Does the spread "fit" at Michigan
Since the RR hire there's been constant chatter about whether the spread offense is a good "fit" for Michigan. Maybe I'm missing something, but how does a scheme fit better or worse at a given university, aside from the current personnel? Does the Michigan Stadium turf prevent players from making defenders miss in the open field? Do the winged helmets make bubble screen reads more difficult to execute?
Mark May was recently on a radio show spouting garbage about how RR's scheme would fit better at Tennessee or Clemson. How does his scheme fit any better there than it does here? What is wrong with the people who are spitting this crap out?
November 26th, 2008 at 12:05 AM ^
i dont think you can say it doesn't fit for any reason other than personnel. it seems similar to the "SEC speed", its some intangible that prevents michigan from being good that everyone can see but us
November 26th, 2008 at 12:12 AM ^
The Ohio State turf, however, does cause players to miss tackles in the open field.
Also, Mark May is saying that because Clemson currently has better on roster talent to run his system. In a year or two, not so much.
November 26th, 2008 at 12:15 AM ^
Even looking at the short term that's an awful argument by Mark May, as he would still have to go through another transition year and the attrition that comes with it if he went to another place.
November 26th, 2008 at 12:16 AM ^
Mark May is not exactly known for his logic.
November 26th, 2008 at 12:19 AM ^
The coach is the team, and the team is the coach within a couple years.
Mark May will probably claim Michigan is in Canada next week and that we should start practicing four point field goals.
November 26th, 2008 at 12:29 AM ^
Isn't it funny that before this happened at Michigan, the Big Ten just wasn't fast enough or talented enough to hang with SEC schools. But now, this style isn't fit for the Big Ten. Which one is it?
November 26th, 2008 at 12:47 AM ^
I think Mark May has run out of stuff to help him defend the fact that this USC team is the greatest ever, just like the one last year was, and the one before that, and before that..you get the point. I don't know why for a guy who is an alum of Pittsburgh why he is on the USC bandwagon so much.
November 26th, 2008 at 10:37 AM ^
People who go to Pittsburgh are stupid.
November 26th, 2008 at 3:35 AM ^
If I may play the devil's advocate, what about the West Coast offense at Nebraska? Callahan was obviously a coach capable of running a successful offense, but, for whatever reason, it never seemed to take at Nebraska.
Perhaps there is something to be said for a program's culture rejecting a different system. Even if that is the case, I would be surprised to see that as the end result at Michigan.
November 28th, 2008 at 6:24 PM ^
I live in NE and that isn't the case at all. The offense worked great, they put up huge numbers. The problem was that Callahan had no regard for NE tradition and completely alienated the alumni and almost the entire fan base (well, and the defense was horrific). They have the exact same offensive coordinator this year running almost the exact same offense. The difference? Bo Pelini has embraced all the NE tradition. It wasn't the offensive schemes, it was Callahan.
And for the record, I could give a crap less about the Cornballers. The year my family moved here from MI was '97 when we shared the national title and I had the most fun ever arguing with every NE fan I saw about how MI was better.
November 26th, 2008 at 7:28 AM ^
Callahan could have turned it around, but it would have taken about a decade. Honestly, that was a huge project... you can't run a West Coast offense with players recruited for the option. You can run a spread with virtually anyone, as RR has proven.
November 26th, 2008 at 8:20 AM ^
callahan's problem wasn't offense. they averaged over 33 ppg under him. it was the defense that collapsed.
the idea that any school requires a certain offense is laughable.
November 26th, 2008 at 11:18 AM ^
Indeed. Nebraska's offense has been good this year. They hired Pelini because he was a defensive coach and the defense was the problem. Pelini kept the offensive coordinator from Callahan's staff, so obviously he recognized the offense was working just fine as well.
Callahan's recruiting on defense was for shit, and Kevin Cosgrove blew goats as a coordinator, leading to things like Nebraska giving up over 70 points in a game.
November 26th, 2008 at 9:42 AM ^
The othe problem with the West Coast offense is that it is an incredibly difficult system to run - the timing, the pre-snap and post-snap reads, etc. You don't see a lot of colleges really run it because of that. Those that do it well often do so with groups of upperclassmen who have drilled and drilled for two or three years before getting to play as a unit.
I think that certain offenses can be good and bad fits for schools, not only because of the personnel, but also because of the personnel on the teams they face. Northwestern won a bunch of games a few years ago because they ran an offense that was very unique, so most teams in the Big 10 were not geared to stop it. That is no longer the case with so many Big 10 teams running the spread or some variant of it.
That said, I think the spread will prove to be an excellent fit at Michigan. Many high schools are now running it, and therefore producing QBs with at least some knowledge of the zone read. Any QB who ran the veer or the wishbone in high school can also make an easy transition. For the rest of the offense, it's really not that much different than more "standard" offenses. Because it can be an explosive passing attack or also a run-dominated, wishbone-like attach, it is flexible for the fall weather we get up here. Frankly, I love it.
November 26th, 2008 at 9:42 AM ^
Ohio State clearly struggled when they ran the spread with Troy Smith.
November 26th, 2008 at 9:54 AM ^
remember when the conventional wisdom was that you couldnt win with a passing offense in the big 12? too windy and you need a power running game.
that bullshit lasted right up until stoops won a national title running the air raid and josh heupel throwing 55 times a game.
November 26th, 2008 at 10:01 AM ^
Josh Heupel works for Oklahoma now. Have you seen him on the sidelines? Man, he really got porky.
November 26th, 2008 at 10:03 AM ^
Yeah, coaching does wonders for your health.
November 26th, 2008 at 10:44 AM ^
"The spread doesn't fit at Michigan" is just something uninformed people say on sports talk radio to justify a bad transition, just like "RR should change the offense to fit the personnel" and "Bo didn't need a transition year." It's best to just ignore them because it doesn't hold water.
You might make the argument that the spread can't work in the Big Ten, but that argument would have had to be made about 15 years ago and it would have been wrong in the long run anyway.
November 27th, 2008 at 1:07 AM ^
Remember when Trev Alberts was the designated ESPN village idiot and May was the voice of reason? It was only after Alberts left that May assumed his current role. It's ridiculous that the network seems to require one guy to mouth off random idiocy at all times.
November 27th, 2008 at 1:17 AM ^
Spread doesnt fit at Michigan, at least not yet. No one will ask that anyway when we win 4 titles in the next 10 years.
November 29th, 2008 at 7:56 AM ^
4 titles in the next 10 years?? Not a chance. 12 titles in the next 10 years. Count it.