Report: Mississippi State going after Pep
https://247sports.com/college/mississippi-state/Bolt/Michigan-Wolverine…
Granted yesterday it was Arizona State. With the large number of big name vacancies open, colleges are going to have to dig deeper into the assistant ranks to get what they want. Pep's NFL experience may give him a leg up over others.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:02 AM ^
Please leave, Pep. Please.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
Why? And what coach could have done a better job masking the issues of a passing game that started three different quarterbacks, and had had to play true freshman wide receivers extensively?
November 27th, 2017 at 11:37 AM ^
Jedd Fisch. Many more.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
I think bring wheatley back and keep Hamilton, make them both Co-OC's
November 27th, 2017 at 11:53 AM ^
Soooo Drevno is leaving in this scenario? Someone would have to go.
November 27th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
IMO anyway...... We get an extra asst coach this year too, right? Maybe Devin Bush SR?
November 27th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
Jaybaugh needs to move up and get some experience at another school, can’t work for your father more than a couple years. Go someplace else for a while and come back ala Brian Ferentz
November 27th, 2017 at 11:59 AM ^
Wheatley is the definition of a good coach. Look how the Jaguars are performing this year. Bringing in a new coach made their rushing attack flourish. The Pep signing made no sense from the beginning. Helped coach the Browns to a 1-15 record. Last year the Browns started 5 different QBs. Does that sound similar to what happened to us this year? The ONLY reason he was hired was because he coached with Harbs at Stanford. Please fire. In fact, ban him from Michigan forever. Just kidding. Or am I?
November 27th, 2017 at 12:40 PM ^
In 2014, Jedd was fired as OC of a 3-13 Jacksonville team, where his offense averaged 15 pts/game, was 31st in passing and 21st rushing . That, after finishing 31st in total offense in 2013.
So what's your point about Cleveland?
November 27th, 2017 at 12:45 PM ^
Leonard Fournette + Fullback = Improvement
Aside, bring back Coach Wheatley and pay him one of the million being passed around.
November 27th, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^
Look at UCLA's stats without Josh Rosen in the lineup this year. Might be an issue for the Fisch fans. Who knows though? Might have nothing to do with it. Forget it, I'll just let Coach Harbaugh make this call. Seems he's more adept.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^
I've learned that most people calling for the firing of a coach have very little basis for the claim beyond "that part of the team isn't as good as I expect". I have no idea if Hamilton is a good offensive coach in college, but getting mad at the passing game this year and assuming that is his fault is the very definition of hottake.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^
comea in and our offense regresses to abysmal levels; where there is smoke...
November 27th, 2017 at 12:14 PM ^
Where there is smoke....there are the busted up heaps of two terribly injured QBs fanning the flame.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:48 AM ^
Dude only got his reputation because he worked with Andrew Luck and to be honest, based on his pedigree, that may have been more Luck's talent and intangibles than coaching, so that covers their time together and Stanford and with the Colts. He then went to the perpetual dumpster fire of the Cleveland Browns, then came to Michigan. Just because he's Harbaugh's buddy that did well at Stanford doesn't make him some kind of passing game god, but more importantly, it sure as hell doesn't earn him a seven figure salary here.
November 27th, 2017 at 12:09 PM ^
We could use some good luck.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^
I would think God is not "most people" and might actually know more than the coaches do.
November 27th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
What coach could have done a better job masking the issues of a passing game that started three different quarterbacks, and had had to play true freshman wide receivers extensively? Oh I don't know, maybe Ohio State's coaches who just plugged a freshman QB in when Barrett went down who then proceeded to march an offense loaded with mediocre receivers up and down the faces of one of the best Ds in college? Bye Pep, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
November 27th, 2017 at 12:09 PM ^
The offense was awful at the start of the season, with the same QB and RBs from last year and an OL that wasn't any worse than last year. There was a drop in WR talent, but that doesn't account for how bad the offense was.
What else changed? The passing game coordinator. Whatever NFL things he was doing, wasn't translating to this team.
I would rather have a college coordinator run the offense than an NFL guy.
November 27th, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^
The offense lost it’s starting RB (the only one who was a good pass protector), both WR, an All-American TE and his top backup, and 3 OL (though imperfect, much better pass protectors than the current crop).
And the fact that it was early is the season makes all of those problems worse than they were later in the season, when the replacements would have gotten hundreds of game snaps to improve.
The OC change had an effect, but I think Fisch would have scuffled under those circumstances, too.
November 27th, 2017 at 12:42 PM ^
So y ou want Harbaugh to give up his offense, and let someone without his track record take over? Okay...
November 27th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
He had to call plays for 3 QBs becuase his long developing pass game kept getting QBs hit. He got ran out of Indy because he kept getting Luck hit.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:02 AM ^
Were Greg Robinson and Al Borges unavailable?
