Coaches trying Magnuson out at LG
I thought he did well last week. Presser Link Here
NN ARBOR—Redshirt freshman Erik Magnuson had a strong showing at right tackle when he came on the field Saturday at Penn State in place of Michael Schofield who took over at left tackle when Taylor Lewan went down in the first half.
Magnuson impressed enough in fact that Michigan coach Brady Hoke says the 6-foot-6, 285-pounder is firmly in the mix and getting reps at left guard in practice.
“A little bit,” Hoke said of Magnuson’s work at left guard. “He hasn’t done it a lot but he’s a really athletic guy and he did some good things the other night that warrant trying to get the best five on the field.”
Redshirting a year ago to add weight to his slender frame, Magnuson has made significant strides in adding enough weight to get on the football field.
But if Hoke has his way, Magnuson will be even stronger when it’s all said and done.
“He’s got a quickness to him,” Hoke said. “He’s got good feet. That’s why we recruited him as a left tackle, because of his athleticism.
“What has kept him away from it as much as anything is he needs strength gains and unlike some of the guys, a guy like Kyle Bosch, who’s been in the weight room a lot -- Kyle wasn’t exactly a three sport athlete. Mags played lacrosse also so the lifting and all that kind of stuff.”
Asked whether or not he envisions any changes to the starting lineup on the offensive line this week against Indiana, Hoke left open that possibility.
“We’ll see,” he said. “Guys are working hard.”
October 16th, 2013 at 4:07 PM ^
This reminds me of those puzzles kids do where you have blocks of different shapes that you are trying to fit through an opening - the cruel joke is the correct piece is missing and trying different pieces is an effort in futility.
October 16th, 2013 at 4:10 PM ^
Fire Borges.
October 16th, 2013 at 4:25 PM ^
Enough of the "Fire Borges" stupidity. Filing your OC mid-season is just silly. You do that when you have an offense full of 5* senior talent that is doing jack shit, and maybe not even then. We have an offense that is failing because our offensive line has three new starters, all of which are underclassmen, no depth at QB (which limits our ability to run Devin as much as we otherwise could), TEs that cannot block a small child, and a WR group that is made up of a 5'8" #1 receiver, a converted TE. a raw track star (Chesson) and a few role players.
Anyone who expected this offense to operate efficiently throughout the season was deluding themselves.
have we under-performed? Yes. Is some of that on Borges? Yes, as even my wife was screaming every time Devin handed it off to Fitz for a loss. But, is that reason to fire Borges when we are 5-1? No, seems a bit reactionary and silly to me.
Do you really want that? Seriously?
October 16th, 2013 at 4:29 PM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 4:32 PM ^
His lines are good pass blockers but horrible run blockers
October 16th, 2013 at 4:58 PM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 5:00 PM ^
Give me an offense that provides >30 points a game and we'll be okay.
Overreaction meme on "Fire Borges" is overreactive.
October 16th, 2013 at 6:21 PM ^
Inflating your PPG on cupcakes doesn't make you a good coordinator, especially when you score less than that by far in big games and the user makes a statement that also doesn't account for short fields or defensive TDs.
October 16th, 2013 at 7:47 PM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 5:01 PM ^
I'm sure you are being a bit exaggerative, but I certainly don't need to wait a few more years for our 5* talent to be seniors before casting a judgment on Borge's abilities. Also, I don't propose we fire Borges mid-season; that would insight a tire fire. Nevertheless, if he continues to roll out the same game plan week-after-week that abandons things we are good at and - in their place - does the same thing repeatedly that we suck at, then - yes - I think he should be gone.
October 16th, 2013 at 6:16 PM ^
michgoblue is secretly a coach on M 's staff, because if you actually watch the games and think Borges isn't the main culprit, you are batshit crazy.
October 16th, 2013 at 6:50 PM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^
For cryin out loud, put Magnusson at RT and move Schofield to LG. I've carried water for Borges for 1.5 years. I'm at the end of my rope.
October 16th, 2013 at 4:15 PM ^
So who will be the new Magnuson in plays with an extra OT?
