Spring Practice Bits
Mission accomplished. They spent fifteen frickin' minutes talking about practice (practice!) on Sportscenter.
Michigan's first spring practice is receiving live coverage on SportsCenter. pic.twitter.com/b7LU9uIRHg
— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) February 29, 2016
I mean, there are many missions. But this is one mission.
Also, Dick Vitale is there, I guess? He's putting it on periscope? This makes as much sense as anything else Harbaugh-related, which is complete sense and no sense all at once?
Also in brilliant moves that someone will try to ban. Player hours are limited. Coach hours are not. So why not maximize your ability to instruct by taking advantage of the latter:
Practice has two sessions... a maize & blue. Maize began at 8am and is done. One player said they're going to the beach a 1pm
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) February 29, 2016
That is twice the individual attention for each player. That might not be practical for every practice but when they're not in pads it's an obvious win, except I haven't heard of anyone else doing this so it's apparently not that obvious.
Roster items. Blake Bars and Damario Jones are off the roster and have left the program. Per Rivals, Bars is off to law school. Not sure what Jones's next stop is, but he announced he would grad transfer on Twitter. Pretty sure that the only player to leave the program without a degree this offseason is Brian Cole.
With those departures Michigan stands at 86 scholarships accounted for, plus walk-ons-you-really-expect-to-get-scholarships Kenny Allen and Ryan Glasgow. If Dytarious Johnson does end up enrolling they'd be at 87. I think that's pretty unlikely, as I can't remember a player who couldn't sign a letter of intent who managed to get to Michigan without a pit stop at a prep school. So Michigan needs to lose one more guy before fall.
There were a number of position switches and number changes:
- John O'Korn is wearing #8, so he doesn't conflict with Peppers.
- Chase Winovich is now listed as a defensive end(?!) because his career is designed to be that of an itinerant laborer. That may be a misprint or misunderstanding; Sam Webb tweeted that he was playing SAM. More on that in a bit.
- Freddy Canteen spent all his time at WR. This kind of bouncing back and forth without seeing the field is usually not a good sign for a player's future playing time. See: Ross Taylor-Douglas.
- Mason Cole took the first snaps as a center, with Newsome at LT.
- As Harbaugh mentioned earlier, Khalid Hill is playing FB and Zach Gentry is playing TE.
- Ty Wheatley Jr. is still a tight end. He is less enormous.
- Ahmir Mitchell is starting as a WR.
A coach roster item. Harbaugh confirmed the Brian Smith hire and said he'd coach safeties with Zordich remaining with cornerbacks. I was kind of hoping for that Viney dude but you have to let Don Brown make that call.
Cease ringing the Drake Harris injury klaxons. He missed practice today… with norovirus. He should be good to go for the next one. Webb says he's up to 185; was listed at 174 last year. (The roster as a whole has not been updated with new weights, thus the absence of a "phonebooks are here!" post.)
What is a linebacker, anyway? I'll be really interested to see how the defense configures itself during the spring game. Reports that Winovich is playing SAM don't mesh with the expectation that Taco Charlton will play WDE and Peppers will still be a nickel. Or, you know, something else:
Peppers worked a great deal w/ LBs today. If 1 practice is an indicator he'll play in the box even more this year. Time will tell of course
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) February 29, 2016
Those in possession of MGoCookies for remembering stuff will remember that a recent recruiting roundup pointed out that MI LB Antjuan Simmons was told he was being recruited as a SAM and then compared to, yes, Jabrill Peppers.
To me this implies that Michigan will be altering its defense to look more like the OSUs and MSUs and PSUs of the world. Those teams mostly run "quarters", which means they have two deep safeties. Varieties of this defense that roll the safeties close to the line of scrimmage often have a coverage-oriented linebacker called "star" who walks out over the slot. That's usually the strong side, thus he is a SAM linebacker… but not the kind of SAM linebacker Jake Ryan was. Same hybrid space player, different system around him?
