Interesting Tidbits About MTSU and The Return of Scott Shafer
This is an interesting article about our first opponent which is Middle Tennessee State. I did not realize the number of coaches that has been through this program and did not realize that former Michigan Defensive Coordinator, Scott Shafer, (2008) was the current DC for the Blue Raiders. Tony Franklin is the current OC. Former Clemson head coach, Tommy West is the current defensive line coach. The Raiders do have talent, however, they are breaking in a new QB this year. This team will have athletes all over the field and are not quite an Appalachian State type team,however, they will play hard and compete. It's a good game for Michigan to begin with.
August 10th, 2019 at 11:03 AM ^
Oh dang, a post with interesting and relevant content, a clickable link, an informative title, and a nice summary of what’s inside.
We need to get you to teach an mgoclass on how to make good submissions.
August 10th, 2019 at 11:08 AM ^
Thank you!! I am actually a teacher. Ha Ha. It is very interesting though. MTSU recruits Georgia and Florida quite heavily and playing against these types of athletes is an excellent way to begin the season for Michigan. I expect Michigan to win the game though. I like starting out this way.
August 10th, 2019 at 12:37 PM ^
Beats opening with Notre Dame with no tune-up game first. Boy did I air THAT grievance at Festivus 2018.
August 10th, 2019 at 12:49 PM ^
And how did the Feats of Strength go for you last year?
August 10th, 2019 at 1:59 PM ^
Coach Barwis? Is that you?
August 10th, 2019 at 11:45 AM ^
And about something other than overpriced, sweat-activated t-shirts. Wonders never cease.
August 10th, 2019 at 1:01 PM ^
Had to log in just to up-thumb this. So worth it.
August 10th, 2019 at 11:05 AM ^
Stop Ty Lee and there’s nothing to worry about. If this were Bill Belichick’s team, Lavert would be on Lee all game with Hawkins (or other starting FS) over the top.
Their OL is barely bigger than our DL in terms of average weight.
August 10th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
I'm thinking the line on this game will be in the 28-31 range.
August 10th, 2019 at 11:08 AM ^
Scott Shafer was one of Rich Rod's first mistakes. Firing him because he wanted to run a defense that would have worked out with the players Michigan had was one of the dumbest things RR did, and it cemented his 'dead coach walking' status for me. Shafer argued against the 3-3-5, but RR forced him into it. Nonetheless, Shafer called his defense out of it during some games. To be sure, RR had to fire him for that 'insubordination', but the 20/20 hindsight facts prove that Shafer was in the right...
I expect MTSU to give a valiant effort, but it won't be anywhere near close enough to put a scare in the game.
August 10th, 2019 at 11:20 AM ^
Wow. I did not know this. Interesting that Scott Shafer was Coach Harbaugh's Defensive Coordinator as well as Stanford and Harbaugh really liked him.
August 10th, 2019 at 11:59 AM ^
My memory of that is a lot different.
RR let Schafer run his own defense - for much of the season. The 3-3-5 was sprinkled in just a little. You can look back at old UFRs like this one. https://mgoblog.com/content/upon-further-review-defense-vs-notre-dame-0
When things were not going well, RR stepped in and ordered he employ the 3-3-5 against Purdue. That did not go better. It happened after some conflicts between Schafer and other assistants.
August 10th, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
Was that the game where Purdue's 3rd string QB (who had never started a game) dropped 45 or so on us? If it wasn't clear yet that the Rich Rocket Scientist experiment was a train wreck, that game helped clarify things.
"It doesn't get fixed overnight..."
August 10th, 2019 at 2:21 PM ^
Should have hired Casteel.
August 10th, 2019 at 3:21 PM ^
Oh, this again. I know, Bill Martin wouldn't ante up the dough to bring Casteel in. You would think if RichRod thought the 3-3-5 was the thing and Casteel was his 3-3-5 guy he would have insisted on Casteel before he accepted the job. I guess he got that right with Arizona but then Casteel proceeded to shit the bed.
Bottom line here is RichRod was/is a shitty defensive coach who, in typical control freak style, assumed he knew better than anyone.
August 10th, 2019 at 5:44 PM ^
I hate defending RR. He was a crappy coach at Michigan.
But some of these arguments just don't make sense. RR wasn't a defensive coach. He didn't want to have anything to do with running the defense. Nick Saban is a control freak. That doesn't describe RR any more than it does a typical coach.
RR hired Shafer and let him run his own defense. He only stepped in when things weren't working. It was a bad fit, assistants used to running a 3-3-5 and a DC who didn't know anyone on the staff having them teach something completely different. There were personality conflicts and, not surprisingly, RR stepped in on the side of his assistants from WVU. At that point it was obvious Schafer wasn't coming back for another season.
RR did arrange for his assistants to come with him. Casteel was planning on it. They still had a game to coach, so they weren't going to be signed at the same time as RR. The sticking point was that WVU offered Casteel a longer guaranteed contract and Michigan refused to give him more than a one year deal. RR was going to Michigan, one of the real blue bloods in college football. I'll forgive him for not anticipating they were behind the times and would let themselves get easily outbid for assistant coaches he wanted. Outbid not by another blue blood, but by West Virginia.