November 27th, 2017 at 11:03 AM ^
I know people are looking for various offensive coaches to blame for our not-so-good offense, and then hoping for those coaches to be reassigned/fired/whatever... but I can't help but wonder if stability might be more valuable. Is it better to hang onto a B- coach for a few years and actually have players who have been taught by the same person?
November 27th, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^
bring Jedd back...
November 27th, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^
And how about hiring an actual WR coach?
November 27th, 2017 at 11:35 AM ^
coaching some jv canadian powder puff team lately?
we could use him with this young receiver corps
November 27th, 2017 at 12:03 PM ^
i'd thank you not to refer to Princeton that way
November 27th, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^
I can't speak to either coaching style or knowledge, but there seems to be agreement from insiders that Jedd is the better recruiter.
November 27th, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^
What I learned from watching games this year vs last year is that our offense scored more last year than this year. The main coaching hire difference is Pep was here this year and Jed was here last year. As a result, my definitive conclusion is that Jed is better than Pep for our offense. There are no other variables that likely had any effect on the offense's performance.
November 27th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^
Good shit, GordonG.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:09 AM ^
Yeah if you want a few more years of mediocrity. Are the players going to get worse if a better coach is hired?
November 27th, 2017 at 11:20 AM ^
A better coach isn't going to make players worse, exactly... although it's not always easy to really know if your'e getting a better coach or not. There are only so many Don Browns in the world.
I'm just wondering, who's going to be better? A senior offensive lineman who has had the same good-but-not-great line coach for 4 years, or the same lineman who has had 3 different coaches teaching three different techniques, even though the last one is a great coach?
November 27th, 2017 at 11:22 AM ^
Pep isn’t good but not great. He sucks. You guys have to stop deluding yourselves with excuses. Our QBs have all regressed from last year.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^
What does isn’t good but not great even mean. You guys - Our Qb? Obvious troll is obvious
November 27th, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^
I don’t think O’Korn regressed. He improved from last year, when Fisch brilliantly game-planned him into a 60-yard passing day against Indiana.
I have no real opinion on Pep (or Fisch) but there’s only so much you can do when you can’t pass block and you don’t have a QB capable of making some plays. Anyone who is convinced of anything about Pep is not justified.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^
made by our offensive linemen over the last couple of years, consistency in coaching and offensive scheme is very highly valued by the players. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean that the result on the field in that fourth year will prove superior.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
QB and WR position groups generally sucked this year. Who coaches those 2 groups? Case closed.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:09 AM ^
This seems like a bit of cognitive dissonance here. Everyone laments how bad the QB play was (it's not like O'Korn looked any better under Fisch) and the black hole at right tackle. And yet somehow we can't move forward without a better offensive coordinator?
November 27th, 2017 at 11:18 AM ^
Part of the problem IMO is Pep came in wanting to run NFL style formations. Spread the field and have the QB hit WRs on complex routes. Problem there. Michigan’s youth isn’t set up for that and Harbaugh recruited to run things the way he did at Stanford. The offense became noticeably better one they started lining up in manball formations and stopped trying to spread the field.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:21 AM ^
At the end of the day, this is Harbaughs offense. If Pep "wanted" to do anything, then Harbaugh must have blessed it, IMO. I doubt JH hired Pep and only afterwards asked Pep what he wants to do on offense. Besides they worked together before...
November 27th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
Yeah I never got this argument. Somewho Pep hoodwinked Jim Harbaugh into hiring him?
November 27th, 2017 at 11:34 AM ^
Nobody said that at all. I said what Pep wanted to do with the offense doesn’t fit the personnel. It doesn’t work.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:45 AM ^
So, your problem with Pep is that his system is too complex for the youth of the 2017 team. And you want to get rid of him now that those players are more experienced and have a year of learning the system?
November 29th, 2017 at 6:32 AM ^
No, well I mean partially. The issue is the team was recruited to run Harbaugh’s jumbo formations that worked so well at Stanford. That’s the personnel we have. They’re not build to spread the field with 4 or 5 WRs.
November 27th, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
I didn’t say Harbaugh didn’t agree to it. I said it wasn’t a fit for the team. It didn’t work. What do you do to coaches who don’t work out? You let them go. Pep’s offensive strategy didn’t work, so they went back to what does work. Pep makes too much money to simply coach the WRs and QBs.
November 27th, 2017 at 3:28 PM ^
I guess I don't understand why you refer to it as "Pep's offensive strategy." I'm willing to listen, but how do you distinguish Pep's offensive strategy from Harbaugh's offensive strategy? Arent they the same thing?
November 29th, 2017 at 6:33 AM ^
Harbaugh’s offensive strategy is what he ran at Stanford and the Rutgers game on. Hamilton’s offensive strategy is what we saw the first half of the year. If you can’t see the differences, there’s really no help for you
November 27th, 2017 at 11:20 AM ^
I personally blame Pep for our OL recruiting the last couple years here. How many senior WR and TE do we have on the roster? ZERO. Who's supposed to be the passing game coordinator? That's right. Pep.