Al Borges Tuesday Press Conference-Ohio State
http://www.mgoblue.com/allaccess/?media=422512 Here's Al Borges's awaited Tuesday press conference. Seemed to take more of the blame for the recent offensive struggles this week, than he ever as.
November 27th, 2013 at 1:50 AM ^
I've watched Devin all year long. That NOtre Dame game he showed off some of his best mechanics all year and especially displayed the balls to stay in the pocket with eyes downfield. Al should be more aware then anyone of our deficiencies, and thus should've stepped away from the passes in his system that take a LONG time to develop. I've witnessed some adaptations but Al had already ruined the kids confidence this year and you can tell because often Devin will take his eyes off his WR's to try and see where the rush is coming from. Every smart offensive coach I've ever studied that has pass protect issues usually simplifies things and puts his players in a better spot to win. I would've put Devin in some 4 and 5 wide sets. We have a good slot receiver and some other guys (Norfleet) who is a mis match. I know this; no matter how bad your line is if you can get the ball out in 3 seconds or less your opponent will have a tough time getting to the QB. Where is our short controlled passing game? Teams have been giving us NO respect and putting 8-9 in the box and sometimes manning up on our WR's. I've personally had to install systems before and while I'm sure mine aren't as complicated as Al's are all of my kids improved noticeably as the year progressed. That is not the case here for whatever reason. Fitz is a senior who still can't pass block. Blocking is a want to skill, you have to want to do it. Yet despite Al and the staff knowing he's not great at pass blocking they continued to pass protect in a way that was disorganized and left fitz on a LB or DE where he got shredded. Each year we have had Borges he has had a game or two (this year several) where he gets completely out coached in key game situations. I am very aware that a junior and senior led team would execute better and more consistent but it still doesn't fix stupid. Say what you want about Al Borges but the stats are frightening, when Al doesn't have an NFL caliber QB and an experienced line his teams have been very, very bad on offense. When he had Campbell and McNown (sp) to go with two Nast RB's he had a really great offense.
I'm not saying you're right or wrong in your assessments but you act like you're the all knowing when it comes to this stuff. If love to break down a game film with you as I guarantee I know just as much if not more about offense (especially the passing game).
If you honestly think Al Borges is the right guy for this offense then you don't know as much as I thought you did. It's not so much Al's offense that I don't like it's his pure stubbornness to do anything that works. The bubble against penn state was so open but Al didn't have a check to the bubble that week... I think you know what OSU did to them with the bubble... They did it so early and often it forced PSU to adjust and then it was over.
I know damn well were not running into a wall over and over but that is what it seems like. Youth is no excuse for regression this late in the season. There are so many coaches out there that get way more out of way less and have been doing so consistently.
I'm not on the fire Hoke train but if Borges doesn't go then this team won't EVER be national championship good unless Morris turns out to be the second coming of Steve young.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:49 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 10:28 AM ^
Far from it. If you've actually read my opinion I do place blame on him, it's just not mostly on the play calls, it's on game plans and his timing from when the stray and when to stay with them. I just actually believe that things are, you know, complex, like football tends to be. It's not all Borges, it's not black and white, there are a large amount of things that are going into this. So when I said above that DG was capable of being a QB in any system, and then listed other circumstances that have unfolded around him, to varying degrees those are very much contributing factors. If you watch football as much as you say you do then you'll have seen that in other QBs. It happened to Maxwell at MSU. It happened to Harrington for the Lions. It happens all over the place when you have a terrible OL.