October 16th, 2013 at 4:24 PM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 4:55 PM ^
Then we run power with Fitz 841 times for 13 yards.
October 16th, 2013 at 8:33 PM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 4:27 PM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 4:30 PM ^
Shuffling the OL won't do much if you're running at 8 defenders with 6 blockers.
http://mgoblog.com/content/picture-pages-dumbest-play-history-football
October 16th, 2013 at 4:50 PM ^
Not that Magnuson at LG will do anything to help, but if you read the 27 for 27 piece, it's pretty clear OL is just as big of a problem as play calling. (IMO bigger, I disagree with some of Brian's conclusions, but anyway).
October 16th, 2013 at 4:30 PM ^
What did Matthew McConaughey do when he had to rebuild his O-line in that movie? Oh yeah!, keep away from power O....
October 16th, 2013 at 4:32 PM ^
new stuff to try and find the right combo but it sure doesn't bode well for the rest of the season. It's either injuries or they are throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Given the current state of affairs I'm OK with the latter.
Get the Tums ready for Saturday, potential position-switch starters might have you generating more stomach acid than you are used to.
October 16th, 2013 at 4:35 PM ^
This feels a lot like insert a random dude at safety/LB/DL. Rinse. Repeat. During the RR years.
October 16th, 2013 at 4:47 PM ^
None of it worked back then and it probably won't work now. However, I'm glad the effort is being made, then and now, to fix the problems. Nothing worse than repeatedly doing something that has been proven to not work. 30 for 28, Never Forget
October 16th, 2013 at 4:51 PM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 4:35 PM ^
I know the OL is a mess, but if Manguson starts at LG next week it's almost to the point where Michigan's making too many OL changes.
October 16th, 2013 at 4:44 PM ^
Why don't we just move Magnuson to 3rd Left tackle next to Schofield and Lewan? Then we won't need a left guard.
October 16th, 2013 at 4:49 PM ^
+1 to you sir.
October 16th, 2013 at 4:45 PM ^
October 16th, 2013 at 4:48 PM ^
In the event you do not want to open a new tab, here's the embed of the presser:
October 16th, 2013 at 4:55 PM ^
Hoke can get this line to at least be solid by the end of the year. This is so frustrating.
October 16th, 2013 at 4:51 PM ^
Kalis was a 5-star OL recruit for crying out loud. A big, nasty one too. Now we're substituting him with huge Magnusson, a high 4 star. Both are young players, but highly talented (according to recruiting publications).
Meanwhile, widdle Wisconsin is bulldozing the conference and the nation with their rushing offense (1st in BIG10, ranked 5th nationally), with a bunch of no name, no accolade OL players:
LT Tyler Marz NR, 2-star
LG Ryan Groy NR 0-star
C Dallas Lewallen NR 0-star
RG Kyle Costigan NR 0-star
RG Rob Haverstein #42 OT, 3-star
Oh, and they run manball.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark you guys.
October 16th, 2013 at 4:56 PM ^
This. At what point does Al stop indirectly blaming his players by talking about positions in pencil, open competitions,and trying out new players, and start realizing HE is the mother freaking problem? That either his schemes or his coaching or both are what is befalling this offense? Funk too?
October 16th, 2013 at 4:56 PM ^
If you recall Wisky had a terrible offensive line just two years ago.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:09 PM ^
With the exception of Marz (who is a Redshirt Sophomore) the rest are Redshirt Juniors with a Senior Mixed in there...
Marz (Redshirt Sophomore)
Ryan Groy (Redshirt Senior)
Dallas Lewallen (Redshirt Junior)
Kyle Costigan (Redshirt Junior)
Havenstein (Redshirt Junior)
It's like comparing apples and grapefruits in terms of experience on the interior of the lines. The idea that Funk should be getting > production out of some combination of Kalis, Glasgow, Bryant, Miller and now Magnusson versus that level of experience is ludicrous.
