Jim Harbaugh developed lesser recruited backs at Stanford, Michigan football has two 5 stars in the stable.
One of the staples of an efficient Jim Harbaugh offense has always been the running back position. In his time at Stanford he coached the likes of Toby Gerhart (a 3 star Recruit, who was not recruited by Jim Harbaugh’s staff), Stephan Taylor, and Tyler Gafney, both of whom were Harbaugh recruits. Below are Harbaugh’s year by year running back commits while at stanford, provided by (www.rivals.com).
2007:
Player | Position | From | Height | Weight | 40 Time | Rivals *s | Rating | Commit Date | videos |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jeremy Stewart | RB | Baton Rouge, LA Catholic | 5’10” | 193 | 4.7 | 3 stars | 5.5 | 1/28/07 | |
Owen Marecic | RB | Portland, ORJesuit | 6’1″ | 220 | 2 stars | 1/17/07 | |||
Chike Amajoyi | RB | San Bernardino, CAAquinas | 6’0″ | 215 | 4.6 | 2 stars | 5.4 | 1/25/07 | 1 video |
2008:
Delano Howell | RB | Newhall, CAHart | 6’0″ | 180 | 4.5 | 3 stars | 5.7 | 7/19/0720 |
2009:
RB
|
San Diego, CACathedral Catholic
|
6’1″
|
215
|
4.4
|
4 stars
|
5.8
|
1/26/09
|
RB
|
Mansfield, TXMansfield
|
5’11”
|
205
|
4.5
|
4 stars
|
5.8
|
8/5/08
|
2010:
RB
|
Tustin, CATustin
|
6’0″
|
210
|
4.5
|
4 stars
|
5.8
|
6/7/09
|
The three most productive running backs from Stanford under Harbaugh in order are:
Toby Gerhart (3 Star) 2009 consensus All-American:
Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Scrimmage | Scrimmage | Scrimmage | Scrimmage | ||||||
Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD |
2006 | Stanford | Pac-10 | FR | RB | 12 | 106 | 375 | 3.5 | 0 | 15 | 124 | 8.3 | 0 | 121 | 499 | 4.1 | 0 |
2007 | Stanford | Pac-10 | SO | RB | 1 | 12 | 140 | 11.7 | 1 | 12 | 140 | 11.7 | 1 | ||||
2008 | Stanford | Pac-10 | JR | RB | 12 | 210 | 1136 | 5.4 | 15 | 13 | 114 | 8.8 | 0 | 223 | 1250 | 5.6 | 15 |
*2009 | Stanford | Pac-10 | SR | RB | 13 | 343 | 1871 | 5.5 | 28 | 11 | 157 | 14.3 | 0 | 354 | 2028 | 5.7 | 28 |
Career | Stanford | 671 | 3522 | 5.2 | 44 | 39 | 395 | 10.1 | 0 | 710 | 3917 | 5.5 | 44 | ||||
Stephan Taylor (4 star):
Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Scrimmage | Scrimmage | Scrimmage | Scrimmage | ||||||
Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD |
*2009 | Stanford | Pac-10 | FR | RB | 13 | 56 | 303 | 5.4 | 2 | 3 | 43 | 14.3 | 0 | 59 | 346 | 5.9 | 2 |
*2010 | Stanford | Pac-10 | SO | RB | 13 | 223 | 1137 | 5.1 | 15 | 28 | 266 | 9.5 | 1 | 251 | 1403 | 5.6 | 16 |
*2011 | Stanford | Pac-12 | JR | RB | 13 | 242 | 1330 | 5.5 | 10 | 25 | 182 | 7.3 | 2 | 267 | 1512 | 5.7 | 12 |
*2012 | Stanford | Pac-12 | SR | RB | 14 | 322 | 1530 | 4.8 | 13 | 41 | 287 | 7 | 2 | 363 | 1817 | 5 | 15 |
Career | Stanford | 843 | 4300 | 5.1 | 40 | 97 | 778 | 8 | 5 | 940 | 5078 | 5.4 | 45 |
Tyler Gafney (4 star):
Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Scrimmage | Scrimmage | Scrimmage | Scrimmage | ||||||
Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD |
*2009 | Stanford | Pac-10 | FR | RB | 12 | 22 | 87 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 19.5 | 0 | 24 | 126 | 5.3 | 1 |
*2010 | Stanford | Pac-10 | SO | RB | 10 | 60 | 255 | 4.3 | 4 | 3 | 60 | 20 | 2 | 63 | 315 | 5 | 6 |
*2011 | Stanford | Pac-12 | JR | RB | 13 | 74 | 449 | 6.1 | 7 | 12 | 79 | 6.6 | 1 | 86 | 528 | 6.1 | 8 |
*2013 | Stanford | Pac-12 | SR | RB | 14 | 330 | 1709 | 5.2 | 21 | 15 | 86 | 5.7 | 1 | 345 | 1795 | 5.2 | 22 |
Career | Stanford | 486 | 2500 | 5.1 | 33 | 32 | 264 | 8.3 | 4 | 518 | 2764 | 5.3 | 37 |
All three of these backs were, or eventually became the featured back in Jim Harbaugh’s offense at Stanford. The most highly touted of three listed backs above was Stephan Taylor. Stephan Taylor possessed great vision and was good at both the power and zone running scheme. There is no doubt that Taylor benefited from having Andrew Luck as his quarterback while at Stanford, but this is one of the many parts of the Harbaugh Offense that will be relied upon heavily at Michigan.
