You are the coach now. "Fix" M football

Largely keep doing what they're doing beyond drop a bag of money onto the doorstep of a couple 4.5*+ tackles.  

I'm finally getting paid! I'd do the best I can until I get fired. After a year or two I'd have more money than I ever thought possible. 

Buy 200 acres in the UP and live the rest of my life. 

Honest opinion:  Win a damn marquee game at all [expletive] costs.  Recruits and media notice that.  That's what Bo did his first year.  While it was a different era it made a huge difference.  JH's has had some tough breaks.  Certainly the first 5 mins of the ND game seemed like a perfect storm of errors, frustrating penalties and bad breaks.  We have 5 marquee games (yes I am including Northwestern bc they are likely to be ranked or undefeated).  5 chances to get some positive attention.  

1. Discover an NCAA loophole that allows us to bring back Taylor Lewan and Mason Cole.

2. Absent that, Hudson needs to play against some of the lesser competition so we can figure out if he can handle it. With the new redshirt rule Mayfield probably needs some run as well. I am NOT saying this will fix our problems or even be an upgrade in the near term, but we need to figure out NOW what the best option will be from mid October on. 

3. Stop running 5 wide, we are going to kill 3 quarterbacks the way we protect in that situation.

4. Bring back Mgoblog negging in a way that matters so that anyone blaming Shea for this mess can be sent to Bolivia.

1. Dismiss all members of the offensive staff
2. Go out and find an offensive coordinator that has had college football success and give them full control.  It would not be a deal breaker for me but with all the high schools running variations of the spread, it is probably time to go to it in some fashion full time.  However, the most important thing is to get a plan and stick with it
3. Advise Don Brown that some aspects of his play calling could be better.  IMO he's done an A- job but not having any spies on Wimbush (that I noticed) and having McCray cover Barkley last year was embarssing
4. The last is the most important but probably the most difficult: The arrogance of the program has to go away.  Michigan has tried for too long to to try and re-create a world in which it is 1985 still when they have the best players, the best coaches and the best scheme.  Both the Hoke hire and the Harbaugh hire have both been for this reason.  Now, Harbaugh actually has the skill to possibly make this happen, but with each gut-punching loss it is looking less likely.  Having Hoke ramble on about how "This is Michigan blah blah blah" and Harbaugh's "Who's got it better than us" make me cringe.  Michigan has to find some way to get a massive "chip" on their shoulder.  I know some of you won't like this, but I respect the fact MSU is pissed off 24/7.  Even when they've had far superior teams to Michigan, they still find a way to keep the underdog mentality.  
5. Lastly, recruiting and development. Sneak in a spy to Wisconsin and find out what their secret is, especially with the Oline.  I suspect it is the fact they have had consistent coaching for years, continue to run the same offense and are not forced to put anyone on the field before they are ready.  It is a bit surprising to see Michigan, throughout the Harbaugh tenure, have to put people on the field (Oline, QB) that have no business being out there, whether it is because they aren't talented enough or should be bulking up.  How you feel about this team if Mason Cole were the LT? That should have been the reality and not wishful thinking.  I understand transfers are going to continue to rise, and you're never going to recruit a team of choir boys, but the focus should be on finding kids in recruiting that are comfortable with buying into the system and being prepared to red-shirt.  Also, too many home run swings in recruiting without a backup plan.  The one thing I actually liked about Hoke was his recruiting philosophy:  If you commit to Michigan, visits to other colleges ends.  This is strict and not everyone will like it, but to me it is a good way to keep from getting left in the dark but late cycle de-commits, which really seems to have hurt Michigan recently.

Just my two cents.  

At the end of the day, I really wouldn't know what to do. I'm no coach, and I sure as hell won't claim to know more about the game than Harbaugh does. 

If it were up to me, though, I'd spend these next few weeks testing out some new faces at left tackle (Hudson, Mayfield, Filagia, etc). Possibly right tackle too. Jon Runyan Jr. has been in the program for several years. At this point, I think what you're seeing from him is what you're going to get. He's not some true freshman who just got over-matched and we can definitively say that better days are ahead. He's an upperclassmen. I'm sure he's a great guy and a hard worker, but I think he's reached whatever ceiling he has. Would love to see him make me look like an idiot and prove me wrong, though.

You've got two weeks against far lesser opponents, and then another week against what should be a pretty bad Nebraska defense. Throw Hudson out there and at least see what you have in him. If this is what Runyan performs like against ND, how do you expect it to get much better, if at all, against Wisconsin, MSU or OSU? All teams with defenses that are probably on par with ND, or arguably better. Nick Bosa vs. Jon Runyan Jr. terrifies me. 