DG played well against ND, but that was far from his best day mechanically. He almost always failed to transfer weight to his front foot when rushed. He slung the ball with pure arm strength numerous times, often with poor arm action. He consistently attempted to escape out the back and only out the back despite the pressure coming from the edges (because ND was more terrified he would break contain rather than taking advantage of the weak interior, something that teams later learned from MSU and then copied within the confines of their own scheme). So he played great despite poor mechanics, but starting from the 4th quarter of that game after his pick 6, he clearly lost confidence and needed to be built back up. He was built back up coming into the MSU game, where they proceeded to hit him a million times as Borges tried to take advatage of that defense the best way possible. But in the meantime, DG has improved his pocket mobility and he's improved his throwing mechanics. Is he a perfect QB? No, not even close, he has extreme flaws. But sometimes you can only change the mental aspect of a 21 year old so much as far as confidence and looking away from the pass rush. Borges is working within those limitations, and the limitation that QBs that come in raw to a college atmosphere tend to revert to raw mechanics when they lose confidence, not only in themselves but in their OL. Maybe Borges could do more, but complete sweeping those things under the rug does not make you more correct.
You may put DG in more 4 or 5 wide sets, but those sets require lots of hot reads. They become difficult to run when defenses do not respect getting beat over the top because they know their pressure can get home up the middle. It also becomes more difficult when your QB has trouble seeing underneath coverage as he focuses on the pass rush because his interior OL sucks. So you have WRs, like Funchess who just demonstrated during the Iowa game that they struggle at making those types of reads (probably because they are busy learning other things). And you advocate Norfleet in that position, a position he's played starting in fall camp, to be able to adequately pick up all the correct hot reads, when he's having trouble reading kick off coverage properly right now.
So yeah, that's fine, maybe those things would work. Maybe it would relieve some pressure, I'm not saying it wouldn't. But not realizing that there are actual, severe underlying issues with running an offense that this team hasn't been repping with young guys that are are trying to pick up the fundamentals against a defense that is in press coverage because they know protection can't hold up isn't necessarily the safer bet. Maybe it works better, or maybe it's actually worse. Maybe the guy that should know more about this than any of us, you know, knows more about this than any of us.
The fact that you are complaining about protection schemes that force a RB to pick up a DE or a LB makes me think that outside of running a RB in routes (that require players to make lots of hot reads), that you don't know how protection schemes work. Who else is the RB going to pick up in pass pro?
I've never said Borges is a sure bet. I've never said he's even a great OC. What I'd like to see is him have a chance to actually develop his system without severe limitations that are being presented to him. It's a very complex issue, as I've stated, and it isn't just an OC running his head into a wall.
And that's the thing, I'm not all knowing, I'm trying to provide a point of view that actually presents how complicated this situation is. It's not all Borges. In fact, it could go as far as being very little about Borges's ability to call plays.
I'm not going to try to lambast your knowledge of passing systems or say something along the lines of not knowing as much as I thought you did. I have no idea how much you know. But "unless Morris is Steve Young we won't win a MNC with this guy"... I wonder how Campbell feels about that. My personal belief is that he is not the main reason for the offensive issues, I stick by that. If he's gone I won't be grief-stricken, because I believe Hoke has a better view of the actual problems. If he's kept, I won't be grief-stricken because I believe there is evidence and other mitigating factors presented within this offense that haven't allowed Borges to do things he even normally would to mitigate weaknesses.
And it's funny, that after writing posts about how I come off knowing I'm right and anyone that disagrees is wrong, you write a post acting as if you know the solutions to the problems. I don't know the solutions to the problems, I only have a slight idea from the view point of games and the small amount of insider info I get from inside the practices that I'm lucky enough to be privy to, but my guess is the problems are much more complex than "Al Borges being so stupid even I can see things he can't", which is how you're coming off.
I'm done with this debate, I didn't want to get into this debate, but I appreciate having "another" guy following me around trying to call me out. I have a feeling we've been here before, but perhaps you were under a different name. And I'm sure I'll get lambasted for having a "100,000 word post" defending my view because I decided to actually defend my view with logic and thought rather than beating around the bush for 20 posts and never actually making a point, because that's a common complaint by your ilk (note: your ilk is not necessarily people that think Borges should be fired, no, I have much more respect for their POV; you're ilk is a subset of that group that pops up against the opposing view point whenever they get a chance to troll on).
