Props to Mike Hart
Mike Hart was hired on January 13, 2021.
That year, he took a converted LB and turned him into a legitimate all-B1G RB that carried Michigan's offense to a win over OSU (5 rushing TDs) and a B1G Championship.
The next year, he helped Corum become a Heisman frontrunner and then developed Edwards into one of the most versatile Michigan RBs, ever - en route to a win over OSU and a B1G Championship.
This offseason he was without Corum AND Edwards. So he turned his attention to another converted LB and the kid is starting to look almost identical to Haskins in his run style, pad level, tackle breaking, and "one cut and go" ability. Mullings was a converted LB last year, like Haskins in 2020. Mullings is a RB in 2023...and those reps, that focus, and that extra film and coaching have CLEARLY helped.
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Table the Mullings is the clear #2 talk, not necessary. Michigan has 3 backs who all provide a different look. Hart has already done GREAT work 3 times (Haskins / Corum / Edwards) and he'll continue to get Corum back (every game looks a little better) and there is no reason to believe he won't get Edwards back (he already looked A LOT better yesterday, he's just behind schedule compared to Corum, but progress was there).
This is about Mike Hart. Give the man his due. This is incredible work. Best RB coach in the country, glad he's getting more added to his plate - totally earned!
Next year could have 'Lightning and Thunder' with Edwards and Mullings, and excited to see what he does with Cabana, Hall, and the HS senior, Marshall in a couple of years - plenty of talent to continue molding.
THANK YOU, MIKE HART!
October 1st, 2023 at 8:17 AM ^
Was thinking along these same lines this week. As if we needed a reason to appreciate this man even more!
October 1st, 2023 at 9:55 AM ^
Indeed. Dude can end up in the Michigan Sports HOF as a player and coach. Like Harbaugh!
October 1st, 2023 at 11:14 AM ^
Indeed. A heavy dose of Thunder - Corum and Mullings - for 3 quarters against OSU to soften the already soft followed by a 4th quarter of Lightning - DE and Corum against an exhausted "Very TUFF" defense seems to be the formula for The Game this year.
October 1st, 2023 at 12:46 PM ^
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/mike-hart-effect
For those that missed it.
Blue and Maize balls still thinks he is "meh"
October 1st, 2023 at 8:19 AM ^
Absolutely right. Well said. Love our running game.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:20 AM ^
Mullings is a senior, and I don’t see with our depth chart that he’ll get a serious look to stay. I can see him grad transferring after a firm handshake thank you.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:36 AM ^
Please elaborate on this awful hot take.
Why would Mullings leave or be forced out when he's currently RB3 and the rest of the likely returning RB room will be largely unproven?
Even if Edwards were to come back (probably unlikely), he's not a 25 carry guy, so Kalel would still get plenty of work as RB2.
October 1st, 2023 at 10:31 AM ^
I'm not really sure I want to hear his explanation for this take. It's going to be ridiculous and only go downhill from here.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:36 AM ^
Huh? Corum is gone and Edwards is still very likely to go as well. The RB depth chart is wiiiiiide open. Mullings has a COVID year and a great shot to be RB1, though of course Stokes and the freshman will have something to say about that.
Zero chance he gets a firm handshake.
October 1st, 2023 at 9:05 AM ^
He will be back. I also liked what I saw from Franklin and Dunlap. Those guys ran hard and pushed piles. Hart is doing a great job as all backs continue to improve
October 1st, 2023 at 11:59 AM ^
Don’t forget Copa Cabana.
October 1st, 2023 at 12:13 PM ^
I am not so sure Edwards leaves after this year.
October 1st, 2023 at 4:28 PM ^
before the season I would have told you he’s gone, but right now I agree it’s a legit possibility he comes back to be “the” man and improve his draft stock.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:36 AM ^
This makes no sense whatsoever and just isn't true at all.
1. He's got another year, which you seem to acknowledge...but acting like just because he's a senior, he's done at Michigan, is weird.
