Is Michigan's Offensive methodology that different?
I listen to a fair amount of podcasts, and read a decent amount about Michigan.
For the longest time, listening to Baumgardner and reading other blogs, I got the impression that other teams had one Offensive coordinator who did everything, from scouting to prep to playcalling, and that Michigan had a 'unique collaborative method'. It seems many on this blog have had similar ideas.
But then, I hear more recently from Baumgardner and the most recent WTKA roundtable that *many* teams have a situation where the HC, OC, and pass/run game coordinators often work together during the game to call plays dynamically as the game evolves. The biggest difference is that UM didn't have a different quick call process to switch into to try to tempo teams. That doesn't make UM Football sound like that much of an outlier at all, and to my mind kind of undercuts the people who lose their mind over UM playcalling.
I guess I'm asking from coaches and those who know more about college football, is UM's pre-gattis methodology that different from other teams? Was my initial impression wrong?
And going forward, Will it be, even if they do a rip and re-install?
For my part, I'm happy for the change. It may or may not work. I was hoping for more of an evolution vs. a rip and re-install, but I'm willing to be optimistic. I think we might look like crap in the spring game, and that's okay. We'll evolve.
January 22nd, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
The committee structure is not what slows down Michigan's playcalling. People operate under the misapprehension that Michigan is getting the plays in so slowly because there's a conversation after the previous play that results in a playcall that meanders its way down to a frustrated QB.
It takes a couple of seconds, maybe, for most playcalls. There are times when things break down (resulting in periodic time outs, which wasn't a huge issue but did happen from time to time) but for the most part the call is made almost immediately. Things happen ahead of time--for example, on a second-and-seven, as the team is lining up, the committee can (and likely did) discuss scenarios based upon the result of the current play. "Run if it's 3 yards or fewer," for example, which prompts Warinner to queue up a run play. When the down and distance are known, Pep (at least if it's a pass) looks at the section of the playsheet that contains the plays pre-planned to be used for that scenario and chooses one.
It goes through quickly. And Shea usually had the playcall with 25 seconds to go.
The reason things didn't move faster is because there was no need in most situations; Harbaugh wanted to drain the playclock. The team still lined up with 10-15 seconds on the clock to make reads (a stark contrast with the Borges era, where Al did all of the stuff himself but the team frequently got to the line with 5 seconds to go), but since the plan was always to snap with 5 seconds to go, that's how long it took.
The problem, of course, is that this is the routine pace of the team all the time. There is no separate tempo that is regularly practiced, with the rare exception of a 2-minute drill. I don't know Michigan's exact drill routine, but there were times it worked ok and times it struggled; it seemed like they could move fast when they had multiple playcalls made (you know, calling both the immediate play and the next play in the huddle, that sort of thing) but they had trouble when there wasn't a playcall already made and the clock was running.
That is different from tempo teams, which practice and play with the potential for pace all the time--the calls might be simple and the playbook thin, but they're built to make them quickly. Michigan has a more complex system.
And it differs from NFL teams, which use a complex system but have much more time to prepare for these scenarios. QBs have larger playbooks but know them better and are empowered to make reads and adjustments at the line in a way that Shea is not. The other players are quicker, too, because there are more reps to develop and sync the moving pieces together.
Michigan just has 2-minute drill time to spend on the drill. And in situations where the team is down multiple scores and needs to move fast, they didn't have a separate speed this year. It was either drill or nothing.
The committee structure need not hinder that; it was simply an error of focus.
January 22nd, 2019 at 1:32 PM ^
I don't have an exact count, but there were many times Shea was clearly frustrated as the play clock was running down. Was he mad at the call? The time it took to get it in? Who knows, but there was clear frustration on his part.
The other issue you mention was Shea's inability (either from the coaches or because of him) to change the play once they line up. I don't know if that is true or not, but if true that seems like such a self imposed hindrance.
January 22nd, 2019 at 1:44 PM ^
It's hard to tell. I think a lot of plays come with built-in checks, because Michigan rarely (though not never!) got caught in a play that was just obviously dead the moment it got called. You'd expect that more if they went to the line with a no-check playcall and wound up eating an obvious blitz that everyone on the field knew was coming. There's some stuff that happens.
But Shea clearly didn't have the sort of authority and/or capability to see the defense and call a completely different play, or to call plays on the fly in 2-minute drills.
Granted, not a lot of QBs do. That's why tempo teams have the entire squad look at the sideline to get an adjustment from the OC. And, perhaps, there's more checking than we realize.
But it seems like Michigan limits itself, and it has to due to complexity. At least, it did. This is an area where I wish we understood more about how the process works.
January 22nd, 2019 at 1:48 PM ^
It didn't even seem like they had a two minute drill.
January 22nd, 2019 at 12:38 PM ^
I think the bodyblow philosophy is the issue. I think I've said it before here, but I remember watching a game and the announcer said he spoke to Pep earlier and Pep wants to go "deep" once a quarter or so to keep teams honest.
With an NFL caliber QB and 3 4*+ WRs on the team, that seems way too infrequent and just assumes the Defense will keep it close, so Michigan doesn't need to score a lot of points in a hurry.
I think it's subtle things like the philosophy of the OC (also no need for a lot of no-huddle or tempo, because 99% of the time, Don Brown is going to hold the opponent to <21 points).
January 22nd, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
Seeing Gattis run the offense this year will be eye-opening one way or another. I do not think we're going to see a repeat of this year offensively. It will either be significantly better or significantly worse. My money is on the former, but we'll see. I am more excited that Harbaugh is appearing to take more of a CEO approach to managing this team and I think having someone else work with play-calling will allow him to focus on coaching QBs or overall offensive scheme.
I was surprised to hear that Urban's primary responsibility at Ohio State was Special Teams, but I think that is the smart way to manage the team. Design the plays and schemes for whatever side of the ball your focus is, then actually coach one position / group, and lead the team.
Hopefully this signals positive change and a move toward success. This upcoming season will be very telling!
January 22nd, 2019 at 3:12 PM ^
Yes, other teams use a committee, but it wasn't to our level. Other teams have an OC who will always make the final decision and had to the ability to go tempo. The past few years, we haven't had that ability due to not having an OC
January 22nd, 2019 at 3:54 PM ^
We don’t have an OC that does “scouting to prep to playcalling.”
We do have Analysts that do scouting and prep, coaches that work all spring, summer, fall etc. on every facet and a staff that installs a game plan andcollaborates on game day.
January 22nd, 2019 at 6:12 PM ^