I've been stewing on this the past few weeks. Honestly, this year has sucked from just a pure humanity aspect. Listen I love Michigan football, but dealing with a global pandemic and Covid ravaging our communities puts things in perspective. We all need to show some humanity to these coaches and players. Coaches are terrified they could be putting their kids and wives at an elevated risk. These players haven't seen their families in months. They have been yo-yo'd back and forth with a season canceled and then having it re-instated. They've been tested and been quarantining better than anyone in their age group. This has been mentally taxing on all of them. So please, let's keep perspective here. Michigan demands excellence. We should absolutely be in the Big 10 race every year. Be competitive and win against OSU (especially at home). These are things I absolutely think we should demand. But Michigan is not anywhere near the level of Alabama, OSU, or Clemson and I don’t see them replicating that model anytime soon. That’s why it’s so disappointing that this team this year has been a mess. They’re young, injured, they’re missing they’re 4 out of their top 5 players, and they haven’t developed a QB. 

All that to say I think this is all very fixable. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but the program is not broke like it was under Hoke. And most people I've talked to agree. This section will be an assortment of thoughts from people in and outside the program that I've heard from. This is an amalgam of a ton of people that I've talked to packaged as one voice.

What’s our program’s Vision and Identity?

Michigan has lost its vision as a program and its identity needs to be re-established. I think our culture is actually quite strong. That sounds super scary, and most fans will be like OMG fire the staff. But here's the issue-- Michigan will never give an incoming coach the time it needs to fully re-establish to rebuild all these 3 things together. If you bring in Matt Campbell, he has to win at least 10 games next year and be competitive against OSU. No small task for a coach. If he comes in and goes 7-5 and loses to OSU he immediately loses the confidence of the fan base. Harbaugh is the only coach that had fans inspired and excited. The simple truth is that there's no other program savior out there. Hell, I'd argue that they’re only two coaches that could meet that standard right away-- Nick Saban and Urban Meyer-- and we ain't getting either. 

My biggest issue is that I can’t identify what our vision and identity as a program is this year. Michigan is landing top guys on their recruiting board, but they are all over the map profile wise. Defensively you are bringing in a bunch of tweeners. Guys who haven’t been playing their future position. I see a lot of DL that need to bulk up, but you have to take some guys that have that size already. There aren’t any 6’5 250 DE’s for example. Look at the guys Clemson have brought in on the DL the last few years (ignore the stars for this example) They are almost all the exact same profile. Have a vision and an identity in how you want to beat teams and the rest of this will follow. But you need a QB. Flat out, this is the biggest program difference-maker. Can not stress this enough. You need to bring in as many QB’s as you need to develop one guy. Who cares who transfers out as long as you have THE GUY. Michigan has not done that since Chad Henne. 

Vision, Culture, and Identity:

Here are some examples of what I mean by vision, identity, and culture. I'll use Alabama as an example:

Vision: A pro factory. Come here to win and then go pro. Players are cogs in the machine. There is no program in America that will have more depth than us. Players meet specific physical criteria on a position basis. Each group has a profile that they meet or Alabama doesn't recruit them. Bring the best talent from the South and then cherry-pick a few studs from the east coast. Notice scheme isn’t part of Bama’s vision. They build the best scheme around the guys they have. Vision isn’t the plays you call.

Identity: Tough, big, and physical. They win the game at the LOS. Practice more intense than a game. 

Culture: Constant competition. Every year a guy is coming in to take your spot. They don't care about your stars, you all arrive at the same point. 

What needs to be fixed:

Harbaugh is tough to work with, he’s quirky, he’s weird, and he definitely has his favorites. Guys that remind him of himself. Guys like Ben Mason. Players love to play for him when they are winning and they see a path to the pros. But he hasn’t forgotten how to coach. He’s a true program builder. He needs to approach this next year like he’s coming back in with a fresh start like when he came back in 6 years ago.

The problem is you need dogs in your program. And I don’t see a lot of them on this roster. Ben Mason, Haskins, Charbonett, Bell, Giles, and Aidan are the only guys that I have seen that have it. These are guys who have the talent and you want in a streetfight. The 2016 roster was full of them: Peppers, Bush, Winovich, Vert, JLew, Glasgow, Taco, Mo Hurst, Gideon, Butt, etc. These are guys who brought it in practice and in games. They had swagger. They were tough. They were physical. I don’t see a roster with these types of guys on the roster right now. It’s not just about stars in that case. You need stars, hunger, the desire to be great, nastiness, and when you line up against these dudes they are going to try and embarrass you. Guys who want to make it in the NFL, and want to put elite plays and that desire on tape to get there. Devin Bush is the gold standard of this. He wasn’t a five star in the rankings but was a 5-star program changer. A true baller. Find more guys like Bush.

Offensively we need a clear plan. What are they trying to do? Do you want zone lineman or pro lineman who move guys off the ball? Do you want to run the zone read with a mobile QB or are you trying to spread teams out and exploit space vertically with the passing game? Harbaugh doesn’t call the offense. He’s active in game-planning. Feels like he’s told the offense to control the clock. Tempo is what’s needed the most. What good is a no-huddle if you stand there for 25 seconds and look for a play call? The defense never has to adjust. This offense in its current form is not speed in space. They need to run the ball to set-up the pass and then kill them with deep shots. 

Defensively: Simplify, simplify, simplify. You can be multiple on defense, without being complicated. Michigan looks like they know they can’t run the system they want to, but are too stubborn to make the adjustments so they’re stuck in no man’s land. You have to build through the spine of the defense. There’s no QB of this defense. Who’s the guy who’s leading out there? Aggression doesn’t work if you can’t tackle or get to the QB. Covid has destroyed their ability to work on the fundamentals. 

How to fix this in ’21 and beyond:

Here’s MY opinion based on what I’ve heard. I believe Harbaugh knows he has to revamp his coaching staff. He’s had some good combos of coaches, but they always seem to leave. He needs to find the right combo again. Coaches that have cohesion together and aren’t just randomly thrown together. 

Completely revamp the support and recruiting staff. Michigan needs to be run like an NFL program. They lost Tom Gamble, and haven’t replaced him. Harbaugh loves Sean McGee and Dudek and they’re both good at their jobs, but you need to put together a complete staff. Have Dudek focus on just on-campus recruiting. Let McGee run that staff if you want, but bring in the top talent across the nation to help him out. Hire a DPP that has a pro scouting background. Build this out and have this be the crown jewel of the program. Take the pressure off of the assistant coaches and let them focus on just contacting kids and building relationships. Build out a Bama scouting and recruiting program and don’t ever let yourself get outworked. Have this be a pipeline to the pros for these positions. It’s okay if you cycle through these positions, because you’ve built out a vision and these folks are following it to a T. They're not taking state secrets with them. Every college graduate that wants to work in a front office someday should be coming to Michigan.

Final Thoughts

Michigan may not be 12-0 next year, but if we see a cohesive offensive strategy and bring some guys with an edge to the defense, I think this can be turned around. Sounds easy, right? I don’t have any inside info on what’s going to happen. Michigan keeps it’s circle small, like really small. I think there’s a lot of educated guessing going on. But if you have any questions, I’m happy to answer them below.