Can Michigan Turn it Around Like Auburn Next Season?

If their oline and dline are 100% better/improved, they can win or be in EVERY game. They must get better in those two areas before they will be legitimate B1G title contenders, it could happen, but with how the season ended, it's hard to gauge whether they will be talented enough.

I wouldn't say the schedules' harder. Yes we have games at ND, at MSU, and at Ohio but the rest is way easier than this year.

The DBs were too bad to blitz like crazy. You'll probably see more it next year now that we have Peppers.

Maybe if gorgeous Borges magically transforms into Gus Malzahn.

I suppose it's an outside possibility. Howeva, with Borges as OC, I doubt it.

Unfortunately no, I wish I had your optimism but a major reason for Auburn's magical turn around was their offensive identity and play calling transformed under Malzahn. That will clearly not be happening with Borges. And I just see the same "OL is still young" issues and excuses. Hoping for a 10 win season!

Elite coaches get elite results. Not every year, but most years. Mediocre coaches blame execution and have mediocre records.

I think we'll see some improvement over this year, but it will mainly come from the efforts of the kids, not necessarily coaching/scheme revelations.  It was impressive to see what serious talent and top rate coaching can do (watching the NC game last night).  If we stay mired in the muck of mediocrity again next fall, Brady's rear is really going to be flaming.

I find it surprising that before answering the question, no one asked if we are changing staffs, specifically Borges.

/s

Iowa and Penn State this year, impressive collapses. Zero second half points at Ohio in 2012. My confidence with this staff is C- that next year we will have nine wins. With what we know now in January, I expect 8 wins, or 7, with only one rival win - Ohio is the most likely in my judgment but all three are formidable. This is not yet my official season prediction - 2013 I felt 10 wins was within reach, and it clearly did not happen.

;-;

I still feel Borges should go, Jackson should retire, and Funk should have gone if he had pride, but they are still Michigan coaches and I will send just as many Concern Rays as I did in 2011 and 2012 to bolster their performance and that of the team.

Did we hire a completely new offensive staff today and I didn't hear about it?

No?

Oh, well, then, no.  No we can't turn it around like Auburn did.  

They have JUCO's to fill in the pieces.  We do not.

They have, um, boosters who do extra special booster type things.  We do not.

They have an innovative coach who looks at a brick wall and thinks "There's gotta be a loose brick in there somewhere I can exploit."  We have a coach who looks at a brick wall and thinks "I bet if we run right at it a bunch, it will eventually fall over.  What? We're down by 20 already?  Well I guess we better stop running at this brick wall.  What? We're up by 10 now?  Time to go back to working on running over that brick wall."

Give me a system that focuses on doing 4 things obnoxiously well over a system that focuses on doing 20 things "meh."

I know everyone is down with AB, but this is really the team's first year in his offense. It was the Denard hybrid West Coast spread for two years, and then there were significant changes with an inexperienced line. DG has an actual year under his belt, but I think the biggest improvement will be in the line.

And fuck, I am enthusiastic because I want to be... I can't help it.

Seem possible. If not some people are going to fired. I don't think we are going to be the big ten playoff rep though, which would be the equivalent to Auburn's success.

I know everyone is down with AB, but this is really the team's first year in his offense. It was the Denard hybrid West Coast spread for two years, and then there were significant changes with an inexperienced line. DG has an actual year under his belt, but I think the biggest improvement will be in the line.

And fuck, I am enthusiastic because I want to be... I can't help it.

Malzahn is as innovative a play caller as they come. He's an elite coach who knows how to get the most out of his players, and make them believe. What has Brady done to prove that he's anything more than an average coach who can recruit well?

Sorry, but Hoke's been at the helm for three years, and the team, save for a few position groups, has gotten worse as a whole. The Sugar Bowl honeymoon is long over. The coaches can't effectively game plan for road games and until they show me they can, I'm forced to assume that even a road trip to effing Purdue is a tossup. Even the defense, the one area of our team that should be solid with a damn good coordinator, completely fell off the tracks at the end of the year.

I want Hoke to prove me wrong next year. I love him as a person and want him to be the guy. I want him and Borges to make me eat crow, and make me look like a fool. But right now, I just don't see anything better than 7-5 or possibly 8-4, and potentially getting swept by our rivals. All three are on the road. Pessimistic? Maybe. But what has this coaching staff done lately to make me think otherwise?

8-4 next season. But a good 8-4. As good as an 8-4 season can be with losses to all 3 main rivals plus the random WTF conference loss. Wait, only 1 random conference loss? Hmm, that's not very good.

Ok, 7-5. But a good 7-5. Besides all main rivals, only 2 random conference losses. Wait. There's no such thing as a good 7-5.

Stupid schedule.

Fire Borges. Fire Funk. Retire Fred.

ND is going to want to nail us since they don't have to play us again (and the chicken dance will go down along with the sky-painting over Spartan Stadium as dumb moments from 2013).

MSU and OSU own us and are playing at home.

This means we must win EVERY home game - not a given anymore - and win at Rutgers (likely) and NW (50/50).

I'm more of the impression that we will win either 10 games (pull off a road upset) OR roll out another 7 win season, with 3-4 road losses, and 1-2 home losses. One gives Hoke a bit of breathing room, the other should lead to his exit.

but i will go into the season hoping for undefeated anyhow.

But I don't think so. If we are still vanilla offensively & have a bend then break defense, we will have the same results.