November 27th, 2013 at 10:30 AM ^
"It also becomes more difficult when your QB has trouble seeing underneath coverage as he focuses on the pass rush because his interior OL sucks. So you have WRs, like Funchess who just demonstrated during the Iowa game that they struggle at making those types of reads (probably because they are busy learning other things). And you advocate Norfleet in that position, a position he's played starting in fall camp, to be able to adequately pick up all the correct hot reads, when he's having trouble reading kick off coverage properly right now."
Sounds like you're saying our offensive coaches can't do with highly ranked college players what high school coaches do with high school level players on a regular basis.
That is rather damning.
November 27th, 2013 at 10:35 AM ^
They aren't playing against high school players with high school coaches that have high school schemes run at high school speeds at a level of complexity that a high school team runs, etc, etc. If you're seriously trying to insinuate that this staff has produced a team that can't do what HS teams can do, I don't know where to go with this conversation. Against HS teams, this team could run the most complex scheme that Borges has ever even thought about throwing at them and they'd pull it off without a hitch. They would dominate complex pass pro and run blocking schemes, let alone their slide protections and simpler things.
So no, what I said isn't damning at all at that level, despite my feelings on some of the coaching that has taken place over the course of the year.
November 27th, 2013 at 11:27 AM ^
"They aren't playing against high school players with high school coaches that have high school schemes run at high school speeds at a level of complexity that a high school team runs"
No they're college players with college coaches that have college schemes run at college speeds at a level of complexity that a college team runs.
...but HS coaches all over seem to be able to install a high school level offense with high school level players... and our OC can't seem to install a college level offense with college level players.
November 26th, 2013 at 11:34 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 12:18 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 12:25 AM ^
But how many plays are we away from having a few more wins?
(FYI, his response was to someone saying exactly what you just said, so he was responding to someone saying we could easily be 4-7)
November 27th, 2013 at 1:41 AM ^
Football is a game where just a few plays can mean the difference between a win and a loss. Last year, ND probably should have been a 9-3 or 10-2 team. But instead they were playing in the national title game. This Michigan team is extremely inconsistent, and we currently sit at 7-4. Sure there are two games we could have lost in Akron and UCONN, but all our losses (except MSU) could have gone differently as well.
That's not to say that there aren't problems with this team. But so much of the teeth gnashing is due to only having 7 wins. If we had 8 or 9 or 10, things would be a lot nicer around here.
November 27th, 2013 at 1:51 AM ^
NW wasn't an easy game to win either.... just throwing it out there, we were 1 FG away from beating PSU (3 times!) but also 3 plays away of losing vs Uconn, Akron and NW (actually 1 second away and lucky didn't get flagged)
November 27th, 2013 at 12:13 PM ^
With the practice limitations it's hard enough to install one scheme let alone two. We get it, you think Malzahn is the second coming. But it's not going to happen at Michigan. If Hoke gets let go they're going after a Harbaugh-like guy. Especially since the players and recruits have all been chosen for pro-style.
Don't know how this wound up here. It was a reply to "Coach" Parker.
November 26th, 2013 at 10:18 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:36 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:42 PM ^
teams. Most systems lose under than scenario. You might as well say "pro style can't do shit" against quality opponents.
November 26th, 2013 at 11:57 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 12:24 AM ^
Actually, only 33 points (one defensive td vs Iowa). They came on 3 TD drives, two of which were set up by turnovers on short fields and 4 FGs.
Over that span Michigan had 30 drives on offense. They accrued 434 yards of offense or roughly 14 yards per drive. They punted 16 times, committed 4 turnovers, 4 field goals and 3 touchdowns. The half ended mercifully three times. They averaged 1.1 points per possession against the #4, 13, 43 and 65th ranked scoring defenses.
....
Now to correct this fallacy that the spread was worse versus tough opponents in 2010 than our historically bad 2013 offense:
Over those five 2010 losses Michigan only had 28 offensive first half possessions. They scored 4 touchdowns (all of which were drives of 60+ yards) and kicked two field goals. They also missed 3 field goals, turned the ball over 7 times, punted 10 times and ran out the half twice.
