WTKA Spring Preview

Submitted by Caesar on

By and large there's some coachspeak, but I have found them interesting. I was particularly looking forward to Warinner, though I didn't feel like I learnt a great deal about his evaluation of the kids and new o-line philosophy. There was a bit about making complex ideas simple, so here's to hoping that works out. 

What has stuck out to me so far were the Partridge and Jay Harbaugh installments. Partridge spoke on his recruiting philosophy and how much time it takes with his recruiting style--something like 2-3 years for a coach to build up relationships. From Jay's interview there was a brief glimpse into last year's problems with the offense from a coaching standpoint, with Jay talking about arrogance getting in the way of results and working relationships--a not-so-subtle reference to Drevno's time on staff. 

Anything you've found interesting? 

Gulogulo37

March 20th, 2018 at 10:22 AM ^

Well that really sucks Drevno didn't get fired before, but that he's gone now gives me more hope for the coming season. Nothing at all wrong with Harbaughs collaborative approach on offense, but they obviously have to be on the same page.

Fezzik

March 20th, 2018 at 3:04 PM ^

Wheatley was the best possible RB coach you could ask for here at Michigan and Pep is a major downgrade from Fisch. We lost those guys to keep an underachieving OL coach who was in over his head as a cooridinator. That stings.

Killer Khakis

March 20th, 2018 at 10:23 AM ^

So we lost both Fisch and Wheatley becuase of Drevno..... awesome. I know that both had aspirations of getting a promotion but the more we look at it and hear from it the offense staff under Drevno had wasted talent under him. Hopefully we improve next year, can't be worse. 

SlickNick

March 20th, 2018 at 10:26 AM ^

Wow. I'm sure these issues weren't the only reason Fisch and Wheatley left...but Drevno being part of the reason these two are gone sucks. I'm wishful thinking here, but  Jim Harbaugh-QBs, Fisch OC/WR, Wheatley RB, Warriner OL, Jay Harbaugh-TEs sounds like a winning combo to me. 

Kevin13

March 20th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^

it appears the coaching situation has finally been fixed. Too bad it's taken this long but understand Harbaugh has a long friendship with Drevno and sometimes that blinds you a little bit to the real underlying problem.

Think with the new coaches brought in they can get this O-line fixed, improve the WR play and get our entire offense playing at a higher level.

Caesar

March 21st, 2018 at 3:31 AM ^

That's interesting. I hadn't considered the personality types you'd typically find in CFB coaches, and that makes a great deal of sense. Drevno must've really rocked the boat.

umbig11

March 20th, 2018 at 9:35 AM ^

One move that has been confirmed is that Carlo Kemp is moving to DT at least for the spring. He has to add weight to complete the move and compete for the spot. He's around 6-3" & 270 lbs right now. The staff mentioned that they are looking for more production behind SDE & WDE. They also need more depth on the DL. Carlo has embraced the opportunity as he knows that Gary has his spot on lock down. I am sure we will here about a couple other position changes shortly.

DrMantisToboggan

March 20th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^

I am guessing that Vilain ends up looking a lot like a slimmer Rashan at Anchor. Vilain looked better coming out of HS, but Paye certainly caught up in camp and then passed Luiji when he got hurt. I think Vilain is up to 270ish now and very strong. If he can keep his get off at that weight he should be a solid Anchor. I think Paye is quite strong as well, but you'd like to keep him at 255 or 260 and at End since he's already shown flashes there.

mgob-rad

March 20th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^

In this same preview, Chase Winovich raved about how well Kemp was doing in conditioning this year. This move could possibly be the staff trying to get him on the field, with Gary's spot clearly locked up in front of him. 

DrMantisToboggan

March 20th, 2018 at 1:08 PM ^

Not to mention that there's nobody established at 3T - Dwumfour is the expected starter, and he's expected to be good, but he's not been a starter to this point in his career. You'd certainly like two guys you can count on at every position. Kemp's game experience would make it nice for him to be one of those guys in an 8-man rotation.

Kevin13

March 20th, 2018 at 12:52 PM ^

Think Kemp would need a add a fair amount of weight to be effective at DT. He came here as sort of a DE/LB type player and now trying to move inside to the 3 technique is a big leap. Guessing though he probably doesn't have the length to hold down the DE spot and this might be his best position to contribute. Will be interesting to watch his development.

Santa Clause

March 20th, 2018 at 9:39 AM ^

A lot of the good bits were paywalled (I don't have a subscription) so the main thing I found interesting was Harbaugh's reference to how he didn't expose the offense to more quarters coverage in the spring and fall. Then when Wilton threw that interception against Florida, Harbaugh instantly knew that he should of let the offense practice against more quarters/zone looks instead of the constant man to man plays that Don Brown runs.

Don

March 20th, 2018 at 9:54 AM ^

and the comments he made about arrogance and stubbornly wanting to do things only one way (my words, not his) were eye-opening. While he mentioned no names, I immediately thought he was referring to Drevno. It's hard to think he was referring to anybody else.

Jay gets a lot of heat here from people who think he's not qualified to coach at Michigan, and I'd be lying if I didn't have my own reservations. I know it's only a radio interview, but I was actually impressed with what he said, how he said it, and the knowledge he appears to have.

Carpetbagger

March 20th, 2018 at 11:02 AM ^

I have no idea why Frey doesn't come to mind at the same time Drevno does. The alpha 'male' comments above seem spot on. Work around these type of people long enough and you notice that no matter how smart some poeple are, if you get two alphas who can't work together, one of them has to go. Sometimes both. Group dynamics are weird.

Zeke21

March 20th, 2018 at 10:00 AM ^

To Win.

All the coaches understand that M Needs to Win to obtain the recruits we want. I was very impressed with the communications skills of War Har Pep and of course CP.

We are Close,  Beat ND and off we go.

Go Blue.

TNBlue1977

March 20th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^

Been hearing a lot about some attrition and I found it interesting Harbaugh didn’t mention Walker when speaking about the RBs. Maybe I’m reading too much into it but he was literally mentioning walk ons but never mentioned Walker.

RJM

March 20th, 2018 at 11:02 AM ^

I could be wrong, but IIRC Harbaugh did specifically mention Kareem. Admittedly, it was after waxing about Evans and Higdon for a while, in the section where he listed a bunch of contenders for playing time. My interpretation was that Evans and Higdon are the clear leaders, but Walker was mentioned.

Killer Khakis

March 20th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^

He's currently coaching the Jacksonville Jags running backs in the NFL. I don't know if we'll get him back unless it's as chief offensive coordinator or head coach. 

Tools Of Ignorance

March 20th, 2018 at 10:29 AM ^

We were lucky to have them when we did. Each of their career paths seemed to intersect here at the right time. Wheatley seems to crave the professional game and Fisch appears as if he wants to run his own program. I can't blame either for moving on.