Colorado Snowflakes: The Coaching

Submitted by LSAClassOf2000 on

This thread will be the repository for your hot takes and thoughts regarding the overall coaching and playcalling and Harbaugh thoughts and the like. 

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Mr. Yost

September 17th, 2016 at 7:14 PM ^

Offensive coaching won the game. Period. I know players have to play...but the adjustments Fisch and Drevno made were tremendous.

I love the anti-Hoke/Borges...no 27 for 27. No "this is who we are and the only thing we're going to do."

We adjusted.

And then when we found what worked, Butt on crossing routes and Chesson on jet sweeps...we went back to it until they adjusted and then we hit on some runs and screens in the middle.

We've got the best coaching staff in the country.

I wanted to get on Brian Smith because the difference with the DBs from when Greg Jackson was coach is showing...HOWEVER, we don't have Lewis and that's a big asterisk. So he gets a pass.

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ThatTCGuy

September 17th, 2016 at 10:55 PM ^

Yup, Harbaugh/Fisch/Drevno/Brown thoroughly outcoached Colorado down the stretch, which was expected. 

I think people might be discounting the adjustments that Brown made during the game. In the beginning, our guys were getting burned because Brown was blitzing everywhere and leaving our guys on islands. Down the stretch though, Brown seemed (at least to me) like he cut down a lot on the blitzes and started to trust our defensive line to get pressure and played a lot more zone. 

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AA Forever

September 18th, 2016 at 10:42 AM ^

that was the difference in the second half.  If he had been playing and healthy, the game would have been in doubt right down to the end, coaching adjustments notwithstanding.

 

And it would have been nice if we had come in prepared, and outcoached them from the start.

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reshp1

September 18th, 2016 at 12:47 AM ^

Brian Smith works with the safeties mostly. He loses safety blanket Jarrod Wilson and his guys now have to play a much more complex system than last year. I think these guys just need more time to pick up the system. When they're playing man, they look pretty good still, but zone coverage has been soft with a lot of busts.

Joined: 10/31/2011

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AA Forever

September 18th, 2016 at 8:23 AM ^

Coming from behind against a team we never should have been behind against in the first place is not particularly impressive. How about waiting until they actually show winning coaching ability against a high quality opponent before you anoint them the kings of the coaching world? After three games, this staff has given me no confidence that they can win against a strong team like OSU or MSU, let alone dominate one. They have top-notch talent, but they are still making far too many mistakes and struggling against weak opposition.

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Mannix

September 17th, 2016 at 7:14 PM ^

I'm struggling to understand just what the game plan was offensively. Thank goodness for special teams.

It didn't seem like the run game was present, save for the JET SWEEP™.



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The Claw

September 17th, 2016 at 7:36 PM ^

I was really confused by the offensive play calling. Shuffling in Morris and OKorn. All the screens. Didn't make sense to me.

And D needed to make adjustments sooner. That huge hole where they completed 100 passes. Yeah, that needs some work.



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The Fan in Fargo

September 17th, 2016 at 10:15 PM ^

There is nothing wrong with getting Shane and John in there for a few snaps. Make the defense second guess their game planning early. I wonder if Michigan hadn't been in more control early if they would've kept that rotation going here and there. That is only going to help the team to get them two some snaps. Now Wilton has a dinged up shoulder. See where I'm coming from? 

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S Carolina Wolverine

September 17th, 2016 at 7:38 PM ^

Harbaugh did NOT have this team ready to play today

 

It was very evident from the onset

 

Colorado imploded on special teams today and assisted in UM winning the game

 

As much as I hate to say it, we are no closer to beating Ohio St this year than we were last year 

 

Hoping the staff realizes there is work to be done and starts to show more passion and will to make some much needed (big) improvements in certain elements of this team's game/preparation

 

Summarizing, happy that we won, but very disappointed in general

 

Cudos to Peppers

 

O'Korn must really be unworthy and much less than I thought as Wilton is lacking as a starting QB in the B10

 

Go Blue Always!