2. He's not an NFL guy (yet)...so one can assume he'll play out his college career.
3. Michigan's #1 RB will be gone and the #2 RB will have a choice (we thought / he thinks).
4. Michigan's #2 RB isn't an every down traditional RB. Nor does he want to be. So even if he is back, there will be SIGNIFICANT carries in Michigan's run heavy offense.
5. Why would Michigan give their #3 RB, who contributes now, a "firm handshake?" That makes no sense whatsoever. If anything, they'll find him NIL to keep him.
6. Why would he transfer when he could potentially be a 1,000 back at Michigan next year if he keeps progressing?
7. Who behind him has shown, "I'm next?" The kid who is still in high school and hasn't been coached by Mike Hart?
8. Michigan's system is PRRFECT for this version of Mullings (see Haskins, 2021). And Mullings is PERFRCT for Michigan's system.
9. He has 29 total rushing attempts to this point in his career...there is plenty of "tread" on the tires. Why would he start over when he's just now hitting his stride as a RB?
10. Harbaugh LOVES Mullings and his two- way, "football player" guys. He's not giving up on Mullings, he was raving about him before he was ever contributing. Yesterday, watch in the background of the touchdown...you would've thought little Jack Harbaugh scored.
That is a god awful take.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:46 AM ^
I see Stokes's mom is on the board
October 1st, 2023 at 9:52 AM ^
The fuck with this???
That fumble in the end zone against TCU would have ended anyone's career in a Michigan uniform if he was just another back (see: CJ Stokes career after missing ONE cut against OSU). Mullings got back into that game. And now you think he's done?
This is one of the dumbest takes I've seen in recent times...
October 1st, 2023 at 12:50 PM ^
Stokes has been injured.
October 1st, 2023 at 10:39 AM ^
I don’t think you’re taking in all the data before posting this take.
If the coaches thought Mullings might leave, do you think they’d be giving him all these carries? Or do you think the coaches don’t have the foresight to find out Mullings intentions before devoting so many resources to get him carries?
October 1st, 2023 at 10:43 AM ^
Firm handshake forr a contributer would not happen in this NIL era.
October 1st, 2023 at 1:06 PM ^
There’s not really an explanation beyond what I’ve already stated. He’s a senior, and that’s my entire take. Nothing against him, I’ve loved what he’s shown this year especially.
October 1st, 2023 at 1:38 PM ^
Mgoblog tradition:
1. Scorching hot take
2. Complete lack of background/facts/understanding for said take
3. take shot into sun by comments
4. I’m a good person and I wasn’t trying to flame anyone and why you guys all upset?
October 1st, 2023 at 7:59 PM ^
Nah. I'm not bothered that y'all are upset. Most of us are strangers on the internet. I'm not here to flame out or be upset that somebody on the internet said I was wrong. It was something that came to mind, I said it "out loud" and I'm ok with being wrong about it. Feel free to come back to me after the season and remind me if I end up being wrong. Seriously.
October 1st, 2023 at 1:29 PM ^
Mullins will be on the top of our depth chart once Corum and Edwards departs. Even if Edwards returns, Mullins will be at least 1b with no less than 40% of the carries.
October 1st, 2023 at 5:10 PM ^
Corum is obviously gone after this season, and since Edwards thinks he’s going to be better than Walter Payton he’s certainly going to go to the league too.
October 2nd, 2023 at 10:29 AM ^
Someone should give a firm handshake to this post.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:29 AM ^
He's Fred Jackson, but fast.
October 1st, 2023 at 1:40 PM ^
So that’s now been eclipsed by the Harbaugh quote about Orji:
”He’s Herschel Walker, but a quarterback.”
October 1st, 2023 at 8:30 AM ^
Hart deserves credit but Haskins was already a successful converted LB to RB for 2 years before Hart arrived. While a 20 TD season wasn't conceivable, he had 600+ yards as the second back in 2019 at 5+ yards a carry and averaged 6+ ypc in [Season Redacted].