How much did that general cheapness have to do with the decline of Michigan football? People still talk about what ifs with Les Miles getting the job instead. Les had the highest paid staff in CFB at the time. How was that going to work out?
August 10th, 2019 at 7:10 PM ^
I wonder about that last point every now and again actually - would Martin have ponied up for the staff Les would bring, much less Les himself? That was going to be a rather sizeable investment. Bill may have had to sell the yacht even......well, no, not QUITE that sizeable, but close.
August 10th, 2019 at 7:29 PM ^
I'm just baffled that people here still views Casteel as the solution to the defensive woes of the MGoRichRod years. When Casteel's defenses at WVU were the same trash Shafer and GERG ran here. And, as has been noted, Rich Rod hired him at UA and those defenses were...trash.
August 10th, 2019 at 8:54 PM ^
100% agree. It seem the 3-3-5 defense (at least as run by those ass clowns) is essentially trash. Undersized 3 man line gets blown off the ball on run plays, and doesn't seem to generate any notable pass rush on pass plays.
Remember Wisconsin running the ball 29 straight times on us?
Sad and pathetic. And finger pointer RR still hasn't taken ownership of the 3 year catastrophe that was his UM tenure.
August 10th, 2019 at 11:11 AM ^
RIP Bill C previews. Hopefully he brings these back next offseason at ESPN.
August 10th, 2019 at 11:35 AM ^
Will be a good first game it seems. Attacking defense against a new QB is going to be fun to watch.
August 10th, 2019 at 11:39 AM ^
Breaking in a new QB....who's first start will be against Don Brown's D AT the Big House.....
August 10th, 2019 at 12:25 PM ^
Not that the atmosphere will be QUITE the same as UTL, but add in the fact that it’s a night game as well.
August 10th, 2019 at 11:48 AM ^
And all this time I had been worried about Army!
August 10th, 2019 at 3:33 PM ^
LOL, I was thinking the same thing. Great! Now I’m nervous about MTSU! Is there ever any peace?
August 10th, 2019 at 11:57 AM ^
The only chance they have is if Giddy Potts goes off AND one of the other guys has the game of his life.
August 10th, 2019 at 12:21 PM ^
MTSU is a pretty decent team with some playmakers. If their qb turns out to be halfway decent, they will upset a few teams and make a bowl game
August 10th, 2019 at 12:26 PM ^
Too bad GERG is not their defensive coordinator
August 10th, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
Don’t worry. No highly ranked team from the state of Michigan would ever choke badly enough to be upset by a MTSU team....
August 10th, 2019 at 12:50 PM ^
Last Chance U: Coaches Edition
August 10th, 2019 at 1:54 PM ^
MTSU is the home for wayward college football coaches.
August 10th, 2019 at 2:04 PM ^
This is a great first game for the team: A team we've never played before, night game excitement, should be a good chance to figure out what our identity is. MTSU isn't bad enough where we can sleepwalk through, so we'll get a preview of what we need going forward.
August 10th, 2019 at 2:25 PM ^
MTSU runs Air-Raid offense which is unlike anything that Michigan has faced in the B1G. Tony Franklin developed the system that derived from Hal Mumme's system which is a similar offense that Mike Leach, Graham Harrell runs as a playcaller. They will spread you out and pass the ball a ton. This will be a good test for the new starting secondary.
August 10th, 2019 at 3:13 PM ^
I expect mtsu to end the season with a winning record. Thanks for the article. They do have talent.
August 10th, 2019 at 3:36 PM ^
They do not shy away from playing the big boys either. They play Iowa and a much improved Duke program this season as well
August 10th, 2019 at 4:49 PM ^
I studied at MTSU for 2 years in the late 90s and almost walked on to the team, however I could not afford to not work through school. Loved it there in Murfreesboro.
I know...cool story bro.
August 11th, 2019 at 7:07 AM ^
Good school.
August 10th, 2019 at 8:39 PM ^
I think, from the article I gathered that they are from the center of Tennessee. Good read.
August 11th, 2019 at 7:20 AM ^
article?
August 11th, 2019 at 11:20 AM ^
Listening to Don Brown talk about how he's going to start the season I can see Middle Tennessee will be 3 and out on their first possession, with 4th and more than 10. The two busiest players in the game are going to be Middle Tennessee's punter and DPJ on punt returns.
My question is how quick will the Michigan offense come out? If they come out firing from the first second, it will be 14-0 by half way through the 1st qtr.
Michigan should win by a margin of 28 to 42 points, depending on how quick the Michigan offense comes out. With how awful the opening to the first game last season, against Notre Dame, was I'm hoping I see them explode out of the gate.
Another question I have is, how much will Cade McNamara play in this game? I hope he gets a large part of the 4th qtr, to help get ready for backing up Dylan McCaffrey next season.