Wojo: 8-4 is reasonable, plus damning Kalis quote
Wojo as usual with a reasoned take on the upcoming season, also of note in the article is this quote from Kalis that made me very sad:
“Coach Harbaugh is awesome. And the way coach (Drevno) coaches us, it’s just working. We’ve had days where we’re rolling guys 10 yards off the ball, and that never happened before. It’s not that we couldn’t do it, it’s just we didn’t know how to do it.”
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/2015/08/28/harbaugh-wants-see-w…
EDIT: here is another Kalis quote, elaborating on the above, from a different article:
“We definitely have more of a grasp on how to play the offensive line,” Kalis said. “How to get a rhythm. Technique. Footwork. Stuff we would never really practice or have a knowledge of before.”
August 28th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
Please tell me this is legal and, if so, where I can do this.
August 28th, 2015 at 2:44 PM ^
This should have been very preventable...who would have thought that it would have traveled down hill?
August 28th, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^
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August 28th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:06 AM ^
It means our O-line pounding the D-line back... not just creating holes, but totally obliterating them and pounding them straight back.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^
It means you can safely expect every offensive lineman to perform at a Steve Hutchinson level.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:09 AM ^
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August 28th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^
All passing plays will be behind the line of scrimmage. Jake Rudock will only be partially at fault for this.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:10 AM ^
I'd interpret it to mean either of these things:
• the OL is successfully getting to the second level beyond the LOS and nailing LBs and DBs.
• the OL is getting so physically dominant that they're pushing the DL ten yards back from the LOS.
Or, best of all, both.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
It means this man is smiling again for the first time in a LONG time...
August 28th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
I said two years ago that Hoke should bring back Hanlon as an active consultant.
That alone probably wouldn't have saved Hoke's job—the problems went far beyond just the OL—but I believe it would have resulted in several more victories. If nothing else, our OL wouldn't have been the largely ineffectual unit it became under the previous staff.
August 28th, 2015 at 12:57 PM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 1:59 PM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
saying the defense really sucks. But Harbaugh.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:16 AM ^
blocking them 10 yards up field or away from the ball. Doing your job
EDIT: nevermind. what they^ said
August 28th, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^
Pushing them away from the ball carrier (most likely a RB) to prevent them from tackling said RB and creating space to run. That is the point of blocking.
August 28th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^
means 50 year old Muttley could average 10 yards/carry behind that line.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:04 AM ^
I keep hearing that this staff can't possibly make that big of a difference as early as year one. Maybe it's excessive preseason optimism, but when I read quotes like Kalis', I'm not so sure.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:08 AM ^
I agree 100%
There's a reason that 4 & 5 star high school players turned into 2 stars at Michigan while 2 star players turned into first round draft picks at MSU.
It's called coaching.
And from the sounds of things we're about to have some again.
August 28th, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^
Exactly. And now we will have those 4 and 5 star guys playing like 4 and 5 star guys and hopefully our 2 and 3 star guys playing like 4 or 5 star guys also. It will happen, the big question is how long will it take? I bet no longer than next Thursday...
August 28th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
We do have a precedent for that. Greg Mattison swooped in for the 2011 season, took largely the same group of guys that under RichRod/Greg Robinson were literally one of the worst defenses in Michigan history, and instantly turned them into a significantly above average unit. If these guys can do half of that job with the offense, we're going to put up some points.
August 28th, 2015 at 1:11 PM ^
The one caveat to remember about that defensive unit was that it benefited tremendously by Michigan's insanely positive recovered fumble ratio that season. Not to suggest that Mattison didn't do an outstanding job taking them from godawful to good, but it's important to remember that 2011 was that one season when the turnover margin greatly favored us for once.
August 28th, 2015 at 2:02 PM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:13 AM ^
Based on his past success, this team will play much better. The question is how many wins this translates into with a tough schedule. The tougher non conference question is what makes a dramatic improvement in record less likely.
Yes there are positions with question marks but I expect Harbaugh to address or come up with alternatives for those issues.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:04 AM ^
I feel very sorry for guys from the O-line (and maybe other under-developed positions) who graduated in the last couple years, perhaps having never gotten to realize close to their true potential. Perhaps a few of those guys would have developed to the point of being NFL camp invites as undrafted FAs, or perhaps snuck into the draft, or improved their draft positions.
