How good is Michigan? ESPN Insider conducted an anonymous survey of coaches

Submitted by Leaders And Best on

Not sure how much of paywalled stuff I can put here so I will just leave the link

The expectations for Year 1 of the Harbaugh era are being rapidly revised. Can Michigan challenge rivals Ohio State and Michigan State in the Big Ten East Division? How much should we buy into the past four weeks, as Michigan has defeated only one opponent (BYU) with a winning record? What's Michigan's ceiling this year, and what could stop the Wolverines from reaching it?

We asked coaches who have faced Michigan -- or soon will in the Big Ten -- to assess Harbaugh and the Wolverines as they prepare for their Big Ten home opener against No. 13 Northwestern. Coaches were granted anonymity in order to speak freely.

 

http://espn.go.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/13817554/how-much-michigan-wolverines-improved-coach-jim-harbaugh

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UM Fan from Sydney

October 7th, 2015 at 6:25 AM ^

Yup. I also fear that the players *might* get full of themselves and think "all we have to do is show and we win," but then I know Jim is telling them to not think that way. We will truly not know how good this team is until the MSU game (I'm not buying Northwestern's hype, we are going to beat them).



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ChiBlueBoy

October 7th, 2015 at 7:35 AM ^

But I'm less worried about this team mailing it in. Have you noticed how much Harbaugh and the players talk about "battle rhythm"? They're grinding it out every day. Every day trying to get 1% better. On Saturday, it's just another day to compete--not just against the other team, but your expectations of yourself. He's instilling the mindset of a professional or, if you prefer, a warrior. One where you don't have to get hyped to win because every day you're giving your all until it's beyond habit and becomes a way of life. Harbaugh models it like no one else. This is a Jim Harbaugh team, and we're starting to see what that means. It's much more encompassing than I had ever imagined.

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Optimism Attache

October 7th, 2015 at 6:40 AM ^

Two more losses this season won't, I think, make us underachievers. Maybe just achievers commensurate with our talent, which we haven't had in a long time. I'm cool with that. And if we do beat one of the rivals and lose maybe one other random game, that I think might even count as overachieving this year. 

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CompleteLunacy

October 7th, 2015 at 7:58 AM ^

But you know what? It's felt like everyone has tried to tear Michigan down any opportunity they got over last decade. I'll take the positive press for once, even if the "can they win the Big Ten?" Talk feels premature to us fans who have lived through the last 7 years of incompetence and are weary about such early season projections.

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CompleteLunacy

October 7th, 2015 at 8:01 AM ^

What complacency? They haven't won shit yet. The team knows this. I highly doubt they become complacent because a bunch of writers think they might be good enough to play in championship games this year. They don't care about that. They care that they've beaten OSU and MSU once each in the last ten or so attempts.

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1464

October 7th, 2015 at 9:12 AM ^

Complacency meaning if our expectations as fans and as an AD are not heightened, we will allow mediocre to be the standard.  8-4ish seasons complimented by the occasional 10 win season.  If you allow good to be the standard, you'll rarely fight until you get to great.

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Humen

October 7th, 2015 at 12:21 AM ^

OP is literally just a huge tease. My first wife was like that

/never married

Seriously. Ace in a ska band taught me more about this team (because it was epic, and so is this team).



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Farnn

October 7th, 2015 at 12:23 AM ^

Basically coaches saying Michigan is good, playing classic Harbaugh football(run a lot, control clock/game, strong D line, and make opponent uncomfortable), Rudock may hold them back, will win more than people expected year one. Also doing a good job adapting to personnel and using what they are good at.

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CoverZero

October 7th, 2015 at 12:44 AM ^

1484, you raise some valid points...and normally I would agree, IF the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Head Coach was Brady Hoke, or some other Clown.

But, he is not.  He is Jim MFin Harbaugh, who has more Panache and Mystque than any other coach in football, or pro sports for that matter... not named Belichik.

For that reason alone... I FREAKING LOVE THE HYPE.

Harbaugh is making this team STRONG.  He is molding Men from Boys and teaching them how to deal with pressure and expecations.

He has dealt with both of those for over 30 years and has them down cold.

This is Captain Comeback for crissakes.

Harbs aura is seeping in to the conciousness and unconsciousness of Urban Meyer and D-Tonio.  There are no doubts about that.