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Sopwith

September 17th, 2016 at 7:47 PM ^

after repeatedly doing so in the first half and putting us in 3rd-and-long, I was going to throw something at the TV. Fortunately, they adjusted at halftime, and I will not need a trip to Best Buy this weekend.

Seriously, I thought Mike DeBord had snuck back into the booth and was play-calling. That was ridiculous for a stretch.

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VaUMWolverine

September 17th, 2016 at 9:12 PM ^

Wishing Michigan would pony up and start paying all of the guys on this board. It's obvious you all know better than Jim Harbaugh (who?) how to coach this team. Good grief! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!!



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lhglrkwg

September 17th, 2016 at 10:47 PM ^

again, the team saw some success early and then were largely shutdown. Colorado managed no running game of any significance and the pocket gradually collapsed on the Colorado QBs. Seems like the offense poked around till they found what worked (HB pitches, Butt crossing routes, and jet sweeps) and worked that angle. The D had some alarming busts but overall seemed to improve after the 1st quarter

 

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bamf16

September 17th, 2016 at 11:37 PM ^

Very nice offensive adjustments.  It seemed early on that just about everyone offensively was struggling with what Colorado was doing on their rush.  It wasn't just that guys were getting beat, but for awhile you could see that on most plays, UM had some questions about run blocking and protections and Speight (not his fault) wasn't able to compensate for it.

 

After he got comfortable and the offense found some rhythm, things really started rolling and I think Speight recovered well.  Colorado did some good things defensively with their 3 man fronts, and with UM coming off a subpar rushing performance against UCF, I know I wasn't the only one for whom frustration was setting in quickly.

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bamf16

September 17th, 2016 at 11:37 PM ^

Very nice offensive adjustments.  It seemed early on that just about everyone offensively was struggling with what Colorado was doing on their rush.  It wasn't just that guys were getting beat, but for awhile you could see that on most plays, UM had some questions about run blocking and protections and Speight (not his fault) wasn't able to compensate for it.

 

After he got comfortable and the offense found some rhythm, things really started rolling and I think Speight recovered well.  Colorado did some good things defensively with their 3 man fronts, and with UM coming off a subpar rushing performance against UCF, I know I wasn't the only one for whom frustration was setting in quickly.

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J.

September 18th, 2016 at 12:01 AM ^

BTW -- anyone in the greater Boulder area who's looking for a fun part-time job... Colorado's going to be in the market for a new get-back coach.  :-)  I don't know if I've ever seen a team actually penalized for sideline interference, because usually they get their act together after the sideline warning.  There was a great deal of confusion in the stands between the time that the flag was thrown and the explanation. :-)

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ehatch

September 18th, 2016 at 8:27 AM ^

F for game planning and preparation

The players did not look ready to play at the start of the game -- Darboh's drop, terrible punt and coverage, missed assignments on offense.  

I don't know why we kept throwing the fly pattern when it wasn't open.  I didn't like the QB shuffling at the start -- it didn't allow Speight to get into a rhythm.  

A for adjustments.

They saw what Colorado was doing on defense and attacked the edges in the running game and started hitting Butt underneath instead of trying a hopeless deep ball.  

On defense they started hitting the QB and forced him out of his rhythm -- even before we knocked him out of the game.

 

I'm glad Butt said that they had a terrible week of practice -- it means that they will prepare better now.  

