greg frey
assistant coaches

Hello Again: Greg Frey Comment Count

Seth

frey-050509_300

[UM Bentley Library]

Via Sam Webb, one of Michigan’s most successful assistants is returning to Ann Arbor:

Frey is one of the few things about the Rodriguez era that everyone would be elated to have back. In his short time here he recruited and developed 3/5ths (Omameh, Schofield and Lewan) of Michigan offensive lineman currently in the NFL, as well as Ricky Barnum. When Rodriguez was let go Frey was instantly snatched up by Indiana, where he developed Jason Spriggs and Dan Feeney. He also ran a lot more power at Indiana than under Rodriguez, if you’re worried about zone versus gap-style. I was worried when Ohio State hired (lately Indiana HC) Kevin Wilson that Frey might come with him. Bringing Frey back to Michigan might not have just given us another all-star assistant; it also possibly just deprived Urban Meyer of one.

It does mean a few shifted jobs on the current staff. Drevno will apparently now be focusing on the interior OL, while Frey takes the tackles and tight ends. With the youngest OL group since we have data—and Michigan likely to start a true freshman at one or both tackle spots—putting some extra coaching resources there makes a lot of sense. Several readers pointed out today that move also sets them up to transition smoothly if Drevno ever takes a head coaching position. A solid recruiter, Frey may also help Michigan close on a few of their tackle prospects.

That appears to mean Jay Harbaugh shifts to running backs for now. That could be for good, or they could wait and see if that extra full-time assistant rule passes and bring in someone for RBs while finding other duties for Jay.

UPDATE: JayBaugh to RBs official:

Comments

blue90

January 25th, 2017 at 10:49 AM ^

I'm going to assume Jim and others are just going to coach them himself and Jay will just watch and be called the RB coach. Butt was already one of the best TEs before Jay got here and he didn't improve where he needed to (blocking). Jay had two years to teach him to block and didn't. Like I said a 27 year old probably doesn't really know what he's doing and will be watching his dad and others coach while he learns.



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Pit2047

January 25th, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^

I disagree that Butt didn't get better blocking the last two years. He was never great at it and he probably never will be but he definitely got better. Also you're ignoring the AJ Williams bump and it's not like we've been looking at the TE position as a major weak spot the last 2 years even without Butt.

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TheTruth41

January 25th, 2017 at 12:06 PM ^

My brother-in-law is a college coach and says it doesn't really matter what you played in college, a position coach is a coach.  I still disagree.  I think back to when Manning was our CB coach.  I can't help but think his lack of intricacies and knowledge at the CB position helped him be a good CB coach.  Dude could recruit and we already had a LB coach on staff so to make room for him he was a 'leftover' for his recruiting abilities.  This is what I didn't like about our previous staffs.  Love Manning, but didn't think he was in a position to help the team as much as a CB coach that played corner could have helped the current roster progress.

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Jonesy

January 25th, 2017 at 5:23 PM ^

Two years ago Jay came in as TE coach and everyone looked sideways at it and thought 'nepotism?' and then the TEs were great and everyone shut up.

 

Last year he moved to STs too and after losing the best ST coach in the country our STs improved.

 

This year he's moving to RB and people are still worried and complaining about him?  So far he's proven to be a great, versatile coach why would you think that would change?

Joined: 03/14/2012

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AZBlue

January 25th, 2017 at 11:26 AM ^

Drevno has some experience coach Ngo RBs to back up Jay. Even if you dispute his TE coaching acumen, you cannot deny that Special teams did well this year under Jay and Partridge plus -- as noted -- RB coach is more recruiting focused normally. We will miss Wheatley but this is not a huge issue IMO.

As noted elsewhere, I suspect that they may hire an experienced RB coach (I like the idea of the PSU guy over Hart and it offers the added bonus of taking an asset from Franklin.) and transition Jay to sole ST coach when the 10th assistant rule goes through.

Joined: 09/14/2008

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funkifyfl

January 25th, 2017 at 10:04 AM ^

Need him to be an OL whisperer like Dante Scarnecchia for the Patriots. The OL has talent, but needs to be molded and fast. Early test against Florida abd midseason games against MSU and PSU loom large. At least Wiscy is at the end of the season.

Joined: 01/21/2011

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lensch2

January 25th, 2017 at 10:05 AM ^

2+ years ago, folks were fretting that he'd never coached TEs before and wouldn't know what he was doing.  Now folks are complaining that he's never coached RBs before and won't know what he's doing.

For many though, the RB coach is first and foremost a recruiting position, usually staffed by the young and hungry coach.  Seems to fit Jay perfectly.  I get it that Ty was both a great recruiter (best on the team) and coach (D. Smith is gonna be drafted) but Jay isn't going to coach in a vacuum and if he needs help, one of the analysts or grad assistants will also focus on RB.  Just like a grad assistant did most of the WR coaching under Fisch.

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Seth

January 25th, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^

I mean sure, but from the running backs' perspective they had Ty Wheatley, who's probably one of the top 10 running back coaches in all of football, and now they're getting the coach's son who's never coached RBs before or played RB. That's a big downgrade however you cut it. They had to know Wheats would move on, but for a time there it seemed like they'd get Mike Hart--who's well established now as a good college RB coach--or Thomas Wilcher, who's run the preeminent football factory in the state for two decades.

This is the right move for Michigan, but not for the RBs specifically.

