Spring Football Bits Goes Spread
There is good news. There is bad news. But more importantly there is FOOTBALL news. I know, I know, we're kind of having a basketball thing right now. Remember how it felt before the bad things? Revenge Tour, Wisconsin's sad touchdown, that bomb to DPJ down the sideline? All that is coming. Including more bombs.
Format notes: If you're new to this spring feature, a few things: I alternate offense/defense so these don't get too long. I'll include a few things from paywalled articles but only enough to whet your appetite; if you want the insider information from insiders who get inside, subscribe to the insiders' websites. The "what we want to hear" takes are my thoughts but readers are welcome to put their questions in the comments and I'll try to address them as information comes up.
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Welcome Oh Scoring Savant and Savior
Spread me out, Speed me up, and Gat Don't let me down. [WolverinesWire edit of this photo by Randy Litzinger/AP ]
Gattis is gonna save us, or he won't because transitioning to an up-tempo modern spread offense was a rocky thing even before defenses caught up to it, and the rest of the staff except Warinner is coming from behind on this. But it's the right thing to try given the talent on hand and the narrative lately.
What we want to hear: The change is real. Also sensical.
What we're hearing: The tempo is real.
How much of a departure will this be from what you’ve run the last four years?
”I think the biggest difference that people will see will be the tempo. The tempo that’s more up-tempo. Less huddle. That’d be number one.”
What we're also hearing that's mana to the ears:
….phenomenal job of coming in, looking at our personnel, looking at what we do well, what we did well in both the run game, the pass game, the protections, and making it cohesive with his system.
What it means:
COOOOOOOHEEEEEEEESSSSSIONNNN!!!!!!!!!
Also tempo. Note the question: Harbaugh brought up tempo unprompted twice in this interview. Either he wanted to make sure we got that, or it's been an emphasis early and therefore on his mind. The latter feels right in this case.
And let's cheer; I believe tempo (but not super-speed) is ABSOLUTELY the right way to go. One of my observations about Ohio State under Urban Meyer was they *want* to squeeze more snaps into each game. More trials takes out the randomness, giving the better talent more opportunity to shine while exhausting the tricks. Ohio State and Michigan have been in as many close games as each other since 2015, but Ohio State has often managed to sneak out ahead because they have more talent than everybody, and can control the speed of the game, bringing outliers back under their dominant bell distribution. From a program standpoint, more snaps equals more opportunities to get your depth on the field, keeping all those PT-starved five-stars satisfied with their contributions, and giving risers a chance to show what they've got under live fire.
Not to mention it's just more effective football. You want to lock the defense on the field, especially when they've got a guy they don't want out there, and exploit those matchups, making easy reads because they have to stay in their hurry-up defensive calls and can't sit down with their coaches to suss out what you're doing. Tempo isn't a trick anymore, but it has become an essential tool in the offensive kit, and it's well past time that school that invented it (see: Yost, nickname: "Hurry-Up"), should bring it back.
Anyway it's happening. It's a big install—these things come with a cost—but anyone who's seen Michigan try to operate a two-minute drill since the Hoke years knows how badly it's needed.
What we're also hearing: Gattis is a real offensive coordinator, in charge of the playcalls.
What it means: We've been part of this too but I think we need to slow-play this one. Every program's play calls are some sort of consultative process. Harbaugh is going to be part of that too. But the call will go to Gattis, not Harbaugh. And for a guy who's been making those calls going all the way back to when he was a junior quarterback at Michigan, that's going to be a tough wheel to let go. Whether he truly does so is probably a question for fall. Whether he intends to seems to be answered: he does.
[After THE JUMP: plenty to discuss regarding the quarterback, and guy lined up behind beside him.]
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Quarterback
Pacing, can't let off the gas [Barron]
What we want to hear: Shea loves the new offense, is owning it. The next wave is chomping at the proverbial bit.
