Wojo: 8-4 is reasonable, plus damning Kalis quote

If this staff can do for offense what Mattison and the last staff did for defense... without doing to the defense what the staff before them did... then...

.. oh crap, let's just get the season here already

 

but when it comes to Michigan football, I don't care for being reasonable. 10-2, minimum, with the only acceptable losses being at Utah and vs. OSU.

As we come to the brink of the season, I realize I'd be happy with 8 - 4. And yes, 9 - 3 would be better, but I want Michigan to head in the right direction, for the long haul. 

After the 27 carries for 27 yards performance, Hoke's response to the media: "I've got a great offensive line coach." 

The scary part: I think he might have actually believed that.

So what I'm taking from Kalis' comment is, Darrell Funk minus all of the points.  Right?

I hate preseason predictions. Nobody actually knows.

thats our defensive line they're "rolling 10 yards down the field"

especially if one can come against MSU or OSU.  I think 7-5 is the low level where disappointment comes in.  We should beat UNLV, Oregon State, BYU, Maryland, Rutgers, Indiana and Northwestern.  That's 7.  That leaves taking one from OSU, MSU, Utah, Minnesota and PSU to get to 8-4.

 

Above that, gravy!

 

Good God next Thursday can't come soon enough...

The final record is important, of course, but more than that, I want to see honest improvement and some quality, fundamentally sound football.  I'd like to see us run the ball consistently and not be last in the nation in turnovers.

Thursday yet?

Funk's feeling really cool about now. And Hoke. And Borgess.

Awesome. I would expect that a player's assessment of the O-Line and coach Drevno be a positive one, but those quotes are direct, clear examples of superior teaching that tell me there is a ton of unrealized potential out there, just waiting to be unleashed. When JH said in his presser that the goal of the submarine approach was to "forge" a football team, all I could picture was a red-hot, glowing piece of iron being hammered into shape constantly, throughout the winter workouts, spring practices, summer workouts, two-a-days, scrimmages, etc. He is bringing these guys together via brute force and who knows what else. That's the whole point of the submarine. What happens with this team stays with this team.

Kevin Tolbert and the rest of this staff know how to prepare a team for bruising, nasty, last-man-standing, defense/run first types of games, and I am assuming there will be a few of those. The coordinators and position coaches are apparently coaching the players in ways they have never been coached before. They are getting sharper, stronger and more prepared for battle every day. I would be willing to bet that the level of camaraderie, confidence and focus is like nothing they have experienced in the past 5 years.

 

Is 8-4 reasonable? Yes. Are they capable of notching 10 or more wins? Absolutely. I feel like 7 wins is the floor for this team. Jim is forging a group of winners. I can't wait to see them on the field in six days.

Hoke's fatal decision was hiring Borges. That guy was just really not good. NO EFFING way he could coach up a QB or offensive lineman.

 

There. I feel a little better.

This 2015 Michigan football season can't start soon enough.

where we're rolling guys 10 yards off the ball."  OMFG OUR DEFENSE SUX!   /s

Utah's one of the swing games.  If we win that, which I expect, the 8-4 goes to 9-3, with 10+ in reach.

I want him to have a great season.  When he flipped from OSU to UM I was so pumped, but obvioulsy the coaching just wasnt there for him.  I hope he just goes nuts this year, and has a great NFL career.  Pulling for that monster. 

“...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.” “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.”

I got paid $5K per season to be a DC and the previous OL coach who was responsible for the above rec'd hundreds of thousands of dollars. Wow, have I made some bad choices.

If this is true, the how did Hoke and staff recruit the sons of former o-lineman? I'm sure those dads asked stuff about technique and coaching. Did our coaches just make stuff up? Did they BS through the interview? How does this happen?

these OL were pressed into duty before they should have been. It was by necessity but you can't underestimate experience. I am sure the coaching has improved but so has the student.

these kids weren't being coached properly by the last coaching staff? In other news, water is wet.

The Mason Cole situation is extremely eye opening when combined with Kalis' comments. A big reason Cole was able to start and be so productive as a true freshman was due to the great technique his HS coaches imparted to him. I recall reading about his technique on multiple occasions. It definitely wasn't his size as a true freshman.

If what Kalis says is true, OMG we are in for a fun season.

So what you're saying is the guy coaching at the University of Akron, one of the one football programs of the last 20 years, wasn't great? He was as good of a coach as he wasn't growing facial hair

Ya I had read earlier what some of the linemen were quoted as saying.  I feel bad for the kids who missed out on potential NFL opportunities from not being developed properly.

The previous staff should all pool their buyouts and pay allotments of $100,000 to $1,000,000 to all the players they deprived of a shot at a pro contract.

Damn...that's rough to hear.