Can I get a new fan base? Amen!

Dump most of the offensive coaching staff aside from Warriner and the Harbaugh Lad, and replace them with position coaches who are hungry to prove themselves and move up the ladder. If Harbaugh is gonna be the OC, he shouldn't have a bunch of voices in his ear pulling him in wild ass directions, he should have people who teach technique and recruit their butts off. If Harbaugh wants to delegate, find a real OC then.

The pits with this staff of 210989238 OCs who are all too shitty to get proper OC jobs at other places. 

Wishbone, triple option, cut blocks the whole nine yards! It helps the service academies cover their flaws, why not? Also puts Evans and Higdon on the field at the same time, sure you're going to have to pull one of the WRs but when you can't pass block they're rendered almost useless anyway. Also if you're a TE and can't block, hello extra lineman, I'm thinking Hayes. Get Shea working on that pitch!

I want to fix it for the long term, that might mean this year will suffer and here's what I mean.

Love adding Warriner, but his effect will take time, leave him in place.  Like that we added Patterson, but let's not add another transfer, let's let our young QBs develop.  Staff continuity is a huge problem IMO, let's try to keep this staff together for a few years.  We might need a big time OC, whatever we're doing right now isn't working, so replacing Pep is the only thing I might consider staff wise.

After we get a new OC, pick an offense and stick with it.  I am stunned people don't think our offense was trying to be too many things at once.  People said it was the same as before, well then where were the FBs?  Who are we on offense, figure that out and stick with it for multiple years, doesn't mean you don't continually tweak and add wrinkles, but let's get these players multiple years in the same system and see how they develop.  Stop with the quick fixes, this isn't easy.

I'm still bullish on this season, I think we lose a few more games, but are competitive in all of them.  Next year we better hope that some of our juniors don't all go pro, because assuming Gary leaves, if Bush, Hill, Long, and Hudson all leave too our defense will be in full rebuild and won't have much at all back.

Culturally, I think the players are getting tougher and tougher due to the negative media attention, thew media loves to hate Michigan.  These players have to be sick of it, hopefully they are using it to get better and prove the haters wrong.

Utilize all of your weapons.

Evans could have been the back Notre Dame could not stop. Two carries? Damn shame. Stellar tight ends; throw them the damn ball. Roll out and find your receivers.

Throw everything you have at them. No fear.

Accept that OLine is our weakness, not our strength. Adjust offensive scheme accordingly, spread things out and get the ball out of the QB hands quickly. Hide our deficiencies- not exacerbate them

It should be apparent at this point that we can't count on the offense to get things done, like scoring of the touchdowns through the air or blocking. I think our answer comes from Josh Ross. We must simply instruct the defense to sit down, play, and ball out for all four quarters.

What was the difference between the first half and second half for the defense?

“I just feel like we — first half — we was a little bit too jittery. I feel like second half, we was a little bit more poised, we was in the crowd, we know how the game was going. We just sat down and we played. We balled out.”

Moar tacklez

One of the things you have to do to address a problem, is to realize what the problem actually is and work on that.

Do not distract  yourself by working on things which are not the problem.

The numbers below are the "problem" with Michigan's offense, but no one seems to realize it.

This also means that no one is working on it.

A bonus if you recognize what these numbers represent. (Answer below)

98

91

89

102

103

59

100

74

58

These numbers are Michigan's net rushing yards during the 9 losses in this 9-9 steak.

Think back on any of these games and how they went and ask yourself this - if Michigan had even scraped out even 150 yards rushing in any of these games, do you think we still would have lost?

I would say the only game Michigan would have lost out of all these games with 150 net rushing yards would be PSU last year. All of the other 8 losses are likely wins with 150 net rushing yards.

That my friends is the problem

Spend all the time and energy I have on Hudson, Steuber, Mayfield, etc. and do everything I can to help them develop to at least a below average level before B1G play starts. By then, we can hopefully replace Runyan full-time and JBB if needed. I still think JBB offers enough in the running game that it might be worthwhile to keep him rather than playing a freshman, but Runyan doesn't give us much of anything. No offense can operate consistently when the quarterback gets annihilated every time he drops back to pass.