What we're hearing: Mostly stuff about backups. Harbaugh confirms the depth chart is Shea-McCaff-Milton. My one insider confirmed that Harbaugh's comments about Shea not being able to "put his feet up" were not just competition bluster: McCaffery is coming for the top job with everything he's got, and the staff still sees Joe Milton as a superstar down the road. For his part Milton is doing his able best to make that sooner rather than later, putting in hours of film study and playbook prep with Gattis. There are some other signs that he's (understandably) impatient with a backup role, but he's also a year and a spring behind McCaffrey, and wasn't the most polished guy to begin with.
Brandon Peters isn't mentioned in the depth chart; he comes up with early enrollee Cade McNamara and very tall person Michael Sessa.
What it means: Patterson is QB1 because he's better than the other guys, and I think it's going to remain that way until they're all in the NFL. Michigan's backup QB situation should be more solid than any time since…uh…Griese-Brady-Dreisbach? After this year it's ON. Now firmly out of the running I expect Peters will graduate before fall and grad transfer with two years of eligibility remaining, with Purdue (close to home, good program, high academics) the most likely destination.
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Running Back
Turner and Tru for now. [Marc-Grégor Campredon]
What we want to hear: Chris Evans is…
Oh right he's off the team for now.
What we want to hear: Charbonnet then?
Zach Charbonnet is out for spring practice with a knee injury. Nico Collins, Lavert Hill, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Mike Dwumfour weren't out there Sunday, return date unclear right now.https://t.co/Qp0yzARXWC
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) March 18, 2019
What we want to hear in that case:
Tru…
BESIDES THE WALK-ON!:
“Christian Turner has surged from bowl practices to bowl game and then since then, he is A++ in terms of how he’s going about his business, so he’s really becoming a rising player. No question about it. Tru Wilson is also better, quicker. He’s faster. He’s really been dedicated toward that in this offseason winter conditioning program. Coach Herbert and staff have dedicated a big portion of his training this offseason to, you know, get that next gear. Excited about the way that’s going.
From there Harbaugh talked about moving over another walk-on, Lucas Andrighetto, from safety to RB, that Hassan Haskins was coming back to RB but is "working through a little something right now that's (going to) need a scope when spring ball is over," and that they're trying Ben VanSumeren on defense and RB, while starting fullback Ben Mason gets to explore some RB and three tech (I'll cover him in the next section).
Re: Evans, I've been told it's in the hands of the school, specifically people who don't give a rat's ass how well Chris would fit the Gattis offense.
What it means: They couldn't resist a Tru mention there, which: fine. We know what Tru can do and as a worst case scenario for feature back Michigan can and has done a lot worse. But it does emphasize that Michigan is pretty thin at RB right now. Broken out individually:
Christian Turner and Tru Wilson are probably your backs to start the season. They liked Turner last year and he seems to be on the Higdon path to starter-not-a-superstar status. Wilson is going to be part of the rotation regardless.
Zach Charbonnet's lost spring will be better for him long-term, but short-term he's going to need time to pick up the offense and work his way up the rotation. For RBs that historically takes about seven weeks of practice, whether they come in March-August or August-Sept. I expect he'll be #2 in carries when the season's tallied up, with about 500 yards and 5 TDs (no YOU'RE just throwing out A-Train's numbers from 1997).
Since Hassan Haskins was on defense at the end of last year and got mentioned after a walk-on who was also on defense last year, and since he's injured, I think they're mentioning him to mention him.
Chris Evans is still just a maybe to return. My read is this is a case of opposing extremes: extremely good man who did an extremely dumb kid thing. If he wasn't that guy, no chance he'd be back. If it wasn't that serious, no chance he'd be as "off the team, end of discussion" as he is right now. I'm not worried about Evans completing whatever academic work he needs to do to get back on track to graduate, and I have no doubt that the football program would have him if the school allows it. The question then is "When?" and the answer could be after fall semester.
Ben VanSumeren being here is 50% because only two of the above are fully available right now, and 50% because they're slowly phasing out the…
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Fullback
Imagine all the positions [Barron]
What we want to hear: Ben Mason is Owen Merecic.