He became a legitimate all B1G back under Jay. This was evident in the 2019 ND rain game.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:37 AM ^
Stop ruining the narrative.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:49 AM ^
No one said he was bad...but the numbers speak for themselves. Jay Harbaugh did GREAT work with him, no one was putting Jay down, this is about Hart.
And Haskins looked very much like a converted LB before Hart. He was still effective, but he wasn't a SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN. He wasn't CONSENSUS FIRST TEAM ALL-B1G. Let's stop right there. He was on a different level.
And that's no shade to Jay. The guy had six 100-yard rushing games in '21 and 20 (!) TDs.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:57 AM ^
FWIW...this is his 2019 stat line when he was HM All-B1G.
He had the Illinois game and the Notre Dame game in the rain that was mentioned.
...now go look at when Hart got him, and let's see if we want to continue comparing.
He was also just clearly a different and better back. He went from being the power guy to keeping Blake Corum off the field and being an every down ALL-AMERICAN.
The vision was better. The cut back was better. The patience was A LOT better.
October 1st, 2023 at 11:20 AM ^
That's ... a very good season for a true sophomore in his first year at the position in college. He didn't have the job to himself (we also had Charbonnet and others) and Jay was big about riding the hot hand, so some games Haskins didn't get a lot of carries. Besides Illinois and ND, he averaged 6.5 YPC against an OSU team that was probably the best in the country that year.
Yes, he was more consistent overall as a senior, but that's true of a lot of players. I think Hart is great but this example is a bit of a reach.
October 1st, 2023 at 6:22 PM ^
Jay Harbaugh is the guy who identified and recruited Haskins and was quoted as saying he viewed him as a 5 Star. I also want to include that Jaybaugh's coaching was excellent prior to the relevant seasons of this Jaybaugh v Hart comparison.
The running back coaching was so good under Jaybaugh in 2019 that there was a season long subplot about how uncharacteristically positive the UFR grades were between Charbonnet and Haskins. Pass blocking, vision, and patience are mentioned for both. They were both known commodities and a major reason for hope going into 2020. (that year's preview ranked the position a 5.)
2020 season was terrible but Haskins was great and Corum (also obvious credit to Jaybaugh for recruiting him and Edwards) showed flashes. The MSU UFR for 2020 includes an entire breakdown of how Corum and Haskins made Charbonnet transfer because of how good they were in that game.
Haskins averaged 6.1 yards a carry and a touchdown every 10 touches in 2020, with a bad OL/offense in general.
Corum forced his way onto the the field in a loaded backfield. The UFR for Corum's first game was
Corum: dude. Doesn't take long to see it. Other backs were about on par with expectations.
MASSIVELY Improved offensive line play, natural progression/maturity/conditioning, it NOT BEING 2020 in general, massive increase in carries are HUGE factors.
Obviously, I love having Hart on staff but I do not believe the RB room would be demonstrably worse if Jaybaugh had remained in that position in 2021/2022. He is just so talented that he can coach any position to success and that flexibilty is super valuable.
Also he is an elite special teams coordinator!
October 1st, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
Let’s look beyond the YPC. Haskins was a good back, but his vision and his lateral movement was not there under Jay. He was really stiff. The little things like that matter—those nuances. Haskins had very little vision or patience in his first years. I was just “run down hill.”
Of course, part of the growth is experience and self growth, but Hart—one of the greatest RBs in program history—really has helped the players reach their maximum talents with his knowledge playing the position at an elite level. That’s why Jim asked him to come home.
October 1st, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
I want to add to this his blocking. His blocking in 2021 was way better. He wasn't bad before but we were looking at Hart level blocking, which is the golden standard for UM.
October 1st, 2023 at 1:41 PM ^
I don't think anybody denies that Haskins improved under Mike Hart. But he was a good back who averaged 5.1 yards a carry in 2019 with almost all of his carries coming against B1G opponents and that great game he had against Notre Dame.
You want to see improvement under Mike Hart? Look at Blake Corum, who averaged 3.0 yards a carry in 2020 (although I don't think you can safely draw too many conclusions out of that year).
