Winovich: "we basically lost last winter"
Interesting article about the changes made from last year to this year, according to Chase. Praises the S&C coach and changes made by Harbaugh, which he says helped make him decide to come back. He did not think our winter conditioning approach last year was good.
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverin…
I'm glad to hear they are making changes. That said, I don't think that the defense seemed poorly conditioned last year but if Herbert's an improvement more power to him.
The Detroit News article suggested that the players were too focused on Tuesday and Thursday (running?) competitions and slighted lifts on other days to put themselves in better shape to win the competitions.
March 30th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^
of creating 'measureables' as performance benchmarks.
Top performance on certain measurables does not always translate into top performance in what really counts--on the field, in business, etc. And winning on a measurable may actually degrade long term performance in the only measureable that really counts--winning the game.
Anyway, great to see that JH has been open to critically evaluating why things did not work last year and has shown a willingness to make changes on many levels. That is what the best do.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:03 AM ^
and actually an interesting article. I really like Chase being able to identify what was a probelm and why. Like you said, too often short goal measurements are put ahead of long term goals. Competition in everything sounds great, except when you have guys more focused on the small competitions than getting better as a whole.
Like you mentioned, I've seen this in the business world, where a manager's group is showing well by focusing on presentations of what needs to be done, but isn't actually getting the work done. Testing weekly or getting weekly or daily updates on gains can really start to hinder or reduce progress.
Glad Harbaugh listened and sees that he needed to change.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^
both within a work team, and even for an entire corporation.
Improving on the quarterly profit and/or stock valuation measurables every single quarter is not necessarily alwasy a bad thing.
But sometimes it is a bad thing, such as when it makes long term business stratgey impossible, or when it means the CEO decides to buy back stock instead of focusing on how to, you know, actually get better at whatever the company does.
March 30th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
There's even an old adage describing the problem named after the economist Charles Goodhart.
Goodhart's Law : "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."
The first applcation that came to mind for me was actually education and the way the introduction of standardized testing inevitably alters teaching styles to better match up with the tests.
March 30th, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^
March 30th, 2018 at 12:26 PM ^
breaking down bad habits usually results in a reversion, but you can build back up higher. If your focus isn't for the year, next few years, and so on, then current you is going to fuck over future you's posisble much higher gains.
Also good to point out why doing something is going to help the big picture. Too much focus on stupid tasks while avoiding the big picture tasks hurts teams and coorperations constantly.
the team looked like they faded late and thought it was a combination of conditioning and strength. Glad to see Harbaugh asks for input from his players and implements things to improve.
Getting more excited about this season everyday. Think coaching changes were all positive and this team will be ready to roll come September.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:47 AM ^
I'm not going to ride the defense too harsly for fading late in games. The offense consistently put the defense in a bad spot. They'd either have to defend a very short field after a turnover, or they'd wind up right back on the field after the offense went three and out in a minute and a half. Not only is that physically exhausting, but it's mentally demoralizing knowing you have to carry the entire team.
Don Brown's unit is elite, but they're still human. We don't have 11 Captain Americas starting on defense. So it's hard for me to blame the guys for finally breaking at the tail end of the OSU game after O'Korn threw up a pop fly to OSU's secondary. The defense had already been on the field for the majority of the second half, they just came off a huge defensive stand and a missed OSU field goal, giving the offense a chance to drive down the field and maybe win the game. Before the defense even had a chance to sit down and breathe, they were running right back onto the field. That sucked all the life and morale out of the entire stadium.
Save for the PSU game, the defense put Michigan in a position to win every game it lost. They made mistakes, but not game-deciding mistakes. The offense just couldn't get out of its own way.
Also--Coach Harbaugh wants a hug. Seems the Freep and the Detroit News went with slight variations on the same story.
All change is good.
When it comes to exercise, changing up exercises, routines, grips, and even names of exercises can signal a fresh start. It's very rare/unheard of for anyone to say of a new strength coach, "Boy, this was a terrible decision. I wanted to do those same old exercises and routines for a fourth straight year!"
Spring tradition across the landscape of college football. "We're so much more committed / in better shape / focused than we were last year." Rinse, repeat, year after year.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
March 30th, 2018 at 12:24 PM ^
I also like how Harbaugh took player critique on food and implemented change there as well.
Good for Harbaugh, good for the players, good for Michigan. Go Blue!
They got beat by 3 teams that were better than them 3 games in a row. The offense was putrid and that's why they lost, not conditioning.
I don't want to throw up by looking this up, but weren't we up like 20-3 on USC in the middle of the 3rd? Then the D gives up a 99 yard drive and 2-3 more TDs and we lose.
I don't think the issue is strength training vs conditioning vs being tired late in games, the issue is that the kids were not tryin hard enough in practice and were sandbagging it.
I don't want to throw up by looking this up, but weren't we up like 20-3 on USC in the middle of the 3rd? Then the D gives up a 99 yard drive and 2-3 more TDs and we lose.
I don't think the issue is strength training vs conditioning vs being tired late in games, the issue is that the kids were not tryin hard enough in practice and were sandbagging it.
I don't want to throw up by looking this up, but weren't we up like 20-3 on USC in the middle of the 3rd? Then the D gives up a 99 yard drive and 2-3 more TDs and we lose.
I don't think the issue is strength training vs conditioning vs being tired late in games, the issue is that the kids were not tryin hard enough in practice and were sandbagging it.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^
Well, that's why I didn't lookup the box score. It's too depressing.
On a football note, it's great to see that Harbaugh is willing to make changes in his staff (and hire outsiders). This IMO (and I have ~20 years of consulting experience) is the true definition of leadership!
March 30th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
I only ragret that I can only neg your triple post once each!!!
If they were doing more conditioning (i.e. running) last year than strength lifting, and the issue was that they ran out of steam late in games, then shouldn't they be doing MORE conditioning, not more strength training?
This whole thing is a narrative after the fact anyway. Other than PSU, the defense played well enough for us to win any of the games we lost.
March 30th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
March 30th, 2018 at 11:40 AM ^
The defense lost steam because the offense couldn't stay on the field.
March 30th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
that most of the problem was on offense, with a mediocre o-line, QB injuries (and no superstar QB in the first place), poor game plans, and poor situational play calling.
But it is also good to evaluate the program top to bottom and be open to changes in things like the way the S&C was being run, etc.
That fact that S&C could not have been in the top 5 problems last year is not a reason to ignore it if in fact it too could be improved.
Interesting comments esp sandbagging power lifts
So . . . feel free to tell us this winter what you are going to say was a problem next winter.
Maybe we can get it fixed now, without waiting a year.
do more
March 30th, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^
I'm all for perfect practice... but are we talking about practice?
March 30th, 2018 at 10:08 AM ^
Let's hope the new food table fixes the pass blocking.
March 30th, 2018 at 10:32 AM ^
It's a constant off-season reason to point to for struggles. Heard it with Rich Rod, and then Barwis came in and overhauled the program. Heard it with Hoke, and how the team felt different and had new approaches with coaching and eating and overall attitude.
They weren't good last year because the offense was horrible, the line couldn't block, the WRs ran horrible routes, and the game planning was crap.
If eating less pop tarts or drinking less soda can fix that, then so be it. But, you can basically copy/paste an article like this for every bad season.
March 30th, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
March 30th, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
March 30th, 2018 at 11:06 AM ^
An upvote isn't enough to emphisize how true this is. They got beat because the offense was bad and was compounded by QB injuries. Even a great defense can only hold so long.