What we're hearing: Okay sure:
Does he rival [Owen] Marecic?
“Yes, yes, yep. Yes, he does. You hate to compare the two, but they’re both pretty perfect, so love and—excited about him. Just really fired up to work with Ben. He’s got a bounce in his step every day that he comes out to practice, and a gleam in his eye and chomping at the bit to be out on the field more. ‘Here you go.’ We got all kind of ways to get Ben Mason on the field now.”
But also: What fullback?
Feel like the fullback will be used in short yardage and goal-line situations predominantly, so we want to get Ben Mason on the field as much as possible and he’ll be playing defensive line along with playing fullback along with playing tailback. Be a lot on his plate; we’ll see how he can handle it. I think he’s going to handle it really well.
What it means: WHOA!!! To anyone who's been following Jim Harbaugh football going back to, oh, D-III San Diego, you know he's one of the last great fullback aficionados, which makes this statement both the strangest thing to ever come out of a Harbaugh presser, and also the surest indication that the Gattis makeover is comprehensive.
Between that quote and BVS practicing at running back and linebacker they at least appear to be serious about moving on from two-back football. Which would be a shame, to be honest—Northwestern's two-back spread is badly coordinated these days but the thought is sound.
That said "Michigan is done with fullbacks" is a step too far. H-backs are common enough in modern offenses, and part of what they're talking about sounds like Mason is taking his turns there. But Michigan is probably done, for now, with I-backs, and that's a pretty big change.
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Tight Ends
What we want to hear: Something about the redshirt freshmen, especially one of them as a devastating blocker.
What we're hearing: Harbaugh couldn't help himself with regard to their newest acquisition. This came in the context of giving an example of how much he likes the early enrollees:
Erick All is—well, probably shouldn’t talk too much about freshmans [sic], but the guy is competing right now until he drops and he’s really athletic and catching the ball as good as anybody out there.”
What it means: We've got enough data on McKeon and Eubanks that spring bits aren't going to tell us much. I'm starting the "Tell me something about Mustapha and Schoonmaker without me having to ask" clock now. If we go a week I'll upgrade to Level 1: mild impatience.
In the meantime, let's keep on eye on the All kid, but not get too excited until he appears in the same sentence as the word "blocking."
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Wide Receiver
What we want to hear: Na-nah, Na-nah!
What we're hearing: Somebody bombed the receiver room:
Both Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones were sidelined on Sunday; Collins after having an undisclosed offseason procedure. Harbaugh did not specify the nature of the surgery for Collins, nor the seriousness of the injury to Peoples-Jones.
What it means: That's a bummer. The Gattis Renaissance at Penn State etc. involved a lot of long throws to long dudes downfield, and the two most productive field stretchers aren't going to be on display at either free practice. More importantly, they're missing the install of an offense that we want to take advantage of their strengths.
The upside however is Oliver Martin, Tarik Black, and Ronnie Bell (and Nick Eubanks) need the practice more.
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Offensive Tackle
Mayfield to RT means Runyan > Stueber, a prospect we're far more okay with now. [Barron]
What we want to hear: Oh, you know, something like "he reminds us a lot of Grant Newsome at this stage." But would "another Lewan" be too hard? What about a "Jake Long" or a "Jon Jansen" reference? "Jumbo Elliott?" I mean we're not asking much: a little "Trezelle Jenkins" here, a "Michael Schofield" there, maybe a sentence that begins with "Greg Skrepenak" or one that ends with "…since Bubba Paris and Ed Muransky." Or, you know, go old school with a "Dan Dierdorf" or a "Mike Kenn" mention, or that they've unearthed a long lost Wistert, or a Tom Dohring, or a James Forrest if you're into point-a-minute deep cuts.
What we're hearing: Jon Runyan Jr. (who saw that coming?) is in better shape than last year and it has improved his game—"quick feet, improved body shape & strength" is how my guy put it. More importantly Jaylen Mayfield is up to 311 and putting up combine numbers commensurate with NFL prospects. He's also moved to right tackle.