Crappy analysis and comparables are crappy.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:13 PM ^
And yet, if lack of experience is so indicative of potential O line performance, how come Al doesn't adjust away from schemes that place emphasis on the entire line and TEs working in cohesion to man ball as opposed to moving the offense into more space? Either because you're wrong, or because Al's an idiot. Either way, crappy offensive coordinator is crappy. Fire Borges.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:29 PM ^
That is why he has been a BCS coordinator multiple times. Coaches just love to hire idiots.
His offense has scored over 30 pts 4 times this year and that would have been higher if not for Gardner playing Football Santa.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:36 PM ^
"How come Al doesn't adjust away from schemes that place emphasis on the entire line and TE's working in cohesion to man ball as opposed to moving the offensed into more space?"
I'm comfortable I'm not wrong; I suspect Borges is not an idiot. I do think he's stubborn as a mule which is the root of this argument.
You take four and five star players and give them experience, time in the weight room, experience with multiple scheme and you can screw around with your offense all you want from Manball to zone to obscure TE tackle sets. Borges doesn't have this level of Offensive Line competency yet but he calls it like he does.
To summarize, I'm not wrong (the offensive line will be a bitch in about two years and perhaps one) but Borges is stubborn like crazy. I don't know that firing him is going to be an option, anyway, given Hoke's stubborn loyalty streak.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:16 PM ^
here here
October 16th, 2013 at 5:55 PM ^
Havenstein RT and Groy C were starters last year for Wisconsin last year. The other three (Marz, Lewallen, Costigan) were not even on Wisconsin's two deep in 2012, though Costigan got a hard look.
My point is that both Wisconsin and Michigan had questions coming into 2013 about their OL. Both had a couple nice returning starters, and after that a lack of game time experience.
Wisconsin's OL talent isn't comparable to what Michigan has collected in terms of documented, camp-evaluated, nationally-scouted talent. Wisconsin's best offensive lineman was offered only by Wisconsin. Experience matters, but Wisconsin is in the same boat as Michigan in this regard. What really matters is player development.
Right now it is Wisconsin, not Michigan, with their pathetic 51st, 33rd, 38th, 69th and 37th ranked recruiting classes, who is kicking the shit out of opposing defenses right now with the No. 5 ranked rushing offense, a brand new head coach who nobody in the state H.S. system knows, and a brand new offensive line coach, who nobody knows either.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:14 PM ^
Yet when they fired the coordinator things turned around for said crappy line midseason. Fire Funk. Fire Borges.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:26 PM ^
OL coach, not the coordinator midseason. And that was 2012, not 2011.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:24 PM ^
Who also happened to be a new staff member who was working with experienced o
Your idea of firing both the OL and OC has to rank among the dumbest ideas ever written on MGOBLOG. So who coaches the offense and offensive line? Fred Jackson? Brady Hoke?Bringing back Jerry Hanlon?
You need to step away from the computer because your posts are completely irrational. If any changes are to be made they should be after the season. Firing people now is th act of a panicking fool. It won't resolve the issues(who coaches) at all.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:20 PM ^
if it meant a 11-3 record, 5.4 YPC, a almost 2000 yard back with 33 touchdowns, a 3000 yard passer with 39 total TDs and 44 ppg.
October 16th, 2013 at 5:33 PM ^
UM is transitioning to a new blocking scheme,. Wisconsin was running the same one they had when Moss and Fletcher burst on the scene in the early-90's. Continuity makes a big difference.
October 16th, 2013 at 7:27 PM ^
sides. I can see why people are bitching at Borges/Funk for being in year 3 and still seeming to be inflexible when it comes to playcalling and not being able to have a line be better than most MAC schools put out.
I also have a feeling that Hoke might be hamstringing Borges and he is obviously dealing with young, inexperienced players even if they are talented.
I'm at the wait and see point at the moment. Firing your OC midseason without a slam dunk replacement is begging for trouble. Firing a position coach who is underperforming isn't as big a shakeup, but again, who do you get to be OL coach? I'll save judgement until after the season, but I hope that if things stay the way they are at the moment, Hoke can put aside his loyalty and do what is best for Michigan football.