The Snowflake Thread: Coaching
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:09 PM ^
There is really no reason to believe the Oline issues are not due to youth and inexperience. Take a gander at the depth chart. We have a grand total of THREE SCHOLARSHIP OLINEMEN older than redshirt freshmen!! Talk all you want about how other teams including Michigan have succeeded with underclassmen on the Oline. They haven't done it out of necessity. In a normal situation an underclassman plays on the OLine because he beat out an upperclassman and he's an anomaly. NOT because he's the only option. What the hell do you all want Funk and Borges to do with that?
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:17 PM ^
How about scoring a TD against MSU. Over 2 years without a TD against your instate rival and with 2 weks to prepare. Your rationalization is strong here.
November 2nd, 2013 at 8:44 PM ^
yes, his rationalizing is strong. It's called 'being rational'. it's a useful skill. I'm going to go out on a limb and contend that you didn't actually go to Michigan.
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:29 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:01 PM ^
I might be a grad, but I've never questioned someone about if they went or not and never will. It's Sparty that mines the stupid walmart theme, let's not make them right.
November 3rd, 2013 at 7:31 AM ^
I contend - with complete confidence - that you are an arrogant alumni douchebag.
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:22 PM ^
there are lots of teams with young players that don't end games with -48 yards rushing, thats not youth, thats poor player development, which is part of coaching
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:45 PM ^
I would bet a lot of money that none of those teams played against the number 1 defense in the country in every category, who also happens to be jacked up for their most important game of the year at home.
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:48 PM ^
like who? and did they go up against the best rush defense in the country?
November 2nd, 2013 at 8:24 PM ^
We would have had more success just running QB sneaks as our primary running option in this game. I can't believe we had 2 weeks to prepare for this game, and this is the best this coaching staff could come up with. That wasn't a loss. It was an embarrassment.
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:01 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:32 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:42 PM ^
this was the worst rushing performance in 51 years. . . there's no excuse for that. None. . .
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:43 PM ^
Show me the team that has scored a touchdown with a one man front and I will accept your argument. Oline play is a group effort more than any other unit on the field.
November 2nd, 2013 at 8:04 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:21 PM ^
The staff should have had the foresight to see this coming and gone after a couple good transfers or grad-transfers on the OL. Such a shame we are wasting another year when we do have a fantastic QB and good skilled position players.
I know Michigan’s football program likes to think they are above taking transfers, but it’s needed. If they have a couple open scholarships at the end of this recruiting process, I hope they do go out and get some experienced players for 2014.
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:51 PM ^
This is a logical and realistic opinion. Thank you for being a sane Michigan fan.
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:01 PM ^
The longer you guys apologize for Al Borges - the single worst coordinator Michigan has ever had in my 35 years of watching us play - the longer you delay any chance for this program to take that leap back to prominence. Borges is an utter failure and absolutely MUST be fired at the end of this year, after we get steamrolled by Ohio.
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:08 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:29 PM ^
I'm not sure that's fair. Rodriguez's DCs were hamstrung by being forced to run his scheme, which they didn't know and hadn't ever used, and use his set of position coaches. I don't know how you evaluate a guy that's not given a chance to do his job. And in Shafer's case we got a pretty clear glimpse of the problem because the defense was a hell of a lot worse after he was cut out (before Purdue).
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:09 PM ^
If Michigan is running it's football program based on what the fans say or want then it's already lost.
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:26 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 11:27 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 11:35 PM ^
I've heard from one Van Burgen, but I would imagine there are a lot more guys who still support Hoke.
Besides, are these the same former players who almost unanimously said Hoke was absolutely the right man for the job?
Running against a run defense formation isn't always a bad thing. Teams do it all of the time and to success.Having 9 guys in the box doesn't mean a whole lot if they're stacked to one side, or you can get some misdirection going to give you an advantage to either the weak or strong side.
If they've got 9 guys in the box, but 6 of them are stacked to one side, and you run to the other side, that's a positive, but you have to execute your blocking assignments. We haven't been able to do that much this year.
To basically restate something I said earlier...
You can give a one armed man as much preparation as you want or game plan as much as you want before he steps into the boxing ring, but he's still a one armed man.
That is to say, some deficiencies are as such that no amount of scheming or preparation will get you the W. State is just a better football team, and it just so happens that our major deficiencies line up with their strengths.
You can blame the coaches for failing to develop any competent interior O-Linemen in the 3 years they've been here, but play calling and a lack of preparation were not the reasons we lost that game.
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:01 PM ^
Just to be clear, I am not “apologizing for Borges” & I don’t see how that has anything to do with the content of my post.
Now, if you want to know what grade I would give Borges, it would be an incomplete because as of yet, I have no clue what his end goals are with this team because most of what has been tried just doesn’t work or has been some horrid chimera with Rich-Rod’s head, Hoke’s body and Denards dreads.
I also have no idea what offensive theory he’s trying to apply. It looks like we have a bunch of plays but no coherent offensive system to speak of.
As others have posted, with such bad blocking / pass protection, not much would work...
I’d really like to see what Borges could do with a good line and a QB capable of running his system. Denard wasn’t that guy. Devin may be, but the line sucks. It’s hard for me to feel confident judging Borges one way or another right now.