I've seen it said that even MAC teams with substantially worse talent than us don't get their QBs killed every play and that's absolutely true. At the same time, those MAC teams have usually have somebody on the roster who is suited to be a tackle. We do not. Our non-freshman tackles are JBB, Runyan, and Ulizio. There is literally nobody else due to a combination of poor recruiting, injuries, and player discipline (LTT). You can't coach JBB and Runyan to have lateral quickness. You can cut down mental mistakes, but they'll still lose on the edge against a speed rush.  

From a scheming standpoint, it seemed like we did what everyone used to clamor for in the Borges years when we had no line. We threw a lot of quick passes out of spread sets and we rolled the pocket frequently. We also routinely got to ND territory (and even outgained them!) before making some backbreaking mistake, which is a risk you take when you have to dink and dunk your way down the field and don't have time to set up long passes. There's only so much you can do immediately to cover for a poor line. It's one thing when you have a single bad tackle. It's another thing when you have two of them.

Based on the second half of last year, we should have a passable rushing offense. We should lean on that as much as possible and get the young guys practice as much as we can. 

It starts on the line. Especially the O line, we have done a piss poor job at recruiting. We could of had Wynn, Cabral and a few others if Michigan would of recruited them right and didnt slow play them until the BiG BiG so called fish chose another school. I know of at least 3-4 stud lineman we were in on and probably land if we didn’t play games at the beginning when Jim just got here, Drev killed us 

Step 1 - Bench Runyan and JBB, insert Mayfield at LT and Hudson at RT for the next two games.  I realize games against SMU and Western won't tell us a TON but we'll at least get an idea if either of them are functionalish, and with the new redshirt rules it won't cost us a year with Mayfield.

Step 2 - If they seem great, or at least like Big 10 caliber players, awesome, run them out there against Nebraska.  If not (or if the step up in competition proves that they are not, in fact, Big 10 caliber), move JBB to LG, and move Bredersen to LT.   I think you have to leave Hudson at RT even if he under-performs, we only have so many bodies to throw at the problem.  I'd also be fine with replaying Mayfield with Steuber and keeping JBB on the bench, but I don't know how healthy Steuber is at this point.  This lets us keep redshirts on freshman, maximizes taking advantage of JBB's run blocking while hiding his pass blocking a little, and keeps Hudson on the field.  

Step 3 - That addresses the O Line as much as possible, which is the #1 problem.  Next step would be building in a lot more slants, roll outs, and screens to factor in the fact that even an improved line won't be good.  We won a national title off naked bootleg rollout passes to the TE, and saw it be effective against ND. More of that.  More pass catching out of the backfield.  Let's avoid the "hang out in the pocket and pray" approach, acknowledge that we're not set up optimally to be a dropback team with this line, and find ways to move the ball without.

Step 4 - That covers the offense.  The defense, largely keep being rampant.  Only change would be inserting Solomon over Marshall on a permanent basis (since Solomon has lots of upside, and Marshall is a JAG at this point), and rotating Mone and Dwumfour based on matchups.  I don't think Mone playing a lot against ND was a statement so much as an acknowledgment of "they run a lot, let's have our run dude in instead of our pass rush dude."  

Step 5 - For the love of god, if we're having a LB type person cover a TE or RB in coverage, have it be Hudson.  

Step 6 - Maybe practice a 2 minute drill?  Because that was a hot mess at the end of the game. 

In the immediate future:

I think you have to think about this season in terms of competing for the B1G. I know that may sound ridiculous after Saturday, but honestly we may be the second best team in the east after seeing MSU and PSU barely pull it out against bad opponents. Early season grain of salt and everything but you can't honestly tell me our performance was worse than ours. Get lucky and we could find ourselves in the B1G championship game.

That said, Bredeson to left tackle, Spannellis to left guard or right if you want to maximize the power of the left side of the line. He may not be a good pass blocker, but he cannot possibly be worse than Runyan. Now you have left to right Bredeson, Spanellis, Ruiz, Onwenu, JBB. Still weak at the tackles in terms of pass blocking, but with a little luck that could be a really strong run blocking offensive line that is really no worse or a little bit better in terms of pass blocking. 

Go as run heavy as reasonably possible. Passing game mostly based around play action deep balls which is really what this offense should be best at with Shea, the outside receivers, and the tight ends. Basically make it look like last year but with a QB and even better run blocking offensive line. Mix in the spread slide play action type plays and bubble screens from Saturday that actually worked well and do mitigate the tackles's pass blocking. Above all else, lean on the defense. 

Going forward:

Obviously we have to assume that the staff is working hard to address the recruiting needs of DT, OT, and WR. If this class is another dud, or it fails to address those urgent problem areas, I think that's when you start really questioning Harbaugh.