After that, my second thought (more importantly) is, "damn, what could have been".
August 28th, 2015 at 10:13 AM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 2:08 PM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^
No Hoke, no Harbaugh.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:06 AM ^
10 yards off the ball??!! HOLY SHIT OUR D-LINE IS TERRIBLE!!!
August 28th, 2015 at 10:18 AM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:13 AM ^
To be fair, I recall a similar quote from the offense last year right after the spring game (I think it may have been from Kalis, actually) saying that they had been ripping big runs on the reg in practice. This poster will remain cautiously optimistic.
Edit: found the quote...
""Last year, you never knew what was going to get called out," Kalis said. "(Former offensive coordinator Al) Borges was a great coach and stuff, but what coach Nussmeier has done with us knowing we're a young line is given us only really two or three schemes (to work on).
"He's doing us a huge favor, allowing us to shorten the learning curve. And in practice, we're breaking runs here and there -- that didn't happen last year."
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2014/03/kyle_kalis_michigans_…
August 28th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
Point taken, although a) the line DID in fact improve under Nuss, and b) this year's version of Kalis possibly hyperbolic practice report is even more blown up than last year's, by a considerable margin: "rolling guys ten yards downfield" vs "breaking runs here and there."
So maybe continued improvement? I'll take continued improvement. Like, F to C- to B? I'll take a B this year.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^
This year they are older, have another year of experience and probably stronger.
That being said, I believe this staff will do a much better job of teaching the players, motivating them and, maybe most importantly getting them to believe in themselves .
August 28th, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
I'm not sure it was Nuss's job to teach O-Line technique - that was Funk. And I read the quote as saying they have much better technique now vs. his praise of Nuss simplifying the scheme. One is mental improvement, the other physical. It's possible they really have all the pieces now.
Thursday will reveal everything.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
the priase. This quote is praising Niuss for simplyfying the scheme, but this year he is in affect saying that they are properly coached for the first time.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^
Thanks for the quote, and the warning to proceed with caution, but this quote doesn't exactly provide the same level of excitement as the more recent one. This quote tells me "Borges' offense was too complicated for us to know what to do". This year's quote is more like "Holy Crap! I didn't know we could do that!"
August 28th, 2015 at 1:15 PM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 1:45 PM ^
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August 28th, 2015 at 10:12 AM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:13 AM ^
... Thursday's game will set the tone for the season and we'll learn a lot about our talent level.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^
is a great statement and absolutely true. I really have no idea how this team will do. Opening on the road at Utah will be a good measuring stick I think.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:13 AM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
Ouch. There were some comments from the defense like this when Mattison took over after GERG et al under the RR regime. They are painful because you feel for the kids who never got the level of coaching that they deserved or that Michigan should provide.
I feel like this is even worse by Hoke, though, than RR. RR couldn't get his defensive guy, realized there was a problem, and you could see him working to try to make it better. It never did, and that's on RR as head coach, fair or not fair. RR had to go, in my opinion. But at least with RR you could tell that he was thinking about it and trying to do something about it.
Hoke never seemed to realize there was a problem. Even after bringing Nuss in for Borges, a move which Hoke may well have been forced into by DB, Hoke still didn't get it. All those years of Funk, all those highly touted recruits doing nothing, and Hoke never seemed to get it. Remember when Wiscy replaced their OL coach two games into the season? That's what Hoke should have done back in '13 at the latest.
Man. Just feel bad for Kalis and the others (I think the same thing happened to DG at QB). But at least those who are still here, they're getting the type of education that Michigan should be providing. Finally, on both sides of the ball, it seems like we have coaching that is up to Michigan standards.
August 28th, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
August 28th, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^
I'm like a moth to a flame when it comes to RR, but I've been trying very hard to ignore any mentions of him (or Hoke for that matter).
I've had enough navel gazing and looking in the rearview mirror. Michigan is going to be great again, starting in 6 days. I'm sure of it.
August 28th, 2015 at 1:38 PM ^
That will last them into their senior citizen years.