If the offense doesn't improve a lot, were we too hard on Borges?

Borges has been a swear word and something of a joke in my family since Ohio '12.  Not only were the play calls horrid, the blame was shifted to the players.  Last year it seemed like the offense regressed until Ohio, and then everything that was accomplished was undone with the failure to call a different 2 point play after they called a timeout and adjusted.  In modern football you can't adjust a week late.  Borges established no offensive identity for the program.

If Nuss crashes and burns this year, and the O-line is a house of cards again, everyone will be blaming Funk.  short of calling lousy plays this year, Nuss will be fine. . .

He was way over his head.

Al Borges

No, piss off. He was incompetent.

Ace said it best in a podcast last year: Al Borges is only a good OC when put in a position succeed. That is, he walks into a great situation and looks like a good coach. When it came down to him coaching players he developed, he failed miserably.

Imbeciles rip on Borges ok.... that OL SUCKED on the interior last year.  Fking GasClown a walk on at center and the guy behind him is about 6-0 240...give me a fking break.  No OC would have succeeded with that OL.  Now Borges had his faults...but no one complained about him in 011 when he did better than the vaunted RR did with Denard under center.  Look up the stats between 010 and 011 and you will see...tired of this shit.

depends on what you think "a lot" is. personally i would be tickled pink if the running game could average at least 5 yards per carry this year.

I'm still not certain if if was Funk's fault that the OL never seemed to be on the same page, but I have a gut feeling it was due in large part to Al's determination to run every play he had earmarked leading up to that week's game. Many of them involved complex blocking schemes and I'd have to say the complete whiffs, lack of communication, etc., was probably based more on Al not having perfected the play than it was on Funk for not teaching the blocking scheme to perfection with so little repitition. 

It's a given in teaching, and that's what coaching is you don't start teaching Lesson 2 until you've mastered Number one. If Funk told him they were ready for a certain play, he was somewhat liable, but I can't imagine a coordinator running anything until he is satisfied with his own eyes that it will work.  It may have been the proper move regardless because he was able to acquire the services of Nuss whose offensive production and efficiency can't be argued against. Granted, he worked with the best program in the nation over the past 5-6 seasons, but you don't get to that point unless all parts are working to perfection and there is not a more complex part of an offense than teaching the line to work in complete sync.  It's common knowledge that the offensive line worked well his first year when they ran the zone scheme and failed miserably when a play was inserted that called for man blocking and having someone not used to pulling attempt to do so.

This is a talented group of OLmen. They will perform better this year with the additional experience in addition to falling back on a much easier to execute blocking scheme.  However, it still requires communication along the line, something obviously missing last season.  I think the start of the season will have us looking like we're playing under Bo as to play selection, but as the unit matures and experiences some success they should be an above average OL by Game 8 or so. 

that is all

I guess we'll find out soon enough. Let's compare how Michigan fares on offensive this year with Borges's NEW team. Obviously he got snapped up by one of the other 120 programs right?
Oh-he's still unemployed?
I guess the other 120 programs reject the OP's premise.

at the end of next season

Total points scored in regulation against MSU for the other Legends teams, 2011-2013

1. Nebraska, 24+28+28 = 80

2. Iowa, 21+13+14 = 48

3. Northwestern, 17+23+6 = 46

4. Minnesota, 24+10+3 = 37

5. Michigan, 14+12+6 = 32

Just completely inept against that team

I think Al is a good schemer, but I also don't think it's a coincidence that his teams tend to lose their abilities to run after the first couple years.

I say this based on conformity of scheme alone.  The most important thing is that we don't change our offense every two weeks like we did last year.  Nuss seems the more steady type and I think that will help us greatly.

I just hope that we never have to actually ask this question. We have tons of talent on this offensive line with a qb who could be a first round pick if he can put it together and running backs who were top recruits out of high school. Oh, and we have perhaps the most dangerous receiver since Mario Manningham in Funchess. It's time for the players to make plays and not excuses and it's up to the coaches to make sure they're in positions to succeed. I for one am tired of the blame game. Time for Michigan to play well enough that we don't have to waste time with blaming anyone anymore.

I give you Vincent Smith, up the middle, for no gain YET AGAIN.

He ran that play over and over and over.  It NEVER WORKED.  Everyone watching Michigan football, the fans, the coaches, the players, the other team, EVERYONE knew that play never worked, except for Al Borges.