“Right now looking at Jalen Mayfield and Andrew Stueber at right tackle. There’ll be more competition coming in when players show up in July. We have some tackles, some freshmen tackles that’ll be coming in. Not a lot of tackles left currently in the building right now. That’s why it’s so important that the young players are coming in, and we did well recruiting offensive linemen this past recruiting cycle—six. So, yeah, I think the way it’s shaping up right now, Stueber and Mayfield will be battling for that right tackle position [and] we’ll see how it progresses.”
What it means: BOOOOOOOOOOOO! Moving Mayfield is kind of good news because it means they think he can start this year. It's also not great news for redshirt freshman Ryan Hayes if Harbaugh's response to "how about them tackles" in Year Five is "We recruited some." But it is what it is. Hayes was 252 pounds and listed as a tight end at this time last year. James Hudson transferred for James Hudson reasons. Runyan was NOT BAD last year; if he's senior Adam Stenavich we'll take it. If one of Stueber/Mayfield/Hayes is a program savior we'll learn about it in a few weeks. If one them is a young Tony Pape and the other is Demeterius Solomon, that's fine. Unfortunately those are reasonable hopes, not predictions.
I know we've all got PTSD, but I think Michigan's going to be fine, not because I trust the right side right now, but because the one thing the Gattis offense does is get the ball out quickly. Also: Warinner.
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Interior OL
What we want to hear: Mashing? Big leap in understanding? Next generation peeking through? I dunno, something other than leadership quotes.
What we're hearing: Senior Ben.
Ben Bredeson, phenomenal leader right out of the chute, and others are stepping into those roles.
What it means: The interior is pretty set so I'm just hoping to get through this spring without injuries. We'll also take any mention of a Filiaga, Paea or Honigford that falls through the cracks since the next wave will be needed next year.
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Next time: Linebacker competition, good news/bad news with DL guys, mum on secondary.
LOVE these features... Thank You Seth!
More importantly Jaylen Mayfield is up to 311 and putting up combine numbers commiserate with NFL prospects. He's also moved to right tackle.
Believe the word you're looking for here is "commensurate" although commiserate is plenty amusing (and telling!) in its own right
Hopefully we will be commiserating the guy Jalen is blocking against.
And yet I got "whet" right.
I have a feeling that Jalen Mayfield is going to be a very good football player. Tremendous size and athleticism with a competitive/mean streak. My best friend coached him in high school.
March 21st, 2019 at 10:25 AM ^
Yep, I think they'll be talking about him as a breakout guy by end of spring ball.
What Seth REALLY wants to hear: We're firing Harbaugh and bringing back Rodriguez.
I am 100% certain that even if Seth suffered from incredibly high hopes when RR first came along like I did he does not want to bring him back now.
I still feel shame about the faith I put in Mike Barwis during that time. Whereas Mike Gittleson just had the kids eat pizza and do squats and bench press, Barwis was a REAL s&c guy with the most technologically advanced blah blah blah. Those were dark times kids.
"I hate myself for lovin’ you and the weakness that it showed. You were just a painted face on a trip down Suicide Road. The stage was set, the lights went out all around the old hotel. I hate myself for lovin’ you and I’m glad the curtain fell."
Oh man, one of my favorite songs on my favorite Dylan album.
I think the first 4 years of JH's tenure have been successful but damn I cant help wonder what a more modern approach to the offense would've led to in 2016 and 2018.
I still wonder where would be without corrupt officials in the 16 OSU game.
Yeah the offense only really puttered during The Iowa game. I take it back
It also struggled against OSU. Our defense was very good, but there were key turnovers, and the team simply could not get the crucial first downs in the fourth quarter that would have won the game.
The OL and QB were positions that were limited; it's quite possible that Michigan doesn't do any better with another scheme. But if you gave me a chance to hit rewind and find out, I'd take it.
Yeah I’m with you on the rewind. I think the offense didn’t look great against OSU too but the OSU defense was damn good that year too so i wasn’t expecting fireworks considering Wilton was coming off an injury as well.