Over those 28 drives they gained 994 yards of offense or roughly 35.5 yards per drive. They scored 1.2 points per possession although if they had had a competant place kicker like Brendan Gibbons back then (/sarcasm) it would have been 1.5 ppp. This was against the #5, 7, 25, 39, and 49th ranked scoring defenses.
TLDR Stat Conclusion:
In the first half of its losses the 2010 offense played against slightly better defenses but moved the ball more than twice as effectively and scored more total points despite having 18% fewer possessions.
November 27th, 2013 at 12:34 AM ^
Thanks for taking the time, I feel the same way, we were inept to punch the ball in and didn't take care of the ball too well, but that offense moved the chains, we have a better kicker now ( actually the same but you know what I mean) and take more care of the ball, although I do wonder if having Gardner so worried about losing the ball has taken away his ability to create more, at the start of the season he threw more interceptions but he also scored more points....
November 27th, 2013 at 1:07 AM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 4:37 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 8:33 AM ^
Because of the dilusional thought that 'this is Michigan' and the way coach Bo did it is the 'right' way to bring us back to the glory days. That's why D.B. brought Coach Hoke in here, to take us back to what worked in the past. It's irony on some level that our biggest rival employs the spread.
November 27th, 2013 at 9:37 AM ^
Yeah, they were quick to dump Woody-ball in the river. Could it be that they are actually more evolved that us?
November 27th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^
...yes. As for other things...well, it's a pretty short, undistinguished list, consisting mainly of bodily excretions and all-meat + alcohol diets.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:18 PM ^
I always wondered why he told his Oline to get pushed four yards back into the pocket on pass plays.Dumb.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:18 PM ^
People don't give Al Borges enough credit.
Yeah, we know his play calling is pathetic. But there's more. Al Borges is destroying the mental toughness and competitive spirit of these young football players. Al has no swagger; they have no swagger. Al is conflicted about his strategy; they get confused. Al lacks confidence; they hesitate. Al is not a tough man; they lose toughness.
Watching the MGOBLUE clips, you sense these kids bring a good attitude. You want to see them do well. They deserve a coach who gives them the opportunity to enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity and do the best they are able. Al is not living up to his responsibility.
We hear about how players must compete to be on the field. While this football fiasco is a downer for alumni and football fans, it's worse for these kids who work so hard, risk injury and play their hearts out. Al Borges is not doing his job at a competitive level. There is no reason for him to be anywhere near that field of honor.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:30 PM ^
In fact, he is doing a rather poor job. But your potshots at the man are out of bounds.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:56 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 1:32 AM ^
Statistically, the Tiger's offensive ranks declined each year under Borges and currently ranks 101st in the nation in total offense leading into the bowl game with Clemson. After talking with head coach Tommy Tuberville, the two agreed that Borges' resignation was the best course of action for a floundering Auburn offense.
"After speaking with coach Tuberville for the better part of 20 minutes, it became increasingly clear that Auburn needed a new offensive coordinator," Borges said in a statement Tuesday.
See the same downward pattern going on here. Hopefully Hoke and Al have a similar talk after this weekend....
November 27th, 2013 at 10:21 AM ^
You gathered all of that from watching MGOBLUE Clips, did ya?
Do you you know some players or at least someone who does? If so, and this is what you have been told by them, then go ahead and say so. If not, then this is just somethng you pulled out of the air.
There is just no way that we, as fans, can ever know if Borges is "destroying the mental toughness and competitive spirit of these young football players" from watching games and reading a press transcript. Nor can we conclude that they would execute better if Al had more swagger. (To that point, please see any team coached by Lane Kiffin for an example of a guy who has tons of swagger but is not a good coach.)
More than that, based on what I have seem on the field, those kids are playing hard.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:26 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:35 PM ^
This offense is statistically worse then 08.
