Football Study Hall on using dime defense to defeat the spread
Didn't see this posted. Football Study Hall with a look at how two of the best defenses in the country, Alabama and Michigan, are using the dime package to defeat the spread. Hoke left some pretty good players here to work with, but I still find it amazing how our coaching staff could do this in one offseason without any of their own players.
October 24th, 2015 at 1:57 PM ^
Good coaches can make anyone better. They don't have to be "their guys" to be coachable. Thankfully we have an elite staff that excels in that area.
October 24th, 2015 at 11:32 PM ^
October 25th, 2015 at 2:41 AM ^
Last year's offense was a complete tire fire. Our offense is certainly not elite, but its improved substantially from last year.
October 25th, 2015 at 8:05 AM ^
No. The offense is better. We have a similar roster to last year without a great WR (Funchess). This team is still putting up tons of points and actually being conservative when they get a lead.
They are way better without a great WR, a great RB or a great QB. No offense to the existing players and I love them. They play hard and excel at what they do within their limitations. But, it is not like we have a decided advantage in any one positional group in the offense, except may be TE.
October 24th, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^
October 24th, 2015 at 7:39 PM ^
October 24th, 2015 at 2:02 PM ^
In the hands of an artist, however, it becomes a masterpiece. Same clay..different sculpter.
October 24th, 2015 at 2:04 PM ^
I think a lot of teams want to throw a nickel or dime defense out there to defend the spread but they don't have the personnal to keep up. Helps a ton that we have Jabril Peppers who is basically playing LB on most plays but has sideline to sideline speed and great coverage skills. In the past we were forced to put guys like Courtney Avery in those spots and this created a huge liability against the run or screen plays which are basically runs.
Also helps that we have great coaching and guys like Stribling, Thomas, Clark etc... are playing much better this year than in years past.
October 24th, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^
Agree on this. Peppers is a huge factor and Hoke & co deserve credit for recruiting someone so well-suited to the scheme Michigan wants to run. Peppers may not be as dominant as Lewis in coverage or as the DL is in stopping the run, but he is the linchpin to the entire scheme.
Peppers has destroyed every spread edge attempt that has been run at him this season. Speed option, WR screens, all of it. Running something like that to his side of the field is so insane that we literally laugh out loud at attempts to beat him. He is able to blitz and pressure effectively; he supports the run like a linebacker.
But he is also credible in coverage. Not as good as Lewis (of course that could be said of every college DB in the nation) but credible. And he has great closing speed; he is an asset in the secondary.
And that means that Michigan always has personnel on the field to counter what the offense is trying to do. In today's tempo-spread age, that is huge. Exploiting personnel mismatches is a huge part of tempo, and Peppers eliminates them just by being on the field.
So Michigan has the athletes to make it work. The results speak for themselves. Give Hoke and Mattison credit for laying the groundwork that Durkin is turning into a masterpiece.
October 24th, 2015 at 2:32 PM ^
I imagine coaches are using this as a recruiting tool. After all Peppers isn't going to be here forever. Maybe they told Lamar Jackson, watch Peppers, we want to use you that way.
This is what Hoke/Mattison wanted to do with Thomas before Peppers got here but either it just didn't click for Thomas or the coaching wasn't good enough to make it click.
October 24th, 2015 at 4:02 PM ^
secondary personnel no doubt plays a big part in it. taking away the quick throws with jams, re-routing, pattern matching, etc goes a long way and lewis, clark, stribling, peppers, etc have been great (and it never hurts for opponents to help with some timely drops). and versatile guy like peppers is huge given the ability to play run/pass, quickly diagnose, and blow up screens, perimeter runs, etc.
but the front 4 absolutely must control the LOS to be successful in any D. and this front has been disciplined while also being disruptive, theyve been pretty darn good so far. the front 4 has not only held their own but theyve also been able to shed blocks or penetrate (within the scheme) and make plays. makes a huge difference when your DL consistently wins 1 v 1s and makes tackles or forces RBs / QBs to alter their track, timing, etc.
DL and secondary working in concert has allowed them to ramp it up. they havent played the most gifted offenses but no denying the results - and theyve done it w/o elite edge players to terrorize QBs w/o manufacturing pressure (ie via stunt) and w/o nfl level LBs or nfl level safeties (other than peppers) which makes it all more impressive
October 24th, 2015 at 2:14 PM ^
October 24th, 2015 at 2:24 PM ^
The Michigan approach is arguably riskier, as it requires them having multiple DBs that can play man coverage without facing a match-up that could see them get ripped, but it also allows Michigan to easily outnumber and match up to anything their opponent is trying to do.
It is the ability to do this so well on the part of Michigan's defense that makes me wonder if the previous staff ever even knew what a good thing they potentially had here. We have a backfield that can - and does - do anything you might ask of it on a given play and it has been great to see that talent realized this season.
October 24th, 2015 at 5:21 PM ^
I think they wanted to do this last season, but the inability to play press coverage and the early injury to Peppers (not to mention his inexperience as a true frosh) forced them to adjust. That's what one or two difference-makers can do.
October 24th, 2015 at 2:53 PM ^
What they tried last year was something like this, but without Peppers and with Blake Countess (a crafty zone expert who was very poor at man press coverage) it was so bad they had to abandon it. I love watching what they're doing schematically, but it's the talent that allows it.
October 24th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
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October 24th, 2015 at 3:23 PM ^
October 24th, 2015 at 4:11 PM ^
Damn it why didn't I come up with that.
October 24th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^
our coach is awesome. but it is incredibly short-sighted and getting annoying and that the response to any shortcomings of UM's team or success of UM's opponent is met with a emphatic, "HARBAUGH." yes, the man is to admired for his successes but i feel that the fans gloss over the weakness of the current team by the mere mention of his name. not to mention, it leads to unrealisitic expectations, and pressure on the coach (which he can probably handle). no matter his coaching acumen, he is not out there chucking the ball (which would be most welcome, given the struggles of UM's offense). this team needs to improve, big time, to win at Minn and PSU, and then vs. OSU. tough tasks, indeed.
October 24th, 2015 at 5:14 PM ^
May you be served cornflakes without piss in them tomorrow.
October 25th, 2015 at 8:26 AM ^
Put a great bowl of cornflakes down in front of him and he is going to complain about the eggs. Or, upon finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk he'll throw it away in disgust because he wanted two $10's.
October 24th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^
October 24th, 2015 at 8:30 PM ^
This team has serious limitations at QB. I think we all know this including Harbaugh but it is what it is. Have to play with the guys we have. So I don't see the point in dwelling on shortcomings like that.
4 years from now if QB is still an issue than I think we have a legit gripe. But right now we are dealing with Hoke recruits.
October 24th, 2015 at 9:20 PM ^
October 24th, 2015 at 11:29 PM ^
October 25th, 2015 at 8:27 AM ^
October 25th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
The reason Hoke got beat up by media & fans is because his teams didn't look well coached the past three years. Okay, the defense largely looked good but the offense and special teams were disorganized/not in sync. There's no worse feeling than watching a team (yours) whose players look lost on the field. It happened all the time with Hoke. All the time. Not so with Harbaugh. His team looks confident, hungry & disciplined...well coached! Yes, one special teams play burned us. It happens. It's part of why college football is exciting. Harbaugh gets a pass because a) it wasn't a horrible call or management of the last minute and b) it's an anomoly of what we've from UM Football this year.