If that piece of $#!& wasn't wearing a helmet, the ref would have kissed him. That crew was the ultimate home cooking.???
Are they engaged yet or was it a love him and leave him type scenario?
"More trials takes out the randomness, giving the better talent more opportunity to shine while exhausting the tricks."
My god. I've been thinking this for YEARS. Michigan usually has more talent than the other team, so if this is finally happening...
This is all I expected to hear, so it's refreshing to not be surprised.
I worry very little about offensive linemen that are young; you'd love to see guys hit the ground running, but with the new redshirt rules guys have time to develop. And Hayes was definitely going to need to grow into the position, so him probably being another year off isn't crazy.
I think we (as a fanbase and include me) denigrate what Higdon did last year; he was essential to Michigan having a pretty good running attack and, in a more open offense, probably would have been even more effective. Is he a top-5 all-timer at the spot? Definitely not. But his role is going to be hard to fill, and I wouldn't be surprised if the offense looks more pass-heavy in part because they can't rely on getting 5-6 yards a carry consistently. That said, Wilson feels like a real steal and a contributor. And Turner showed he had good size and speed when he saw the field.
More than anything, I'm just happy that it sounds like Michigan has an offensive philosophy. I will always be worried about a reversion to the lizard brain schemes the minute they run into a tough defense, but it really does seem like Harbaugh trusts Gattis to install his system.
Beautiful.
"Re: Evans, I've been told it's in the hands of the school, specifically people who don't give a rat's ass how well Chris would fit the Gattis offense."
Im guessing the exact opposite would happen in lansing and columbus
It would be impossible to find out as all employees at both schools consider it part of their job description to make players available for their teams no matter how much red tape they have to cut.
My own take on this (from this and everything else I have read):
QB - we are have damn strong QBs. A senior former 5* playing in a system that should fit his skillset, backed up by 2 guys who are pushing him. Huge strength at the most important position on the field.
WR - ask again later - we know we have huge talent, but there are some injury concerns. We are probably fine assuming that none of those injuries are serious.
RB - not great. Tru and Turner will probably be fine, but I don't expect either to be a plus player (basically, they will get what an average RB would get). That's not a criticism. Depth is a major issue.
TE - similar to RB, but without the depth issues. I don't expect this to be a strong spot, but with so many bodies, perhaps one or two emerge.
OL - I expect this to be a strength of the team. Returning 4 starters, and sounds like Mayfield is ready to make a huge impact. This should be a strength, especially in year 2 under Warinner.
FB - As others have said, the position will be largely de-emphasized. I still think that we use the FB somewhat, and that Ben Mason gets a handful of touches a game (see our RB issues, above) as a Moose back. I am all for speed in space, but I do love me some FB play, so this is a bit sad to me (and likely only me).
I'm in favor of opening things up, but I worry that people think it will be some sort of silver bullet that will instantly improve everything, when Michigan has some problems that simple scheme won't fix. The talk of tempo and "speed in space" (things I favor) sounds, at times, like the way NFL markets would talk about the West Coast offense in the 90s and 00s when a WC coach would get hired to coach the team. People would act like it was going to magically cure whatever ailed the team prior to the coach getting there and then... the personnel that weren't good enough the year before weren't good enough the year after either.
Michigan's got some talent, though the inconsistent recruiting means some of those spots are thin. Michigan's post-Butt TE play has been disappointing, and Seth's rundown that guesses Charbonnet will get the second-most carries would mean that we're playing offense with a walk-on and a project who has had precisely one really good run as our reliable options.
Even if we don't get hit with injuries or transfers, our WR depth starts thinning out in a serious way after this season, too. And Harbaugh basically says that there's nobody at tackle after Steuber until the freshmen get on campus.
So, uh, this year could be exciting. Or it could be horrifying. I'm not saying that things are going to be bad--there's a chance that the team could catch fire!--but there are still a lot of questions on offense, and defense has holes all over the field.
The best news appears to be at QB, if we can keep all these guys on the roster. If we can produce a really good QB, we can build a winner around him.
