Kinda Interesting Jedd Fisch Discussion
I realize there is no real reason for you to believe this, but I’m going to post it anyway because it’s true and somewhat interesting.
I was speaking with a good family friend of Jedd Fisch tonight. According to him, Fisch was in line to be the next OC at Michigan and had already been in negotiations with Harbaugh at the end of last year. He said they were both expecting Drevno to move back to California (I don’t know why). When that didn’t happen, Harbaugh obviously couldn’t fire Drevno so Fisch left for UCLA. Fisch desperately wants to be a head coach, and apparently he hates Jim Mora. He’s privately hoping Mora is fired and the offense is good enough for him to be named the HC.
Take it for what it’s worth.
October 8th, 2017 at 11:04 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 11:07 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 11:08 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 11:12 PM ^
Yep. Accoriding to this guy, Jedd does not want to be a coordinator.
October 8th, 2017 at 11:23 PM ^
I have to think Drevno has similar aspirations.
I dunno, Harbaugh was loyal to Romano at the 49ers when people wanted him gone, he will stick with Drevno for a while. Meritocracy has its limits.
October 8th, 2017 at 11:48 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 11:49 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 12:15 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 9th, 2017 at 12:27 AM ^
You mean other restaurants won't let me color on the tablecloths?
October 9th, 2017 at 12:34 AM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 11:28 PM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 12:05 AM ^
it's pretty rare to get a career coordinator who is also really good like Don Brown.
If you're good as a coordinator, you're gonna be able to get HC offers and not many competitive guys wouldn't want that challenge and pay raise.
So you want to hire coordinators that are good enough to get HC offers. Otherwise, you're settlin
October 9th, 2017 at 2:08 AM ^
I'd rather a guy bust his ass for a year or two in order to get a better job. It would give a chance to develop the next guy.
October 8th, 2017 at 11:08 PM ^
So... Why was this OK to take straight to the internet?
October 8th, 2017 at 11:13 PM ^
I read through the non-disclosure agreement and determined it was bullshit.
October 8th, 2017 at 11:14 PM ^
He's not doing a very good job at the private part of 'privately hoping.'
October 8th, 2017 at 11:27 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 11:56 PM ^
Yikes. Funny how one or two things not happening can impact the Coaching Search Musical Chairs for a dozen guys across the country. Needed to make a mental flow chart to map out all of that.
October 9th, 2017 at 12:04 AM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 12:21 AM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 12:24 AM ^
He was hired as an assistant in waiting last year, but Willie Taggart hired him at Oregon away from us within like a month.
His son is also a very good QB recruit in the 2019 class.
October 9th, 2017 at 12:19 AM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 8:00 AM ^
Except that Jay did a fine job with the TE's the last couple of years, and he and Partridge have done quite well with special teams. So enough with the nepotism bullshit. The kid has proven himself at two very different positions.
That said, I'm not sure he's working out with the RBs.
October 9th, 2017 at 8:05 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 9th, 2017 at 8:43 AM ^
...go with both.
October 9th, 2017 at 10:48 AM ^
is cancer awareness month so hopefully Harbaugh realizes SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. There are times where my buddy who is 6'3 280 and has never played a down of football in his life could probably line up at right tackle and do a replacement level job.
October 9th, 2017 at 8:18 AM ^
but skip the nepotism argument- what assistant coach anywhere can honestly be effective as a TE coach, then a RB coach, and then an interior OL coach? Seems to me those require totally different understandings of the game and the fact that all of Jay's coaching experience is pretty much here in Ann Arbor makes this unsettling if true. I don't know why Jim thinks he can just plug his no-experience son in at any assistant coaching position and expect good results
Only thing I could see is Jim treating these as internships for Jay and another of the coaches truly oversees the group and Jay (as part of their normal duties) and gives Jay mentorship and oversight
October 9th, 2017 at 9:01 AM ^
Good points... Jay splits ST with Partridge - someone who has experience coaching. But he had TE's all to himself the last two years. His experience is as a QC coach for various position groups, so I don't doubt that he has a good overall understanding of the game. But how detailed can it be at certain position groups? I don't think he'd work out worth a crap with the interior OL. But the RB's haven't shown improvement in seeing cutbacks or picking up blocks in the backfield. And they still fumble. Some on coaching, some on being young/lacking experience. Isaac will always fumble, its what he does...
Personally, I'm more concerned with the OL. It's a hot mess - regardless of personnel. Are they a gap blocking line, or zone blocking? They run both, and aren't very good at either. I suspect they switch techniques from play to play, and probably do so when audibles happen, too. It looks like they're trying so hard to run the right OL play/protection/scheme that they miss out on just playing football. Drevno and Frey have mastered teaching different schemes, and it doesn't look like they're meshing well, at all...
October 9th, 2017 at 10:53 AM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 12:08 PM ^
How do you become a well rounded coordinator and then head coach without a rotational basis of experience in each position?
October 9th, 2017 at 9:37 AM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 11:17 PM ^
it's like they're doing everything and have the players be everywhere at once.
to be fair, so have the opponents' front 7.
October 9th, 2017 at 6:11 AM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 11:19 PM ^
I just want him at Michigan... all i want
October 8th, 2017 at 11:25 PM ^
Jedd Fisch would come back of offered the OC spot?? Assuming he doesn't get a HC gig, or a HC gig that he wants.