I don't see Hoke engaged in the game like the Auburn coach was. He could change.

 

Borges is an embarrasment

 

Mattison will be better next year.

 

Players ... yea we have the talent to run the table in regular season

Hoke has guaranteed a Big Ten Championship.

Okay he hasn't exactly "guaranteed" one. He has promised one.

Okay he hasn't exactly "promised" one. He has given some thought to one.

Yea. He has done that. 

All comes down to offensive and defensive line improvements. We'll look like we have one of the better back 7's in the nation if our d-line can even play at '11 level. If our interior line can be decent (not even great) we'll have an adequate offense. With that, and consisting our coaching staff and schedule, I say a 9-3 season would be respectable.

Fuck 9-3 & losing to rivals again

Did you see how auburn won those games? NO team is going to do that again for a while.

I always start with 9-3 as my "base prediction," but this team is as likely to run the table as any other in the Big Ten.  The guys who got tossed around on the OL will all be a year older and remember the beatings they took this season.  Devin Gardner will have actually have a full season of starting under his belt.  

Nobody would have thought Auburn and MSU would go into the bowls with one loss each.  Why not Michigan in 2014?  I am not saying it will happen, but I certainly don't believe it can't. It's not like the Big Ten is setting the football world on fire, either, unless you count couches in EL.

 

I start off every season optomistic. Until that first L shows up, I think Michigan could go undefeated. As I have aged a little, I sadly can't keep logic and reason from creeping in. At work, if I want to know what my immediate future will look like I start by looking at my immediate past. Here it is. (Don't look too long at this)

	Iowa	PSU	MSU	OSU
2013	L	L	L	L
2012	W	-	W	L
2011	L	-	L	W
2010	L	L	L	L
2009	L	L	L	L
2008	-	L	L	L
2007	-	W	W	L

Ok. That doesn't bode well. Fortuantely, when you know what has caused past problems, you can make changes so you are not doomed to repeat them. Let's look at all the changes which have been made for next year: Coaches? Scheme? Incremental development? Oh. Incremental development it is. 

Ok. You can always do the gut check to see if your data just doesn't add up. Hmmm 7-6 in 2013. 2-6 in their last 8. Breakdowns in every phase of the game down the stretch. One player publicly saying there were effort and teamwork issues. Crap. The gut seems about right. 

Ok. It's always good to do a double check to see if you missed something. Peppers should be arriving in the fall. He's a game changer. Oh. A game changer. As in, probably, worth about 1 game in his first year. 

So, 1 game for incremental improvement. 1 game for the game changer. That changes 7-6 to 9-4. Probably not what everyone will be happy with. 

Time to get back to work. Go Blue! You are undefeated in 2014!

Our so called tough games are not really that tough! No pressure on the team being ranked number 12. My prediction will be 8-4 but I really think we will beat either State or OSU on the road. I could see 10-2 and a good bowl game. 12-0 or 11-1 may be a stretch. If the injury bug strikes we could just end up with 5 or 6 wins. In any event, Hoke will be the coach through the 2015 season.

Turning it around means getting victories agaisnt MSU and/or OSU.

 

Until we have a few guys that play better than expected as opposed to worse than expected I don't see anything more than the typical 8-4.

I will be very interested to see how Ohio State performs this year when they have to replace 4 offensive lineman.  If they do their usual 10 win seasons then I will officially doubt this coaching staff.

No prolly not

Al Borges.

Game. Blouses

Were we 3-9 this year? Were we winless in conference?

Can't start threads but towards the end of Sam's show this morning the subject of Al Borges came up.  He didn't claim any insidery information but he seemed way less certain that the staff would go unchanged into 2014.  Nothing earth shattering but I thought a worthwhile tidbit from a guy who hears more than most when it comes to the program.

if the level of negativity here remains this high. 

Is it possible that Michigan can run the table in conference, win the Big Ten Championship in 2014, and make the playoffs in its first year? Unlikely, it would require amazing growth on the lines and a lot of luck, but it is certainly possible.

Claiming that the coaches are mediocre, or below average, or stupid or behind the times, is simply not yet supportable by their overall performance in the last three seasons. Certainly they had a mediocre season in 2013, one in which they and the players struggled and failed to improve quickly enough to meet the challenges of November (yeah yeah PSU etc.).

Keeping the coaching staff does not guarantee a repeat of 2013 any more than 2012 was a repeat of 2011. Changing the staff does not necessarily improve the likelihood of an improved 2014 season. 

Competent managers do NOT fire a coach to appease a fan base or convince the players that thing are going to be different. Competent management fire a coach when replacing that coach will fix the problem, or is a necessary step in fixing the problem, and there is an available replacement coach who they believe will be more able to implement the necessary fix(es). 

No one here, has the necessary information to fairly determine if firing any coach at this time is in the best interest of the team and the program. Only Hoke and Brandon have the required information. We can hold any opinion about whether or not they're able and willing to evaluate and act on that information, but that is part of what they are paid to do. Regardless of whether coaches are released at this point, we'll evaluate their judgement and competence in this regard at the end of next season.

Again in 2014 much of the record will depend on the ability of the coaches and players to correct the team's deficiencies than the quaity of opponents. After the experience of 2013, it is clear that we can take no game for granted, but every game is winnable. I'd estimate that, barring critical injuries, there is an 80% probablilty of between 8-10 regular season wins.