There's no silver bullet, but there's optimism because the old shit didn't work. The offensive personnel was never the issue outside of the Notre Dame game, the clock management, clusterfuck of an offense, and insistence on 3 yards and a cloud of dust against good teams is what really caused the offense to falter.
And that's one way to look at the running back spot, but when you feel like you have a generational running back, you give him the ball. It's the position that needs the least seasoning and the least understanding of the playbook on offense or defense, so having a freshman eat up a lot of carries isnt a red flag on it's face. And we recruited 4 wide receivers this year, so we'll be fine there. We're not going to lose all of Black, DPJ, Martin, and Collins. I'd bet we lose 2 of them, with DPJ being the one that's definitely gone if things go well this year. A lot to be optimistic about this year.
If Charbonnet is a generational running back, he'll get 60% of the carries at minimum. If he's not even meriting the most carries on the roster, he's a piece but only a piece in his freshman year.
Losing 2 WRs isn't the end of the world, but there's not exactly a lot of depth behind them. And, uh, there have been transfer rumors for a couple of the guys that aren't instant pros. Not that the rumors are necessarily real, but it's possible to lose more than you're expecting. I wasn't expecting Solomon and Hudson to bolt, for example.
Agree on Charbonnet, presuming he is fairly quick at learning pass pro & blitz pick-ups.
The WRs I'm not as concerned about in terms of depth. A year ago when we just landed Ronnie Bell in the 2018 I certainly was. But now it's clear that one or two of the TEs between Eubanks/Mohammed/All will end up being viable pass catchers over the next 2 years. Plus, Ronnie Bell turned out to be surprisingly decent as a true freshman and we picked up a whole bunch of those little slot bugs in this latest 2019 recruiting class. So, even with a couple injury/transfer/early NFL departures from that awesome 2017 WR class (say, two out of the 4 of Black/Collins/DPJ/Martin), we should still have an additional few really good pass catcher options in for a total of 4-5 2019 and 2020.
I'm not sure how the OT news is specifically bad news. Ryan Hayes has been on campus for 9 months, and its really hard to put on the requisite weight needed to be a Big Ten Caliber tackle in that short of time. Runyan will be fine, and one of Steuber or Mayfield will be very good. There's at least a depth swing tackle at very worst, and if shit hits the fan, I assume that Bredeson could kick back out to tackle. It wouldn't be ideal, but it would be like duct tape until Warinner can figure it out.
Bredeson is not moving back out to tackle. There was a rumor that he was competing with Newsome for the LT spot his freshman year. Newsome went down that year, and Bredeson... played guard while the guy he replaced kicked out to tackle.
Bredeson has never played tackle in a game. In three years in which Michigan has been frightfully undermanned at tackle he has not been tried, even a little bit, at tackle. He has the body of a guard and the mind of a guard and he is considered a crucial anchor of the OL at guard. He will never, ever play tackle for Michigan.
We are now approaching the fourth season in which this trope will be brought out. It will never be accurate.
It isn't specifically bad news, but my hope is/was that Mayfield shows enough promise that he gets slated for LT this season. This would allow Runyan to shift over to RT, where his alleged limitations as an OT (lack of height/length) would theoretically be limited. Plus it'd let Mayfield camp out immediately next to the unquestioned leader & seasoned veteran of the group--Ben Bredesen--for the entire season of live fire before we likely cycle in a brand new LG in 2020.
Agreed. Yes, we need the starters to stay healthy, but we should have two good starters and a competent backup plan. I don't take it as bad news re: Hayes either. He was a project with huge upside. People think he's on track but on track doesn't necessarily mean starter in year 2.
OL and QB will be the strength of the offense, maybe the whole team.
I actually liked the way the offense would just squat on the ball for as long as possible when they had possession. I loved the 8-minute drives. Higher speed is beneficial if you're able to make plays; otherwise you can go three-and-out in a matter of seconds and hand the ball right back to the opposition.
