be time for a change unless Dave is happy with 4 or 5 loss seasons. I guess I'm no longer confident that we will rise to elite level under Hoke and his coaches.
October 16th, 2013 at 3:27 AM ^
We could also just be the sort of team who plays to the level of our competition and win 9 or 10 regular season games.
We are 5-1 right now.
In 2011 with a similar team and schedule we were 6-1 at basically the same point in the season and asking ourselves a lot of the exact same questions about the team. We ended up finishing 11-2 with a BCS bowl win.
There are some concerns, sure, but there is no reason to act like the sky is falling.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:29 AM ^
Some of you are blind. If you know anything about offensive philosophy and execution of said philosophy then surely you must realize our schematics are archaic.
We have no sight adjustments at the LOS where we could easily hand signal a bubble screen or Rambo screen to take an extra person out of the box.
Our road communication is so poor. The offense uses the same snap count the entire game with relatively zero dummy or hard counts.
Defenses routinely adjust their formation to ours and we run the play they're ready for at better then a 60% clip.
Michigan is in the bottom 10 in plays for loss. That is so beyond terrible. People blame it on youth and inexperience but even youth and inexperience has strengths and this offensive staff refuses to put them into situations where their success is a greater likelihood then their failure.
I believe someone charted that our under center vs spread success has quite the disparity in favor of the spread. I believe that there is a transition going on and were finally feeling it from the offensive end. However you play to win the game and when it has become blatantly obvious that our power and stretch game is shot while Devin is averaging 8 yards a carry out of the gun you've got to adjust to what works!!
Al Borges continues to force his scheme on players not yet ready for the scheme. This past weekend was not an isolated incident. I expect a loss
from MSU, NU, NW, and ohio. Some of those won't be close.
If the win 9 or more games I'll gladly purchase you a jersey of choice.
October 16th, 2013 at 6:11 AM ^
Can you please list your resume as a coach?
I'd like to know what D1 programs you have coached for and how extensive your background is that you are able to make such flippant remarks.
I'd also like to know what psychic detective agency you work for because apparently you are able to see into the future as you know for certain that there is no way this team can win 9 games?
This staff has won 11 games before, you know that right? Apparently you think it's impossible for them to do, despite evidence to the contrary.
Please tell me about your understanding of "offensive philosophies" and "execution of said philosophies." I'd really like to hear your take.
How are players "not yet ready for the schemes" when they have been in the program under this coaching staff for 3 years?
If you are a coach, how comfortable would you be with people outside of your program, with no knowledge of what is going on with your players and coaches, judging you and giving you advice, particularly internet commenters?
Also, a cursory glance through you comment history reveals that you seem to spend an inordinate number of comments talking about getting hammered and/or getting high. How do you balance these things with being a successful football coach at the highest levels (assuming you are one)?
I also see that prior to the season you predicted we would go 12-2 and then later bumped it down to 9-4. Now you're saying it is impossible for us to win even 9 games. What does this say about your prognostication skills, and how can we trust anything you say anymore when you shamelessly pull a Skip Bayless like that?
You also predicted we would lose to UCONN 21-7. I'm beginning to sense a pattern here of terrible predictions on your part.
If you could answer any of my questions that would be great.
Thanks.
October 16th, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^
Michigan 33 UCONN 20, so he's got all his bases covered. But Indiana will either win 48-30, or by 47. Which actually aren't the same thing.
I mean disagreeing is fine, but people shouldn't be calling other people out on their knowledge; especially not with that track record.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:40 PM ^
Running power is not the problem. Running it into 10 man boxes is. I guarandamntee you that when our WRs start getting 10 yards a pop the defense will take men out of the box. Then the power will work. Shoot, even run power out of the gun. The 49ers seem to do it just fine.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:41 PM ^
October 15th, 2013 at 11:44 PM ^
they will change offensive line and try the same plays and see if they work. Borges had better broaden his playbook because he has got to be auditioning for his job next year. They cant run block, its obvious, what is he thinking? Every game this year could get uglier from here on out if they dont change. The entire coaching staff needs to get their heads out their asses after that debacle in State College.