That 2019 Notre Dame game where Haskins broke out, by the way, is comfort watching for me. It came after a particularly painful loss (that Ronnie Bell drop at the end against Penn State) and was really satisfying both at the time and afterwards.
(Also, how often do you see a blocked punt work in the punting team's favor?)
October 1st, 2023 at 8:37 AM ^
Edwards isn't coming back (pretty sure he's always said that), we'll need to find another lightning. Cabana maybe?
October 1st, 2023 at 8:49 AM ^
At this point Mullings deserves more carries than Edwards. I don't like Edwards on any distance less than 4-5 yards to go. I don't even like him on 3rd and med-long b/c he's not a great blocking back at this point yet.
Put Edwards in the slot or in 2 back sets. Get creative with him, 6-12 touches a game.
October 1st, 2023 at 9:13 AM ^
Name checks out. That was one game where Mullings looked great. Edwards, lest you forget, was dominant all of the back end of last year, including against OSU. Edwards is pressing, but he will regain that form and breakout soon. So will Corum, who also has yet to break very long runs consistently this season.
October 1st, 2023 at 9:36 AM ^
It's been mentioned on the podcasts, Edwards is a guy who needs carries to build up his rhythm. When he got those consistent carries, he was scary good. Tough to do that now, but it's not like he's been Derrick Green out there.
October 1st, 2023 at 9:53 AM ^
I pushed back on this on another thread this week but Edwards wasn’t really dominate against OSU last year. The two huge runs changed the stats, which of course count and we were happy to see. But taking those two long runs away, he was averaging something like 2.2 ypc.
October 1st, 2023 at 10:24 AM ^
No shit... Did you happen to see the way OSU was playing defense? They sold out everything to stop the run. This is why the big plays hit downfield - you know, the "five bad plays". That entire defensive effort was dialed up to keep Michigan from mashing the game back into a repeat performance of 2021. But the simple fact that DE's two big runs hit was because HE SAW THE HOLES AND HIT THEM AT FULL SPEED!
He'll get there again...
October 1st, 2023 at 10:52 AM ^
I'm not convinced this line can create holes of that size, as I haven't seen too many so far this year yet. Not that it can't happen... but so far we have played 1 shy of half the season and we don't have much evience that DE can run for more than 3-4 YPC behind the 2023 OL.
No one's saying drop his s'ship and cancel his NIL. Just makes more sense for Mullings to be in for short yardage 1 - back sets, and a few other scenarios.
October 2nd, 2023 at 10:26 AM ^
Kind of hard to dominate for an entire freaking game with a cast on and a bum leg. It's amazing he had enough in him to outrun osucks defense twice. You can't be serious.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:45 AM ^
"Table the Mullings is the clear #2 talk"
dont tell me what to do mister
October 1st, 2023 at 8:53 AM ^
I’ll eat my crow. I was against hiring Hart for year because I thought it was just wanting to hire a “Michigan Man.” I was 100% wrong and he’s exceeded every expectation and then some.
October 1st, 2023 at 9:51 AM ^
Mike Hart developed a few very good running backs while at Indiana, although I cannot name them. One or two of them went pro. He also did an excellent job while he was at EMU. Mike's resume was more than qualified when Jim brought him back to Ann Arbor. I was overjoyed when Mike came back home.
October 1st, 2023 at 12:41 PM ^
Those Indy teams had some "nameless" backs (Steveie Scott) who became pretty good on sprint draws and catching outside the backfield. The fact that their running game has collapsed since he left shows he certainly has a magical touch. We've led the B1G in rushing last two years.
Had we hired him after his EMU coaching days, it would have definitely looked like we hired "a Michigan Man" on name only. The guy is going to be a HC someday - but not before we win a few more B1G titles!
October 1st, 2023 at 10:59 AM ^
Would you like a little mashed potatoes and gravy with that crow?
Enjoy.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:54 AM ^
I fucking love Mike Hart