So bring on the Hype....and check this out:

 

https://youtu.be/h3fq5yTkUPE?t=1h41m55s

1 hr. 41 minutes in. CC

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BLHoke

October 7th, 2015 at 1:19 AM ^

I think the hype is attributed just as much, or possibly more so to the close loss @ Utah rather than the dominant win @ home vs BYU. Utah is averaging 229 rushing YPG against opponents not named Michigan. The Wolverines held them to 127 opening night, and nearly half of those came from their QB. Michigan also out gained them and won the TOP. If the turnover battle isn't so lopsided in Utah's favor (3-1, pick 6), not only does UofM win that game, at night, on a Thursday, out West... The difference in those other statistical areas is probably much more steep.

I agree with the hype to an extent. Michigan certainly has a realistic chance at emerging as the best team in the Big Ten. Current momentum and scheduling trend that way. I don't think they're the best team in the nation just yet, but they are certainly one of the 5 or so most impressive I've seen thus far (Utah, Bama, Florida, NW, UofM). Bama and Michigan essentially beat themselves with turnovers vs very good ranked teams, and Utah, Florida and NW all have very impressive, dominant wins that were somewhat, or very unexpected (Oregon, Ole Miss, Standford), along with being undefeated. That's just MHO though.

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Hail Harbo

October 7th, 2015 at 1:19 AM ^

I have insider and I'm not shy about spilling all, I certainly signed no confidentiallty statement with ESPN.  Thing is, there is no there there.  Really, there isn't anything that isnt' discussed daily on MGoBlog.  Hell, we've gotten juicier quotes from post game pressers than you'll get from this article.  Here's the best quote in the entire article.

"That was the best defense by far that we had played all year," said a defensive assistant who has faced three Power 5 opponents.

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CoverZero

October 7th, 2015 at 2:07 AM ^

...and its not just the defense...its special teams.  The Inside Michigan football this week showed the Punt Coverage.

and...it was a Thing of Pure Beauty.

Coach Baxter has those kids respecting and staying in their lanes all the way down the field.  There literally is nowhere for the returners to run.

Great coaching is a thing of pure beauty.  Its worth its weight in gold....

 

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hazardc

October 7th, 2015 at 4:25 AM ^

In regards to the offense, it is pretty obvious the game plan even wiht utah was to beat them until they were tired and then try to close out the game instead of going for big plays.. it was a grind.

 

every single game michigan has played so far, by the end of the game, the defense of the other team has looked absolutely gassed while our defense still looks like they're in the first half. most of their players will be sucking air with their hands on their hips while we're grinding out a few more yards. 

 

Even with Utah -- their defense was mostly gassed. The pick 6 was likely the difference between a W and an L at that point in the game.  

 

To me, at least, it has seemed that the game plan is "hammer the fuck out of them until they lose the will to fight, don't worry about scoring until their will is broken.. just keep them from scoring"

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bacon

October 7th, 2015 at 5:49 AM ^

'[Anonymous] Coach 2: "[Rudock's] going to hold them back, but he's the best they've got, right? That's why he's not the starter at Iowa. The other guy [C.J. Beathard] is better."' Clearly Kirk Ferentz.

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marti221

October 7th, 2015 at 8:01 AM ^

I guess that depends on how you define "similar." He's thrown 2 more TDs, and 4 less interceptions. He averages more than a yard per attempt more than Rudock while completing them at a higher rate (Beathard - 64% Rudock-60%). He's also thrown for 200 more total passing yards than Rudock, so to say their stats are "similar" might be a bit of a stretch.



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Magnus

October 7th, 2015 at 8:16 AM ^

I thought the original comment was talking about last year. Last year Rudock's stats were similar (62%, 16 touchdowns, 5 picks, 7.1 yards/attempt) to Beathard's this year (64%, 7 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 7.9 yards/attempt). It's not a stretch to think Rudock would have improved again slightly with another year in a familiar setting, so I don't know how much anyone can say that Beathard is "better" than Rudock.

On a side note, I liked Iowa's current backup (Tyler Wiegers) when he was coming out of Detroit Country Day (he was Moe Ways's QB). He hasn't played a ton so far, but I think he'll be good for them in the future.

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