Zordich - UM Will play Man to Man Press in Secondary
I don't know what the hell is going on with the board today - it is reading like RCMB today with "Dantonio is a meanie pants and disrespected us" (actually he didn't) and "USA Today disrespected our recruiting class" crap. I almost started a "We have a fucking real coach in Harbaugh now, have all the EMO people forgotten?" thread but decided to go with this instead since it's not reactionary.
While we tried press last year, the injuries to Peppers and Raymon early in the year really hurt. Blake was never cut out for press - and despite a smaller stature, only Lewis really seemed to fit the bill. Zordich is saying this is our path and I am pleased to hear it - we just need the right type of players; our roster was not built for it. With Brandon Watson at 190 lbs as a true freshman and the emphasis on taller CBs from all the guys we were offering in the 2015 class and continue to offer in the 2016s we are indeed headed to press per Zordich. As we saw last year, it is not something you can transform in 1 year - OSU began morphing that way in 2013 without great results, whereas in 2014 it was more successful.
New Michigan defensive backs coach Mike Zordich offered up some words that fans of aggressive defense will love to hear. He noted U-M's secondary figures to lock onto wideouts in one-on-one match-ups.
The Wolverines tried to play more man-to-man coverage early last season, and struggled getting it done well. Zordich noted on MGoBlue.com today that there isn't any question of Michigan's approach going forward. "We're going to play man coverage," Zordich stressed. "We want long, physical guys that are going to get up in people's faces and press. That is what we are going to do.
"There are going to be times we give them breaks and play a little zone, but for the most part, we are going to be in the receivers' faces, challenge them, be physical, and play man-to-man coverage."
Some Kinnel hype here too - really rooting for these "loyal 6" to have big careers here:
"He is a very bright young man," Zordich said. "You talk about a safety being the quarterback of the defense, he is the guy you want. He's smart, very articulate, he understands the defense. But more than that, he's physical. He's a big guy who can cover man-to-man, who can drop down on the squat. You can put him in the post and not have to worry about his range, and he can direct traffic.
"Tyree is a great fit. He bleeds blue. His parents love this place. When they were up here for the visit a couple of weeks ago, we had a great visit with them, and they fell in love. They were in love with it prior to us getting here, but after their experience here for two days, they really, really enjoyed their visit."
February 5th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
for man to man press coverage for a few years now. The players best suited for it are still working their way onto the field.
February 5th, 2015 at 12:17 PM ^
February 5th, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
I don't know what the hell is going on with the board today - it is reading like RCMB todayWere a bunch of threads deleted? This is the second OP to rant about people being negative and I don't see where the negativity is, other than the UCLA thread.
February 5th, 2015 at 4:49 PM ^
Including the "How can we compete with UCLA for recruits?!!11!!", "WTH site/publication/person XYZ says we failed on NSD!!", and my favorite - Dantonio (being Dantonio) said something about selling "results" vs. "hope" which got a lot of folks up in arms.
If you are really bored, there was a section in one of the threads last night where a poster called out another poster as a secret Buckeye troll - actually quoting over a dozen posts from that user - but the accusing account(s) were brand new; leading to suspicion that it all might be some secret double-agent reverse trolling scenario...picture RDT and WiaB but with troll posts...
I am not sure if some of the EMO threads were deleted because the ">>" button on MgoBoard hasn't worked for me in over 3 years. (Chrome or IE)
February 5th, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
February 5th, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
Another step forward to returning to the elite defenses we used to have. I've never been a fan of recruiting the smallish, short CB's. They just get manhandled by big receivers and aren't as effective in run support either. I'm sure with the next class, the coaches will be after a couple more really elite CB's.
February 5th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
February 5th, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^
The inability to press due to depleted secondary, was one of the reasons Brady carved up Seattle last Sunday. Its pro style and effective, when you have healthy guys who can do it.
February 5th, 2015 at 3:33 PM ^
February 6th, 2015 at 12:08 PM ^
Morris is a bust. Countess is washed up. Etc, etc. It's ridiculous.
Look guys, football is a highly technique driven sport. You're the strongest guy in the world? Great. If the other guys has better technique you'll probably suck. You're really fast? Amazing. If you're technique isn't there you're of no use.
Morris has never been "the guy" at Michigan and is just now entering his third year. Countess is a guy that was never tasked with press coverage before and now people want him to just be depth. Maybe, just maybe, with something that requires time to learn to do well and time is there to regain his confidence, Countess can be a real player in this secondary. But nope. He's washed up and done. Next backup in line is better. Next guy we haven't seen is better. Until he isnt'. Then it's the next one. But one thing is certain, the first guy in line that we've seen, that has been put out there and struggled, we know he can't improve. We know he's just washed up.