Offense Staff vs. Defense Staff

Submitted by MattAttack on

Tonight, I was trying to decide which coaching staff I was more excited about, the offense or the defense. Although I like all the hires so far, I'm more excited about the hires on the defensive side of the ball.

IMO, the defense brings a more proven track record. I believe Durkin was a grand slam and I may have squeeled slightly hearing him state that he was waiting for JH to call him when he heard the Harbaugh to UM rumors. He's also a hellacious recruiter. I'm also excited about Greg Jackson. I think we'll see our DB play greatly improve, especially at safety. 

Some of you are much more knowledgeable than I when it comes to football and I'm sure there are also people with much more insight on these particular coaches. Just for fun, are you more excited about the hires on offense or defense at this point? 

-I'm going with JUB's report on Wheatley accepting the job for this scenario. 

-I counted Baxter as neutral (also an exciting hire).

EDIT: In order to keep it fair, Harbaugh is neutral as well. Clearly is the most excitingest of exciting hires. 

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Boom Goes the …

January 8th, 2015 at 10:07 PM ^

I think Mattison staying on as DL coach makes a huge difference.  Maybe I just don't know enough about the offensive guys as coaches, but everyone on D seems about as close to a sure thing as you can get

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Bagheera

January 8th, 2015 at 10:09 PM ^

Interesting. I feel the opposite.  The offense has Harbaugh, an NFL OC, an NFL RBs coach, and one of the best OL coaches in the business.  The defense has a guy who's been a DC for only two years, a guy who's been fairly mediocre recently, and a solid NFL DB coach.  Advantage offense.

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AnthonyThomas

January 9th, 2015 at 6:54 AM ^

Not sure that I would count Brandon Graham as an RR player, and RVB wasn't much until 2011, after Mattison was on the staff. Since then, we've had walk-ons and three-star D-linemen show all-conference potential (Heininger, Glasgow, Henry). Taco Charlton and Mone look very promising as well. 

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WMUKirk

January 9th, 2015 at 1:53 PM ^

Isn't it the mark of a good coach to tailor his scheme to beat the teams he faces? Why would he tailor a scrape exchange scheme (which you would need to beat PAC-12 teams), in the B1G 10. No, he instilled a double a-gap quarters press scheme that was perfect for the teams he faced.

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TruBluWolv55

January 8th, 2015 at 10:23 PM ^

I am very excited about this staff and the expectations that we all have for the program. Maybe the bitter pill we've had to swallow during the last 7 years will make future success taste even sweeter.

Joined: 11/28/2010

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goblue16

January 8th, 2015 at 10:25 PM ^

The defense should be the better unit especially with all the talent returning. With that said I want to see Morris play in Harbaughs system see how it will change his game

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MAccLA

January 8th, 2015 at 10:27 PM ^

I think Baxter will end up being the sleeper hire of the bunch...heard nothing but great things about him from USC fans...ST as a unit has not impressed me since Breaston was returning punts/kicks.

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Baughhumbug

January 8th, 2015 at 10:33 PM ^

I think when you look at the offensive staff, you have to consider Harbaugh part of it. He will certainly have a lot of input. That tips the scales in my book... I like the offensive staff more. 

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MichiganMan20

January 8th, 2015 at 10:40 PM ^

Tough call but when you consider Harbaugh is an offensive guy, I have to go with the offense but man what a great staff all around. I think results will be immediately noticeable.

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HANCOCK

January 8th, 2015 at 10:40 PM ^

I think the Drevno hire is flying under the radar. Our O-Line has a ton of raw talent. If he can turn that group around it would be huge. He is supposed to be a great coach, so I have high hopes for him.

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AlwaysBlue

January 8th, 2015 at 10:44 PM ^

We have not had a Michigan type defense for so many years...at least back to the English years. Mattison will be a great mentor for the new DC. And I think we will see immediate results in part because of the foundation he and Hoke built. The offense seems like more of a challenge. I do think we will see better OL and running back play in part because of experience and in part because the staff will understand you do what you do well and build from there rather than the scattershot approach of recent years.

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ottomatic

January 8th, 2015 at 10:52 PM ^

I think it's more interesting to compare this current staff with the previous staff. If the knock on Hoke is that he failed to develop players, maybe that was first and foremost a staff talent issue that reflected itself in the failure to develop players.

I don't know why, before they've played a down, but I've convinced myself that the new staff is made up of God tier game planners. I expect that game planning is where we will see the biggest immediate impact between 'as-was' and 'to-be'.

Joined: 01/12/2011

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Oregon Wolverine

January 8th, 2015 at 11:52 PM ^

Lets keep patting ourselves on the back while the 2015 campaign is 9 mos away.

There's an enormous amount of work for this staff to do. More for the players. As Coach Harbaugh said at the press conference "let's see what kind of team we want to be."

It's up to the team to respond.

I hope they do.

M'88, MLaw '91

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