Michael Spath gets analysis from former Michigan players on what's wrong

Whenever I read things like this, I always come away thinking that many former players - unless they've gone into coaching - don't know all that much. Nothing they said is more or less valuable than your average national analyst. Most of those quotes are alot of vague platitudes. 

I guess I'd rather have these things than not, but most of the time they're not particularly insightful. Which is fine. It just gets annoying when fans use those same quotes to confirm their own baseless opinions. 

great...so now we have players sabotaging things anonymously.

"In Josh Gattis' offense there is absolutely no place for Ben Mason."

When they didn't trot him out on the goal line against MTSU, I assumed our DL depth was bad.  He was money in short yardage IIRC and to give that up meant we had a more pressing issue somewhere else.

Can any former players attest to this on here?  Do the effects of a pre game pep talk last any longer than the opening kick off?

We need some of the North Campus superstars to engineer a Bo hologram for the pregame speeches.  Problem solved.

Only middle aged fans who watch a lot of sports movies place great emphasis on pre-game pep talks. 

Guys the man can hardly put a full sentence together. No surprise he’s not Knute Rockne in pregame speeches. That’s ok if you prepare your team. Don’t need a lot of rah rah if your team is focused and prepared. That also appears to be lacking. 

I guess the question I don't know the answer to is whether these guys like each other, whether they believe in each other, and whether they believe in their coaches. 

Exactly what I've been wondering. I hope Harbaugh lights everybody up this week and tells them it's time for them to prove they're not a bunch of losers. I hope he stares Shea down while he says it, too. And then I hope they aren't a bunch of losers.

It'll be a fun three weeks if Shea can rally the troops and rise to the challenge himself.

Ben Mason in the zone read option as a RB was the mistake.  He should be a FB in the power-I but Gattis is too damn stubborn.  The read option run game is not going to work inside the 10 yard line. 

I was surprised to hear the players thought his pep talks were awkward. I would think from his demeanor he would have guys ready to run through a wall.

Not to throw more speculative fuel on the flaming bag of shit full of hot takes...but has anyone else noticed he doesn’t do that QB “get psyched” thing with the shoulder pads?

he used it with Smith and Kap and I remember him doing it with Ruddock but I can’t recall it happening again. That’s not the reason they’re losing games but it is another example of his attitude/demeanor changing.

Mason is the obvious example that JH is not letting Gattis do his job.

Anyone who watched the Amazon show can tell you the same thing as number one. He never made those speeches, and when he did the team kinda looked at him whimsically. Maybe he needs to become better at it. Maybe Don Brown needs to do it every week.

The 2nd one seems like a reach if you ask me.

I'm actually kind of fascinated with pregame speeches.  At what age level are they most/least effective?  Is our annon source saying that in order to be a good road team you have to have a great pregame speech?  Does it matter who give the speech (coaches, players, guests, etc)?

Why does it always feel like Michigan is the worst program in the country at mitigating injuries, mismatches, and recruiting holes? 

How does Northwestern constantly field competent rushing defenses with Northwestern caliber D-lineman recruits and linebackers?  Why can't we do this when our plan B guys (who would be starters at half the programs in the country) are forced into action?  This is so goddamn frustrating. 

Coach pre-game rabble is overrated but needed at times.  Don Brown's rant during the Florida game in 2017 was much needed.  I highly doubt Saban, Urban and Riley are "Rah Rah" guys, but their guys seem to be ready for games.   

I think this team is seriously missing leadership from the players.  Every time we hear players talking about what went wrong, we get the whole, "we're gonna work hard and hold people accountable", but yet, it never happens.  Who are our leaders?  There's no Bush or Winovich on this team.  There's no one leading by example.  This team doesn't have alpha males.  We need that.

If the players aren't hyped about playing a game then that's a serious indictment on the players and their passion to win.  The mental weakness of this team dwelling on one play that happened earlier in the game is absolutely astonishing.  We're physically and mentally soft.  It's been that way for years and speaks of the Country Club mindset.

On offense, the most important position is QB, and I think it's DT on defense. It's hard to be great when you are struggling at the most important positions. It seems that the QB is struggling to read the defense pre-snap and make a quick throw from the pocket. On defense, it's a bit of a mess at DT, and the linebacker level has also struggled. The Wisconsin game was the worst I've seen them play assignment wise, but I suspect it has to do with the inability to stop the run with DT's. It's too bad that they didn't recruit that position well enough because chickens are coming home to roost. Count me as a person who says play the freshman and hope they grow. 

"Michael Spath cherry picks comments from former Michigan players to push the Spath narrative."

Fixed it for you.

I talk to a lot of players from the last decade or so-- guys who are in the league and some who coach. The number one thing that I heard is that Michigan needs to get back to the basics. Scale back the playbook significantly and rep those plays until you master them. The offense was always going to take a little bit of time to form an identity, but all of the turnovers completely stall all the momentum on offense. Shea is struggling with reads, the OL is struggling to maintain their blocks, and the backs are struggling to hold onto the ball.

The other thing I heard was how the hell are we so slow to start every big game. We've been down early in all three games this year (fumbles on every starting possession will do that for you) but your offense should be able to look solid for the first possession or two because you are scripting the first 15 or so plays. Why we are starting so slow is shocking. When we get off to a solid start our offense clicks and we score points. If we don't and go down early we start to go into a shell and it's disappointing. 

The players are right though, the next quarter will tell me a lot about this team. If they come out and look crisp and get after Rutgers I will feel better. If we look sloppy or fumble or have early sack problems we could be in trouble this year. 

Very interesting. 

Spath is basically at ChatSports levels now.  Sad.

My first response to anything Spath related is to completely ignore it.

However, I did read this article and the one thing that struck home was his inability to fire up the troops.  That quote sounded like it came from a player in the Harbaugh era.  I have been saying it since his second year.  This team shows little to no emotion or fire.  

Watch a guy make an important tacke, TFL,  or sack.  Many times NOBODY comes up and congratulates the guy on a good play.  They just look to the sidelines for the next signal.

Go back to the Notre Dame game last year and watch the very beginning of the broadcast when Jim and the team are standing in the tunnel ready to take the field.  It looks like a funeral procession.

*****

I learned this back in 85.  We ran a defensive scrimmage, and someone made a good tackle but nobody showed a lick of emotion or praise.  Coach Moeller stopped practice and said, "WAIT A MINUTE.  STOP EVERYTHING.  One of your guys -your teammate - just made a great play.  He just helped the defense.  He just helped MICHIGAN, and not one guy slaps him on the back or gives him a high 5?  What's the point then?  Why do any of this?"

I never forgot that and preached it every year I was a coach. Therefore, it's something I always look for.  And frankly, we've lacked it for YEARS.

I didn't like Ben Mason entering the game any more than the next guy, but that move didn't reek of desperation. It reeked of what I've been worried about since the spring: Angry Iowa Running Back Hating God. 

Since last season Michigan lost Karan Higdon and Chris Evans. Zach Charbonnet was limited due to injury. I never saw Ben VanSumeren, so I don't even know if he was healthy/traveled. Tru Wilson is out. Christian Turner has pass pro issues and has had injury issues. Hassan Haskins isn't good.

I mean...there's nobody left. It wasn't necessarily desperation. It's just a fact that when you don't have bodies, you have to try to get somebody ready to play, whether it's a linebacker or safety or wide receiver or defensive tackle.

I coached in a high school game where we were down to our sixth tailback because of injuries. The kid was a backup fullback, and he had to run to the sideline every play so I could tell him what to do. And we squeaked out a win. Crap happens sometimes, and it's happening to Michigan right now.