October 9th, 2017 at 12:25 AM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 8:22 AM ^
Run it like we got Don Brown. Get Fisch for OC for 1-3 years and let him command the whole offensive coaching tree, give Frey they whole OL, then get an actual RB coach and a WR coach. I'm not sure what the 'passing game coordinator' position brings other than confusion to the whole offensive staff
October 8th, 2017 at 11:38 PM ^
...all this tells us (if true) is that JH would have been comfortable promoting Fisch to OC if Drevno had gotten the SJS job
But here is the thing I really want to know: What exactly was the diagreement between Fisch and Drevno last year?
Just a power struggle? Or was it that Fisch envisioned different game plans/play calling than Drevno? A struggle of ideas rather than power?
October 9th, 2017 at 12:27 AM ^
October 9th, 2017 at 7:52 AM ^
here and elsewhere have claimed that there were disagreements between Drevno and Fisch last year.
If the disagreements were only a power struggle thing, then it does not matter.
But if disagreements were over game plans and play selection/sequencing, then that would support the theory that one of the reasons the play calling seemed better last year was Fisch (and that Drevno alone--without Fisch to influence things--and/or with Pep, is part of the problem).
The play that Lewerke ran for a TD was really well designed and also called at the right moment. Michigan seemed to do that sort of thing a lot last season. Not this year.
October 8th, 2017 at 11:30 PM ^
Harbaugh needs to apply the same criteria used for Don Brown and poach a new OC. I'm sure there are plenty of quality OC's out there doing more with less at lesser paying schools.
October 8th, 2017 at 11:37 PM ^
saying this, but it cannot work the same way. JH is an offensive coach, not a defensive coach.
For D he could just hire the best guy and leave him alone.
On offense JH can hire only from the pool of coaches able to run the JH-style offense. JH is not going to hire on to do a spread running attack or an air raid, etc.
October 8th, 2017 at 11:46 PM ^
to determine which one would mesh better with what he wants to do.
October 9th, 2017 at 8:26 AM ^
But with Brown, he literally just called him up to interview him based only on the fact that Brown's BC defenses were near the top of statistical measures using the kind of recruits BC gets. He did not know Brown at all before calling him.
JH is not going do that for the OC position. It has to be screened for (1) similar offensive philosophy, and (2) compatibility to work very closely with JH on game plans, play calling, etc.
And the last item makes hiring someone JH has worked wth or at least knows fairly well much more likely.
October 9th, 2017 at 3:15 PM ^
His blocking scheme did not match what Harbaugh has always wanted to do. Too many varying philosphies and no one thing that works.
October 8th, 2017 at 11:57 PM ^
"On offense JH can hire only from the pool of coaches able to run the JH-style offense. JH is not going to hire on to do a spread running attack or an air raid, etc."
I agree- and I think people are desperately hoping that the problem is the OC and not Harbaugh.
I think the problem starts at the top
October 9th, 2017 at 8:18 AM ^
recall that the offense was very good last year. And JH was in charge then too.
It true that JH is the head coach, so that makes him responsible for the terrible game plans and also the lack of creative play calling (which was there in 2016) so far this year.
But if you are suggesting that the "problem" is Harbaugh and/or the basic offensive philosophy he brings, that is wrong.
2016 offense was very creative and intelligent.
Remember the excellent sustained drives iwth intelligently sequenced plays in so many games last year? Unless that was all Jedd Fisch, then JH still knows how to do that.
Remember all of the pre-snap shifts used to create mismatches and confuse the D that we saw in 2016 (not used as much in 2017)? Unless that was all Jedd Fisch, JH still knows how to do that.
Either the lack of Fisch is a big part of the problem, and/or that youth as many position is inhibiting the use of concepts that we saw in 2016.
October 9th, 2017 at 8:59 AM ^
"recall that the offense was very good last year."
#40 in the country in S&P Offense.
Michigan was really good at not turning the ball over last year - but outside of that, the offense wasn't great.
A lot better than this year, for sure - but also not what I would call "very good".
October 9th, 2017 at 9:52 AM ^
The offense in 2016 was very good, given the roster.
The 2016 offense had no stars. No all-americans. Not chock full of all-big then types either. A few. But not very many. And Speight was good but not great.
JH/Drevno/Fisch got an impressive result from an assemblage of pretty good seasoned players. There was not one player on offense in 2016 that forced opposing D's to alter their scheme or scheme around.
It is true that the offense wilted against Iowa, OSU, and FSU. And it is true that the 2016 offense was not really the benchmark that JH wants to hit.
But it scored a lot of points, put together several impressive/creative/intelligent drives in most games, and really got a lot out of an assemblage of good-very good pieces, but that lacked real game changing talent at any position.
They got that result in part by much better game plans/play selection and sequencing than we have seen so far in 2017.
October 9th, 2017 at 10:14 AM ^
"The offense in 2016 was very good, given the roster. "
If you have to qualify it with "given the roster"... then they weren't very good.
"No all-americans. Not chock full of all-big then types either."
Jake Butt was a 1st team AA and won the Mackey award.
Wilton Speight - 3rd team All B1G
Amarah Darboh - 2nd team All B1G
Mason Cole - 2nd team All B1G
Erik Magnuson - 1st team All B1G
Ben Braden - 2nd team All B1G
Kyle Kalis - 2nd team All B1G
Jake Butt - 1st team All B1G