O'Korn hype unabated. But first let's just marvel at this:
Ken Mastrole, a quarterback coach who has worked with Rudock and O’Korn, has described O’Korn as having “off-the-chart physical intangibles"
There is a reason the "intangibles" section of every preview is a picture of a cat.
Anyway, that's from an Angelique Chengelis article featuring O'Korn's parents:
“He’s been chomping at the bit, there’s no doubt,” his father, Gary O’Korn, said this week. “He had the right attitude coming in — ‘This isn’t taking a year off, this is a year to prepare.’ He’s done well and Michigan demands that. That’s not something you really have a choice, but mentally this was where you decide, ‘Am I going to go through the motions or put myself in position to get serious?’”
By all accounts it is the latter.
Important hair update. Reuben Jones is coming for De'Veon Smith's crown:
Hydration = pic.twitter.com/AG20TMKqjC
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) February 29, 2016
Etc.: Dan Murphy article comes with Nick Baumgardner picture that captures his soul.
well when there are no player classes to work around you have more hours in the day to work with and you can split the squad like this. Benefit of practicing on Spring Break. Now if they practice on Saturday's when school is in session I would be curious if they split the squad like they did yesterday.
Just FYI, Vitale lives in the Sarasota area so not surprising to see him there. Also, thanks for the roundup. Good stuff as always.
going to log in to say that. He used to live in Prestancia years ago...I believe he is in Lakewood Ranch now. I used to work security at Prestancia while in school and he was always very kind and respectful.
Ran into him at the Broken Egg, one of his favorite restaurants in Sarasota during a lunch break. He was very nice.
I played 5 years at Adrian College. In fall camp there would be seperate practices for JV and varsity. In Division III since there are no redshirts (with the exception of medical redshirts) NCAA allows for a JV schedule. The JV team is primarily made up of freshman/sophomores who are not on the travel squad or the 3 deep. In Fall camp the JV team starts out as mostly all freshman. This will allow the coaching staff to get a better look at the incoming guys. They get more reps, individual time, etc. Then the guys who are coming into camp on the two/three deep get more reps. As camp went on the practices would become more integrated.
Granted we usually had 175-200 guys on the team since there are no roster restrictions at the DIII level. So it was a slightly different situation. But I am not sure this was a standard practice at other small colleges.
Our coach at the time was Jim Lyall who played at Michigan under Bo. Curious to know if this was a practice that Bo used during spring practice/fall camp, and may be where Harbaugh got the idea.
When were you at Adrian? I was there from 82 - 84, played three seasons of varsity soccer, before transferring to M in January of 85.
Was there from fall 04-spring 09. Then coached the 2009 football season as well. I was there when Docking took over. It changed drastically over my 5 years, and has changed even more since. Loved that place.
In fact, I did. Link? Link. http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2016/03/observations_from_mic…
Hope that works. I am over 50 and barely tech savvy.
Edit: Eliminate "Barely", and insert "Not at all, looks like an epic fail", even though that really doesn't result in a coherent sentence. According to the article, Wheatley is listed at 292(!) pounds. Nick also gave a complete roster with updated weights for all players. I am shamed.
Edit Part Deux: This was already posted a few threads down. First time on the board today, didn't look. Just take all my points and send me to Bolivia. Or worse, Columbus.
+1 for the effort. Silver lining - at least you didn't start a thread with this link.
Physical intangibles?? It sounds oxymoronic to me. But, as long as they're off the charts - that's the important thing. BTW, is this chart a physical chart or an intangible one?
I was coming here to ask the same question. If they're physical, aren't they by definition tangible? This quote confuses me...
i'd love to see the chart that measures physical intangibles. that way we could graph the exact point at which o'korn's physical intangibles go off of it. my guess? 57!
I was also going to post the same question. Arent physical attributes tangible and mental attributes intangible?
Glad to see I wasnt the only one wrestling with this one.
Like resetting feet quickly, throwing a catchable ball, absorbing contact and keeping a play going, etc.
...are the BEST.