Get Hudson and Steuber as much garbage time this year as possible and get Mayfield his four game redshirt if you think he's ready to see the field. Then you're basically going into camp chosing two from Bredeson, Steuber, Mayfield, and Hudson, with Bredeson obviously sliding back inside if two of the younger players step up. You still have to develop depth with whoever comes in as freshmen, but at least that way you can maximize your "bullets in the chamber" as Brian likes to say.

Hudson and Steuber will be redshirt sophomores which is about when you might expect they'll be ready, and if Mayfield is the stud he's apparently trending towards maybe you get lucky with him too. 

That's the quickest way I see to a functional offense if we assume that Harbaugh is capable of building one. 

1. Over recruit offensive tackles for the next 4 years. Take twice as many as you think you need.

2. Goodbye Pep. Pay the buy out. Just get him out the door.

3a. Try to hire Fisch back. He is currently an NFL analyst and may listen to an OC position here. 

3b. If the above fails hire an up and coming college offensive mind. Do not replace Pep with another stale NFL wash out.

3c. McElwain can be interim pass game coordinator until 3a or 3b happen.

4. Try to bring back Wheatley as RB coach. Mike Hart is plan B. Jay Harbaugh can take an analyst role.

5. Install modern day version of west coast offense. Our pass blocking only allows us time for short quick nickel and dime passes so let's take advantage of that rather than hope our offensive tackles magically improve greatly overnight. Notre Dame outside corners played 8 yards+ off the LOS the whole game. That is a free 5 yard minimal hitch all night long. Chris Evans needs to catch tons of passes in the flats. Motion him around, he can be a weapon. He needs more snaps.

I believe our best run blocking plays last year were power sets with a pulling guard and misdirection counters. Where was that vs Notre Dame? We need to know what we are good at and become great at it, and actually call it in games. No more installing NFL'esque spread with zone read/RPO's if we aren't good at it. I'm worried this may be the 2nd straight wasted offseason offensively.

Use play calling to mitigate OL weaknesses, not expose them. Shea's short to medium accuracy, even on the run is elite. Roll him away from pressure. Minimize deep straight drops. Call more RB screens, TE screens, WR screens, more more more. Use lots of misdirection in the run and pass. We are TERRIBLE at pick and rub routes. This should be a staple play. Our pass scheme does not seem to utilize or execute these well.

6. Burn less redshirts. Take advantage of the new 4 game and still redshirt rule but do not waste potentially valuable 5th year seniors with minimal freshmen usage, especially OL!

7. Mix some zone defense, focus on DL controlling rush lanes, and a QB spy against dual threat QBs in 3rd and long and red zone situations. 

8. All our WR and TE need to practice jump balls, high pointing balls, attacking the ball, aggressively fighting thru the defenders, even if occasional offensive pass interference is called. DBs need to practice similarly minus the fighting thru the receiver for the ball. Hawkins cannot lose a jump ball to a player 4-5 inches shorter than him. 

9. We need a multiple snap count or cadence. Even in loud environments. ND's defense timed our snap easily all game long, once again exposing our OL weaknesses rather than mitigating them. 

1.) O-line, O-line, O-line

2.) Defense needs to do a bit more practice against assignment football when they're dealing with a dual threat QB.  Especially on 3rd down.  ASSIGNMENT FOOTBALL.

You get those two things fixed, and the rest takes care of itself.

Kind of hard to ignore recruiting when UM doesn't have any OT's currently on the roster to do the job needed. 

But i digress. For one, more pass play's on first down. Secondly whats the answer to a aggressive pass rush? The good ole' screen pass where the rush is coming from. If most of the pressure is coming from the middle run a screen pass to the middle. The worst of the pressure sounds like it was coming from the LT spot so set up a screen to left. With a mobile QB like Patterson the option play is an answer as well. The middle screen with a shuttle pass is a good answer as well. As much as Runyon struggled attack the left side head on with a running play with a lead blocker or just punt on first down, hope for turnovers. Kidding if course.

As far back as high school whenever we played a team with a superior game changing player we ran right at him. It worked more than it didn't. 

UM just needs better players or figure out how to develop lower rated players like msu and wisconsin. Really unbelievable how um has struggled since BO. Moeller had it going in the right direction until his unfortunate and untimely demise. For most programs it's really all about the coordinators and position coaches as HC's are more and more like CEO's spending more time @ speaking engagements and recruiting and filling out title IX forms. 

Hold an open try out for the Left Tackle position.  Hope that some unknown foreign exchange student knows how to stand in front of people.