Jim McElwain Appreciation Thread
There has been a huge amount of love here for Ed Warinner. All of it deserved. But I think McElwain (along with Roy Roundtree) deserve some props, too.
We start the season losing Tarik Black, probably our #1 receiver. But the receivers, who were a disaster last year, have been more than fine.
DPJ was a deer in the headlights last year, now he is living up to the hype. By next year he is going to be a monster. Nico, who barely played last year, has been more than serviceable.
Ronnie Bell is showing flashes of being a future star.
We are NOT leaning on Grant Perry this year, and that could be a good thing.
If by some chance Pep gets a head coaching job for next season and leaves, I would not hesitate to slide McElwain into his role (if he doesn't get another job) and make Roundtree the full time WR coach.
November 9th, 2018 at 4:21 PM ^
And an OC.
November 9th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^
Or like Three Amigos, minus the Chevy Chase and much, much better!
November 9th, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^
Sorry sharkhumper. We all owe a collective apology for that.
Michigan receivers look great and I'm not sure if it's McElwain or Roundtree or 1 more year in the system or a simplified system, but they look great and the praise goes to the Boss of the WRs!
Hopefully, he sticks around and doesn't jump at an OC/ HC job!
November 9th, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^
Hopefully, he sticks around and doesn't jump the shar . . . no, I just can't do it.
November 9th, 2018 at 4:23 PM ^
obviously improved, but i think the WRs blocking is subpar for the most part. improvement on the edge or downfield can turn 5 yd gains into 55 yard gains. roundtree was an RR guy and despite RR's failures, his WRs tended to be pretty good blockers as a group.
November 9th, 2018 at 4:36 PM ^
IDK, it seems like the WR's have been good at blocking. The TE's have not.
November 9th, 2018 at 4:23 PM ^
I like this plan
November 9th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
Serviceable??
November 9th, 2018 at 4:34 PM ^
It’s amazing what happens to a position group when you actually have a position coach who knows their shit.
November 9th, 2018 at 4:35 PM ^
The WR's have very few dropped passes on the year. Harbaugh mentioned it in a presser. Part of that is Shea throwing catchable balls but still I think the coaches deserve a lot of credit.
November 9th, 2018 at 5:06 PM ^
I'm a fan.
#McElwainEffect.
November 9th, 2018 at 5:28 PM ^
Like others have said, kudos for a former HC with no drama / ego this year. Kind of hard to judge the receivers because of the emphasis on the run game. It was the low hanging fruit based on our OL's capabilities in the spring. As has been repeated ad nauseam but still worth mentioning because of the dramatic improvement, Warinner is THE MAN.
Speaking of which, what a staff!!! Harbaugh, Brown, Mattison, Warinner, Zordich, absolutely elite, world class.
OK, enough rambling...my point is I believe we're about to see a huge jump in our aerial attack as Shea begins to see the field better and our OL improves in PassPro. We haven't been one dimensional but we've been run heavy. I think we're going to see more balance and this offense is really going to break out in Columbus.
November 9th, 2018 at 6:19 PM ^
What's really amazing is a staff that boasts two former head coaches and two former coordinators appears remarkably ego-free.
November 9th, 2018 at 5:38 PM ^
Isn't amazing how a solid OL makes everyone look better? The QB isn't running for his life and the WRs have an extra second or two to get open
November 9th, 2018 at 5:46 PM ^
Whew, at first before clicking on the post I thought it might be about Shark Week.
November 9th, 2018 at 6:20 PM ^
They were freshman not disasters...
November 9th, 2018 at 6:39 PM ^
An oline does make everything else better.
November 9th, 2018 at 6:49 PM ^
I agree, I thought bringing Roundtree on the staff was a great move and it’s paid huge dividends
November 9th, 2018 at 7:22 PM ^
It always helps when the qb can actually, you know, throw it to them.
November 9th, 2018 at 8:10 PM ^
No question the coaching has improved this group.
That being said, we need to ramp up the WR recruiting big time.
We need a big time WR in this class.
November 10th, 2018 at 1:14 AM ^
A big salute to McElwain!