Brown has been a single-high base coverage throughout his career. A hybrid-SAM player has no relation to an Over front or a quarters coverage other than some teams use them in that way, just like Under teams and some 3-4 (3-3-5) teams do.
Brown has always been a 4-3 Under/One-gap 3-4 guy. It appears he's running something closer to an Under because of the personnel he has, but even then, I wouldn't be surprised to see Taco in a 2-point stance (though he'll nominally rush the passer 95% of the time). That's Brown's deal.
Peppers will play some SAM. He'll cover some TEs and the safety over the top of him will rotate to deep center field (the far safety will have SKY support in Cover 3 and will have man coverage in Cover 1 over the slot or on a back, and may help check a TE crossing the formation). I would be flat out shocked if Michigan came out running a 4-3 over quarters base, as what I described has been Brown's recent MO and the quarters thing has never been.
Some thoughts:
Peppers at LB
Peppers is clearly lining up at SAM (the responsibilities make this obvious). While this is closer to the formation than he has played in the past, for the most part he is not inside the tackle box (there will be a few exceptions to this). He is lining up 3x3 to 5x5 outside the offensive EMOL and acting as the force player. From that position he will blitz a lot, but he will also get a lot of coverage responsibilities in the flat (particularly to the boundary) and in man coverage against TEs and RBs. This, in my opinion, is good news. While there are still some concerns with his lack of length at the position, he is protected much more by playing on the edge and can use his athletic ability to move around blockers.
This is the Stevie Brown role.
And for another example, you'll remember with Jake Ryan, that he was a bit unconventional at that SAM spot, and often worked around blockers. One of his main areas he needed to improve when he went to MIKE was taking on blockers. The SAM spot also simplifies the reads for the LB, which allows them to play more athletically. So for Peppers, this is good news. He takes on fewer blockers, his reads are simplified so he can attack, he still has coverage responsibilities like you'd expect from a S/LB hybrid.
I do still have some concerns about his lack of lengh, both with matching up with TEs in coverage, and with offenses ability to get into his body on the edge and move him out or seal him inside. I'd predict they help cover him a bit with the SDE. To me, this sounds like their base nickel package. By that, I mean that Michigan won't have a true nickel, they'll still run their base 4-3, but their personnel will include Peppers playing one of the LB spots. Against a slot, Peppers will split out and play an apex position similar to what he did last year against spread teams. Against heavier teams, he'll probably move back to safety and they'll bring in a true LB, as the article seems to indicate. So it's not really formation changes (the formation adapts to whatever the offense does, and the defense has an answer for lining up regardless of any surprises with that personnel), it's only personnel changes between packages.
Practice set up
I really, really like this practice set up. Get the young guys in early and have them work on some very basic things that they really need to focus on. By doing it this way, you are giving them the coaches's full attention for those first two hours, and making sure their fundamentals are strong. This forms a strong foundation for the program as they work their way through. Then they get a few hours working together as a unit. Then you can focus on the more detailed aspects with the first/second units. Really, really like this set up.
Defense Ahead of Offense
Should always be expected at this point in spring. Defense is more about reactions (and the defense is mostly the same as last year) while offense relies more on timing. Still, with the QBs and receivers supposedly working out together in the off season, you'd like things to be a bit crisper. But practice speed is different then workout speed, so this isn't too worrisome right now.
OL Setup
No surprise, though a bit of a worry with Dawson not getting reps with the first team at all (worry for '17 and for depth). Michigan will rotate at least 6 and will have 6 OL personnel groupings, so they need to rep with 6. To me, they are viewing this as the optimal line, the highest upside OL going into Fall. It doesn't mean it is what will stick, but it's what they want to stick assuming improvement is made as necessary. Cole at Center I think is a much more natural fit for him. Mags struggled a bit in pass pro last year, but not terribly. While Newsome is a natural LT, I almost wouldn't mind seeing them flip, because Mags is not a natural big, beefy, run blocker that moves people. To me, you want to get dominance running to that right side of the formation, and Michigan could never do that last year (they were left hand dominant). While upside is better in this formation, and I'd predict it to stick, I'd almost prefer for Mags and Nesome to flip for that reason.