Toby Gerhart who was not recruited by Jim Harbaugh, was only 3 star recruit but he was the leader of the Stanford offense in 2008, 2009. In 2009 Gerhart was a workhouse. He compiled over 1800 yards on the ground. This was big for the growth of the Stanford offense and the tough identity it would have under Jim Harbaugh and that same identity has continued under current Stanford coach David Shaw. Gerhart can also be credited for helping take pressure off of a young Andrew Luck who was still coming into his own in 2009.
This is the type of back Michigan needs in Harbaugh’s first year, a tough nosed guy, who can get the tough yards when needed and who can carry the load 25,30 times per game. This will be important for Michigan in 2015 while Harbaugh grooms a quarterback.
Harbaugh was at a severe disadvantage recruiting and as you can see his best recruit was a 4 star at the running back position. According to rivals Harbaugh did not get a single 5 star commit at Stanford. Andrew Luck was a 4 star, and even Owen Marecic was only a 2 star kid. The big disadvantage were academics at Stanford. If a kid did commit to Stanford, he had to wait to be admitted academically and there were instances a recruit, or commit did not get accepted. Jim will not have this problem at Michigan. Yes, Michigan is a highly regarded academic institution, but not quite on the level of Stanford.
Stephan Taylor Highlights: Sorry I can never get the embed to work.
I have what I believe to be the four deep at the running back position for Michigan. We can argue the order all day, but I will start off with who I believe will line up first in 2015 for Michigan, based off of my own expectations.
1. Ty Issac, former 5 star recruit and number one ranked running back in the nation according to many recruiting sites out of high school. Click his name for more details.
2. Derek Green, Was also a 5 star guy out of high school. Rated the top back by many recruiting sites. Click his name for more.
3. Deveon Smith, a 4 star kid out of Ohio. He is a bruiser who seems to lack great vision but would never avoid contact. Click his name.
4. Drake Johnson, a 3 star kid who played in the shadows of the Big House, at Ann Arbor pioneer High School. If it were not for his ACL tear against the Buckeyes this past season I would have him at 1, or 2 on the depth chart. If he can fully recover, he has the ability to overtake all the other guys listed above him. He possesses great speed and vision. Johnson can run powerfully between the tackles and will not avoid contact. Click his name as well for more details.
The tape I chose to analyze was that of Ty Issac who played limited snaps his freshman season at USC before transferring to Michigan.
Ty issac every touch video while at USC. Click here for awesome.
The Thing that stands out to me when I watched the above video, is that Ty Issac never tries to avoid contact. He is always lowering the boom on defenders, and this is important when you are running a power, or a zone rushing attack. He also has a knack for bouncing the play outside. My only concern is his pad level. As a running back you always want to get low when running. I foresee Issac being the lead back to start 2015, while splitting carries with Derrick Green.
Michigan has depth, and before derrick green was hurt last year he was starting to come on stronger. As long as the offensive line continues to improve, Michigan will have success running the ball in 2015 and this will be important for Jim Harbaugh while he is breaking in a new signal caller.
Other links to my position by position series:
December 30th, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 2:22 PM ^
That Stewart guy must be good at 10 inches tall and 195 lbs
December 30th, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^
That Stewart guy must be good at 10 inches tall and 195 lbs
December 30th, 2014 at 2:41 PM ^
Low center of gravity. Tough to bring down.
December 30th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
Great pad level.
December 30th, 2014 at 7:25 PM ^
Well now he is 6'10" tall and will just hurdle anyone in his path.