Were we too hard on him?  Hell no.  He was not a good offensive coordinator.  He had ZERO ability to watch his team, say "hey, this just isn't working" and move away from it.  It was like he was like watching Charlie Brown try to kick the football.  He was like "THIS time it will work, just watch us!"

 

Sometimes his initial plan worked great, and then he was fine.  But when things didn't just work, he had no capacity to adjust at all.  And that is just unacceptable in a guy making the kind of $$$ that he was. 

Someone had to take responsibility for last year's offensive offense. Al was the appropriate candidate, given that the offense was his responsibility. He knew it, Brady knew it, everyone knew it. I suspect Al left with a full understanding of the situation and how he was the one who had to pay the price. Whatever happens this year is Nuss's responsibility, not Al's, and whatever successes will be Nuss's and not Al's. So no, what's done is done and Al has no more do to with anything related to the Michigan offense.

Once again we find ourselves in the morass of disappointed football fans seeking to scapegoat and be righteous in their anger. 

Brady was correct to fire Borges because he found a replacement that in his opinion was better for the program. Once he made that decision it was his job to fire Borges. This would have been true regardless of the teams record or offensive progress.  If Dave Brandon finds a replacement who is, in his opinion, a better head coach for Michigan, it's his job to fire Brady and hire the new guy.  Such decisions must appropriately weigh all factors from contract costs, to program disruption, to fan reaction, to recruiting impact, etc. etc. etc. 

Do not doubt that had Nussmieier or an experienced OC of similar stature not been found Borges would still have his old job. Borges' record through 2012 and 2013 was only one of many factors that caused him to lose his job. Undoubtedy the most visible, but still only one.

Was the most vocal and visible part of the fan base too hard on Al? Without a doubt the answer is yes. But it is the nature of an angry fan echo chamber to pile on their hated target  coming up with ever more personal insults and vicious attacks, and as Al said more than once dealing with that kind of behavor comes with the job. 

Did Al deserve another year? Did Al deserve to be fired? Irrelevant. Coaching ain't about deserving. Anyone who coaches in the top reaches of sports, whether a D-1 college team or in the pros, knows that they have their job only as long as no one perceived as a "better" alternative turns up. 

As was mentioned earlier, the defense had its issues last season as well. If the offense plays NO better in 2014 but the defense saves three more games and Michigan stumbles to a 10-3 record, this part of the fan base won't be happy but the population calling for Nussmeier's and Brady's jobs will be vocal but small. It's not that winning fixes everything. Rather, winning enough games makes the majority of the fan base unsure about who would be a "better" choice than the coach they think responsible for their dissatisfaction. 

I like Al Borges. I think he gave everything he had to the Michigan football program. I suspect that I'll like Doug Nussmeier just as much for the same reason. I think that both men are competent and gifted coaches, with different strengths and weaknesses. I strongly, perhaps desperately, hope that Nussmeier's strengths are what is needed to deal with the teams offensive issues. 

Brady made the decision he felt best for the program. I support his choice because it's his job to make those decisions and I know that he'll be held accountable. I really hope his judgement in this case proves out.

No, because it does not excuse the trash tornado or OSU '12.  Iowa '11 too.  Those games were on the OC.

Moving along, I apparently am in the minority who thinks the O-line will not be much better.

Only hope is that the interior is actually average this year, instead of poor.  That itself would be a huge improvement and hopefully enough to push the team to a 10+ win season.

Frankly I'm equally concerned about the DL , last year they didn't have much pass rush from the front 4, and then there was Ohio plowing through the D-line at will.

Could be an great year... could be a repeat of last year...
 

Question...if the offense still sucks next year and I'm willing to bet if that is the offensive line still can't block anybody, do we fire Funk? A lot of people wanted him fired as well, myself included, but Borges getting fired seemed to calm people down. 

The man was making north of $750k and his offense was not in the top 50. And, you can be the is still being paid.

When you get paid at that level, you have to produce. If he had showed somewhat of a consistent, cohesive offensive strategy and game planning he might have made it. He could have done more even with his personnel. He was consistently puzzling in game plan, lack of adjustments and predictive play calling.

Borges lost my good graces when he continued to call playaction bootleg's despite nothing good ever happening from said bootleg's.  The man is long gone now, lets forget he ever coached here.  k thx bye.

I don't think so. If the offense plays worse than last season we will be looking at .500 record and Hoke will most likely be gone! My guess is the offense will not be as flashy but we will be able to run on the weaker teams in the B1G! Still the more aggressive defenses will probably keep our offense under control! 8-4 looks like our record though I'm hoping for 10-2! Hoke really needs a 10-2 record.