Wow. Two all American caliber tackles, a TE/wr hybrid freak, Jeremy freaking gallon, 2 highly rated freshman backs to compliment Fitz.... Yet you've been held under 200 yards several times. Gross.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:36 PM ^
Al called a good game. OL blocked well. We had over 200 yrd of rushing. The offense looked good. What gives? Has Al forgotten how to game plan? Have other coaches figured out his schemes? Is it the personnel? OSU's defense was not great that year, but far far better than Iowa, NW, Akron, Uconn, etc. What happened?
November 26th, 2013 at 9:38 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:39 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 10:04 AM ^
that first year, why fix what isn't broke. Also, they didn't want to alienate the fan base. It was the second year they decided to do that and it was galling; the ND game where Denard threw 5 interceptions in a row downfield, the coaching staff knowing that wasn't the type of quarterback he was, the Nebraska game where in hindsight it was OBVIOUS the QB who would have gave us a better chance at winning that game did not play, instead going with the guy who had a better grasp of the MANBALL system, and of course the OSU game where this conversion to MANBALL cost us the game, in my opinion. It was that game which really got the doubt rolling against Coach Borgess; instead of playing to win the greatest rivalry game in all of sport, he played to win using 'MANBALL' technique and it was nigh unforgivable.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:41 PM ^
David Molk and Mark Huyge graduated?
November 27th, 2013 at 9:27 AM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:44 PM ^
I've played for good coaches and bad coaches. Do you have any idea how important a coach's influence is on a young person? Brady Hoke said he's not concerned about fans, but the kids who play football. Trusting that he means what he says, he will see the players are given a better opportunity to achieve their best.
There's no requirement to be soft spoken when you speak up for other people.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:45 PM ^
Because he was self-aware and acknowledged the issues. First press conference I have seen where there was some accountability about the offense...Hoke is still in lala land.
Why I hate it?...makes it harder to fire the guy.
November 26th, 2013 at 10:04 PM ^
Al came off as a human here, with emotions and all. He looked resigned to being a lame duck. Presented as a somewhat more sympathetic figure than previously. And yet there still isn't real accountability. Most of his comments were about lack of execution, not enough on his role in it. No mention of calling plays that maximize expectation of failure given the performance and execution problems. He seems like a good and decent guy, but still doesn't seem to have any answers. He solution was simply "we just have to get back at it and try harder." Sorry, he's making too much money to not have better adjustments than that. I wish him well, sincerely, but he should not be at Michigan next year. Let him have a quiet, low key exit and a future somewhere else.
November 26th, 2013 at 9:54 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 9:59 PM ^
personal attacks are not worthy, especially for a higher level blog like this. Performance is more than enough.
November 26th, 2013 at 11:17 PM ^
We're tryin' real hard, Ringo.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:08 AM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 10:11 PM ^
Cordone off his parking space.
Take his name off the door.
Have an Aloha Al party!
Squint real hard and tell him, "Get out of town while the gittin's good.:
Put a horse's head in his bed (A stuffed animal, of course.)
Bring in Donal Trump to say: "You're fired."
On second thought, don't bring in Donald Trump.
Don't say anything. Hire a different offensive coordinator and just, like, avoid Al completely.
Run him out of town on a rail, whatever that means.
Blast Metallica into his office, like they did to Noriega, until he runs away screaming.
Ask him in a nice way: "Oh pretty please with sugar on it Al, get the heck out of here."
Send him a singing telegram, that just goes, "Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye."
Have a pretty French girl tell him, "Au Revoir Monsieur Borges."
Have a pissed off Japanese girl tell him, "Sayonaro Al."
Have Dave Brandon tell him, "You're screwing up my plans to be governor, knucklehead."
Most brutal of all, lock him out of the cafeteria.
You see, no problem.
November 27th, 2013 at 12:29 AM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 10:14 PM ^
The offense has progressivly gotten worse as the season went on. Oh my, what is this weekend going to bring?
November 26th, 2013 at 10:28 PM ^
He gone.
November 27th, 2013 at 9:40 AM ^
He does seem to know something we don't. Dead man walking.
November 27th, 2013 at 5:06 PM ^