/SamMcGuffied
December 30th, 2014 at 7:29 PM ^
Kid hit a growth spurt.
December 30th, 2014 at 3:53 PM ^
I can't imagine that we aren't going to see a jump in our running game in 2015. Our passing game? Now that is a worry.
January 6th, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^
... but a good running game opens up the passing game some. If our running is good and if our defense is good, if we cut back on TO's, our passing should be good enough for us to win.
I know... if, if, if.
December 30th, 2014 at 4:06 PM ^
I compleely agree and think our running backs will deliver big time runs if the o-line is at all effective.
December 30th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
I'm expecting the run game to be pretty decent in 2015. We saw Johnson step up at the end of the season and even run the ball well against OSU's "great" front seven. I think Green and Smith are similar and didn't really provide a great 1-2 punch because they are both plodders. Johnson gave the run game a little more quickness and burst and that was a good compliment to Green/Smith. The O line looked better with a little more speed in the backfield. This is why I think it's possible the Isaac wins the #1 spot this year. Green and Smith should come back one year stronger and faster (hopefully) and provide a good change up. They will have plenty of bodies to throw at defenses. I was happy for Johnson this season but I'm not sure how good he can bounce back from yet another knee injury.
January 1st, 2015 at 5:41 PM ^
Isaac looks like a stud. Easily looks like the most talented back on the roster. Why did he leave USC?
December 30th, 2014 at 7:56 PM ^
Cool post, but I don't know if you understand hashtags. :)
December 31st, 2014 at 12:40 AM ^
There's plenty of talent at RB position, and plenty on the OL. I'm just hoping he can develop a QB. He didn't exactly have much of a challenge with Luck at Stanford. He didn't do that much with Kaepernick at SF. And, UM hasn't developed a QB since Henne (and that's not an exagerration). I know Morris struggeled against Minnesota and in last year's bowl game. But, when he game in for that one snap (I think it was against Penn St.), he looked like a different QB when he threw that rocket out route to whichever receiver it was. The problem with our running attack the last couple years is that middle linebackers could almost always cheat against the run. The passing game was unable to exploit the middle of the field due to either Gardner's poor vision or poor decision making. So, even when the OL was winning their battles, there was often an extra man, or two that they couldn't beat. If anything, hopefully, there will be an improvement in how Green hits the hole. It seems that he too often was slow in identifying where the hole was.
December 31st, 2014 at 6:57 PM ^
Well he developed Luck, Alex Smith, and Kaepernick into the players they are. Josh Johnson as well. How can you say "he hasn't done much?" Luck was not Manning Jr. the moment he walked on campus.
December 31st, 2014 at 11:28 PM ^
I'm not trying to denigrate Harbaugh. I'm excited to have him back, and expect great things. I just find it odd, for an ex-QB that QB development has been the one things missing from his resume. I'll give you Josh Smith, but it's a stretch at the FCS level. The fact is that Luck was a highly recruited QB, and started from his redshirt freshman year, and only played 2 years under Harbaugh. It wasn't exactly a project. You can't count Kapernick, he's regressed almost game to game over the last year and a half. I'm not blaming that on Harbaugh, it's just the way it is. And, Alex Smith was improving the 2 years prior to Harbaugh. Granted, he cut down on his interceptions once Harbaugh arrived. You can possibly attribute that to Harbaugh, or maturity as a player. Beause, he's pretty much kept up his pace with KC. The bottom line is that I'd love for Harbaugh to hire a dedicated QB coach, something UM's been missing since 2007. The majority of successful programs either have a dedicated QB coach, or they have some form of dual offensive coordinators. Only a handful have a single person handle OC and QB coach duties. I especially don't want to see this role from an OC with an offensive line background. Maybe Harbaugh can fill that void, being an ex-QB, but something tells me his tempermant and his in-game enthusiasm preclude him from being the confdant that I think most college QBs require.
January 1st, 2015 at 12:29 PM ^
Andrew Luck was not a generational talent coming out of high school. I doubt he would be the player he is without Harbaugh. Probably still a starter in the NFL, but the kid went from fourth best QB in his high school class to the best QB prospect in a quarter century. How can you say that just happened?
And Josh Johnson was a non-scholarship athlete who became an NFL quarterback. So Harbaugh just got extremely lucky, twice, in the span of five years? Not buying it.
January 6th, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
... any guy who could coach up Alex Smith well enough to win is pretty good at developing QB's. Makes some sense to me.
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