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74polSKA

January 25th, 2017 at 10:09 AM ^

I'm not much of an X and O guy. How much does it help us to have Wilson's former O-line coach when it comes to game planning against TOSU's offense this year?

Joined: 05/25/2011

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MinWhisky

January 25th, 2017 at 10:16 AM ^

...he's fixing an obvious problem.  The Oline has been below average, even with three, 5th year, 4-5 star linemen, and Drevno has been the Oline coach and OC for 2 years.  So, it's clear that a change needed to be made.  Frey looks like a great hire. I also see Frey & Drevno 'competing' as Oline coaches and this fits with Harbaugh's strategy of always trying to create competition.  I also see it as loyalty to Drevno.  Harbaugh didn't fire Drevno, but he did send a warning shot across his bow.

Joined: 10/17/2011

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dragonchild

January 25th, 2017 at 1:35 PM ^

The argument that our linemen were 4-star recruits needs to die already.  2nd, 3rd year, fine, especially when they're killing plays with regularity.  At this stage they were who they were.  Our linemen were recruited as 4-star, but misevaluations aren't uncommon, and Hoke's "highly regarded" recruits underperformed with terrible consistency.  As MGoBlog put it, Hoke could find a DT "under a rock" but his assessment of O-linemen was atrocious.

My overall (highly unprofessional) opinion is that they were highly regarded by recruits for intriguing physical reasons that "can't be taught" but -- excepting Cole and Newsome -- also considered "raw".  Hoke knew what sort of physical qualities in an O-lineman would drive a D-lineman bonkers, such as strength (Braden) or mobility (Cole).  What Hoke & Co. didn't have the expertise on is what qualities would prevent an O-lineman from panning out, mishandling of their development duly noted.  It's very difficult to accurately evaluate them consistently, but it's apparent to me that Hoke's staff did the exact opposite.  Cole didn't have the length to play tackle or the strength to play inside, Braden never played with consistently good form, Kalis never really figured out the position, Mags was fine but. . . well, he was fine.  And those are the guys from the Hoke era who actually saw the field last season.  Hoke's best O-linemen (Lewan, Schofield, Molk) were inherited from RichRod.

If you're an O-line coach, there's an expectation to mold raw HS athletes into refined players, but you need enough clay to work with.  Yes our OL coaching was bad for a long time but their limitations last year seemed to stem from issues that weren't ever going to get fixed.  For example, it's convenient to blame Drevno for Kalis' mental mistakes but it's not like Mags or Cole had the same problem.  They tried to make use of Cole's mobility but you can pull the center only so many times before they start diving into the vacated gap.

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MinWhisky

January 25th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^

I don't buy your argument that ALL of these Olinemen were WAY overrated.  The odds against that are pretty damn long. 

And I don't buy the argument that says they had so many bad habits after 3 years that they couldn't be fixed.  That's BS.  If the problems were unsolvable, Harbaugh should have recruited 6-7 Olinemen in 2015.  He didn't.  He waited until this year, after they graduated.

Furthermore, if those three OLinemen were not talented and/or 'uncoachable', please explain to me why/how they were selected to play in the Senior Bowl.

Drevno did not get the job done the past two years and both he and Harbaugh know it.  If he was doing even a 'good' or 'satisfactory' job, Harbaugh would not have brought in Frey.

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alum96

January 25th, 2017 at 10:32 AM ^

Really happy - he has been turning a few nobodies at Indiana into NFL guys.  Been asking about this for a few years and even when Harbaugh first came in I had him as someone we might go after.

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Seth

January 25th, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^

I don't think Michigan's recruiting Slaton anymoe. Herbert decommitted so there goes the teammate angle that was our best shot, and Slaton only started taking official visits last week, which when paired with rumors seems to suggest he wasn't academically qualified to do so until this past semester. A kid in SEC country on the edge of qualifying by NCAA standards, given the things SEC country does to get a guy qualified when they're in that situation, is 99% not going to qualify at Michigan.

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JBombs3224

January 25th, 2017 at 10:46 AM ^

This is a great hire!  I am in favor of two experienced coaches working with the OL even if it means JayBaugh moves to a position group where he has limited experience to date.  Jay will be fine.  He seems to be just as relentless and innovative with coaching as his dad but without the cache/previous experience.

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BoFlex

January 25th, 2017 at 10:54 AM ^

I'm honestly more excited that Frey was Wilson's co-OC at Indiana. It should give Harbaugh great insight into OSU's upcoming offense. Harbaugh is going all-out to prevent a 0-3 start.

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Mongo

January 25th, 2017 at 11:40 AM ^

it all starts at the point of attack. Get that OL to elite status and let the RBs do their thing. Can you imagine Evans running through massive holes at the LOS? I mean get that athlete in space and let him do his thing! You don't really need to "coach" that, it is a natural gift. Its the OL the needs the extra coaching to spring him for chunks of yards. Jay just needs to keep the RB room together and create a competition to see who wants it the most.

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Mongo

January 25th, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^

Frey is one heck of an OL coach. Load the box with the best recruits and coaches in the country ! Plus, great succession planning with Pep and Frey in place because Drevno will be a HC sometime over the next few years. Jay learns a new position and is a very good recruiter. Might see the NCAA grant the additional assistant coach position this year and add someone like Mike Hart later. But Jay is the "utility man" on the team and will go to where needed - solid young coach learning the ropes from the best. With this hire the future is gong to be even more awesome at the University of Michigan.

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