They're not going to be running insanely fast, probably at an Alabama pace where it allows control of the clock and prevents substitution. You can run tempo and milk the clock.
Correct. Blazing-fast tempos are rarely used these days; they prevent teams from using variety in the playbook. Generally when you see a team that is running at warp speed, they are running the same play over and over again, with perhaps two or three other options. They simply cannot coordinate faster than that. Even super-fast teams like Ole Miss only use hyperspeed or whatever they call it a couple of times a game; the rest of the time they are merely quick.
The bigger deal will be in developing a pattern of quickly getting the team lined up and transmitting playcalls. This will allow the team to exploit matchup issues and speed up naturally in 2-minute situations, and it will help condition the defense to cope.
The nice thing about tempo is that it costs you nothing to slow down. Want to milk the clock late in the game? Fine. You can still do that. But you have more options available to exploit defenses if you can, on command, get to the line fast when there's a LB on the field that will be matched up with Oliver Martin or something.
The best tempo in my opinion is the hurry up and wait. Don't huddle, but don't snap the ball till the end of the play clock. Let's you lock the d on the field and also keep them out there for long drives, while giving the QB and coaches a few extra seconds to make pre snap reads. Play calls should be into the QB around the time the ball is spotted. If you play like this all year then 2 min offense in crunch time comes naturally.
The 8 minute drives are great when you can get away with them. The problem is twofold:
1) Sometimes you can't pull it off when you want to do it; and
2) Sometimes you're playing from behind with little time left and NEED to go up tempo simply to regain the lead.
Quicker tempo & a higher scoring offense is a tool in the toolkit that we simply haven't been able to use lately. In my view, learning to get good at it shouldn't preclude us from ever sitting down on our opponent and grinding out 8 minute drives. But it will ensure that WHEN we either can't do it or don't want to do it, we can go the other way too.
That seems to be a connection that hasn't been explored yet. One of the advantages of a clock eating, ball control offense is that it reduces the number of plays the defense has to defend and the time they spend on the field. With the personnel loses, this year's defense is not likely to be as strong as last year's. The new offense may put further stress on them.
So does tempo mean snapping the ball with 5 seconds on the clock instead of 2?
What the hell did Evans do? Only academic thing comes to mind that might fit this scenario is he got busted cheating. Dunno but it's weird.
"Welcome Oh Scoring Savant and Savior"
I love you Seth but can we not do this please? Not to be rude but I am so fucking sick of the insane moodswings of this fanbase and would prefer to start from the assumption that the offense will suck and show middling improvement, and be pleasantly surprised if we start lighting people up immediately.
It was hyperbole sir. We've been through a lot of saviors. This one is a good idea, but it's still a shot, not a guarantee. He's young and inexperienced, and he's installing concepts that most coaches know better than Michigan's head coach.
...it's well past time that school that invented [tempo] (see: Yost, nickname: "Hurry-Up"), should bring it back.
Have we now simply retconned the Rich Rod era from our history books, à la NBC and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien?
How did you get that from that? Yost came before Rich Rod, and I pointed that out because some in the fanbase still associate hurry-up football with the "unMichiganly" Rodriguez. Tempo is as Michigan as The Big House and The Victors.
I guess because you said that it's "high time" the school that invented tempo when Yost was coach brought it back, which kind of implies that it hasn't been brought back since Yost. But I see what you mean.
Really encouraging. It's life, so pretty much everything can go wrong. But it's hard to argue against a little more tempo, with so much talent and brainpower on the field. Even casual observers have noted that we haven't been using so much of our offensive talent. Win or lose, we should be more fun to watch.
Harbaugh is doing the one thing that intense personalities like him have to prove they can do: not be too smart to incorporate new talent and ideas.
Black pill.
Wisconsin
Iowa
Penn State
Notre Dame
Staee
Ohio State
Tempo defeats two of those. Luck another. Still three losses on the list, and surprises await from the others. We'll be hearing about Gat's "B1G learning curve" all season regrettably.
This is the dumbest thing I've read today. And I just spent an hour at Mlive.
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