Jon Jansen comments on the OL "phenomenal changes"

Submitted by Arb lover on

Rivals is quoting Jon Jansen as reporting "phenomenal change" in Michigan OL this fall so far, over prior years. (Paywall)

LeCheezus

August 9th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^

Generally fair take but I don’t remember hearing it much last fall camp.  Heard it a lot before 15/16 and I would agree that while they might not have been as good as we liked, they were significant improvements over the late Hoke OL.  

evenyoubrutus

August 9th, 2018 at 2:22 PM ^

I don't really remember anyone saying this since Harbaugh arrived, TBH. In fact I remember how nervous everyone was heading into 2016 because Newsome hadn't locked down the LT spot, and it was starting to look like Bredeson was going to be the starting LT.

Granted, that doesn't make this particular report any more credible than all the others that seem to come out of every camp in the country.

reshp1

August 9th, 2018 at 12:55 PM ^

Frey and Drevno have both produced great OL before. This isn't a Darrel Funk situation. Whatever disfunctions there were with the way things were organized last year, I still find it hard to believe an easy fix like a new coach is going to change the OL situation substantially. 

Hitman

August 9th, 2018 at 1:04 PM ^

I’m with you. I feel the only thing that will dramatically “fix” the line will be better players. Not saying cant be done though. Ruiz gets his shot this year, seems to be the real deal at center. Junior Bredeson > Soph Bredeson. Tackle is still the wildcard though. Tough to say. 

BroadneckBlue21

August 9th, 2018 at 1:28 PM ^

But Harbaugh took over a 49ers roster that had the basic same team and that team demonstrably better. The idea that a change in a position coach cannot reap quick rewards is not far fetched, no matter how much success those coaches had at other places. I think we can, based on the responses from multiple linemen, that the coaching last year was too complex—and it sounds like less focused due to the philosophical differences in Frey and Drevno. Warriner did wonders with you g OSU lines, so why could our growth not be plausible under his teaching? 

reshp1

August 9th, 2018 at 3:14 PM ^

We did the whole simplifying things thing with Hoke. The result was protection schemes that got torn up and matchups like the RB trying to block the opponent's best DE. Not saying things weren't unnecessarily complicated in some cases, but at the end of the day college football doesn't run simple schemes for a reason. You need complex rule-sets to deal with all the different things defenses are throwing at you at this level. 

jblaze

August 9th, 2018 at 4:09 PM ^

It's a combo of a few different things:

1) Age/ experience - we have more of it this year

2) Simplified blocking - apparently the Drevno stuff was complicated (maybe he's used to Stanford Jr's and Sr's, who knows)

3) 1 OL leader - Frey and Drevno had different blocking styles that were not always on the same page.

Swazi

August 9th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^

We dont have our OL coach distract by coordinator duties anymore, though.  I really believe that Drevno was 100% focused on caoching the OL because he couldnt be.

 

Plus according to Sam and Brian Drevno and Frey didnt really communicate all that much, either.

Now we have Warinner as OL coach.  And only OL coach.  Simplifying terminology and having a coach focus on you 100% for fundamentals and what not would be a big improvement.

CWoodIsMyBoiii

August 9th, 2018 at 12:10 PM ^

I've been fooled too many times by similar comments about the offensive line progress.  While it's better to hear than the alternative, I'll wait to get excited until I see the phenomenal changes on September 1st. 

Go Blue! 

Watching From Afar

August 9th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^

We've gotten the "things have been simplified and they are doing better" lines.

The one line I actually take somewhat seriously was from Winovich (I think) where he said that last year the defense won 9/10 reps against the offense and it wasn't even close. A "successful play" for the offense was like 6-10 yards.

Continuing from his interview, this year it's more like the defense wins 7/10 with each rep being an actual fight and a "successful offensive play" being bigger with the occasional home run.

Can't remember where that interview came from so maybe take my comment with a grain of salt.

The Homie J

August 9th, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^

I think it was a random interview this Spring, but I remember it.  And it was definitely refreshing to hear.  Others won't believe the Oline is better til they see it, but I remember last year the chatter sounded like this:

"Cole has to play LT because noone can.  He's splitting time at Center just in case Kugler can't lock it down tho."

"Bredeson will be better.  Still being pushed, but he's probably 2nd best."

"Owenu is a mountain, hard to move.  Needs to learn his assignments and show consistency."

"Kugler is Center for now, but battling it out to hold his spot."

"RT is up for grabs, including true freshman.  Starter may not be decided until right before the first game (*which is what happened, and wasn't great)"

This year, every position has a clear number 1 (even if there's a number 2 pushing them from behind ie. Hudson at LT).  Nobody is playing out of position (except maybe Runyan, tho chatter says he's the most improved this Spring), unlike last year where Mason Cole was bounced around trying to cover our biggest weakness.  Our blocking scheme should be sound, unlike last year where we waffled on changing it up, trying to implement something that our youthful line couldn't handle.  Add in the fact that everyone seems to have become the Hulk thanks to Herbert, and I'm starting to believe we'll at least be competent on the front line.

East Quad

August 9th, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^

Please don't link a thread to a paywalled article without at least giving  more of a synopsis of what is contained there.  It make for a poor thread.  Give more that just a 2 word teaser.

Arb lover

August 9th, 2018 at 12:35 PM ^

I'm okay with this if the worst I did was not provide enough detail from a paywall article. The title and op give you his general statement.

Don't expect to get full detail if you aren't willing to pay for a sub. I'm not out to put out of work the guys trying to make a living delivering decent content.

To me it's all just words anyhow untill we start seeing on field results. 

Perkis-Size Me

August 9th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^

We've heard the same crap almost every single year for the last five to six years. Every year, it's finally the year where the OL finally "gets it," starts to gel together, looks bigger and more athletic than in previous years. Yada. Yada. Yada. And almost every year, nothing changes. 

Not saying Jansen is wrong. All I'm saying is "Fine. Let's see them prove it on the field against someone not named Rutgers, Minnesota or Maryland."

big john lives on 67

August 9th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^

We may have heard “ the same crap” for the last five or six years, but we have not heard it every year from Mr. Jansen. 

He has been pretty blunt in his analysis of the offensive line in his new media role. Unlike many “homer” analysts. 

Perhaps if he is noting improvement significant enough to mention; maybe we have license to be cautiously optimistic?

This is, after all, his primary area of football expertise. 

 

SC Wolverine

August 9th, 2018 at 1:30 PM ^

In that case, perhaps you shouldn't read Mgoblog until September 1, since all we have until then is observation and speculation.  Moreover, different years really are different.  In past years, there was no reason to be optimistic.  This year, there is a reasonable basis to hope that the OL will be quite better, along with credible reports (i.e. Winovich) that this is true.