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Sten Carlson

September 18th, 2016 at 11:45 AM ^

I think often times Michigan fans forget three things when assessing Michigan's performance: 1) these are college players, not professionals, and not robots; 2) other teams, no matter the quality that the fanbase assigns to them, have heart and try really really hard (see CU's QB yesterday) to beat Michigan in the Big House; and, 3) the opposing coaching staffs (regardless of their team's relative talent) try really really hard to create a scheme that gives their team the best chance to win. Many Michigan fans in here have this maddening passive/aggressive outlook on the schedule that is a combination of outright disrespect for any team they deem beneath Michigan, and abject fear and jealousy of those teams they deem better than Michgan. Every week it's the same thing -- fans wringing their hands over every play that doesn't go our way, combined with pessimistic lamentations of what's going to happen when we play a "real team." College football is great because of #1 above, and because it always gives teams the opportunity to show what they're made of when adversity arises. When a team like FSU (before last night) has a habit coming from behind people commend their heart and resilance. When Michigan struggles, even the slightest bit, Michigan's own fanbase crucifies the team instead of viewing the bounce back as something exciting and necessary for building a championship team. I read the live blog and saw so many quitters who were walking away from their beloved team after ONE BAD QUARTER of football!!! Pathetic!!! My observations: •. CU came out super jacked to play, hit Michigan in the mouth with a plan that seemed to catch Michigan a bit by surprise on both sides of the ball. I'm not sure if they broke tendency or -- I seem to remember people saying CU's offense centered around a running QB -- but the passing game seemed to give Michigan's defense trouble (we miss you JD!!!). I didn't see much QB running, and thought that perhaps they were expecting to see it, and didn't, and that explains the early difficulties. •. CU's defense had a very good plan -- not surprising given their DC's familiarity with Harbaugh. They knew the strength of their defense is their DB's and one huge run stopping NT. They bet that they could stuff the middle -- Michigan's weakest spot running the ball -- blitz the QB, play tight man, and not give Speight time to throw. For a while, they were right -- before Harbaugh & Co. adjusted to attack the edge and underneath. • Michgan's coaching staff, in all facets, has shown a fantastic ability to take what is given, then when the other team adjusts, take what is now given. It's obvious what Harbaugh WANTS to do -- run between the tackles -- but right now we didn't seem to be able to do that consistently. However, that's not stopped his offense from putting up nice numbers. People can complain all they want, but it is what it is at this point. Will the hand wringers be right, will this assuredly result in a lose? Who knows? But I, for one, really enjoy watching our team adjust and do something completely different -- My favorite moment in the game (after it was all over) was when Michigan, down by 14, came out up-tempo in an empty set and attacked the edge with McDoom and Peppers -- great coaching! •. Michigan's special teams (except kicking) have been the best I've ever seen from a Michigan team in my 40 years of fandom! The blocked punts are amazing, and Peppers, even when he doesn't score, has consistently shown that he can flip field position and give the offense a short field to work with. The film on Michigan's totally dominant special teams is going to terrify opposing teams, and that fear will cause more and more mistakes because kickers and punters will be thinking too much. •. Peppers, amazingly, is just scratching the surface of what he's capable of. When Michigan needed a spark, they put the ball in his hands. When the defense was dragging a bit, he made a play and it seemed to bring life back to that unit. •. In hindsight, now that we beat CU, keeping JD, Taco, and Mone out was the right thing to do, but man could we use them right now. The DL is good, but with Taco and Mone I think they'll be great. The biggest issue, IMO, are the DB's. They look slow and out of position too often. I'm not sure why that is, but it seems schematic not athletic. It seems JD does things that allow the other DB's to perform more within their skill set, and without him, there are some less than ideal fits. •. Gary is rapidly progressing, and is the obvious upside of the injuries to Taco and Mone. He was a constant presence, and his speed and rush ability is already evident. Watching him progress is exciting, and bodes well for where the defend will be when they've got all hands on deck ... Soon, please! All-in-all I, unlike many in here, think this is a great win, and something this team will really build upon. The 1st qtr couldn't have gone any worse. There was no pouting, no deer-in-the-headlights looks from the player nor the coaches. Yes, mistakes were made, but I think overall the team showed it has a lot of heart and a willingness to find a way to win even if to do so they had to go with Plan B, or even Plan C. Go Blue! Beat Penn State!

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