Wheatley
Sounds like he'll be used like Williams. He's a tendency breaker. He's a run tip for the defense that can slide behind protections and get open and catch the ball. He won't be a dynamic pass catcher, but keeps the Defense on their toes.
Hill at FB
I still really, really like the idea of Hill as a true FB. He's squatty, thick, and isn't afraid to stick his head into spots to help him gain leverage and be really physical at the point of attack. More than that, he's athletic enough to get to the spot he needs to get to before the LB, and he's a true threat as a pass catcher, allowing him to catch the ball in the flat and turn it up field, run some wheel routes, run some angle routes (for LBs cheating their coverage outside), and even motion out of the backfield several times to present clear match up issues. Assuming he can get comfortable taking hand offs, I think he fits really, really well at the FB spot with what Harbaugh wants to do in his WCO.
Thanks for the analysis!
I've read MGo for a number of years but finally felt the need to register so I could thank you for the schematic insight you bring to this board. Lots of great posters here and now I can upvote!
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Is how I sometimes feel about reading comments on this site, but it's worth the stinky effort to read excellent stuff like this.
how the squads were split. Underclassmen and upperclassmen or offense and defense.
They indicated that they split up 3rd and 4th team (essentially, the young guys) early in the day (8-noon) and the 1st and 2nd-ish teams later in the day (10-2)
iversonwetalkinboutpractice.gif anyone?
something bout that #4 jersey. maybe harbaugh requires fantastic hair to wear his #4 as a legacy jersey thing.
Great idea to split the two groups; no reason not to, and it gives you a chance to see players closer in the drills.
I'm starting to believe that O'Korn might be something special. Just too much positive press for a least a good part not to be organic and true.
My god does it feel so good to be genuinely excited about football.
Dick Vitale has a house in Lakewood Ranch, which is about 15 miles away from IMG, so it makes sense that he would stop by if he was in town for a bit.
edit: looks like I was late to the party.
Moving Peppers to LB is a waste of athleticism. Hopefully just in those "star" packages which you alluded. Linebackers need to be shock absorbers, not the gas tank. I know it's spring practices and you might as well try out new stuff. But I hope a reasonably wise voice can make its way to the men in charge before our star player loses a step by the conference play starts because of the wear and tear.
Playmaking LBs are a huge advantage and Dan Brown puts a premium on having speedy blitzers to make his defense successful.
You should expect Peppers to be a cross between Lawrence Taylor, Deon Sanders, Rod Woodson and Bo Jackson. Then you should update your sports references to be more recent.
...and I'm wrong. I gave no reference, just an opinion.
Moving Peppers to LB is a waste of athleticism. Hopefully just in those "star" packages which you alluded. Linebackers need to be shock absorbers, not the gas tank. I know it's spring practices and you might as well try out new stuff. But I hope a reasonably wise voice can make its way to the men in charge before our star player loses a step by the conference play starts because of the wear and tear.
not sure but i think the coaches know what they are doing. and are you the "wise voice"?
...Peppers' position will vary situationally. Third and short... Linebacker. Third and long... safety/nickel.
It is interesting to say the least. I just hate thinking that linemen and fullbacks will have a responsibility to block him and he'll have the responsibility to take the blocks head on
My guess, is that his role will be very similar to what he was asked to do this year: cover slots, and play the edge .... with a little more TE coverage and blitzing responsibilities (release the Deathbacker!). Doesn't sound like he's playing ILB, which would terrify me too
...behind the decision. If our d-line is dominant, that'll keep linemen off the LBs, leaving Peppers and his instinct free to roam close to the line. But reading keys at LB means sometimes plugging a hole. Peppers needs space, and things get congested near the LOS, thus wasting the space. I do, however, believe there is a good theory behind this against the spread. Other than against the spread, I do not see the benefit. Anyways, fun to debate with intelligent people. The others can lick my chode
again.
Without Biff though George and Lorraine wouldn't have fallen in love. Or something like that.
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