My point above stands though. The coaches should have seen this youth problem (if that is what it is) coming even two years ago and should have planned for it by bringing in a few good OL transfers to shore things up.
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:05 PM ^
I've been a Michigan fan for almost 40 years and I cannot recall one "transfer" or JuCo player every playing for Michigan. Can you?
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:16 PM ^
Austin Panter.
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:44 PM ^
Few if any, but I can’t recall such a clear youth problem in the OL over the past 40 years either. Also it’s a different era & I don’t see why the football program shouldn’t look at grad & JC transfers if it makes strategic sense. The U of M student body includes many transfers. There is no reason that the football program shouldn’t also if warranted.
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:58 PM ^
Hoke was looking for a transfer QB over the spring/summer so why not OL?
November 3rd, 2013 at 12:47 AM ^
There have been a few. Russell Shaw and Grant Mason are the first two that come to mind. Tyler Ecker is another one.
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:19 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:59 PM ^
on what point(s)?
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:05 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:10 PM ^
He knows EXACTLY what the line is like and instead he always tries to run plays that REQUIRE a good line.
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:13 PM ^
What plays don't?
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:50 PM ^
Seriously! Jesus. This is about as frustrated I've been with this blog and the board haha.
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:12 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 11:01 PM ^
victory formation?
November 2nd, 2013 at 11:56 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 7:12 PM ^
What would you have called that would have worked against a significant blitz on 2nd-and-15?
I wasn't a fan of that call, but to focus on that call at the expense of all others is ridiculous. Michigan almost certainly does not score a touchdown on that drive regardless. Perhaps he calls a short slant that actually connects, Michigan kicks a field goal, and they lose by a less embarrassing number?
Sometimes you get dealt a hand without any winning cards to play. That was today's Michigan offense.
The question that needs to be answered by Hoke, Borges, and Dave Brandon: How do we deal ourselves better cards?
November 2nd, 2013 at 8:09 PM ^
But, why are we doing play action when we have no running game? That makes no sense yet we did it repeatedly. And, what was that one call where Fitz was assigned to block the DE?
The answers to the o-line are on the team. Kalis, Dawson, Kugler, LTT, Bosch, and Fox are all top 300 guys on the o-line. The problem is most of them won't be any better than servicable until 2015, Kalis probably next year. That fixes the o-line issue.
The real question is that if our o-line can run block and give the QB a little more time, does the scheme work? Also, are we as a group willing to wait 2 more years for it? Then, if it still doesn't work in 3 years what happens? Fire Funk, fire Borges, or fire Hoke and hit the re-set button? Then, do we have to rebuild yet again? I have more questions than answers at this point. I'd suggest if we don't show improvement over this year Funk should go. If we don't show improvement next year Borges should go. If we don't show improvement by 2015 Hoke should go and find a coach to fits our system as we cannot change systems again. I'm willing to keep waiting assuming we can maintain 8-win seasons. But, if we can win 10 games by 2015 something needs to change...again.
November 2nd, 2013 at 8:21 PM ^
"And, what was that one call where Fitz was assigned to block the DE?"
A bad line call. That had nothing to do with the play design; Lewan was left blocking air because of a bad line shift.
November 2nd, 2013 at 8:32 PM ^
Pretty sure I saw Lewan locked up with somebody on the replay.
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:13 PM ^
...but I clearly recall a play where the line shifted right at the snap, Lewan was looking around for someone to block (he eventually doubled the DT that Bosch had, but it was late and not really necessary), and Toussaint had to step up to pick up the unblocked DE. Blackledge commented that it was a "terrible scheme" but no one would diesign a pass blocking scheme that assigned Lewan to air instead of the DE lined ujp outside him. It had to be a misread on the line call; nothing else makes sense. If the idea had really been for Lewan and Bosch to double the DT Lewan would have headed straight there instead of looking around for a couple of counts.
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:00 PM ^
This was a 3rd down play. Michigan slid protection to the right. This should help simplify Gardner's reads on the play. Lewan screwed up the blocking by not helping Fitz on the DE. He should slide inside, look for a rush, and then help Fitz with the unblocked DE. He didn't do any of those things.
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:04 PM ^
And this is probably the most frustrating thing for fans. Michigan has an outstanding O-line class in 2012 and 2013 but, as highly ranked as they were, they won't be serviceable contributers until their 3rd year in the system...at least. Offensive line is the toughest position to transition from high school to college. The weight/strength gains, technique refinement, PAD LEVEL, and experience all take time. Most fans are not patient enough to wait for this.
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^
Louie, take a moment to step away from the keyboard, walk over to the mirror, take a look into it and think about the fact that you just typed "I actually liked what he was doing today" after Michigan, with an All America Tackle on one end, a senior tackle on the other, and a 5 star lineman as well, rushed for -48 yards. Please snap out of this delusion that Al Borges is anything other than a resounding failure to whom the game of football has passed by.
November 2nd, 2013 at 9:20 PM ^
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:53 PM ^
I loved the scripted opening drive too! Gave me hope and makes me wonder what could be with time and talent on the line.